Giving is Receiving

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.

Authors Details: Tomas Vieira