Let Miracles Replace All Grievances.
1. You may still not fully understand that in every decision you make, you are choosing between a grievance and a miracle.
²Each grievance stands as a dark shield of hate before the miracle it would conceal.
³And by raising it before your eyes, you do not see the miracle that lies beyond.
⁴The miracle remains there, waiting for you in the light, but you behold your grievances instead.
2. Today we will go beyond grievances to behold the miracle in their place.
²Today we will reverse your way of seeing, and we will not let your sight stop short before you truly see.
³We will not linger before the shield of hate, but let it fall, and gently lift our eyes in silence to behold the Son of God.
3. The Son of God awaits you beyond your grievances, and when you let them go, He will appear in radiant light where each one stood before.
²For every grievance is a block to vision, and when it is gone you see the Son of God where He has always been.
³He is in the light, but you were in the dark.
⁴For every grievance deepened the darkness, and you could not see.
4. Today we will try to see the Son of God.
²We will not allow ourselves to be blind to Him.
³We will not look upon our grievances.
⁴For it is in this way that the vision of the world is reversed: by looking toward the truth beyond fear. I
5. To do this, we will choose one person who has been the target of your grievances and, laying those grievances aside, we will look upon them.
²Someone you fear, or even hate.
³Perhaps someone you think you love, yet who angers you.
⁴Someone you call a friend, but who is difficult to please or understand.
⁵Or someone who seems demanding, irritating, or who does not live up to the image you have assigned them.
⁶You already know who it is.
⁷Their name has already come to your mind.
6. This is the one we ask to be shown to us as the Son of God.
²As you look upon this person without the grievances you have held, you will discover that what was hidden when you did not see them this way is present in everyone, and can be seen.
³When you release the one who was your enemy to take the holy role the Holy Spirit has assigned, they become more than just a friend.
⁴Let them be your Savior today.
⁵Such is their function in God’s plan, your Father.
7. In today’s longer practice periods, you will see them in this role.
²First, try to see them in your mind as you now regard them.
³Review their faults, the difficulties you have had with them, the pain they have caused you, their neglects, and all the small and great offenses they have brought.
⁴Consider their body, its imperfections and its more appealing traits.
⁵Think also of their mistakes, even their “sins.”
8. Then, ask the One who knows this Son of God in truth and in reality that you may see them differently, and behold in them your Savior shining in the light of the true forgiveness that has been given to you.
²In the Holy Name of God and of His Son, as holy as Himself, we pray:
³Let me behold my Savior in this one
you have appointed as the one to ask
to lead me to the holy light in which he stands,
so I may join with him there. II
4Now close your eyes, and as you think of the one who injured you, let the light that shines in them beyond your grievances be shown to your mind.
9. What you have asked cannot be denied.
²Your Savior has long been waiting for this.
³He longs to be free, and for his freedom to be yours as well.
⁴The Holy Spirit extends from him to you, for He sees no separation in the Son of God.
⁵And what you see through Him will set you both free.
⁶Be very still now, and behold your radiant Savior.
⁷No dark grievance clouds the vision you have of him.
⁸You have allowed the Holy Spirit to express through him the role God gave him for your salvation.
10. God gives you thanks for these moments of quiet today, in which you lay aside the images you made and behold instead the miracle of Love the Holy Spirit shows you. III
²The world and Heaven join in giving thanks to you, for there is not a single Thought of God that does not rejoice in your salvation and the salvation of the world with you.
11. We will remember this throughout the day, and take our part in God’s plan for salvation—not our own.
²Temptation fades when we allow everyone we meet to be our Savior, and refuse to hide their light behind the shield of our grievances.
³Give the role of Savior to all those you meet, to everyone you think of or remember from the past, that you may share it with them. IV
⁴For yourself, for them, and for all who cannot see, we pray: V
⁵Let miracles replace all grievances.
I This is the central message of this Lesson: whenever you feel disturbed, do not settle for it; call upon a new way of perceiving the situation. Ask for a miracle that allows you to see it differently and inspires peace in you. What you will behold with those new eyes will not be the Truth, which is ineffable, but it will be what most accords with God’s plan for your salvation. You need nothing more than that.
So remember: you have every right in the world to be intolerant of discomfort. You are the Son of God and you do not deserve it, so never justify or accept it; call upon a miracle. God has given you the mission of being happy wherever you believe yourself to be. If you think you live in the world, then it is here that you can and must claim your happiness. Do not wait to experience it in the future; ask for it now.
II This is the first Lesson written in iambic pentameter. Twenty more Lessons will pass before the Workbook shifts to continuous iambic pentameter.
Since the Manual for Teachers adopts this meter in passages of special importance, such as the final verses of a section, the fact that blank verse was chosen for this Lesson seems to lend it special significance—perhaps because of the powerful meaning contained in seeing an enemy as the Son of God and as our savior.
III The use in this Lesson of the word “miracle” as something we behold—specifically, the true nature of our brother—is not the usual use of the term in the Course.
In the ordinary language of this dictation, the miracle is an agent: it corrects, undoes, dissolves, reorganizes, adjusts, changes, induces, and reverses. Thus, it leads us—or someone through us—from false perception to true perception.
This is different from the usage in this Lesson, where the miracle is what true perception beholds. This may reflect the less common use the Course makes of the term “miracle” to refer to the Son of God: “It is true that YOU are a miracle” (T-1.P32.3:1), or to children: “Children are miracles in their own right.” (T-1.P25.1:1)
IV Today’s Lesson goes a step beyond simple forgiveness of any perceived offense. It is no longer merely about letting go of grievance because it is not real, but now, in addition, we ask to behold a miracle in its place. The miracle we ask for is none other than to see the Son of God in our enemy, to see him as our Savior. But not only that—the Lesson concludes by asking us to try to see every person we know, or have ever known, as our savior.
Keep in mind that what you regard as your personal life is an illusory experience—a dream—and as such, all the elements that appear in it are symbols. Symbols are images that represent something other than themselves, and they are always objects of interpretation. The message you derive from them will shape the character of that dream for you. Remember that it is not the dream itself that makes you happy or unhappy, but how you interpret it, and that depends entirely on you. That is the key to your happiness and your liberation. The keys to the gates of Heaven are in your hands; they have always been there.
Now think of the extraordinary transforming power this practice has in your life and in your personal relationships. The human mind is strictly utilitarian; for your mind, the meaning of everything derives from the function you assign to it. The practice of today’s Lesson is an absolute reversal of the functions you have assigned to everyone with whom you relate. Thus, from now on, their role is no longer the one you gave them in the past, whatever that may have been; their only function now is to be your Savior.
All those with whom you deal are there, at that very moment, to save you from the condemnation you have imposed upon yourself. And in the light of this new respect, treat them as they deserve. They are the Son of God, who has come to save you from death and to take you with him to your Father. What a function!
V “Those who cannot see” are those whose eyes are blinded by resentment.