FORGIVENESS ISN'T AN ASTONISHING EVENT, or a rarity that sweetens our lives only occasionally. It's a way of operating daily, even minute by minute. Virtually every encounter offers the opportunity either to be generous of heart, or not. Consistently practicing the act of forgiving in ordinary, nearly undetectable instances helps when something comes along that requires a greater magnanimity.

I had one of those little opportunities the other night. I'd decided to have some people over for a Sunday potluck supper. Having sampled some delicious barbecue from a new place in midtown Manhattan, I placed an order for the main course and paid by credit card over the phone. Since I was going out of town that evening, and they would be closed over the weekend, we agreed to a pick-up time of late afternoon on Friday.

Zigzagging uptown more than 50 blocks through Friday evening traffic, I was incredulous when I found the store shuttered and a handwriten sign taped outside: "Sold out. See you Monday." I phoned twice on my cell phone and got a recording with the same message. I was supposed to leave town in an hour. How could they? Why didn't they call me? They grabbed my money and ran! This is no way to do business!

Pulling out into traffic, just blocks from that barbecue shop, I received a phone call from someone scrambling to make a flight out of LaGuardia Airport, who had found himself at JFK by mistake. He didn't have time to correct it. Upset and angry, he asked me to pray for him. Literally and figuratively switching gears, I assured this man that he had a right to feel calm because he was deeply loved by his watchful, attentive, divine Father-Mother, God.

One way of praying that I've found brings order is to affirm truths about God and His spiritual creation—including each of us—and to deny methodically anything that opposes these truths.

God is Love, and is not angry, vengeful, or even slightly negligent. In Love's creation, there is no hate. There isn't a vestige of blame, selfcondemnation, guilt, or anger. Goodness is God's intention for everyone; no one is ever out of reach of this intent. And all of God's children are worthy of the good that God gives.

God, who can be thought of as divine Mind, loves His creation continuously. The identity of each one of us is included in this spiritual creation—as God's image, not as guilty, sinning mortals who are punished for our very existence. And we can rejoice because God has made us aware of His/Her hovering presence.

As I prayed about this man's situation, I thought about a particular Bible verse I'd been focusing on for days. "All the people returned to the camp to Joshua ... in peace: none moved his tongue against any of the children of Israel" (Josh. 10:21). I'd been thinking of "camp" as representing a safe, protected place filled with the loving presence of God. Everyone is included in this secure atmosphere. Therefore, everyone can feel tucked in and secure rather than ruffled or thrown off by circumstances. Love always gives us an answer to problems, even when we've gone to the wrong airport and missed our flight. No one is ever forsaken.

The statement that in this camp "none moved his tongue against any" of God's children, further describes to me God's kingdom, where no one is condemning anyone. No lies or liars. There is no place for condemnation, including the too-familiar pattern of self-condemnation. That kind of thinking only gives weight to discouragement rather than to our divine Parent's encouraging declarations, such as, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee" (Jer. 31:3).

Shortly, my friend from the airport called back, reporting, "The sea parted!" He'd gotten himself to LaGuardia Airport just in time and was boarding his plane. Though happy to have made his flight, he was feeling a deeper peace. He'd seen something extraordinary happen—the overcoming of what had looked like an insurmountable obstacle, which opened his eyes to the power of prayer to right what seemed wrong. It was the prayer that can turn chaos into order.

Returning to my situation, I realized that during this time of prayer, a lovely softening had taken place in my thinking. While I was turning to God, the offense I'd previously been feeling had melted through contact with the gentle, loving influence of the Christ. This divine influence actively censures condemnation, but never one of God's children. Christly thinking unites us with God's view of everyone.

This potent spiritual love I was now aware of brought out in me a sweet compassion for the guys at that barbecue place, starting out in a business that is notoriously tough. I thought about how hard they were working. How liberating I found it to reason that if there had been an oversight, it was unintentional. I forgave them, and I forgave myself for reacting. God made only loving hearts, I realized. In reality, each of us is kind, because kindness is Godlike.

Those restaurateurs are God's sons, I happily concluded, and I am God's daughter. All our thoughts come from the same divine source, which positively and continuously assures us that the entire creation is purely good. Praying in this way, I felt I was in that beautiful "camp" with God.

We're all deserving of generous, loving views of one another. Why? Because God is mercifully kind. And we do not differ from God. In the words of the Psalmist, "I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me" (Ps. 13:6). When we agree that God is dealing generously with us, we're secure, and deal bountifully with others. That bounty includes forgiveness, which originates in God's love. Mary Baker Eddy wrote: "More love is the great need of mankind. A pure affection, concentric, forgetting self, forgiving wrongs and forestalling them, should swell the lyre of human love" (Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896, p. 107).

Living a life of forgiveness expresses the essential nature of the merciful God who is Love. The result of habitually practicing forgiveness, just as utilizing other qualities God gives us, such as honesty, affection, and joy, has the natural effect of healing. To withhold forgiveness is to misunderstand God. So when we forgive, we are really giving up a misunderstanding about God's nature.

The Hebrew leader Moses after leading the children of Israel out of several disasters, only to find them complaining about his leadership, said, "Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord" (Ex. 16:8). Moses saw that behind these complaints lurked the people's doubt about God's ability to care for them.

Just as I pulled up in front of my door, my cell phone rang. It was the barbecue man! "Where are you? We're waiting for you," he said. At first, when he heard I was leaving town, his attitude implied that I'd paid and it wasn't his problem. But I felt no reaction. Over 50 blocks separated us, but I was seeing God's love knitting all of His children together, actually needing one another to express the largeness of His "bountiful mercy."

I got as far as, "Well..." and he abruptly said, "I'll call you back." Several minutes went by while I got ready to go out of town. I felt trusting, expectant, and loving. When he called back, there was a little adventure in his voice! He'd hopped in a truck and was steaming down the West Side Highway, calling for specific directions.

After he arrived, I ran into the apartment with the delivery only to discover that he had doubled the order and added many dishes I hadn't ordered, as a bonus. Bountiful—just as my thought had expanded to a largeness that was ready to forgive and that expected to see God's infinite good.