Wordplay

"Atonement" - per Webster, is reconciliation with another, where reconciliation is the act of renewing frendship with on one level, or taken to the extreme, becoming one with again. So the act of atonement is really an act of "at-one-ment" whereby we remember and embrace once again our true connectedness with another, be it God or a friend or whomever. The act of overcoming past differences, past separations, is driven then by a deeper desire to return to our true nature in relationship with another, which is one of connection.

This suggests that we're naturally in a state of connectedness with others. That state can be disrupted or overshadowed though by a commitment to some difference or conflict that we think we have with another. One effect of that conflict is to make us feel separate from the other. We may even question whether we want to continue our relationship with that person on the basis of the difference and the sense of separateness that we feel. Lovers may choose to end relationships when the blissful feeling of total connection with the other is shattered by some conflict that inevitably arises. As life plays out, suddenly or gradually in situation after situation we lose our sense of connection and replace it with feelings of separateness.

Atonement happens when we choose to practice true forgiveness, or when we're able to look past the surface details of a situation and remember our true nature, which is one of continual connection to all others. Atonement is always about reconnecting with the other. It's always about putting differences aside or forgetting them altogether and focusing once again on our true connectedness to each other in spite of any outward or surface differences we may have.