ACIM Daily Lesson 78 Let miracles replace all grievances.
Lesson 78
Let miracles replace all grievances.
1. Perhaps it is not yet quite clear to you that each decision that you make is one between a grievance and a miracle. ²Each grievance stands like a dark shield of hate before the miracle it would conceal. ³And as you raise it up before your eyes, you will not see the miracle beyond. ⁴Yet all the while it waits for you in light, but you behold your grievances instead.
How could this be? How could each decision I make between a grievance and a miracle? Sure, I know that if I am thinking about someone I know who is a problem in my mind, I am making a decision for a grievance. But what if I am just thinking about her? I suppose the question I can ask myself is am I thinking about her as one with me? I could be in joy as I looked past her body and to her Self. Ok, I see that. Looking only at her body is a grievance, thinking about her words and her actions as who she is would be a grievance. It is not as if I will not be aware of the body and its actions and its words. But behind the image my eyes see is radiant beauty and perfection. Anything less is a grievance.
What about the decision between eating one thing or another? How is that a grievance? Am I deciding with my right mind? Or am I making decisions on my own, that is, with my ego-mind? The thing that I have noticed is that the more I focus my attention on the world, the stronger my belief in it becomes. This is a grievance against Reality. I have learned that I can live very well through guidance so why don’t I do it all the time? Though it is weakening, clearly, I still have a desire for the world. There is a miracle the grievance is hiding and I want that miracle.
Looking Beyond the Grievance
2. Today we go beyond the grievances, to look upon the miracle instead. ²We will reverse the way you see by not allowing sight to stop before it sees. ³We will not wait before the shield of hate, but lay it down and gently lift our eyes in silence to behold the Son of God.
3. He waits for you behind your grievances, and as you lay them down he will appear in shining light where each one stood before. ²For every grievance is a block to sight, and as it lifts you see the Son of God where he has always been. ³He stands in light, but you were in the dark. ⁴Each grievance made the darkness deeper, and you could not see.
When we are holding a grievance, we are blind to our brother. We can see only what the eyes show us and hear only what the ears hear. To know Who stands before us, we must lay the shield of hate aside. We must let our awareness seek the truth. In every case, without exception, we will find one who God loves. When I have seen him as the holy home of God Himself, I will have had a glimpse of this one. I cannot see his brilliant light through a grievance, nor will I see my own shining light reflected there. The light of my brother is always there no matter what my eyes show me. My grievances are keeping me in the dark and with each grievance, the darkness deepens.
You Know the One to Choose
4. Today we will attempt to see God’s Son. ²We will not let ourselves be blind to him; we will not look upon our grievances. ³So is the seeing of the world reversed, as we look out toward truth, away from fear. ⁴We will select one person you have used as target for your grievances, and lay the grievances aside and look at him. ⁵Someone, perhaps, you fear and even hate; someone you think you love who angered you; someone you call a friend, but whom you see as difficult at times or hard to please, demanding, irritating or untrue to the ideal he should accept as his, according to the role you set for him.
5. You know the one to choose; his name has crossed your mind already. ²He will be the one of whom we ask God’s Son be shown to you. ³Through seeing him behind the grievances that you have held against him, you will learn that what lay hidden while you saw him not is there in everyone, and can be seen. ⁴He who was enemy is more than friend when he is freed to take the holy role the Holy Spirit has assigned to him. ⁵Let him be savior unto you today. ⁶Such is his role in God your Father’s plan.
It is God’s plan that we save each other. So, the one who I thought of as enemy is actually my savior. As I forgive him, I forgive myself and we are both saved. It was interesting to me that I thought I knew who I was to join with in salvation. I have had trouble with the faucet installed by the plumber ever since he put it in. Every morning when I turn it on, I feel a twinge of resentment. This seemed like the perfect time to let that grievance go. After all, there is no hierarchy among illusions so a twinge of resentment is just resentment.
Oh, It’s Someone Else This Morning
Then I read that I knew the one to choose, that is name had already crossed my mind. I was surprised to find someone else. This is someone I love, and I had to look closely at our relationship to discover the grievance. I had hidden it under ‘concern’ and ‘love’ so that it was not immediately obvious. But once I saw it, I had to laugh that I had managed to keep it secret from myself.
Reviewing His Faults
6. Our longer practice periods today will see him in this role. ²You will attempt to hold him in your mind, first as you now consider him. ³You will review his faults, the difficulties you have had with him, the pain he caused you, his neglect, and all the little and the larger hurts he gave. ⁴You will regard his body with its flaws and better points as well, and you will think of his mistakes and even of his “sins.”
This dear friend has problems that surface fairly regularly. And often, I seem to get pulled into them. I then feel upset and think that there are things he could do to prevent this drama. I don’t understand why he doesn’t do that. It seems unfair I should suffer for his lack of common sense. There you have it. I am the victim and unfairly treated. I am being acted on by someone else. And yet, I absolutely know this cannot be true. It is my thoughts that imprison me. But still, here I was enumerating his many flaws that he is stubbornly not correcting. That’s pretty funny since I was stubbornly holding onto a grievance I was not correcting.
Let Me Behold My Savior in This One
7. Then let us ask of Him Who knows this Son of God in his reality and truth, that we may look on him a different way, and see our savior shining in the light of true forgiveness, given unto us. ²We ask Him in the holy Name of God and of His Son, as holy as Himself:
³Let me behold my savior in this one You have appointed as the one for me to ask to lead me to the holy light in which he stands, that I may join with him.
⁴The body’s eyes are closed, and as you think of him who grieved you, let your mind be shown the light in him beyond your grievances.
I was miserable for the whole day as I sat in my feelings. But this was necessary so the Holy Spirit could heal my mind of these beliefs. Even though I completely understood the dynamics and accepted that I was wrong, the feelings were still there. But sitting with the Holy Spirit like that, looking with Him, the beliefs began to fade. I talked to Jesus about it this situation and my feelings.
He asked me why I was trying to push my friend into healing. Jesus said that he doesn’t do that to me. He reminded me of one of my favorite passages.
³If you want to be like me I will help you, knowing that we are alike. ⁴If you want to be different, I will wait until you change your mind. (ACIM, T-8.IV.6:3-4)
The Holy Spirit Leans from Him to Me
8. What you have asked for cannot be denied. ²Your savior has been waiting long for this. ³He would be free, and make his freedom yours. ⁴The Holy Spirit leans from him to you, seeing no separation in God’s Son. ⁵And what you see through Him will free you both. ⁶Be very quiet now, and look upon your shining savior. ⁷No dark grievances obscure the sight of him. ⁸You have allowed the Holy Spirit to express through him the role God gave Him that you might be saved.
What happened, in the end, is that the grievance was released. And what was left was love and appreciation for this extraordinary person. He never gives up no matter how bad things get. I was in awe of his strength and determination. I am grateful he and I were chosen to be healing partners in this life. And I was released from the absurd idea that I can be affected by anything outside me. It is only my thoughts and beliefs that affect me and I am in control of that.
God Gives Thanks
9. God thanks you for these quiet times today in which you laid your images aside, and looked upon the miracle of love the Holy Spirit showed you in their place. ²The world and Heaven join in thanking you, for not one Thought of God but must rejoice as you are saved, and all the world with you.
10. We will remember this throughout the day, and take the role assigned to us as part of God’s salvation plan, and not our own. ²Temptation falls away when we allow each one we meet to save us, and refuse to hide his light behind our grievances. ³To everyone you meet, and to the ones you think of or remember from the past, allow the role of savior to be given, that you may share it with him. ⁴For you both, and all the sightless ones as well, we pray:
⁵Let miracles replace all grievances.
It is exciting to think about the amazing work I can do today. I will remember my function as savior of the world. I will talk to people today and later when I go shopping, I will see many more. Even when I am not doing these things, I have many opportunities to forgive and heal. I agree to accept my role as savior. And so, the Holy Spirit will bring to mind old grievances I can release. This is going to be an extraordinary day!
To enjoy the Pathways of Light Insights on ACIM Lesson 78 click here.
If you found this content helpful, please share on social media so more people can read and learn.