Part 1 Undoing the Way We See Things Now
Lesson 77 I Am Entitled to Miracles
- You are entitled to miracles because of what you are. You will receive miracles because of what God is. And you will offer miracles because you are one with God. Again, how simple is salvation! It is merely a statement of your true Identity. It is this that we will celebrate today.
- Your claim to miracles does not lie in your illusions about yourself. It does not depend on any magical powers you have ascribed to yourself, nor on any of the rituals you have devised. It is inherent in the truth of what you are. It is implicit in what God your Father is. It was ensured in your creation and guaranteed by the laws of God.
- Today we will claim the miracles which are your right, since they belong to you. You have been promised full release from the world you made. You have been assured that the Kingdom of God is within you and can never be lost. We ask no more than what belongs to us in truth. Today, however, we will also make sure that we will not content ourselves with less.
- Begin the longer practice periods by telling yourself quite confidently that you are entitled to miracles. Closing your eyes, remind yourself that you are asking only for what is rightfully yours. Remind yourself also that miracles are never taken from one and given to another, and that in asking for your rights, you are upholding the rights of everyone. Miracles do not obey the laws of this world. They merely follow from the laws of God.
- After this brief introductory phase, wait quietly for the assurance that your request is granted. You have asked for the salvation of the world, and for your own. You have requested that you be given the means by which this is accomplished. You cannot fail to be assured in this. You are but asking that the Will of God be done.
- In doing this, you do not really ask for anything. You state a fact that cannot be denied. The Holy Spirit cannot but assure you that your request is granted. The fact that you accepted must be so. There is no room for doubt and uncertainty today. We are asking a real question at last. The answer is a simple statement of a simple fact. You will receive the assurance that you seek.
- Our shorter practice periods will be frequent and will also be devoted to a reminder of a simple fact. Tell yourself often today: I am entitled to miracles. Ask for them whenever a situation arises in which they are called for. You will recognize these situations. And since you are not relying on yourself to find the miracle, you are fully entitled to receive it whenever you ask.
- Remember, too, not to be satisfied with less than the perfect answer. Be quick to tell yourself, should you be tempted: I will not trade miracles for grievances. I want only what belongs to me. God has established miracles as my right.[1]
Notes and Personal Application (2019): Morning meditation – I say to myself quite confidently: “I am entitled to miracles.” I am only asking for what is rightfully mine. Miracles do not take anything away from others but only extend the Holy Spirit of God, of Love. Miracles follow the laws of God. I wait for the assurance that my request is granted. I ask for the salvation of the world. I ask for the salvation of my marriage – of James and me, of this hard feeling, this grievance I have toward him for being so rude to our grandson and saying derogatory things about our loved one at our family dinner last night. I feel as if I despise him, Lord. I am trying to act as if I do not, but I really do. I feel as if I cannot bear to think of living out the rest of my days with such a man. I feel like leaving. This is looming so large in my mind that I have to remind myself that James is a really good man! I love being married to him. He gathered all the plates and glasses and silverware and did all the cleanup after our family dinner. He may have been rude to our grandson, but he was also very nice to him and made him (and me) an ice cream sundae piled high with whipped cream and a maraschino cherry on top. Plus, he is so handsome. I love his big, broad shoulders and way he throws a big sack of corn over his shoulder as if it didn’t weigh fifty pounds. The thought of leaving him fills me with pain. And yet I can’t seem to get over the way his rudeness and his harsh words hurt me. They keep replaying in my mind and tarnish my love and devotion to him.
I ask for a miracle. I ask for the will of God to be done. I state a fact that cannot be denied. My request is granted. I refuse to bear a grievance. I forgive him, and I offer the miracle of love to him. There is no room for doubt and uncertainty in this regard. I have seen the miracles that have already taken place. I will receive the assurance that I seek. I will love and offer forgiveness in every situation, no matter how offensive. I have Christ in my heart and in my mind. The kingdom of God is within me. I will offer love and forgiveness.
Shorter Practice Periods – throughout the day and in all circumstances that a grievance toward James or anybody else seemed to arise in my mind, I would say, “I am entitled to miracles.” I built upon this concept by making statements in agreement with today’s idea, such as: “I will use this as an opportunity to see beyond what the ego wants me to focus on and see only with forgiveness, which is a reflection of God’s love.” “I will remember my own need for forgiveness and share the forgiveness that God offers to me with James and with anybody else who does or says things that annoy, hurt, or disgruntle me.”
Notes and Personal Application (2020): James was not too happy when I shared today’s lesson with him. I did not share it with him to hurt his feelings; I shared it with him because Holy Spirit directed me to use real names and real issues instead of skirting about and being afraid of exposing my ego or the workings of the ego in the lives of others. James said he doesn’t remember being rude to our grandson, and he demanded to know what it was that he had done that I had seen as rude. Since it was over 365 days ago, I didn’t remember either, but I said I would be happy to look it up in my journal, where I record both grievances and the miracles that release me and others from them! He didn’t want me to go to any trouble, he said grumpily. For the rest of our devotional time, he didn’t seem very engaged. He said that instead of giving up grievances, we should hold on to them because they protect us from trusting in assholes and putting up with the shit that others would dish up for us. And anyway, if I want to leave, then he wouldn’t want me to stay out of some kind of obligation to God.
Well, I can certainly see where he is coming from! But I did encourage him not to take my grievances personal, but to do his best to abstract them because each grievance stands in for all grievances that corrupt our love for God and for each other, which, if I understand the Course correctly, is one and the same. We cannot love God if we do not love one another. We cannot truly love one another if we are building cases and holding grudges – as long as we are judging each other in the flesh and for the workings of the ego in our life, we do not see Christ in each other. We are trading in Christ’s vision for what the ego wants us to see – the bleeding, oozy, stinky mess of humanity – all of us crawling, creeping, and craving the likes of others.
I could clearly see during the devotional dispute, er, uh, I mean discussion, how the ego pollutes our clear vision with these flecks of disgruntlement and judgments that we project unto others. For instance, I am sometimes rude to our grandsons. I butt in and start talking before they finish their thoughts, I boss them around or make fun of them, I talk about them behind their backs, I do exactly what I would condemn and judge James for doing. And believe you me, have I not said harsh things about an absent loved one around the dining room table? You betcha I have – and as ashamed as I am to admit it, it is far easier to build a grudge against James for doing it than admitting that to myself or to you. The fact that I project all that I don’t like about myself to one I love seems a contradiction in terms. Nobody would do that to someone they love, and yet I was doing it, and I love James.
In the afternoon, during our study group, I shared this with Linda as we are called to do. In other words, I do not share only what I would call my spiritual triumphs, but also my spiritual hindrances, of which projection is a biggie. I asked her how I am to deal with it, and she gave me a simple answer. To be honest. To be honest with him.
When I became honest with James about this and openly admitted that last year this time, I was holding him accountable for that which I am guilty of myself, we experienced the miracle of love, peace, and joy between us. We had a much more meaningful discussion and, in the end, felt closer, not farther apart.
We experienced the miracle of true forgiveness, which is nothing like the forgiveness we offer in the ego. True forgiveness realizes our mutual bondage to the ego; when we offer forgiveness, it is only because we, too, are in need of the very forgiveness we share. In other words, the ego’s forgiveness says, “You are bad. I am good. Therefore I will forgive you because I am good.” True forgiveness says. “You are identifying with the ego; I identify with the ego, too. Because we both identify with the ego, even though we are Sons of God, we both need forgiveness. Here, God gave me forgiveness, let me share it with you!”
[1] A Course in Miracles. Workbook for Students. Lesson 77 I am entitled…Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition (1992). pp. 137-138.
the friar patch 