I was talking with someone a few years ago and they shared with me that they keep a Grievance List. Intrigued, I asked them to tell me more about it. It turns out that since they were a young teenager (they were now a college student) they had maintained a written list on their phone of grievances. As they started to read some of the entries to me, we both began laughing. Some of them were indeed humorous, most were small, but ALL were remembered!
While I laughed at the thought of someone actually taking the time to write down grievances on a list, I realized that while my list may not be written down, it’s definitely there in my mind!
Often all it takes is one new perceived grievance, and my mind is quick to refresh the list and go through each and every grievance that has been occurred with this person, large or small. Before long, what seemed like a minor irritation can become a full-fledged irritated review of things that I may not have even thought about in a very long time, perhaps even years. It turns out our ego mind is a meticulous recorder of grievance lists – ALL are remembered!
Today I came across the lesson in the Workbook from A Course in Miracles (#78), titled: “Let Miracles Replace all Grievances.”
Each Decision you make is one BETWEEN a Grievance or a Miracle. Each grievance stands like a dark shield of hate before the miracle it would conceal. And as you raise it up before your eyes, you will not see the miracle beyond.
And what is the miracle beyond? The recognition that WHO this person is goes far beyond what my physical eyes are “seeing.” What I see as my perceived grievances against this person may actually be my own projections upon them. As ACIM teaches, the Holy Spirit asks us to look with its help beyond all form, to the Child of god in ALL.
The “dark shield of hate” that we raise with each grievance keeps us from seeing the true essence of who someone is beyond form. And the ability to see otherwise, with Christ vision, requires us to set aside our need to be right. To let let go of our requiring that the only way we can move on and be made whole is by the other person offering some kind of apology that meets whatever level of groveling our ego perceives as warranted and instead asking the Holy Spirit to help us see as it sees.
This is the miracle. We can ‘borrow’ sight from the Holy Spirit, who always sees beyond form and only the truth of who we are. The truth of who we all are. The Mind of Christ. The Child of God. Brothers. Sisters. Source. Unity. Wholeness. Oneness. In this way, our ‘brother’ or ‘sister’ becomes our guiding light as we see each others divinity. This allows us to illuminate each others path and walk each other home, leaning into the Light the Holy Spirit helps us to see in each other.
The Miracle of seeing the truth of who we are is always there waiting for us:
Yet all the while, it (the miracle) waits for you in light, but you behold your grievances instead. Let miracles replace all grievances.
Every grievance can be seen anew as a the opportunity to allow a miracle of true perception (Christ Vision) to occur and see others (and yourself!) as who we really are.
I find it helpful when I feel a sense of irritation coming up in me when interacting with someone to say in my mind another teaching from A Course in Miracles:
Light, Joy and Peace Abide within you, ‘insert their name’. Your sinlessness is guaranteed by god.
‘Let Miracles replace all Grievances.’ This is where the real internal work is. It is as daunting as any physical goal we might have for ourselves, whether running a marathon or even a 5k. If you talk to someone who pushes themselves physically as a runner, body builder etc, they often talk about how such a big part of any competition or race is MENTAL. Choosing to overlook grievances and allow the Holy Spirit to heal our minds and help us see BEYOND them also is MENTAL. It requires us choosing in the holy instant the Miracle of true sight. It all comes back to Peace being an INSIDE job.
The challange is allowing our mental ‘grievances lists’ to be replaced by a miracle of wholeness instead.
Namaste. Peace on the Journey.
