A Course in Miracles Lesson 85

My grievances hide the light of the world in me.

My salvation comes from me.

A Course in Miracles suggests that to hold a grievance is to condemn both our own self and other selves to a body and a world in which those bodies can only suffer and die.

When we insist on our right to hold others responsible for our unhappiness, we effectively insist on unhappiness because our brothers and sisters are not the cause of our unhappiness. We are.

That is, joy reflects a decision we make at the level of mind to be either happy or unhappy. Our brothers and sisters are merely reflections of the decision made. Pretending they’re the cause of our emotional state is like holding a mirror responsible for our decision to wear mis-matched clothing.

To see, I must lay grievances aside. I want to see, and this will be the means by which I will succeed (W-pI.85.1:6-7).

That is, if we are going to partake of Christ’s vision and the light in which that vision functions, then we are going to have to work to let go of grievances. This means we are going to notice when grievances occur and then intentionally release them.

What is it that we will see with this new vision? This seeing that is not impaired by grievances?

We will see that our salvation comes from us; it is an inside job.

[Salvation] is in me because its Source is there. It has not left its Source, and so cannot have left my mind. I will not look for it outside myself (W-pI.85.3:3-5).

Just as we refuse to hold our brothers and sisters responsible for pain, we are also not going to hold them responsible for our salvation. We are not going to make idols of them. We are going to commit to seeing them exactly as they are in truth, free of all the projections that we would impose on them in the interest of not accepting responsibility for our own healing.

When we accept responsibility for salvation, then salvation extends beyond us and everything that we behold reflects the love that we both are and extend (e.g., W-pI.85.3:7). Seeing its extension is how we remember that we both have and are it.

Remembering that we both have and are it, is how we are saved.

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