Forgiveness and the Holy Instant

To live in the Holy Instant is to live without judgment. It is to be free – however briefly – of the ego’s incessant need to conquer the world by division, by defintion. This is good, this is bad. That is green, that is yellow.

We reach that instant – that present – through forgiveness, which is merely the willingness to let things be as they are, without the egoic need to define them, understand them, put them in their place. Forgiveness is sort of letting go of the need to interpret everything, in favor of simply letting it be. When we do that, we begin to experience – however briefly – the Love that we have forgotten.

The Holy Instant is peaceful – it produces peace in us because when we are in a space of forgiveness, of not judging, we are effectively releasing conflict. Without conflict – which is manufactured – there is only peace. The ego thrives on conflict – it is its lifeblood. But as we practice forgiveness and as forgiveness become more and more natural, we turn away from the ego toward the Love that is our identity.

That’s the awakening – that’s the move away from hell into the Happy Dream, the space in which God reaches out to us and takes us home. It isn’t necessarily a mind-blowing experience. It’s more likely a series of small victories, a recognition that we are no longer distressed by things that used to upset us. Or we are no longer so committed to being “right” that we are always arguing or judging, always battling to get the last word in.

That’s the ego’s way. Our way – the way of our true self – is different. It wants peace and to have peace it knows it has to relinquish conflict. Even though those moments can seem too short, they are like little lights that shine the way to the everlasting peace of the Kingdom of Heaven.

In fact, one of the cooler parts of being a student of A Course in Miracles, is when we begin to realize that our misery is our own doing. When we get that – not just intellectually, but in a deeper way – we learn that we are actually empowered to live peacefully, that we can be at peace simply by choosing to be at peace.

Once we know it works – once we have some proof on hand, so to speak – then the practice of forgiveness becomes something to be welcomed. It’s the way home!

Tagged as: A Course In Miracles, forgiveness, Holy Instant