Nevertheless, life is such that we can be hurt, and become
angry and disappointed with others and ourselves. We need to
shake off the weight of these feelings without suppressing them.
Cayce guides: “If you will meditate upon that as He gave:
[that] love and forgiveness, faith and hope may overcome spites,
fears, distrust, [then] you may open your heart, you may open
yourself to the opportunities that constantly lie before you
in your activities in the present.” Praying for help with
these negative influences and then entering into the stillness
while surrounding ourselves with His teachings about love and
forgiveness, faith and hope, we may fill our minds and hearts
with that spirit that overcomes the negative feelings.
But it will take action after the meditation to truly let go
of antagonism, as we find in this next reading. Cayce encourages
us to engage our wills and forgive.
“(Q) How can I overcome antagonistic forces in self and
others?
”(A) By actually manifesting forgiveness, more and more.
In overcoming antagonistic feelings, forgive as you would be
forgiven, remembering then no more. This overcomes antagonism
and antagonistic influences; for as self was, is, an influence
in dispersing feelings in hearts and souls of peoples, the thoughts
held create the currents upon which the wings of experience
must pass, and then -- as these are made in positive contacts
-- so is antagonism overcome, love made manifest, glorying in
your own ability in Him; not in self, in Him!”
Jesus Christ and His comforting spirit -- the Holy Spirit --
are a powerful force for helping us to forgive. Cayce identifies
the Holy Spirit as “the motivating force of man’s
relationship to God and to the fellow man.” He identifies
the mind as “the Christ-Way,” saying that the mind
“becomes the channel through which there is builded the
greater understanding with ourselves, others, and God”
(1947-1). Therefore, we need to evoke the motivating force (the
Holy Spirit) and channel it through our thoughts about ourselves
and others each day. When negative thoughts come, clear them
away with the higher motivation of the Holy Spirit and the rebuilding
power of the Christ Consciousness.
But Cayce and Jesus call us to an even higher level of service.
Both teach that we can lift the burdens of others, take away
their sins, forgive their sins in such a manner that they are
gone. “As has been given, is it easier to say, ‘Son,
your sins be forgiven,’ or to say ‘Arise, take up
your bed and walk’? but that you may know that the Son
has power to forgive [Mat. 9:5-6] -- meaning to forget the weakness
and give strength to those that falter,” 538-30. When
we keep in attunement with the Christ, then we, as sons and
daughters of God, may lift the burdens of others. We see this
in a dream of one of Cayce’s more ardent supporters: “That
dream of [900]’s night before last, in which I beheld
a man who sought forgiveness in prayer. I said, ‘Not only
believe you are forgiven, but know that you are forgiven, for
Christ forgives you.’ He challenged my right to so represent
myself; at which time Edgar Cayce spoke up and said: ‘Yes,
Christ gives him that privilege, and he may have anything he
wants, provided he keeps faith,’” 900-411. In the
Gospel of John, chapter 20, verses 21-23, a resurrected Jesus
appears and says: “‘Peace be with you. As the Father
has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said
this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive
you the Holy Spirit: whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven;
whose sins you retain, they are retained.’” Jesus
went to the Father but left us to represent the Father’s
works in this world in His stead. We have been ordained to carry
on the good work of forgiveness, if we will rise to that level
of at-onement and understanding. Not with a high and mighty
attitude, but in humility, faith, and at-onement with Christ.
In this way we may channel His burden-lifting forgiveness to
others in this often difficult world.
The key to this level of forgiveness is what Cayce said to
538, “glorying in your own ability in Him; not in self,
in Him!” Seek that connection with Him and then allow
His power to gently, humbly flow through us to others. Often
it will be just a kind word, a smile, a gentle sharing or allowing,
that will lift another’s burden.
The Holy Spirit motivates, the Mind channels and builds, and
the physical change is the miraculous result. Remember, our
greatest opportunities to manifest this will be with those close
to us, in our families, among our friends and coworkers.
Few activities will make us happier and healthier than bringing
happiness and well-being to those around us. This is the peace
that the resurrected Jesus spoke of, a peace that comes from
lovingly forgiving and forgetting all the little things that
weigh humans down. The power of forgiveness is transformative
and freeing. Let’s allow it to flow within us and to others.
“Our Father, Our God! We thank you for the gift of your
son, the Christ, in whose name we ask pardon and grace and mercy
for the shortcomings of myself and others. Let me so live in
the light of His love as He manifested in the Earth. And may
I be humble, may I be patient, may I be gracious: forgiving
even as I ask forgiveness for myself.” 281-64
-END
