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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
