LESSON 350
December 16
"Miracles mirror God's eternal Love.
To offer them is to
remember Him,
And through His memory to save the world."
PRACTICE SUMMARY
(See Part II Practice Summary, and also Part II Introduction)
COMMENTARY
To offer a miracle is to remember God, and through offering miracles we literally save the world. We re-incorporate the Son of God as God created him (1:2). The theme of miracles has run through these last ten lessons, and the page of teaching that preceded them.
"A miracle is a correction. It does not create, nor really change at all. It merely looks on devastation, and reminds the mind that what it sees is false. It undoes error, but does not attempt to go beyond perception, nor exceed the function of forgiveness" (W-pII.13.1:1-4).
In other words, a miracle and forgiveness are alike; both simply remind "the mind that what it sees is false." To offer a miracle is to look beyond the illusions and to see the truth. It is a refusal to share the littleness in which others see themselves. I offer a miracle when I refuse to believe that my brother is identified with and limited to his body and his ego. I refuse to believe that anyone is defined by their behavior, and offer everyone the opportunity to see themselves as more than they think they are, more loveable and more loving than they think they are. That is a miracle, and that also is forgiveness.
"What we forgive becomes a part of us, as we perceive ourselves. The Son of God incorporates all things within himself as You created him" (1:1-2).
That is an amazing statement! When we forgive something or someone, it or s/he "becomes a part of us." It is almost as if by forgiving things and people, we are re-gathering the fragmented parts of the Sonship back into our Self. We are acknowledging that they are not separate, as they appear to be, but actually part of our being. Each miracle we offer helps reconstitute the Son of God.
In reality of course, the Son is eternally one; there is no need to reconstitute what is already whole. What we are is not affected by our thoughts. The reality of our being remains inviolate (1:4). But what we "look upon," what we perceive, is the direct result of our thoughts (1:5).
"Therefore, my Father, I would turn to You. Only Your memory will set me free" (1:6).
Today, Father, heal my thoughts. "Straighten my mind" (W-pII.347.1:2). I want the memory of God to return to my mind, and "only my forgiveness teaches me to let Your memory return to me, and give it to the world in thankfulness" (1:8). To have the memory of God return, I must forgive. I must offer miracles to everyone and everything.
As I remember God (through my forgiveness), "His Son will be restored to us in the reality of Love" (2:2). There is the thought again that forgiveness "restores" the Son, rejoining the separated fragments by an acknowledgment of love and unity.
May we watch today for opportunities to offer miracles.
Copyright © 1996, The Circle of Atonement, Sedona,
Arizona, USA.
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