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ACIM Workbook Lesson #197 “It can be but my gratitude I earn.”
Yesterday we began freeing ourselves from attack. Today we start to loosen the ties imposed by expectations of gratitude. Have you ever felt as though your effort to help someone was met with indifference or, perhaps, disdain? I have a good friend who lives to help others. Recently her actions have not only been unappreciated, but a certain recipient of her goodness has made false accusations against her. She has taken these words to heart, feeling so hurt and used that she has become ill. I discovered today that she had been considering committing suicide. (As a suggested lifeboat to others, may I say she went to the animal shelter and got a cat instead.) In my efforts to help her see past the pain and remember the joy which serving others brings to her, we have become closer friends. As a bonus, I am more deeply understanding of what it means to give with no expectation. We are all complete within each other, and what we give we also receive. Namastè.
Mary Baker Eddy quote:
“One kind of faith trusts one's welfare to others. Another kind of faith understands divine Love and how to work out one's ‘own salvation, with fear and trembling.’ ‘Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief!’ expresses the helplessness of a blind faith; whereas the injunction, ‘Believe . . . and thou shalt be saved!’ demands self-reliant trustworthiness, which includes spiritual understanding and confides all to God.” Science & Health Page 23:23-31
"We are all complete within each other, and what we give we also receive."
ReplyDeleteAnd what could exemplify this better than a relationship with a cat! Or a dog (which I have). It always seems to me that when Love flows through you to anyone or anything, it is healing. Not even to speak of the Love we receive back from our non judgmental animal friends.
PS: I'm pretty sure there's a quote somewhere in ACIM about how the body thrives when we live our lives lovingly. I haven't been able to find it though. If anyone out there knows it, I'd love to find it again.
Here's the searchable site -- but I didn't find anything with two key words. Good luck! http://www.miraclecenter.org/a-course-in-miracles/phpDig/search.php
ReplyDeleteThank you! I think I found it:
ReplyDelete"The body cannot heal, because it cannot make itself sick. It needs no healing. Its health or sickness depends entirely on how the mind perceives it, and the purpose that the mind would use it for."
Chapter 19, Section 1, paragraph 3 (I forget how to notate properly....)
Also see T-8.VIII.9:9 - "Health is the result of relinquishing all attempts to use the body lovelessly."
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