I. Love. This.

**starsapphire** · 10-09-2009, 04:41 PM

May it make you feel the way it made me feel when I read it.

How to Goof Off

Recently I signed up with a new trash removal service which
requires each rural customer to mark their address on their
garbage cans. I bought a can of white spray paint, etched my
street number on the plastic can, and drove it to the end of my
road where I left the garbage. When I got home I was irked to
notice that some of the white paint had rubbed off on the back
of my seat; apparently it had not fully dried. I tried to remove
the paint, but could not, it was stuck fast.

Over the next weeks and months every time I noticed the
paint marks on the back of the seat, I felt foolish; the voice of
judgment chided me, "If you had paid closer attention and left
more time for the paint to dry, this wouldn't have happened.
Now you have ruined your car seat, and every time you look
at it, you are to be reminded of your carelessness." (Do you
know this voice?)

Then one day I was in a hardware store with a friend who was
looking for some paint. On a shelf I noticed a small can called
"Goof Off", a remover of paint and other hard-to-get-out stains.
I grabbed a can, took it home, and applied it to the defiant
stain. To my delight, it worked. I now see this product - especially
its name - as symbolic of forgiveness. The name acknowledges
that you made a mistake ("goof") - but it also acknowledges that
it can be undone ("off"). If you have been subject to the tyranny
of guilt, this offers an especially important lesson. A Course in
Miracles distinguishes between a sin and an error: a sin
requires punishment, but an error simply requires correction.
The Course goes on to tell us that we have made many errors,
but we have never sinned. All of our sins ("Self-Inflicted
Nonsense") are undone the moment we step into the healing
light of love.

The story is told about a woman named Josephine who claimed
to have daily conversations with Jesus. A cynical priest heard
about this woman and sought to debunk her. He went to
Josephine and asked her, "Is it true that you talk to Jesus
every day?" "Yes, I do," she answered affirmatively.

"Then the next time you talk to Jesus, would you ask him what
was the sin I committed when I was in the seminary?" The priest
left smugly, certain that he had cornered the charlatan into
exposure. A week later the priest returned and asked Josephine,
"Did you ask Jesus what was my sin?"

"Yes, I did," she answered.
"And what did he say?" asked the priest.
"He said, He forgot."

There is no sin so heinous that it cannot be undone by
regarding it through the eyes of compassion. Love has no
consciousness of our sins; God sees us only as pure and
innocent souls. It is we who have fabricated the concept of
sin and crushed our life force under it. A Course in Miracles
tells us that "God does not forgive because He never has
condemned." In the inspiring movie Brother Sun, Sister
Moon, the Pope tells St. Francis, "In our obsession with Original
Sin, we have overlooked Original Innocence."

All self-judgment can be undone by recognizing that we deserve
only love. I met a man who, during his senior year in college,
was walking past the college bookstore where he saw a large
display of yearbooks just outside the store. As this fellow had
no money, he grabbed a book and kept walking. Over the next
few days he began to feel guilty about his theft, and he decided
to return the book and confess. He went to the bookstore manager
and guiltily admitted, "I stole this book." The manager smiled
and told him, "Come with me." The manager led the student to
the display where there was a sign that the young man had not
seen: "Free - please take one."

I am not suggesting that you go out and steal anything or hurt
anyone. This true story serves as a metaphor: for every sin you
can find about your life, God can find a way to forgive it. For every
way you have separated yourself from love, higher consciousness
reminds you that you have never for a moment been outside of
love's embrace. And for every paint stain that you berate yourself
for leaving, there is a can of Goof Off to remove it.

© Alan Cohen, June, 2000

**starsapphire** · 10-09-2009, 07:10 PM

This must have left everyone speechless

**Sassyclass** · 10-09-2009, 09:19 PM

Originally Posted by starsapphire

This must have left everyone speechless

Not really, I just did my talking to God.

Cat

**frugalwarrior** · 10-09-2009, 10:39 PM

Thank you.

**mauimagic** · 10-09-2009, 10:46 PM

This is definitely a keeper!! Mahalo!!

**Sassyclass** · 10-09-2009, 10:54 PM

I was beginning to think you were right about everyone being speechless.

Cat

**Sassyclass** · 10-09-2009, 11:06 PM

Hmmm, I had this nagging to go back and read this again and I'm glad I did. According to A Course in Miracles "we have never sinned".
Poppycock!!! Then Christ died for nothing? and the Bible is lying when it says "All have sinned and come short of the Glory of God"? WHOA. That lie isn't in my Bible and never will be.
Sorry.

Cat

**starsapphire** · 10-10-2009, 09:57 PM

Originally Posted by Sassyclass

Hmmm, I had this nagging to go back and read this again and I'm glad I did. According to A Course in Miracles "we have never sinned".
Poppycock!!! Then Christ died for nothing? and the Bible is lying when it says "All have sinned and come short of the Glory of God"? WHOA. That lie isn't in my Bible and never will be.
Sorry.

Cat

My beliefs lie in a different direction. I thought it was a great story and a beautiful message, and when I read it I felt inspired to share it. I didn't mean to offend. Sorry.

**Sassyclass** · 10-10-2009, 11:48 PM

Originally Posted by starsapphire

My beliefs lie in a different direction. I thought it was a great story and a beautiful message, and when I read it I felt inspired to share it. I didn't mean to offend. Sorry.

Oh no no, you didn't offend me. You didn't write this so you didn't offend me at all.Sorry you thought you did. The writer however needs to read the Holy Bible. I know you only meant this as a feel good post.

Cat