Giving
is Receiving
“To give and to
receive are one in truth. I will receive what I am giving
now.” (ACIM-W-p.1 Lesson108.8:2-3)
Our true vision is restored
when we can finally realize that giving and receiving are
one in truth. We can only realize the truth of this statement
from direct experience. It cannot be learnt or known intellectually,
it must be experienced.
We are all raised to
believe that giving is good but that it has limitations. We
preset limits on the amount we give and who is ‘special’
and deserving enough of our benevolence. Mostly, we give with
a great deal of consideration for what we can expect to receive
in return. This conditional giving is not giving at all in
truth as it is based on a false premise that we are all separate
individuals, each competing for a finite pool of resources,
be it love or money. There is a lack implied in the giving.
Sometimes we offer a gift as our futile means of purchasing
the guilt and shame we feel for our private thoughts, feelings
and actions. Sometimes we give in the future hope of receiving,
a kind of bargain with the Universe. Very rarely do we give
without consideration to our self, another, cause, organization
etc.
Behind this conditional
giving is a deep and mostly unconscious sense of deprivation
and aloneness. We believe we are isolated from the Source.
We all yearn for connection, for unconditional love and acceptance
yet we give it not. Instead we seek to ‘get’ it
from outside ourselves and will even use giving as a means
for getting. We have all sorts of reasons as to why we can
or cannot give to this one or that one and why we do give
conditionally. This conditional giving also reinforces our
conscious and unconscious beliefs about God (or whatever name
you wish to use in pace of It) It sets up a God of duality,
one who looks at our personal ledger of good and bad deeds
to see if we qualify for a handout of mercy. Ultimately, giving
to receive sets us up to feel guilty. It makes us feel unworthy
and undeserving.
The truth is that we
are all One. There is no one else in the room! Every time
you have an opportunity to give to another, you are really
being given a chance to give to yourself. It is through giving
and forgiving that we experience who we are. As we see others
as our self, we correct the false perception that we are separate
individuals and the only healing we need, takes place.
It’s easy to give
to someone special that we love and care for or to a cause
that is socially acceptable but as we learn to give (not just
materially) peace, acceptance and forgiveness to ALL, we discover
the self acceptance, peace and forgiveness we have been looking
for. Here is where we can experience giving as receiving.
When we remove specialness, conditions and judgments and simply
give because we desire to experience the peace of oneness,
our true vision will return.
Gone will be judgment
and separation and we realize that our fears lessen and eventually
depart as well, as we remember our connection to the Source.
We begin to live a life of joy as we celebrate our oneness
by giving, and experiencing that giving and receiving are
the same.
|
