Our Only Function

"There can be no form of suffering that fails to hide an unforgiving thought. Nor can there be a form of pain forgiveness cannot heal." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 198, 8:5-6

"Forgiveness offers everything I want." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 122

Our lives seem to be incredibly hectic and complicated. We can admit that we are the ones who have orchestrated it... we chose the job, the mate, the children, the activities... though sometimes it feels like we inherit a lot of it by default. But make no mistake... you always have the life you want. All of your attitudes and feelings are your own choice. The forms they take are secondary. As long as you are judging any aspect of your own life or any of the lives you think you see around you, then you can be sure you are not fulfilling your true and only function. And so you will experience the erratic ups and downs of the dream, here today and gone tomorrow.

There is another way to live in the world, within the dream but not caught in it. By letting go of all judgement, through forgiveness, nothing sticks to us. We navigate freely and with the joy and peace that are our True Self. Forgiving is letting go, releasing the need to define and control meaning and reality. As ACIM puts it, "Protect all things you value by the act of giving them away, and you are sure that you will never lose them. Yet value not its form . For this will change and grow unrecognizable in time, however much you try to keep it safe. No form endures. It is the thought behind the form of things that lives unchangeable. Give gladly. You can only gain thereby." Forgiveness offers everything we want because as we release our fearful grasp on our own illusions, they dissolve and reveal the eternal beauty that has always been our True Self.

For some reason, we fight this. We look for solutions and fulfillment everywhere but in our own function of forgiveness. Why do we seek answers other than the answer that will answer everything? Why do we always insist that we have to do something else, be someone else, find something or someone else? Forgiveness is THE answer, and our only function here. Why do we fight it? Our only function is forgiveness. Regardless of what it looks like or what it feels like or who did what to who, our only function is forgiveness. Regardless of the intensity of the illusion or the attachments or aversions that arise out of it, forgiveness is our only function. Regardless of persons, places, times, or situations, forgiveness is THE answer, and offers everything I want in every circumstance, and is ALWAYS my only function.

What is revealed when we actually perform our only function and let go of all illusions? Nothing less than the eternal, omnipresent, radiant Love of God, and our True Self.

"Here is the perfect answer, given to imperfect questions, meaningless requests, halfhearted willingness to hear, and less than halfway diligence and partial trust. Here is the answer! Seek for it no more. You will not find another one instead. Here is the answer! Would you stand outside while all of Heaven waits for you within? Forgive and be forgiven. As you give you will receive. Forgiveness offers everything you want. Today all things you want are given you." -- A Course in Miracles; Workbook 122, 4:2-5, 6:1-4, 13:1-2