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The way I see it, God is present everywhere and in everything, and there is a oneness and interconnectedness to the world. We are all one and we are all of God. When viewed from this perspective, we can see that we have an inner divine nature, and that the way we treat others is a reflection of how we treat ourselves. As Christ had said, as you do to the least among you, you do to yourself. We are on a spiritual journey to discover our divinity and in the process we learn from life's experiences. God gave us the freedom to choose and we learn from the natural consequences of our choices, through the Law of Karma. Now, I see God as unconditionally loving and forgiving, from which it follows that God would not condemn us for exercising the gift of free choice that was given to us. Thus, we need not feel guilt over our mistakes or fear that God will punish us for them. God is unconditionally forgiving and sees us in a process of learning. Such is what has been reported by many people who have undergone near death experiences and encountered a being of light. These people may undergo a life review but it is done in a nonjudgmental manner and they are not condemned for their mistakes. And so, the first thing to remember is that God is all-forgiving, regardless of what mistakes one makes. There is no need to fear God's wrath, because God loves everyone, unconditionally. Now, given that God is everywhere and that we have an inner divine nature, we need to connect with the God from within. Then we can experience unconditional love and forgiveness. But many of us feel disconnected from our inner divinity and identify strongly with what I refer to as the ego mind, that aspect of the mind which focuses awareness within the physical world, and is subject to negative programming during physical life. As a result of negative programming you can develop the belief that you are bad and unworthy of being loved, or that you have done some bad things for which you can never be forgiven. Consequently, you may become guilt-ridden and be hard on yourself, and even engage in self-defeating patterns that make your life miserable. Or you may project that guilt onto others and blame them for your misery. In that case, you may feel justified in being angry at them and wanting to get even. But this can create more guilt and a vicious cycle ensues. All of this stems from the perceived separation from our inner divine nature, God. As A Course In Miracles teaches, we are never truly separated from God, and the perceived separation is an illusion. Forgiveness is the application of this principle, and it leads to the realization that whatever was done to us can't really hurt us. Whatever was done to us can be seen as an opportunity for learning and growing, and when viewed in this way, you could almost thank the person who mistreated you, for there is a lesson in this. My father was very critical of me and I used to resent him for it. But when I look back on this I realize that he did what he did to help me realize something about myself, and I got to where I am now because of him. I no longer resent him and can actually thank him for his role. The notion that as we do unto others we do unto ourselves takes on significance. If you resent someone and refuse to forgive him or her, you are in effect, not forgiving yourself. Holding onto resentment with the idea of hurting the other person only hurts yourself. Unresolved anger and unforgiveness festers inside and can lead to various physical and emotional ailments. True forgiveness is aimed at not just another individual but at yourself. It helps you to heal and extends healing to others. It is a liberation of your mind that frees you from the past, frees you from guilt and fear, and removes the sense of separation from God. Forgiveness involves letting go of any expectations you have of someone else. We must be careful not to attach conditions to forgiving, such as saying, "I forgive you, but I haven't forgotten." This only results in hanging onto past resentment and in expectations that he or she better not do it again. Forgiveness is a process of letting go, realizing what lessons needed to be learned and now it's time to move on. As Christ said in Matthew 6:14: "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also forgive you." From the pantheistic perspective I take this to mean that if you forgive others you forgive yourself, through the God within you. Connecting with your inner divinity makes this possible.

Email Address: Spiritpan@aol.com

`God And Forgiveness`

`-by Spiritpan`