1. The grace of God rests gently on forgiving eyes, and everything they look on speaks of Him to the beholder. He can see no evil; nothing in the world to fear, and no one who is different from himself. And as he loves them, so he looks upon himself with love and gentleness. He would no more condemn himself for his mistakes then damn another. He is not an arbiter of vengeance, nor a punisher of sin. The kindness of his sight rests on himself with all the tenderness it offers others. For he would only heal and only bless. And being in accord with what God wills, he has the power to heal and bless all those he looks on with the grace of God upon his sight.
2. Eyes become used to darkness, and the light of brilliant day seems painful to the eyes grown long accustomed to the dim effects perceived at twilight. And they turn away from sunlight and the clarity it brings to what they look upon. Dimness seems better; easier to see, and better recognized. Somehow the vague and more obscure seems easier to look upon; less painful to the eyes than what is wholly clear and unambiguous. Yet this is not what eyes are for, and who can say that he prefers the darkness and maintain he wants to see?
3. The wish to see calls down the grace of God upon your eyes and brings the gift of light that makes sight possible. Would you behold your brother? God is glad to have you look on him. He does not will your savior be unrecognized by you. Nor does He will that he remain without the function that He gave to him. Let him no more be lonely, for the lonely ones are those who see no function in the world for them to fill; no place where they are needed, and no aim which only they can perfectly fulfill.
4. Such is the Holy Spirit’s kind perception of specialness. His use of what you made, to heal instead of harm. To each He gives a special function in salvation he alone can fill; a part for only him. Nor is the plan complete until he finds his special function, and fulfills the part assigned to him, to make himself complete within a world where incompletion rules.
5. Here, where the laws of God do not prevail in perfect form, can he yet do one perfect thing and make one perfect choice. And by this act of special faithfulness to one perceived as other than himself, he learns the gift was given to himself, and so they must be one. Forgiveness is the only function meaningful in time. It is the means the Holy Spirit uses to translate specialness from sin into salvation. Forgiveness is for all. But when it rests on all it is complete, and every function of this world completed with it. Then is time no more. Yet while in time there is still much to do. And each must do what is allotted him, for on his part does all the plan depend. He has a special part in time for so he chose, and choosing it, he made it for himself. His wish was not denied but changed in form, to let it serve his brother and himself, and thus become a means to save instead of lose.
6. Salvation is no more than a reminder this world is not your home. Its laws are not imposed on you, its values are not yours. And nothing that you think you see in it is really there at all. This is seen and understood as each one takes his part in its undoing, as he did in making it. He has the means for either, as he always did. The specialness he chose to hurt himself did God appoint to be the means for his salvation, from the very instant that the choice was made. His special sin was made his special grace. His special hate became his special love.
7. The Holy Spirit needs your special function, that His may be fulfilled. Think not you lack a special value here. You wanted it, and it is given you. All that you made can serve salvation easily and well. The Son of God can make no choice the Holy Spirit cannot employ on his behalf, and not against himself. Only in darkness does your specialness appear to be attack. In light, you see it as your special function in the plan to save the Son of God from all attack, and let him understand that he is safe, as he has always been, and will remain in time and in eternity alike. This is the function given you for your brother. Take it gently, then, from your brother’s hand, and let salvation be perfectly fulfilled in you. Do this one thing, that everything be given you.[1]
In today’s devotional text we learn again the love and mercy and grace of God’s justice. We asked God for that which opposed the mutuality and equality of His Creation and yet, because He loves us, because His mercy and grace would never hold a grudge against us or build a case against us for our failure to understand the Kingdom – we live in a dream of specialness and the result of specialness and separation. For only in separation can specialness be – for if one part of Creation is more special than another part, one part seems the winner and the other the loser. And how can this be when God created all for all and His Love cannot be divided or apart from Him?
Holy Spirit brings forth the justice of God. Never fear God’s justice, for God’s justice is the Father of the prodigal standing with open arms awaiting our return. Not to dungeon, not to the whipping post, not to servanthood and enslavement but to Sonship! Holy Spirit compels us to forgive one another and to love one another in our specialness. And so all those things you did to me in the flesh, the times you ran away when you should have stayed close, the times you took advantage of my kindness, the things you took with no thought of return – I choose to see – not the darkness in you – but the light. I will no longer focus upon all those things but instead right here and right now – in our separate bodies, in our perception of the space and time between us – I will call forth your beautiful laughter, the times you did show up, the ways in which you enriched my life and taught me exactly what I needed to learn. I will choose this because I wish to see. I wish to call down the grace of God upon my eyes and yours so that we can see each other as God created us.
And when I look at you with the grace of God, our Father’s heart is gladdened for this is His Will. He cannot have fight cats in the kingdom. He cannot have me thinking I am more special than you and you thinking that I want to be more special than you and retaliating against me. This kind of thing just does not fly forever fun and free and holy for any part of Creation which would wish for specialness makes discord and discord leads to conflict and enmity, the opposites to the eternal virtues of love, peace, and joy.
Our flesh is designed for the dim view. In a world of fear, we seek out that which will inform us of danger, we seek out the hidden agenda, the ones who will gobble up our resources and take away our hard-won privileges, the ones who would oppose our specialness and dare to think that they are special, too! We are programmed to be suspicious toward that which is tender, compassionate, and gentle. We would rather take up arms than turn them into ploughshares! Human eyes can pretend they look for peace, love, and joy, but this is not what they are for and therefore the reality of God is invisible to them, the Vision of Christ is a joke at best, a downright call to viciousness of every kind.
But when we really want to see! The grace of God opens our eyes. We can see each other for what we really are. I look on you and I no longer see someone who is out to take me to the cleaners! I look on you and I no longer see the meanness, spite, and jealousy that had left me in despair of ever loving you again! I look on you and the scowl you bore toward me has lifted from your brow! The little digs and subtle betrayals, the things you told others about me, the way you blabbed my secrets and took joy in my sorrow and disappointments – all gone. I recognize you as my savior, as Christ, as Son of God. When I see you through the grace of God, I would not dream of letting us be lonely for each other. I would not dream of withholding my love, affection, and devotion. I would not dream of bringing up your past and rubbing it in your face to keep you from rising to the place where you belong.
From the moment we chose specialness, God gave us the special function of salvation to all of those we share a special relationship with. For salvation is merely the reminder that this world is not our home. As soon as we realize this, as soon as we are willing to look upon it without fear and timidity, when we realize what we have brought upon ourselves and take responsibility, as soon as we begin to understand in the least little bit that this world and all it holds is simply not the truth about anything – we take our special part in its undoing. All that opposed the truth is healed by God’s grace and love – already.
Time is a sticky, tricky thing and yet Holy Spirit uses time to teach us all we need to know to be released from it. And so in time, the dreams of specialness and separation are exchanged for the final dream – the end of dreams. For when I forgive you your humanity, and you forgive me mine, the peace that comes to us comes to all. And in the peace we have established, the love and joy of Sonship awakens us from time to our forever Home in God.
[1] A Course in Miracles. Chapter 25 The justice of God. VI The special function. Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition (1992).
For daily 2021 Workbook lessons, visit www.i-choose-love.com courtesy of Linda R.
Audio credit: www.eckiefriar.com
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