(The following is an excerpt from the book I am writing on forgiveness called Loosening the Cords. I welcome any feedback)
Although many people would say that A
Course in Miracles is complicated and confusing, the fact is the Course has
a very simple message. However, most
people who have attempted to read it would not agree with that assessment. It seems to me that the Course is often seen
as confusing because we ourselves are
confused. However, as we study the
Course and apply its ideas (instead of our own confused ideas), we gradually
“get it.” From then on we can pick up
the Course and read any part of it and understand its Truth.
After many years of studying the Course,
Robert Perry recently came up with an idea that he believes is his best summary
of the teachings of the Course to date.
It is just one sentence, and I do agree that it does capture the essence
of the Course. I don’t think I could say
I agree with Mr. Perry without also having personally studied and applied the
Course myself.
So, the idea that Robert Perry came up
with that summarizes the message of the Course is…
“Nothing compromises love.”
The love that created us, the love that
sustains us, the love that we live, move, and have our being in cannot be
compromised by anyone or anything. If it
if could be compromised it would not be “divine.” God’s perfect love is uncompromising.
What does it mean that this love is
uncompromising? First, let’s look at the
word “compromise.” One definition of
compromise, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is a “settlement of differences by arbitration
or by consent reached by mutual concessions.”
With this first definition a compromise is reached when two parties can
agree on a decision in such a way that neither party is getting what they
really want. Both parties are
sacrificing or losing a little of what they want in order to come to a decision
they can both settle for.
The second definition of compromise is “something intermediate
between or blending qualities of two different things.” With this second
definition we have two different things blending together to create a third
thing that contains some of the qualities of the original two while losing some
of the uniqueness of the original qualities.
Again, sacrifice or loss is implied with this compromise.
The third definition of compromise is “a concession
to something derogatory or prejudicial (‘a compromise of principles’).” We might imagine someone with a certain set
of values or principles – say, a young man who values women and gender equality
– who works for a company with “unwritten policies” that he disagrees with –
policies that discriminate against women.
He would compromise his principles if he went along with these policies
instead of speaking out against them.
Other
synonyms for the word “compromise” are:
Concession
Weaken
Fifty Fifty
Half Measure
Middle Ground
Sellout
Discredit
Give in
Jeopardize
Split the Difference
Give and Take
A love that
can be compromised is a weakened form of love.
It would be a love that is mixed in with something opposite to it – like
fear or hate. A God whose love can be
compromised is a God who will sometimes love and sometimes hate – a God who
will split His love between two people so that neither get His full love – a
God whose love can be jeopardized.
A
compromising love, therefore, does not sound like a divine love. It sounds very human to me. And, that is often the problem. We humans, with our limited capacities for
love, make God in our own image. We
imagine Him as an angry God – a judging God – a fickle God. Because of our own limitations, we limit the
Divine. However, what the Course teaches
us over and over again is that our efforts to limit the Divine are fruitless.
In Reality
God’s love cannot be compromised. It is
an uncompromising love. One definition
of “uncompromising” is, “Showing an unwillingness to make concessions to
others, esp. by changing one’s ways or opinions.” God is unwilling to make concessions to
us. He is unwilling to change His ways
or to change His mind to suit our limited capacity for love.
Some synonyms
for “uncompromising” are:
Intransigent
Inflexible
Unbending
Adamant
Stubborn
Unyielding
These are
great words to describe God’s love for us!
Use any of the above words in the following sentence and note how it
makes you feel:
God’s Love for me is
________________.
God’s love
for us is unbending. He never changes
His mind about us. In the Course we
read,
When anything
threatens your peace of mind, ask yourself, "Has God changed His Mind about
me?" Then accept His decision, for
it is indeed changeless, and refuse to change your mind about yourself. God will never decide against you, or He
would be deciding against Himself (T-10.in.3:9-11).
And,
Nothing can
prevent what God would have accomplished from accomplishment. Whatever your reactions to the Holy Spirit's
Voice may be, whatever voice you choose to listen to, whatever strange thoughts
may occur to you, God's Will is
done. You will find the peace in which
He has established you, because He does not change His Mind. He is invariable as the peace in which you
dwell, and of which the Holy Spirit reminds you (T-13.XI.5:3-6).
In that last
passage we find another synonym for uncompromising – “invariable.” God is invariable. The peace within which we dwell is
invariable. It is this peace that the
Holy Spirit is constantly reminding us of – if we will only listen to His Voice
instead of the voice of the ego.
What God
wills is done. It is accomplished. Nothing can stop it from happening, because
it has already occurred. We can be asleep to Reality, but we cannot
alter Reality. There is nothing –
absolutely nothing – that we can to that will cause God to change His mind
about us or that will cause God to kick us out of the heaven of his unyielding
love.
And, since we
are God’s creation and we are made in His image and likeness (not the other way
around), any time that we limit our love we are denying what we are. We
are the ones who are trying to compromise love.
We are the ones who are
deciding who is in and who is out. We are the ones condemning others – and
ourselves by extension – to hell.
The good news
of the Course is that, try as we might, we really can’t compromise God’s
love. We don’t have the power to
determine who is in and who is out.
There is no hell to be condemned to.
We are either living in the Reality of God’s love or we are living in an
illusion.
Therefore, if
we are going to be true to our creation by God, we are going to have to practice
unlimited, unbending, uncompromising love.
We are going to have to practice this love so much that it becomes second
nature for us. We will have to practice
this love so much that it overrides our selfishness, our fears, and our
limiting beliefs. This is how we claim
our inheritance as God’s children. This
is how we claim the love that is our birthright.
According to
the Course, God’s love is given to all of His creation equally. He can’t give more love to one child than He
gives to another. If He did this, His
love would be compromised. Each child of
God gets all of God’s love. Any
differences between one child of God and another is wholly of our own making –
and is an illusion. Since divine love is
given equally to all, our love (as it is transformed from human love to divine
love) is given equally to all, or it is not true love.
