Day 68

Today's Lesson:

Love holds no grievances.

If we were created by love like itself, we could hold no grievances and know our true Self. If we hold grievances, we are seeing ourselves as bodies, through our ego minds. Our true Self is love, and if we are shut off from that true Self, it seems as though that Self sleeps, while the part of our minds that weaves illusions in its sleep appears to be awake. All this can happen because we hold grievances.

God is not defined in our image - it is the other way around. If we hold grievances, we will surely suffer guilt; but if we forgive (ourselves and others) we will find peace. If we hold grievances, we will forget who we are; if we forgive, we will remember.

We are to practice today by searching our minds for those people against whom we hold what we would regard as major grievances. Then we are to search for those minor grievances we hold against those we like and even those we love. As we find those people, it will become apparent that holding those grievances has left us alone in the universe in our own perception of ourselves. As we think of those people, we are to say to them:

I would see you as my friend, that I may remember you are part of me and come to know myself.

Then we are to think of ourselves as completely at peace with everyone and everything, safe in a world that protects and loves us, and that we love in return. We are to feel safety surrounding us, hovering over us and holding us up. Nothing can harm us in any way. At the end of the practice period, we are to tell ourselves:

Love holds no grievances. When I let all my grievances go I will know I am perfectly safe.

Miracles I'm noticing:

For some reason there is something I am still holding on to that I can't forgive myself for regarding this whole battle with my strict Christian upbringing. I received another envelope in the mail yesterday from my mother with Lutheran Hour stamps all over the back of the envelope showing Jesus in various poses with the words "Only Jesus Saves," "Jesus, the Only Way," "Jesus is Risen," and "Jesus is Eternal Life" on them. In the envelope my mother's note pleaded with me to please read the note she included from Pastor Ken Klaus, speaker of The Lutheran Hour. It was a note asking for ministry sponsorship, but she crossed that part out. She wanted me to read the part that says "I urge you to remember the uniqueness of Christ and His resurrection!" I'm not to be swayed by the fact that Buddha didn't rise, Muhammad did not, and leaders of other faiths did not rise from the dead, "no one should depend on their methods to get to heaven."

What I understand from today's lesson is that I need to remember that love holds no grievances. I need to forgive ("thank you for giving this to me") so that I can find peace. This is tough because I thought I had gotten past this; however yesterday's letter assures me that I still have work to do in this area.

Up to now I have ignored the letters and packages my mother has sent me - she has asked me in phone conversations whether or not I have received them, and I tell her I have and I thank her for them, but don't talk any more about them. I have written her a letter, so maybe it's time to send it to her now.

I will work on this area as I practice today's lesson - and will keep this in my mind, so that I can find peace - for me and for her. That will surely be a huge miracle!