Los Angeles herald., 1910-09-04

There is a wonderful promise to every
man in the words of the prayer Jesus
set for us, "Forgive us our debts as we
forgive our debtors" When the realiz-
ing sense of our own need of forgive
ness comes to us there is relief and
peace if we can truly feel that we no
longer cherish any trace of resentment
toward others. Indeed the two things
go together, as Jesus knew. When we
do really acknowledge our own sins
and begin to leave them off, then we
are too humble and too sorry to hold
on to any condemnation of others. In
these moments of deep self-searching
we understand that there is none good
save God, and that He Is indeed ever
present good. Thus we wipe out of
consciousness any notion that our own
mortal selfhood and its acts or those OF
others have any reality. So long, how
ever, as we hold to the mortality OF
others as a real thing deserving our
condemnation, so long must we con-
tinue to think Of ourselves as this
faulty human Consciousness. The light
of divine beauty shows us. that the
mortality we have named self is actu-
ally objectionable. The only pardon
comes in losing sight of the false self
and claiming the hirthright of the child
of God In whom is no capacity to sin.
But none may claim this pure, endur-
ing reality. for himself who does not
equally ascribe 1t to all men, and prove
its possession by acts rather than
words.
LESSON OF FoRGIvENNEss
When Jesus said that the kingdom of
heaven was within us he gave another
lesson in forgiveness, 1t is in our own
consciousness that the sense of pardon
must come; no forgiveness from out
side ourselves can help us unless we are
free from our condemnation of others.
II we are holding to condemnation we
are not free from condemnation, in fact
1t may be said that he who judges an
other does the same things. Truly
seen, pardon is not condoning a fault
but 1t is destroying 1t through reform.
This reformation of the human heart
which wins to the consciousness or
heaven, harmony and divine Love, IN
cludes as well the impossibility of cher
ishing resentment. And moreover 1t
sees a like reforming in every direction;
reform in the idea held of others even
as OF self
Forgiveness is not the mere absence
of condemnation. Jesus did not say,
"Refrain from returning evil for evil
but he taught clearly that we must re-
turn good for evil. Unforgiyeness is
direct disobedience to this teaching.
Persons sometimes, however, condone
In themselves an unforgiving spirit be-
cause they continue to do outwardiy
the right and just thing by another VINO
has Wronged them. But Jesus uncoV-
cred this sophistry when he taught that
the anger of the heart is one with the
sin OF murder. Moreover, such COW
erine up of enmity adds hypocrisy to
the sin of an unforgtving heart
SUFFERER. FINDS FREEDOM
In the practice of Christian Science
It is often found that the removal OF
his sense of unforgiveness sets a sur
ferer free. There are two reasons why
forgivlng others opens the heart for
the Incoming of the spirit OF love ana
neaee. The unforgiVing thought can be
cherished only where we secretly feel
that we are better than the person
we do not forgive. Jesus showed that
the poor in spirit are blessed, those VINO
realize the poverty of the mortal ma
ture 80 called. The Pharisee who
thanked God that he was not as other
men are did not find his own pardon;
while the man who prayed GOD be
merciful to me sinner" was forglV-
an. We certainly do not withhold our
forgiveness from others when we real-
ize our own need of forgiveness, There-
FORE humility. must have her work IN
us. BecORIllZliS Jul O'NAA RESN ~ -
vine grace and of the forbearing love
of our friends, we become humble
enough to know that no matter what
another may have done by us we our
selves as mortals are no better than ne.
Sometimes indeed we see that what we
And hard to forgive in another Is his
superiority to ourselves. Such eelf-ex-
animation leads us to pray with the
psalmist, "Who can understand his
errors? Cleanse thou me from secret
faults 1t is God indeed who can and
does SO cleanse us, every one, He who
prays thus must feel all bitterness melt
from his thought Of any other person,
It is the light OF. spiritual understand
ing which makes plain secret faults,
and declares that we are, as mortals,
"as other men are" and in need of
the same pardon-reformatio
we see other men 70 need, The love
and worship of divine beauty makes us
properly humble, the meekness Of such
spiritual consciousness is JOY unreliable,
Who would barter It in order to cher
ish some petty ill-will toward his
brother?
PEACE FOLLOWS HUMILITY
Besides the coming Of humility, the
forglving spirit makes way also for
peace, The object Of true healing work
is to establish In the sufferer haF-