It is important to understand that Jesus exhorted us to turn the other cheek in the face of attack because any other response would be far more harmful to our peace and happiness. It is our thoughts that intend harm to others that place us mentally, and thus physically, in an experience where attack and harm are real and possible. We cannot claim the powerlessness of something to which we give power and reality in the first place.
We have all the knowledge within us to manifest everything we need in this world. But we can only consciously use this knowledge if we realise it exists within us in the first place. It is merely the synchronicity of events that makes it seem that much of what we need is provided by others. And it is only our sense of unworthiness and inadequacy, as well as our ignorance of Who We Truly Are, that leads to such a fundamental misunderstanding of our own power to manifest all our needs into material form.
Through our own thoughts of love and kindness, we extend to others the compassion we wish for ourselves, and contained within that compassion is the inspiration we need to keep ourselves safe and at peace. It is our intention and desire for peace that enables us to hear the quiet counsel of Love.
This is a sophisticated notion that requires significant insight and that is why forgiveness is a rare event in our world. But for those who are ready to hear it, it is an inspiring and wondrous truth that leads to miracles.
Darkness as the Absence of Light
Darkness is merely the absence of light. It has no substance of its own; its only seeming reality is as a lack, rather than the presence, of something. In the seeming absence of anything real, darkness becomes a vacuum where fear is free to reign.
By its nature, darkness is something that lurks in hidden corners. It settles in the places where the light has been blocked. Until we realise that nothing can ever be hidden, we either intentionally or unwittingly try to create niches to store, out of sight, the things that we would conceal from others, and ourselves. Then we shovel darkness over our little secrets, thinking this is sufficient for total concealment.
If, however, Truth is Omnipotent and always remains ever thus, then there can be no deceptions, secrets, or concealments. The dissolution of all darkness therefore lies in the acknowledgement of this. This is the first step. The next step is the loss of the desire to hide things.
When we have no need for darkness, and we stand in the light of Truth, then darkness is dispelled forever. Darkness only seems to exist while we use it for our own purposes. Once darkness has been eradicated, through the understanding that it is nothing, love and forgiveness triumph in the very place where darkness once lurked.
Fear, the mastermind of darkness, arises from a belief in lack and scarcity. The belief that we are not everything we want to be, or that we do not have everything we need and want is the driving force behind virtually every human activity and effort. But what if we are actually who we want to be and that we, in fact, have everything that we both need and want and that it is only our lack of awareness of this fact that keeps us wanting? Once we understand Oneness, we can begin to see and manifest the perfection and abundance of Truth.
However, those who are enmeshed in the fear of lack and scarcity cannot simply manifest through their own will the abundance of Truth. Because they start their argument from a position of lack, and look to fill the nothing with something, the very premise from which they start undoes their efforts. The demonstration of abundance can only be achieved through the realisation that we in fact have everything already and, through a willingness to forgive, we then leave it to the Universe to transform the physical evidence to reflect the Spiritual Reality.
This is the caveat I would add to the insights provided Rhonda Byrne in the world bestselling book The Secret. If, in our attempt to manifest our desires, we believe there are things we want that we do not have, then our efforts will not produce the effects we hope for. We can only manifest the things we want in life when we know that in Truth, we have everything we need and want. This knowing then leads to the miracle that causes a shift in our perception so that we come to see the physical conditions of our life adjust to reflect that Truth.
This is a significant step in the process of our enlightenment (or our at-one-ment) and one that we may not be ready to either understand or manifest. That doesn’t mean we cannot access the benefits of the light of Truth. We can feel and enjoy the warmth and light of the sun without a deep understanding either of what the sun is or how it functions. We need only the willingness to step out of the darkness and into the sunshine. Forgiveness puts us in that place in relation to our Source. All that the Universe requires of us, as a first and simple step towards greater understanding, is a willingness to forgive.
Forgiveness is like faith before it is transformed into knowing. We are not sure how or why it works; we are just prepared to take the leap. So, at this point, it is useful to know the importance of putting our attention and focus on forgiveness. By forgetting what we believe we do not have, we can just forgive and leave the rest to Spirit. We can rest assured we will be neither disappointed nor left in a state of deprivation.
None of us understands the full Truth of the Universe. But full knowledge is not required. All that we need to do is stand witness for what we do know. Forgiveness ushers in light and love, and ultimately fills the gaps in our understanding and eradicates the dark corners of fear, doubt, and lack.
Spirit as the Source of Wholeness
The belief in lack springs from our first mistaken belief that we can be, and are, separate from our Source. In other words, the belief arises from our duality. Just as the wave is no longer a wave if it is not part of the ocean, the ray cannot be such if it has no continuous connection with its source (the sun), and we can only exist as the emanation and expression of our Source, Divine Love.
This is a good opportunity to provide an explication of the nature of our Source and its ramifications for us as Its emanation and reflection. The Universe is governed by, and emanates from, a Divine Principle of all Life, the essence of which is Divine Love and Truth. In fact, these terms can be seen as synonymous; Love equals Truth, and together they are the Source of all power.
Rather than seeing God as an anthropomorphic being, with the propensity for anger, revenge, jealousy and the need for control, it is much more useful, and Real, to see God – Source - more as an Omnipotent, Omniscient Principle that governs and gives rise to all Life, that is, all phenomena of Reality. Mary Baker Eddy uniquely and profoundly describes Source as ‘Noumenon and Phenomenon.’ In other words God, or Source, is both the ocean and the wave.
When seen as Principle, rather than a flawed superhuman in the sky, it is easier to see how the rule of perfection of the Universe operates. Because the Principle of Divine Love and Divine Mind is perfect, the creation of that Principle can only come from, and be subject to, the rules of perfection.
Perfection, clearly, is not fully evidenced in the material world. That is because we are in a state of duality. Our five senses attest to and confirm the seeming reality of the material world around us, and our reality - shaped by our own thoughts - is restricted or enhanced by what we believe to be possible.
In the state of duality we have a split mind. One part, which we call our spirit, knows the truth about our spiritual heritage. The other part of our mind, our ego (or our human self which is the vehicle of our seeming separation both from Source and others) can only survive in separation, and is therefore the voice for separation.
It is the ego that makes us want to feel special, superior, to be right, to win, and chooses attack when threatened. Paradoxically, it is also our ego that makes us feel inadequate, unworthy,