Lesson 288
Let me forget my brothers past today.
“This is the thought that leads the way to You, and brings me to my goal. I cannot come to You without my brother. And to know my Source, I first must recognize what You created one with me. My brother’s is the hand that leads me on the way to You. His sins are in the past along with mine, and I am saved because the past is gone. Let me not cherish it within my heart, or I will lose the way to walk to You. My brother is my savior. Let me not attack the savior You have given me. But let me honor him who bears Your Name, and so remember that It is my own” (ACIM Lesson 288 1:1-9).
Take an innocent molecule of water (H2O) with its varied journey as either ice, liquid, or vapor. One molecule of water can pass through all three stages in its lifetime or perhaps one molecule sticks to one expression, such as the water in an ocean. Now, imagine in the land of water molecules that each molecule is a brother or sister to another, as they are of the same Source, H2O. They are of One Source yet have varied expressions of their oneness. In their oneness there is not sameness, rather uniqueness, just as one snowflake is not the same as another.
Go a step further. What if a snowflake stroke up a conversation with his sister, the liquid in the ocean? I imagine this could happen in the frigid New England area of the northeast of the United States where often snow may fall upon the waves of an ocean. As the snowflake became part of the ocean, do you think it would resent his fellow brother and sister molecules in the vast sea for his change in form? Do you think the ocean ever gets tired of absorbing her kin in the form of ice or snow, or losing her kin to evaporation?
If it is not evident by now, there are some direct correlations between a water molecule and the human experience, something more than the fact that we, as humans, are made up of mostly water. We are as unique and purposeful as a snowflake; as powerful and vast as an ocean; and as mysterious and elusive as vapor. We often shift and change forms throughout various stages of our lives. And we each collide with other forms around us that are made up of the same molecules yet are completely unique in their appearance and journey from ourselves, just as a snowflake’s journey varies from the sea.
Notice how in nature you never see snowflake in battle with the ocean. You never see vapor trying to suffocate liquid. And you never see ice, frozen solid in stillness, longing for the days when it was an adventurous raging river. A raindrop falls where it does and the same goes for a snowflake. The river winds and bends where it flows. The invisible vapor in the air does not yell or lament to be seen. Nature shows us, in her elegant presence, true Isness and forgiveness. Rain causes floods but does not ask to be forgiven. The ocean overtakes a ship but you will never see an ocean break out the rosary for 50 Hail Mary’s. Nature knows of its perfection and its purpose. Thus, it is the mirror for our potential to forgiveness and to live in our eternal holiness.
Just as a molecule of water falls as rain, it does not simultaneously hold onto its previous existence as vapor. Nor does it hold a grudge against Mother Nature for the cycle of condensation. How much more chaotic would this world be if nature followed our lead and held grudges, regretted the past, and feared the future? We are extremely blessed to have such a wise teacher as nature, as she teaches us with the aid of the simple existence of H2O.
We walk hand in hand with our brothers and sisters, just as ice walks with liquid, walks with vapor; in peace. We too can choose to be only in this moment with our fellow beings just as they are. We can see the beauty in their form, visible and invisible; physically present or far away; and see the same Source from which we all come. We can forget the past and remember that we are all Children of God. We can forgive how we have all at one time been a raging ocean creating havoc for those around us or for not taking action and being as still as air. We can also forgive ourselves for the liquid tears we have evoked in our brothers and sisters, and those who have created such a salty river from our eyes, as well.
We all go Home together or we do not go Home at all. Today, may we let nature remind us of our Nature: our ability to forgive and to forget, all the while remembering that we are Children of God, capable of only perfect love. Peace be unto you, as you know all is forgiven. Namaste.
