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Word Gems
exploring self-realization, sacred personhood, and full humanity
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The Course in Miracles instructs that our grievances, which are attack thoughts, occur when we identify with the mortal body and the ego. The flesh encourages a fearful self-perception of "I am not enough." It leads us to believe that God is like what we have made of ourselves.
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The following is from Lesson #68 of the Course In Miracles:
You who were created by love like itself [that is, we are to mirror Love which made us] can hold no grievances and know your [true] 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…
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. 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.
When we hold grievances, we forget who we are, the true Self.
To live one’s life from the true Self is to know our inner link to God. When we do, we begin to sense that there is nothing to fear, that we are “enough” in God, that nothing can harm us.
But holding a grievance breaks this sense of connectedness with God. We now see ourselves as a frail and vulnerable mortal body; suddenly, we are “not enough.”
creating God in our own image
The Course goes on to assert that, in this dysfunctional mindset, we project outwards and assume that God is like us, that He, too, holds grievances, counts our sins in the night, and could never forgive us.
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the ego attempts to posture the attributes of God
The Course in Miracles Lesson #72 explains that the ego will reactively and automatically resist and attack whatever God suggests. The ego does this because it instinctively perceives that God’s way will be its own undoing:
In the attack [by the ego], God is assigned the attributes which are actually associated with the ego, while the ego appears to take on the attributes of God. The ego’s fundamental wish is to replace God. In fact, the ego is the physical embodiment of that wish.
And so the ego not only creates God in its own image, but will attempt to set itself up as the “one good God” and replace the real God. We see this all time in the world, everywhere, all of the egos of the world posturing and role-playing as “good” people; but it’s just a false face, a big sloppy grin, as they secretly – or more blatantly, if they can get away with it – attempt to pick your pocket.
As side note, there’s no need to fabricate a mythical “war in heaven” with a mythical Satan trying to dethrone God. We do this very well, every day, on our own, down here in hell. Carl Jung said that we ourselves – the unspiritual ego within -- are the locus of evil on planet Earth, and he was exactly right.
Carl Jung, BBC interview, 1959 : "We need more understanding of human nature, because the only real danger that exists is man himself ... We know nothing of man, far too little. His psyche should be studied because we are the origin of all coming Evil."
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this is why we feel so guilty
In this attacking and posturing, we now easily fall into a mire of guilt which we cannot climb out of - but for a shift upwards in consciousness.
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Editor's last word:
Almost all religions of the world preach of a God who doesn't like us all that much and is reluctant to forgive. These teachings come from egos in leadership positions who create a vengeful, aggrieved God in their own image.
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