Book review by Dave Van Dyke:
“The Miracle of Real Forgiveness” by Tom Carpenter (author of Dialogue on Awakening)
Tom Carpenter has been receiving guidance from the Christ mind for the past 30 years and is a longtime teacher of A Course In Miracles.
Tom’s book, The Miracle of Real Forgiveness, is one that I can genuinely recommend for your personal library. The material in this book is 100% aligned with A Course In Miracles but manages to state the material in a fresh, vital way that is engaging and alive.
There is a flow to the words that make it nearly effortless to read. This flow aids the mind and the heart to work together to receive the loving message that Tom has received.
I found that this book gave me many different “entrances” to the real meaning of forgiveness. Tom gives many explanations and examples of how forgiveness works in one’s mind to heal our own false idea that we have separated ourselves from God.
Tom reminds us that the ego believes that there is something inherently “wrong” with it. It feels guilty but does not know why. It tries to rectify this guilt by projecting it on to others. Yet this is ultimately unsatisfying and does not solve the problem.
Tom also reminds us that our most precious shared interest is to return to the loving God that created us and that, no matter what it looks like, we all hold this purpose dearest to our hearts. Because we all share this purpose there is no one that we are not capable of loving. This opens up our own heart and enables us to see clearly that there is no one unworthy of love. This idea frees our mind to experience miracles.
There are a number of insights in this book that are so beautifully said that one just has to pick up the book and read it to appreciate them. I felt I had been hit squarely between the eyes with the perfection of some of these insights, so powerfully stated that I had no choice but to break out my yellow highlighter and start scribbling like a crazy person.
This book will reach deep into your heart and give you a fresh perspective on many of the ideas you are already familiar with. I can’t say enough good things about it.
