fearful price in coins of suffering? Joy HASno cost. It is your sacred
right, and what you pay for is not happiness. Be speeded on your way
by honesty, and let not your experiences here deceive in retrospect.
They were not free from bitter cost and joyless consequence.
Do not look back except in honesty. And when an idol tempts
you, think of this:
“There never was a time an idol brought
You anything except the “gift” of guilt.
Not one was bought except at cost of pain,
Nor was it ever paid by you alone.”
Be merciful unto your brother, then. And do not choose an idol
thoughtlessly, remembering that he will pay the cost as well as you.
For he will be delayed when you look back, and you will not
perceive Whose loving hand you hold. Look forward, then, and walk
in confidence, with happy hearts that beat in hope and do not pound
in fear.
The Will of God forever lies in those whose hands are joined.
Until they joined, they thought He was their enemy. But when they
joined and shared a purpose, they were free to learn their will is one.
And thus the Will of God must reach to their awareness. Nor can
they forget for long that it is but their own.
THE JUSTIFICATION FOR FORGIVENESS
Anger is NEVER justified. Attack has NO foundation. It is here
escape from fear begins, and will be made complete. Here is the real
world given in exchange for dreams of terror. For it is on this
forgiveness rests, and is but natural.You are not asked to offer pardon
where attack is due, and would be justified. For this would mean that
you forgive a sin by overlooking what is really there. This is not
pardon. For it would assume that, by responding in a way which is
not justified, your pardon will become the answer to attack that has
been made. And thus is pardon inappropriate, by being granted
where it is not due.
Pardon is ALWAYSjustified. It has a SUREfoundation.You do
not forgive the unforgivable, nor overlook a real attack that calls for
punishment. Salvation does not lie in being asked to make unnatural
THE JUSTIFICATION FOR FORGIVENESS