Lesson 89
These are our review ideas for today:
(77) I am entitled to miracles.
I am entitled to miracles because I am under no laws but God’s. His laws release me from all grievances, and replace them with miracles. And I would accept the miracles in place of the grievances, which are but illusions that hide the miracles beyond. Now I would accept only what the laws of God entitle me to have, that I may use it on behalf of the function He has given me.
You might use these suggestions for specific applications of this idea:
Behind this is a miracle to which I am entitled. Let me not hold a grievance against you, [name], but offer you the miracle that belongs to you instead. Seen truly, this offers me a miracle.
(78) Let miracles replace all grievances.
By this idea do I unite my will with the Holy Spirit’s, and perceive them as one. By this idea do I accept my release from hell. By this idea do I express my willingness to have all my illusions be replaced with truth, according to God’s plan for my salvation. I would make no exceptions and no substitutes. I want all of Heaven and only Heaven, as God wills me to have.
Useful specific forms for applying this idea would be:
I would not hold this grievance apart from my salvation. “Let our grievances be replaced by miracles, [name].” Beyond this is the miracle by which all my grievances are replaced.
Journal
The world as I see it now is not a happy place. It is filled with conflict, hatred, pain, suffering and death. The world is like this because it is a reflection of the grievances we hold in our mind. It would take a miracle to change things, and luckily, I am entitled to miracles. Miracles will reveal the real world, the happy dream. This happens because miracles replace grievances. My only part is to notice the grievances that are hurting me and the world and be willing to release them. The miracle does the rest.
One might ask why bother? The world isn’t real anyway, and eventually we will all be released from it. It’s that eventually part that motivates me. Eventually could take a very long time and in the meantime, there is a lot of suffering going on. The more love I allow in my awareness, the more compassion I feel for everyone. I can only do my part, but I will not fail to do that.
Regina’s Tips
“Everything will be alright in the end, so if it’s not yet alright, it’s not yet the end.”
My Thoughts
Like everyone else, I sometimes despair of myself thinking I will never get to the end. I judge myself for forgetting and not doing well enough. I don’t know how many times I have stopped in my tracks because I noticed that I was feeling guilty for failing to do the meditation well enough or long enough. I stop right there and I reminded myself that it’s OK. I will do better next time or I won’t, but it’s still OK. I’m loving that quote from Regina.
Past Entries
I Used to Think I Had to Be Right.
I am not entitled to punishment, but to miracles. I can experience miracles by watching my attack thoughts with a willingness to have them corrected. As I learn that I do not want to have separate interests but to join with my brother in the common purpose of awakening, I open my mind to the miracle of God’s Love. I am choosing to see that I am wrong and God is right and that I am glad to have been wrong.
It used to be really hard to accept that I don’t need to be right. I came against this all the time. In a discussion about a paragraph in the Text, one of the group sees it differently than I did. I had to force myself to shut up. The ego thought is “but that’s not right,” and the ego thought system says it is imperative that I be right.I’ve had to bite my tongue so often it is a wonder it is still intact.
But I would remind myself that I don’t know what anything is for and that it is not my purpose to be right, only to join with my brother. Making him understand he is wrong and I am right is definitely not joining in purpose; that is an attack. After I gave this need to be right to the Holy Spirit I suddenly wouldn’t be able to remember why I thought I needed to be right. Until the next time! Ha!
My message from Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit: Separation, by definition, demands that the other person be different than you. That they be wrong and you be right further defines you as a separate and special person. Competition is a necessary component of separation, and as long as you still believe you are a body, you will experience these competitive thoughts and believe that the outcome matters. As you choose to bring them to the light for healing, they have less effect on you, and your belief in them weakens, as does your belief in separation. You are doing exactly the right thing by noticing them and asking for correction. The ego created competition to keep you separate, but with your decision against this, you allow the Holy Spirit to use what the ego made to help you wake up.
Drop that Hot Potato!
Well, I am happy to say that I no longer have such a strong desire to be right. In fact, it seldom comes up for me anymore. Considering how fiercely competitive I used to be that is a miracle. Funny how all that can change in a minute.
Today I am in Sedona, Arizona, surrounded by beautiful red cliffs. From a distance, I can take great joy in looking at these mountains, but when I have to ride through them, up and down and especially in the curvy places and places where you get those spectacular views, I am paralyzed by fear. It doesn’t make any sense and nothing I tell myself about heights seems to make any difference to the fear.
Yesterday, on our way to the Community House we had just such a drive. I talked to Jesus about it while I was sitting there squeezing my eyes shut and gritting my teeth. The first thing he showed me is that I could not imagine this fear being gone. In my mind the fear is as big and solid and immovable as the mountain we were driving through. Even bigger! How can I let go of something when I cannot imagine it is possible to do so.
I worked with that idea for the rest of the ride. I realized that I am entitled to miracles and no mountain is bigger than the power of God which is also mine. I let myself rest in that knowledge as much as I could. We had to go back into town and so it was the same trip in reverse. Same reaction from me. I talked to Jesus some more and I told him I just didn’t know how to let go of the fear.
Jesus reminded me of something John Mark Stroud told me when I said I didn’t know how to stop doing something. He said, “Of course you do. If you were holding a hot potato you would just let it go. You wouldn’t question yourself about how to let go, you would just let go.” So I sat with that for the rest of the drive. When my thoughts went to the idea that I just didn’t know how to let go, I reminded myself that I certainly do. I pictured myself dropping that hot potato.
I have been holding onto this grievance all of my life. I have allowed it to grow bigger and bigger in my mind until it seems like it is bigger than God and it seems impossible to be free of it. It feels like it would take a miracle to free my mind, and that’s good news because I am entitled to miracles! But to have the miracle I must be willing to relinquish the grievance. That is my part. There is a shifting in my mind. This morning I thought that heights are not inherently frightening. Many other people are not affected by them. Therefore it must be possible to let that thought go. A step in the right direction.