You Probably Don’t Want to Hear This (and Neither Do I) — But It Has to Be Done

If we're going to have a true forgiveness practice, we're going to have to forgive the shooters.  I know. This is a really hard one.  Yes, I’m talking about the shooters, the people who commit acts that seem unforgivable. And yes, we’re going to explore why forgiveness matters even here

Forgiveness Unblocks the Divine

Forgiveness serves many purposes, but one of the most profound is that it reconnects us to the divine. When we only forgive some of the transgressors, we block ourselves from fully experiencing unity with the great Oneness. True spiritual freedom comes when our forgiveness extends without limits—even to those whose actions shock or horrify us.  And remember, forgiving them does not mean condoning or approving their actions. Forgiveness is about freeing your own heart and opening to love, even in the face of what feels unforgivable.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Stepping Into Their Shoes

When we begin the difficult work of forgiving “shooters” or anyone who commits acts of extreme violence, a helpful step is empathy. Try to imagine what could cause someone to behave this way. Often, these individuals feel alienated, unloved, or harshly judged. Many were bullied as children, had few friends, or never felt they belonged. It’s not an excuse, but understanding their suffering can soften our hearts and open the door to forgiveness. 

Society’s Role

We can’t ignore the environment that shapes these behaviors. When society normalizes games where children simulate shooting others for hours, what mindset are we cultivating? We are literally training young minds to think in terms of guns and violence, numbing them to the horror and suffering that such actions cause. This societal conditioning contributes to a cycle of pain that extends far beyond the individual.

Why Forgive Anyway

It’s hard. It may feel repugnant. But forgiveness is about freeing ourselves first. Resentment, anger, and fear keep us trapped, while forgiveness releases us and opens the way to love, clarity, and peace. Extending forgiveness—even in these extreme cases—connects us to the higher truth of our shared humanity and to the divine Oneness that unites us all. 

The Simple Truth About Forgiveness

It really is simple to forgive these people. Just remember: they are all children of God, too. God created them, and He loves them. If He can love them, we can at least extend forgiveness.

God sees all of us beyond our crazy actions on this psycho planet. He knows our true goodness because He created us exactly in His own image. He is pure love, and in our ultimate truth, so are we.

All you have to do is hold that thought for these poor, misdirected souls. Feel it in your own heart for a moment or two. That’s what forgiveness truly is: a moment of seeing the higher truth.

Want to go deeper into forgiveness?

• Explore how forgiveness reconnects us to divine compassion in Unblocking our Connection to Love.

• For a little Halloween-inspired forgiveness see What's Behind the Costume. 

• My book, Forgiveness is the Key to Happiness, offers heartfelt guidance, spiritual tools, and real-life practices. Read it on Amazon →

• Let daily affirmations support you too — discover the Forgiveness Metta Card Deck for a gentle morning practice of peace and release. View the deck on Etsy 

• Browse more forgiveness tools, art, and daily reminders in our Etsy Shop 

• Want to receive free weekly forgiveness coaching emails? Sign up and get insights, tools, and inspiration to deepen your practice of forgiveness → Sign up here

Let these tools light your path — because forgiveness sets you free.
— Sue Pipal

What's Behind the Costume? Halloween Reflections: Drop the Ego Costume and See the Love Within

Life as a Costume: The Roles We Play

Even though I am a student of A Course in Miracles, I regularly attend a Science of Mind church. My minister, Rev. Liz Luoma, likes to refer to us all as adorable little packages of God. We’re all in different “packages,” but underneath, we are all the same essence.

Last month, during the Halloween season, she likened these packages to costumes. When we live on earth, we take on a costume (or role or character) and develop it over a lifetime. Our entire lives become a process of refining this character—often haunted by egoic fears and shadows.

Which costume have you chosen?

The Ego as a Scary Costume

Which costume have you chosen? In A Course in Miracles, these costumes are called the “ego.” The ego is our creation, not God’s. Take away the costume, the role, the character, and what is left? The part of us that God created—timeless, endless, unlimited, perfect, and One with God.

Underneath all the costumes and roles, we are not ourselves as the world sees us—we are the love and essence God created.

Lost in the Spooky Movie of Life 

But we get so busy living in our costumes that we forget who we really are. We become utterly consumed by the fantasy, convinced that our roles define us. It’s like going to a spooky movie—the lights go out, the story becomes our world, and we are completely absorbed.

Our lives on earth are similar. We get caught in the haunted illusions and forget our true selves.

Drop the costumes to forgive   

Forgiving requires that we simply drop those egoic costumes for a moment.  There is a larger part of us and it is not here in this false Halloween-like world of costumes.  We must remember that everyone is really only Love and always One in God. 

Forgiveness is the act of accepting that people come here to this 3D earth and put on a costume and do silly things.  They are deluded, they have simply forgotten who they really are.  When we forgive, we remember for them, who they really are.

Words for Haunted and Creepy Forgiveness

You can start your forgiveness practice with these words:  

You are Spirit,

Whole and Innocent,

I forgive you.

I release you.

I bless you with Love.  

I often begin with these words, then continue through a deeper process to see the higher truth for someone I am forgiving. It takes about five minutes and allows me to shift feelings from egoic fear to Love, no matter how personally scary, creepy, or even globally destructive someone’s actions may seem.

Learn the Process in My Book

The full process is detailed in my book,  Forgiveness is the Key to Happiness. It walks you through seeing through the costumes of this temporary world, focusing on higher truth, and practicing forgiveness for greater peace and joy.

Want to go deeper into forgiveness?

• Explore how forgiveness reconnects us to divine compassion in Unblocking our Connection to Love. Read it here →

• My book, Forgiveness is the Key to Happiness, offers heartfelt guidance, spiritual tools, and real-life practices. Read it on Amazon → | Barnes & Noble → | Balboa Press →

• Let daily affirmations support you too — discover the Forgiveness Metta Card Deck for a gentle morning practice of peace and release.

• Receive free weekly forgiveness coaching emails and insights to deepen your practice → Sign up here

• Enjoyed this post? Follow this blog to get new forgiveness insights delivered straight to your inbox! Just click the Follow button at the top of the page.

Let these tools light your path — because forgiveness sets you free.
— Sue Pipal

The Light Beyond the Body

In A Course in Miracles, the "Christ" Mind refers to that part in all of us that knows that it is the Son of God and chooses to think with love, rather than fear.

We are so much more than only bodies.  We are Mind.  We are connected through this mind.  We are Love.  We are Oneness, with each other and with our Creator.

Christ's vision has one law.  It does not look upon a body, and mistake it for the Son whom God created. It beholds a light beyond the body; an idea beyond what can be touched, a purity undimmed by errors, pitiful mistakes, and fearful thought of guilt from dreams of sin.  It sees no separation.  And it looks on everyone, on every circumstance, all happenings and all events, without the slightest fading of the light it sees.  --A Course in Miracles, Lesson 158

In this passage from the Course, we are told to look beyond bodies.  God's real creation is our Minds, the Love we all share.  Every one of us was created in this Love.   It's telling us that bodies and earthly events are unimportant.  What's important is the Light of God that is a part of every one of us.

Thus are his sins forgiven him, for Christ has vision that has power to overlook them all.  In His forgiveness are they gone.  Unseen by One they merely disappear, because a vision of the Holiness that lies beyond them comes to take their place.  It matters not what form they took, nor how enormous they appeared to be, nor who seemed to be hurt by them.  They are no more.  And all effects they seemed to have are gone with them, undone and never to be done.  --A Course in Miracles, Lesson 158

When we look past bodies, we can forgive anything, because we see that the real truth is what is happening in the Mind, not here in this earthly 3D dream world.  And the truth of the real Mind is Love.

We're all here on earth having some adventures and learning some lessons, but where we really are, with God, none of this matters.  And in that real place, we love everyone and in fact, are joined with everyone.  

When you give unto another that which alone is true, because all minds are joined, you have offered unto them the only gift that holds value.  When you give another the truth--perhaps even without saying a word--because all minds are joined they recognize what has been offered and say to themselves, "The one before me knows the truth of me and is looking right through every one of my attempts to be less than who I am.  Therefore I see that it's safe to choose again."  That is when miracles occur.  --The Way of Mastery p. 86

When you look past the body and see only the light, you know the truth of even the worst villains.  Remember that this all happens on the level of the Mind, where thoughts are joined.  Knowing this truth, holds the place for them, in your mind.  And this gives them the chance to know your forgiveness.  You are giving them your love which is a chance for them to choose love for themselves.

Whether they do or not, is not your concern.  You get what you give.  Your forgiveness of others creates your own acceptance of yourself.  Self love.  It happens over time as you forgive others and the world around you.

Self love creates peace.  Peace leads to happiness.  This is how forgiveness is the key to happiness.

I See Only the Radiance

"For when I look upon you, I see not the very momentary dreams that you seem to think are lasting so long.  I see only the radiance of that which the Father has extended out of Love.  I see only that which has neither beginning nor ending.  I see only that which knows neither birth nor death.  I see only that which has no limitations.  I see only that--the light of which is already extended throughout all dimensions and all universes."--The Way of Mastery p. 70

When we are forgiving this must be our thought process.  We must look beyond this dream world where people behave badly and hurt one another.  We look to our higher truth.  We go into our minds and know the radiance of one another.  We know the loving intentions of our Father, the creator who created each one of us in his own image.  We are simply and truly only Love.  That is our truth and that is the truth of our trespasser.  What you see here now in front of you in this 3D illusory world is only a moment in time.  It's not the higher truth.  Look up.  Look beyond.  See only the radiance.  That is the place of forgiveness.

Who Are We, Really?

"Spirit am I, a holy Son of God, free of all limits, safe and healed and whole, free to forgive, and free to save the world."  --A Course in Miracles, Workbook Lesson 97

When we know who and what we really are, it is easy to forgive others.  When we know who and what we are, we know who and what everyone else is, too.  

Knowing this higher truth is the easiest path to forgiveness.  All that is required to forgive is a recognition of this higher truth.  It can happen as quickly as flipping a switch.  When we stop our everyday thinking and simply know that our trespasser is as much a "holy Son of God" as we are, we are seeing them through the eyes of forgiveness.

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