Name: Stefan Schulz
Date: May 14, 2024
Course: Doctor of Spirituality (ACIM) of ULC Seminary
Lesson: IV – Foregiveness
Dear brothers and sisters of ULC Seminary, dear Loretta, please find attached my coursework. Thank you very much for this lesson in forgiveness, which showed me and sharpened very important aspects for my further path. It was a great joy and very enlightening for me to study this course and apply it in prayer. Your brother in Christ, Stefan
1. Explain how you agree or disagree with the Course's view of true forgiveness. Give examples that support your thoughts.
As for the Course's view of true forgiveness, I generally agree with its perspective, principles and its approach. However, when it comes to the three steps of true forgiveness presented in the lesson and in the Course, I take a different view regarding their order.
In my perspective, the first step should be self-forgiveness (the healing of our perception of ourselves). This is necessary due to the reason, that the urge for forgiveness is based on the fact that it is a reflection of one's own unnatural (sub)consciousness programming on other members of God´s family. A spiritually pure, non-dual consciousness that is in harmony with God would require neither self- nor other-forgiveness. In this respect, self-forgiveness is the first step, as it is intended to eliminate any possible, previously unrecognized duality, i.e. a disruption of the unity between God and the true self.
Through the act of self-forgiveness and thereby the restoration of the unity of God and the true self, it is then possible, in a second step, to project His divine forgiveness towards all other people as part of divine creation. Because only in spiritual oneness with God will one be able to see Christ in other people purely, naturally and in all perfection and in this light will one furthermore be able to recognize and to understand their unnatural deeds, these programmed and controlled by their ego-centric belief system.
In this context, a good example seems to me to be the past relationship with my father. In my childhood and youth, this relationship was particularly characterized by mental and physical abuse (e.g. humiliation, belittling, beatings, breaking off contact, manipulation of all kinds). After my unity with God has been restored by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, I was also able to see my earthly father's true, divine nature for the first time, that is, see through him to his true essence. I saw his buried, divine nature emerge again and again in individual actions and moments and understood his entire tragic conflict and self-imprisonment.
Finally, I realized that he is not able to help himself on his own or through third parties as long as he is caught in his false, programmed ego-consciousness. In this context, it became clear to me that for as long as I have known and experienced him, he has lived and acted in a state of complete separation, i.e. within his completely unnaturally programmed belief system and that this belief system has become extremely solidified over the years. For him, it has become a self-made prison. The reasons for his unnatural state are in my understanding a pronounced inferiority complex, i.e. the feeling of being inferior to his own sister (lack of love and competition for love and attention) and a strong feeling of being neglected and rejected by other people. This has resulted in an unhealthy isolated life style as well as in emotions and thoughts such as fear, self-justification and judging other people, competitiveness and a manipulative, utilitarian mindset towards other people.
After realizing this, I lost my fear, negative feelings and thoughts towards him and was able to forgive him completely. Then I further realized that I, in particular, as an ordained son of God in Jesus Christ, have the power, the privilege and the ability to radiate divine love and forgiveness onto him, as my heavenly father does it onto me.
2. Re-write one of your own prayers for forgiveness in light of the true forgiveness taught by the Course. Show the before and after examples here:
Before: Heavenly Father, Abba, I pray to you in the name of my Lord, Light, Redeemer, Liberator, Savior, King, High Priest, Way, Truth, Judge and Shepherd Jesus Christ, who is in me and I in Him. Please restore the relationship to my father, forgive him all his hurtful habits and deeds and pull him into Your presence, that he may be purified and changed according to your will. Please help him. Amen.
After: Heavenly Father, Abba, I pray to you in the name of my Lord, Light, Redeemer, Deliverer, Savior, King, High Priest, Way, Truth, Judge and Shepherd Jesus Christ, who is in me and I in him. Thank you that I now have fully understood and restored my position as your Son in Jesus Christ. I know that through this I have the power, the privilege and the mission to reflect Your love, joy and forgiveness onto all creation. Thank You for the gift to see my earthly father with Your eyes for the first time. Please utterly heal my wrong perception and reflection of this longtime situation. So I ask You to remove any mental and spiritual obstacles that might still hinder me and thereby please end my self-imprisonment in this regard. Please forgive me and delete all my potentially negative, unreal thoughts and reactions when dealing with my father in the future. I pray to You that Your Spirit will guide our relationship into perfect love, understanding, wisdom and strength, according to Your will. Amen.
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