LESSON 72
Holding grievances is an attack on God’s plan for salvation.
“While we have recognized that the ego’s plan for salvation is the opposite of God’s, we have not yet emphasized that it is an active attack on His plan, and a deliberate attempt to destroy it.”
I suspect that this is where the unconscious guilt comes into play. Somewhere deeply buried in our mind is the knowledge that we are actively attacking God with each grievance we hold. Oh, yes, the unconscious guilt continues to pile up and we continue to avoid bringing it to the surface. That is, we ignore it or project it until we are ready to awaken.
“The ego’s fundamental wish is to replace God. In fact, the ego is the physical embodiment of that wish.”
Eeek! And yet, here we are safe from retaliation. I guess that means God is not the vengeful being we have made him out to be. Perhaps He is Love as Jesus has described Him. Perhaps we have not actually succeeded in our plan to separate from God and take His place. I think that the whole idea is preposterous and just more ego lies.
Nevertheless, we did make the idea of a body to house our spirit, and we do use it to appear separate from God. The body does seem to limit communication and we do act as if this is an ideal situation. After all, the body has a mouth and ears and so it seems as if we have also succeeded in developing our own method of communication. But this communication is limited to what each body decides to share.
How different this is from true communication as God would have it be. In true communication there are no words to stumble over and misunderstand. There is no desire to limit what is known and so all know all. In God there is unbroken union through unbroken communication.
“Although the attempt to keep the limitations that a body would impose is obvious here, it is perhaps not so apparent why holding grievances is an attack on God’s plan for salvation. But let us consider the kinds of things you are apt to hold grievances for. Are they not always associated with something a body does? A person says something you do not like. He does something that displeases you. He “betrays” his hostile thoughts in his behavior.”
We don’t treat each other as if we are one. We treat each person as if he is the body he has manifested. We judge him for what is done in the body, and so instead of freeing him, we hold him guilty for his behavior as such. And if the Son is a body, so must the Father be that as well.
“If God is a body, what must His plan for salvation be? What could it be but death?”
I know that this is the way we think. Don’t our churches teach us about a God of vengeance? Doesn’t death stalk us from the moment we enter the world and isn’t death as sure as taxes? The ego’s answer to this is that we must embrace the little we have and take whatever gifts the body has to offer. The ego tells us that the body is the death of God and it is our savior.
“But while the body stands at the center of your concept of yourself, you are attacking God’s plan for salvation, and holding your grievances against Him and His creation, that you may not hear the Voice of truth and welcome It as Friend. Your chosen savior takes His place instead. It is your friend; He is your enemy.”
This is why we must let go of the insane idea that we are the body. The body is just a concept and all its stories are just that, stories made up in our minds and acted out in our minds, and witnessed in our minds. We are the observer of ego ideas being played out as if they were really happening and happening to us and by us. If we continue to identify with the body and to glorify it, we will see it as our savior and God will be seen as our enemy.
Fortunately, we are not trying to save ourselves. Salvation has already been accomplished. We are just trying to accept our salvation. This is why we are going to the trouble to learn about concepts that have already been undone. We are merely convincing ourselves that we want to be saved so that we can accept that it is done.
I will be determined to hear God’s plan for salvation and to accept His plan. I will listen for His answer, not only today but at all times until this thing is done and I remember who I am. Then I will know God.
Regina’s Tip on this lesson.
The body is literally the physical embodiment of the ego, the idea of “me.” The body reinforces that idea by craving specific chemicals, and we reinforce the body’s cravings with the thoughts and perceptions we decide to cast our attention on.
Obviously, we need to be liberated from this body-me attachment.
Just like any addict, we cannot depend on the addicted self to free us from the addiction. It wants the addiction too badly, even if the addiction is terribly painful. We need to look for help from clarity, which is the non-addicted Self within, the deeper parts of the ocean of our Self.
Today’s workbook lesson is an important part of the process of being liberated from “me” and “the body.” Today we realize the addicted self cannot liberate itself, and we ask the clear Self to help. Specifically we say, “I do not know. Tell me, that I may understand.” In this way we open up to receive the realizations we need to receive in any way our clear
Self can find to reach us. That means there are no limits on how this clarity may get our attention. We give it permission to come by any means, and we open ourselves to receive it.
My thoughts
Regina uses the ideas from What the Bleep to show how the body becomes addicted to ideas that are given consistent attention. She also points out that we cannot go to the addict to get free of addiction, so we need help from our clear Self, or as the Course calls it, the Holy Spirit. This is why I do my part, that is I notice what is happening and I choose differently. Then I allow my Higher Self or the Holy Spirit, to do Its part and liberate me from the body identification.
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