Forgiveness, as this lesson describes it, is not pretending that hurt did not happen or asking me to call suffering good. It is the correction of the fearful perception through which I have been looking. When I allow the Holy Spirit to reinterpret what I see, I begin to loosen the bitterness, blame, and certainty that have held my mind captive.

The world may still appear to contain violence, grief, and loss, but forgiveness asks me not to make them the final truth. Beneath everything fear has made, love remains unchanged. What God created cannot be injured, diminished, or lost. As my mind returns to that remembrance, attack begins to lose its meaning and I can rest again.

I may not know how the whole world is transformed, but I can allow one frightened thought to be corrected now. I can choose tenderness instead of judgment, generosity instead of defense, and connection instead of separation. Each time I do, the world reflects a little more of the light from which we came.