April 25, 2017
I find the title of this section so interesting. The past we seem to remember really is nothing but shadows. We don’t remember our past objectively, but remember our impressions and interpretations of the past. We remember our perceptions of the past which are colored with a myriad of prejudices, judgements and emotions. We remember our past, but only the bits about it that support our beliefs about ourselves, others and the world. Do our thoughts about our past bring loving thoughts or fearful thoughts such as anger, guilt, hate, defense or some other unpleasant thought? This tells us how attached we are to what we think about our past and whether or not we are living in the now. Have we forgiven our past? Are we living in the shadows of our past or leaving the past in the shadows behind us?
To forgive is merely to remember only the loving thoughts you gave in the past, and those that were given you. All the rest must be forgotten. Forgiveness is a selective remembering, based not on your selection. For the shadow figures you would make immortal are “enemies” of reality. Be willing to forgive the Our Child of God for what they did not do. The shadow figures are the witnesses you bring with you to demonstrate they did what they did not. Because you bring them, you will hear them. And you who keep them by your own selection do not understand how they came into your mind, and what their purpose is. They represent the evil that you think was done to you. You bring them with you only that you may return evil for evil, hoping that their witness will enable you to think guiltily of another and not harm yourself. They speak so clearly for the separation that no one not obsessed with keeping separation could hear them. They offer you the “reasons” why you should enter into unholy alliances to support the ego’s goals, and make your relationships the witness to its power. T-17.III.1:1-12
Our relationships tend to be unholy or special relationships when we view them through the lens of our attachment to the past. As long as we align our minds with our past thoughts, we remain committed to separation and deny the peace and love inherent in Oneness. We become more and more selective of the thoughts we hold about each other that we ignore the totality of each one and miss all that is real about them. Every step taken in the making, the maintaining and the breaking off of unholy relationships is a move toward further fragmentation and unreality. The shadow figures enter more and more, and the one in whom they seem to be decreases in importance. How much have we denied about ourselves and each other to maintain the past in our relationships?
Time is indeed unkind to the unholy relationship. For time is cruel in the ego’s hands, as it is kind when used for gentleness. The attraction of the unholy relationship begins to fade and to be questioned almost at once. Once it is formed, doubt must enter in, because its purpose is impossible. The “ideal” of the unholy relationship thus becomes one in which the reality of the other does not enter at all to “spoil” the dream. And the less the other really brings to the relationship, the “better” it becomes. Thus, the attempt at union becomes a way of excluding even the one with whom the union was sought. For it was formed to get them out of it, and join with fantasies in uninterrupted “bliss.” T-17.III.4:1-8
We are really looking for love ad to become one with each other. Yet we do everything we can to deny just that to ourselves. We are seeking what we seek outside of ourselves where it cannot be found. Love, peace and unity – Oneness – are within us, not outside of us. Forgiveness is the transforming of our thoughts to support the reality of our divine nature. Forgiveness releases our attachment to our past and allows our minds to be in the present moment where our wholeness and completeness is obviously present. All that is holy and true about us is within us waiting to be revealed by Spirit within us. Isn’t it time we begin to recognize the truth about who we are? It’s time to let the past be in the past and realize it has no negative bearing on who we really are. Forgive the past for it has no bearing on us except the loving thoughts that reman after we turn them over to the Spirit within. Nothing but love and peace remain. Choose now to release yourself from the shadows of the past and step into the present, the now. This is our home for now and for eternity.
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