Can
what has no beginning really end? The world will end in an illusion,
as it began. Yet will its ending be an illusion of mercy. The illusion
of forgiveness, complete, excluding no one, limitless in gentleness,
will cover it, hiding all evil, concealing all sin, and ending guilt
forever. So ends the world that guilt had made, for now it has no
purpose and is gone.
The
father of illusions is the belief that they have a purpose; that
they serve a need or gratify a want. Perceived as purposeless, they
are no longer seen. Their uselessness is recognized, and they are
gone. How but in this way are all illusions ended? They have been
brought to truth, and truth saw them not. It merely overlooked the
meaningless.
Until
forgiveness is complete, the world does have a purpose. It becomes
the home in which forgiveness is born and where it grows and becomes
stronger and more all embracing. Here is it nourished, for here
it is needed. A gentle Savior, born where sin was made and guilt
seemed real. Here is His home, for here there is need of Him indeed.
He brings the ending of the world with Him. It is His Call God's
teachers answer, turning to Him in silence to receive His Word.
The world will end when all things in it have been rightly judged
by His judgment.
The
world will end with the benediction of holiness upon it.
When
not one thought of sin remains, the world is over. It will not be
destroyed nor attacked nor even touched. It will merely cease to
seem to be.
Certainly
this seems to be a long, long while away. "When not one thought
of sin remains" appears to be a long-range goal indeed. But
time stands still and waits on the goals of God's teachers. Not
one thought of sin will remain the instant any one of them accepts
the Atonement for himself. It is not easier to forgive one sin than
to forgive all of them. The illusion of orders of difficulty is
an obstacle the teacher of God must learn to pass by and leave behind.
One sin perfectly forgiven by one teacher of God can make salvation
complete.
Can
you understand this?
No;
it is meaningless to anyone here. Yet it is the final lesson in
which unity is restored. It goes against all the thinking of the
world, but so does Heaven.
The
world will end when its thought system has been completely reversed.
Until then, bits and pieces of its thinking will still seem sensible.
The final lesson which brings the ending of the world cannot be
grasped by those not yet prepared to leave the world and go beyond
its tiny reach.
What,
then, is the function of the teacher of God in this concluding
lesson?
He
need merely learn how to approach it, to be willing to go in its
direction. He need merely trust that, if God's Voice tells him it
is a lesson he can learn, he can learn it. He does not judge it
either as hard or easy. His Teacher points to it, and he trusts
that He will show him how to learn it.
The
world will end in joy because it is a place of sorrow. When joy
has come, the purpose of the world has gone. The world will end
in peace because it is a place of war. When peace has come, what
is the purpose of the world? The world will end in laughter because
it is a place of tears. Where there is laughter, who can longer
weep?
And
only complete forgiveness brings all this to bless the world.
In
blessing it departs, for it will not end as it began. To turn hell
into Heaven is the function of God's teachers, for what they teach
are lessons in which Heaven is reflected. And now sit down in true
humility and realize that all God would have you do you can do.
Do not be arrogant and say you cannot learn His own curriculum.
His Word says otherwise. His Will be done. It cannot be otherwise.
And be you thankful it is so.
