“Hate, in the long run, is about as nourishing as cyanide.”–Kurt Vonnegut
ACIM Lesson 135 is one of my favorite lessons. I use it ALL the time.
It comes in handy anytime I’m tempted to play victim. It’s the perfect antidote when I notice myself feeling offended by something someone says.
It’s particularly useful when I forget the truth about myself.
Because anytime I defend myself, I take on a role that’s not really me.
To defend myself is to pretend that I can be hurt. It’s to make believe that my perception, the hologram that proves itself over and over again to be incomplete, is somehow more accurate than the truth I’m learning here in the Course.
If I defend myself in any way, I forget that I am a beloved child of God. I forget that everything is FOR me. Nothing is against me.
I forget that every single thing that happens, every single person who pushes my buttons is a gift.
This lesson doesn’t suggest overlooking something someone did to me. It says it’s impossible for anyone to DO something to me.
If my perception stays fixed (which it will once I start defending myself), nothing–not a miracle, not a sign, not an evidential slap in the face–can allow any other truth to manifest for me.
All I can see, all I will ever see, is what the viewfinder of my limited perception shows me.
Instead of attacking back when my viewfinder shows my fellow humanoids spouting inanities, misinformation and what looks like hate, I use this lesson to remember.
They’re simply replaying old tapes and desperately need my love. It helps me to stop taking everything so personally and to remember what I call the biggest secret in the world—that we all really love each other.
Radical actions such as choosing not to attack, to justify, to see the “crime” upsets the normal cultural paradigm. It creates a resonant field that goes out into the ethers making our world a little sweeter, a little safer, a little more beautiful.
Pam Grout is the author of 19 books including E-Squared, E-Cubed, Thank & Grow Rich and her new book, Art & Soul,Reloaded: A Year-Long Apprenticeship to Summon the Muses and Ignite Your Daring, Audacious, Creative Side.
12 Responses
Thank you Pam. I’m so grateful for your words and the work you’re doing making this big blue ball a sweeter place to live. I’ve been having a melt down recently, and these words, given my circumstances, are exactly what I needed to hear. I wish I could memorize this message and play it back inside my head every 5 minutes. ❤ much love to you
Fantastic Pam.Thank you ! ( If you are ver in Sydney or Byron Bay – let me know . I would love to cook you dinner (it will be a feast – just as your words are a feast for me!)
Thankyou Pam. Very helpful. And I love the song 😊 I’ve been working on (or “playing” with!) the idea that any action that appears to be coming from hate or fear is a call for love and it’s making a difference. Thanks for the reminder in “Pam Grout Speak” – your words help clarify some of the most difficult concepts to grasp, and enable me to put the concepts into practise 😊 love to you across the miles 💖
That’s a tough one, to remain above it all even if someone steals from you or physically attacks you, then it’s difficult to not take it personally. You kind of have to be outside of yourself.
This is the fourth time today I came across “opposition game” Hmmm universe, what?
i needed that. my husband just left on Friday. packed up a few belongings and is gone… no goodbye. nothing. i am hurting. but I have a deep faith and I know deep that all is for my highest good.. it’s just a bit hard to see right now. so thank you.. i really needed to read this and i will over and over again.
Oh my, I’m so sorry, this is tough ! But you’re right, everything is going to be ok, because it can’t NOT be. I like to look at “dramatic” things in my life as plot twists in a movie or a book : I know there will be a happy ending, and I wonder where it will come from, admiring the outhor of the story… It helps.
Marilyn, my ex-husband left me 27 years ago and was in a lot of grief for a long time. It took me years to figure out why it happened but it happened for my highest good. Laugh. Count backwards from 100 until you can laugh. Do it over and over. Hugs! Remember how much you are loved!
I wish I’d know all this 30 years ago. But better late than never. I may be old but I can still learn new tricks. Love the ear worm here. 😉
Wonderful lesson. Thank you!
Yes! When I get defensive or take something personally, I now know it has more to do with my spiritual condition at the moment, not anything about the actual incident! If I am on my game, I can then pay attention to changing my thinking. Yesterday I was grumbling around, so I turned on happy songs. Mischief managed!
Ben Lee Photo, talented singer songwriter from AUSTRALIA, I really like his songs