I am entitled to miracles.
Let miracles replace all grievances.
One way to think of a miracle is that it interrupts familiar patterns of thinking. We are going along in our life, more or less on autopilot, and the miracle appears and brings everything to a halt. Our mind stops wandering. Suddenly we are fully present and giving attention.
The miracle is kin to the Holy Instant. Time lets up its stranglehold on our world view, and we are briefly able to see clearly. “See” here is about an interior perception, not an exterior one. What do we see? That we have been listening to ego and buying into its argument that salvation lies outside of us and thus we must recommit to a form of seeking that never ever looks within.
The miracle looks within. And in doing so, reveals that listening to ego is a choice. We are choosing illusion over truth. Yet because we are the chooser, we can choose again and differently. We can give attention to the Holy Spirit, whose still quiet voice speaks on behalf of unity and oneness. It sees our brothers and sisters as allies and partners in the creative work of healing.
It does not buy into separation.
Can we see how desirable, then, a miracle is? It is literally the means by which we are brought to inner peace and joy. Then how grateful are we for the reminder that we are entitled to miracles?
And are we ready to accept that miracles are everyone’s right because they are a reflection in the world of God’s law: that we are utterly free and given only to Love?
[God’s] laws release me from all grievances, and replace them with miracles. And I would accept the miracles in place of the grievances, which are but illusions that hide the miracles beyond (W-pI.89.1:3-4).
Grievances are ego’s lifeblood and thus maintain separation because they literally fragment the world. This appears in our living as finding fault with people, institutions, belief systems ranging from political to religious to psychological. To grieve is to smash the whole and then arrange the pieces into an image we pretend is whole. At a minimum it’s an improvement on what came before.
Grievances can only beget more grievances and so our loneliness, sadness, fear, guilt and anger also multiply and spread out through our being and world. This is the belief system of ego, and its effects are grim to the point of murder.
There is another way. To accept a miracle in place of a grievance is to love against all apparent reason, and to open unto everything without qualification or condition.
I would make no exceptions and no substitutes. I want all of Heaven and only Heaven, as God wills me to have (W-pI.89.3:5-6).
Miracles bring light, and in the light we glimpse joy and peace. And so we begin to insist on miracles rather than grievances. We turn away from the body’s emphasis on appearance, accomplishment and performance. We reject the ideal that only what is external can complete us. We consent to look within, forgiving all that appears there.
In this way, our thinking changes. We become miracle-minded. We perceive the world as a site of learning and healing rather than suffering. Our familiar thinking patterns dissolve and in their place we remember God’s love and law. And we become willing to accept that God’s Will is our will, and our will is happiness for all.
“To grieve is to smash the whole and then arrange the pieces into an image we pretend is whole.”
Hi, Sean. 🙂
The above sentence feels like an important aspect of grievances and/or grieving that I had not considered before now. For sure, the Course helps us to understand that grievances are of ego, they block or obscure the miracles waiting behind, and keep us invested in the external. However, your simple and clear sentence about not only fragmenting the whole but also, rearranging the pieces back into a false whole, brings to light the danger and error of perpetuating our own hell for ourselves and for our brothers and sisters. Like, you totally explained very clearly HOW that happens and for me personally, seeing the “how” helps tremendously in the attention and awareness aspect I can give to the of undoing this error.
So, a wordy thank you, I guess! Thank you again for the work that you do here to shine some light along the way.
Jessica
Thank you, Jessica. Yeah, I think in a sense the whole cannot be fractured; it just is. But we sort of “think” it into pieces and then start judging the pieces and rearranging them into narratives, images, mythologies . . . Thought is the culprit, ego being ego. And somehow we get attached to that process and, you know, metaphysical hijinks ensue.
I hear you: “how” matters. We get distracted with “why” – with description and explanation – but just seeing, oh, this is what thought does can be soooo helpful in terms of it’s no longer functioning that way. Seeing is healing, in this sense.
As you know 🙂
~ Sean
Thank you Sean for your inspiring message with thoughtful video and commentary.
I reviewed this lesson today. ‘I am entitled to miracles’.
During the longer practice period l said to the Holy Spirit that l was seeing this practice as my dedication to the way, the truth and the light. That l intended not to let my attention waver from distracting thoughts or fantasies, and that l realise my will has power over all thoughts and dreams. l let Him know that l was not expecting anything because l am feeling so content and at peace from the beautiful day l have had and thanked Him for that day. l also thanked the Holy Spirit for the reminders to “Think with me”, His earlier meditational healing and support and for the image He has been showing me whenever I feel happy, of Him smiling back at me with such happy eyes that look right into my mind.
Part of the message He gave me was: “How happy we are that we walk together, we think together and are of one Mind. You shall have all the miracles you need and want, and no miracle is too great or too many. We give them with happy minds and happy hearts.
Blessings,
Jayney.
Thank you as always for sharing, Jayney 🙏🙏