LESSON 68
Love holds no grievances.
You who were created by love like itself can hold no grievances and know your Self. To hold a grievance is to forget who you are. To hold a grievance is to see yourself as a body. To hold a grievance is to let the ego rule your mind and to condemn the body to death. Perhaps you do not yet fully realize just what holding grievances does to your mind. It seems to split you off from your Source and make you unlike Him. It makes you believe that He is like what you think you have become, for no one can conceive of his Creator as unlike himself.
Shut off from your Self, which remains aware of Its likeness to Its Creator, your Self seems to sleep, while the part of your mind that weaves illusions in its sleep appears to be awake. Can all this arise from holding grievances? Oh, yes! For he who holds grievances denies he was created by love, and his Creator has become fearful to him in his dream of hate. Who can dream of hatred and not fear God?
It is as sure that those who hold grievances will redefine God in their own image, as it is certain that God created them like Himself, and defined them as part of Him. It is as sure that those who hold grievances will suffer guilt, as it is certain that those who forgive will find peace. It is as sure that those who hold grievances will forget who they are, as it is certain that those who forgive will remember.
Would you not be willing to relinquish your grievances if you believed all this were so? Perhaps you do not think you can let your grievances go. That, however, is simply a matter of motivation. Today we will try to find out how you would feel without them. If you succeed even by ever so little, there will never be a problem in motivation ever again.
Begin today's extended practice period by searching your mind for those against whom you hold what you regard as major grievances. Some of these will be quite easy to find. Then think of the seemingly minor grievances you hold against those you like and even think you love. 4 It will quickly become apparent that there is no one against whom you do not cherish grievances of some sort. This has left you alone in all the universe in your perception of yourself.
Determine now to see all these people as friends. 2 Say to them all, thinking of each one in turn as you do so:
I would see you as my friend, that I may remember you are part of me and come to know myself.
Spend the remainder of the practice period trying to think of yourself as completely at peace with everyone and everything, safe in a world that protects you and loves you, and that you love in return. Try to feel safety surrounding you, hovering over you and holding you up. Try to believe, however briefly, that nothing can harm you in any way. At the end of the practice period tell yourself:
Love holds no grievances. When I let all my grievances go I will know I am perfectly safe.
The short practice periods should include a quick application of today's idea in this form, whenever any thought of grievance arises against anyone, physically present or not:
Love holds no grievances. Let me not betray my Self.
In addition, repeat the idea several times an hour in this form:
Love holds no grievances. I would wake to my Self by laying all my grievances aside and wakening in Him.
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Lesson 68
“Love holds no grievances.”
I am learning to remember that I am Love and nothing else. I am learning to remember that everyone is Love and nothing else. I am learning that forgetting that I am Love or that everyone is Love is holding a grievance. Forgetting my Identity as Love is the same as refusing to let Love come into my awareness and choosing to make something other than Love real.
In this lesson Jesus is helping me realize that when I make the body real by seeing myself as a body, I am holding a grievance against God. Jesus wants me to realize what this does to my mind. He wants me to realize how this ‘forgetting’ creates a sense of fear and not being safe. He wants me to realize how this ‘forgetting’ creates a sense of guilt and lack of peace and happiness.
He wants me to be happy. He wants me to return to the awareness of the truth of Love’s Presence, which is all that is real. He wants to help me move past the clouds of separation, of belief in separate bodies, to the truth that only Love is real. He is guiding me to forgive, or let go of my replacement for my true Identity as Love.
As I learn to see everyone as my dearest Friend, this helps me to know that I am perfectly safe and still reside in Love. I have not left Love, even though I have chosen to ‘forget’ Love awhile. I am so grateful for these constant reminders of the truth about my Self, which includes All That Is. I am grateful to be given a pathway that helps me let go of grievances, that I may awaken to my one Self.
Any time I am not supremely happy, I am holding a grievance. I have judged against what is and want it to be different. Beneath all the judgments that come up in this world of form is the core judgment against God.
This world is the effect of deciding that God’s gift of all of His Love is not enough, that somehow I would be happier with something else. This is our core grievance against God, against Love. We spend our lives searching for Love, yet we are unwilling to accept It as It is.
This is why it is so important that I recognize that Love holds no grievances. When I get this and accept it, I will experience the joy of God. I will feel the safety that comes with knowing that harm is impossible.
Once in a while I do a big spring cleaning on my living space. I toss out what doesn't fit, doesn't suit, doesn't work,everything I can live without. I am left with a feeling of satisfaction at the clean,airy,light space I have made.
That is what this lesson feels like. I feel like placing vases of bright spring flowers in my mind to celebrate a good job done. The thing about spring cleaning is that I have to repeat it every few months as the clutter starts to re-accumulate. I don't know where it comes from. Sometimes I could swear it grows in the night as I sleep.
It seems to be the same with grievances. Even as I stand admiring the great bright space I have created as I forgave each grievance, I sense grievances try to skitter past my attention to once again take up residence in my mind. The little ones come first, I am sure,hoping I won't recognize them as the destructive forces they are because they don't seem important. Later, the bigger grievances, the ugly ones and the scary too, will return to the home I have offered them for so long.
How to make them feel unwelcome here? I will remain vigilant today and try to catch each thought and turn it back at the door. I will look to Holy Spirit to help me. The text says,"Your newborn purpose is nursed by angels, cherished by the Holy Spirit and protected by God Himself." How can I fail?
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Jill Bolte Tayler
