LOVE AND REPRIMAND 2

p. 199-203 

It finally dawned on me that this chapter is about forgiveness. Reprimand seems like such a strange word or concept, but really it is about judgment or self-judgment. Simply put when we are in self judgment we are out of the flow. In a sense all judgment is self-judgment. I believe I have used this quote before from Thomas Merton: "The arrow with which I shoot my enemy has to pass through my own heart first".

 (As the guides have done many times before, they are using a word that we are somewhat unfamiliar with so that we might look at self-judgment in a new light).And when we find ourselves in judgment, one of the solutions if not the major solution is forgiveness. 

Now another significant theme to this chapter is awareness and that we can only heal what we are willing to heal and I can only be willing to heal that which I am aware of. (ACIM also states "God cannot heal what we are not willing to let go of.")

Here is where we begin to deal with some of the uncomfortableness of spiritual growth because in order for me to be aware I have to feel some things I might not want to feel. I might feel some things I don't think are mine or that I would rather disown or pretend are not there.

I had an encounter this week which made that very clear to me. I like to think of myself as being very well grounded and centered and yet there are some things that come along that still throw off course. I was driving along the other day very placidly when for some unknown reason somebody beeped me and my immediate reaction was one of anger and annoyance. I did not follow up on that, but the anger and annoyance were still very much there. That surprised me and even dismayed me a little bit. But the reminder here is that when stuff like that comes up, it comes out to be released, to be healed, to be transformed. How can it be healed or transform if I do not know it is there? 

Now the book outlines a very simple set of actions that can aid us in our healing.

“The first thing is you become aware of what you do and where you are unforgiving the self or another or standing in judgment or in reprimand. The second thing is to ask yourself why. And then the third thing is to allow it to be released through decision and through relinquishing the control that you have invested in being right. Even if it’s about yourself—“I reprimand myself because I always do this”—get over it and stop needing to punish yourself because what it does is block the creative flow of frequency that would serve to liberate you. How silly it would be to stand in punishment when there is no need.”

I would suggest even before these stages are initiated that you take a moment to honor exactly where you are. Even though we might not understand why we are where we are, honoring the place of awareness, no matter what it might be, opens us to grace and the ability to transform.

As the book suggests none of us can know what the journey of another person is all about and therefore judgment of another is completely bogus. I have enough problems getting a sense of why I am here and why I do what I do. I do not need to go poking around in someone else's stuff. 

The last section that we did today was both reading and the meditation. I would highly suggest that you sit down with a piece of paper and follow simple directions on page 201. Your list does not have to be exhaustive. Just writing down the people, places, and things that come to mind and then embracing them to the three prayers listed below.

This is certainly an exercise that can be done more than once. In fact any time you might be feeling stuck or jittery or notice that you are much more impatient than usual or perhaps the anger and annoyance you are feeling is way beyond what the situation calls for. In any of those instances something is up for us to take a look at and to release.

“Am I willing to release this to the love of my Creator to handle? Am I willing to release this to Source to make right in His way? Am I willing to sacrifice my own soul’s growth for this investment in reprimand and punishment of the self and another? Am I willing today to say, ‘I am letting this go, and I am willing to learn how, and to be led to the freedom that will lead me to freedom?’ Word I am Word.”

this is such a beautiful prayer:

It is also a reminder that we are not doing this work alone. Grace and help are always available to us. 

“Dear God, take this from me in this way: I am “Word through my willingness to release the need to judge my fellow man. I am willing to release the need to be in reprimand, to stand in my knowing and in my forgiveness as a child of the Creator. I now choose to give this all over to the Great Source to make truthful, and I release the need to hold myself to separation in the need to claim my self-righteousness or my separation from my fellows. I am Word through this intention. Word I am Word.”

“I am Word through my body. Word I am Word.

I am Word through my vibration. Word I am Word.

I am Word through my knowing of myself as Word.

And I am now free of all reprimand that I have inherited, that I have chosen, that I have carried, that has tethered me, that has bound me and has allowed me out of my alignment with my own knowing of myself as love. I am Word through this intention. Word I am Word.”

Peace,

Gerry