When wronged by others

A couple of weeks ago I was grousing to myself about being unfairly wronged by another. I don’t like feeling resentful because I know it is totally out of character with living the Sermon on the Mount which instructs us to forgive, love our enemies, and move on.

But no matter how I looked at the situation I faced, I still felt wronged, and the burden this resentment brought within was not lifting.

I said all the right words in my prayers, but still, the resentment would not leave.

Finally, the angel message came,

“I might be wronged by others, but I don’t have to suffer from their actions.”

Wow! That was the inspiration I needed to hear.

I realized that I was stuck in my prayers because I was trying to see the unreality of the injustice. And I couldn’t. Injustice is injustice. How can you see a wrong as right? You can’t. Wrong is wrong, and right is right, simple as that.

I thought about Jesus Christ’s experience with others. He was wronged many times, and very unfairly. If he couldn't avoid being treated unjustly, how would I avoid it?

Also, he did not tell his followers that they would never be wronged. In fact, he taught quite the opposite. He warned his students that they would be wronged, and they might as well expect it. But he didn’t leave it there.

He explained,

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Well of course, I finally figured out with the emphasis of a strong blow across the head, that we feel resentful when we believe something of worth has been taken from us. Something of value like maybe an opportunity, perhaps money, a thing, or esteem, respect, honor, or something similar.

These are all worldly, though. They are not of heaven, I began to see clearly. They are of the temporal realm and to be released for the spiritual.

All good is truly spiritual, and not of this world, I reaffirmed. No one on this planet could do anything, no matter how unjust, that deprived me of anything genuinely good. My substance is safe and sound in Spirit, I knew!

And that’s when I really understood the message, “I might be wronged by others, but I don’t have to suffer from their actions.”

I interpreted this to mean, I might be, and probably would be again, wronged humanly by others, but I will never feel suffering from their actions when I know my substance, being and individuality is spiritual, safe and sound in heaven, where no human can touch it.

My goal in life was not to build myself up humanly in a way that others could tear down. It was not to achieve any type of prestige or certain kind of respect from others. It was not to be anything of this world really. It was to grow in spiritual understanding, yield up all belief of life in matter, and be the heavenly child of God I was created to be in the first place. From this higher spiritual point of view, there wasn't anything anyone of this world could do to truly hurt me. Human injustice might sting for a while, as I let go of human ego, but in the long run, all is spiritual and totally out of the reach of malice and hatred.

Whew!

This higher view was a mega-relief, and I’m still floating in upper mental space from the buoyancy it brought to me.

No more resentment…just more love.

You can do it too.

The world is not fair

“It’s not fair!” The words have been uttered millions of times by people not getting an honest shake. No salary increase, a promotion gone to another, being treated disrespectfully, and feeling overlooked and ignored often top the list of personal grievances. And there are greater wrongs. Civilian and children casualties in war, terminal disease, carnage from natural disasters, faithful employees losing their job without warning, are a few examples that can leave people dazed and wondering “Where’s the justice?”

The world is not a fair place.

Look what happened to Jesus Christ? He loved and loved and loved, and what did the public do to him? He was crucified. Not an enjoyable outcome. But we can learn from his response to the ordeal. Instead of getting mad at his persecutors, he forgave them, let anger go, and went to God, in Love. And he was rewarded for his faithfulness to Love with a permanent refuge in eternal Life from his enemies.

When I farmed with my dad, one summer a neighboring corporate farm sprayed a dangerous pesticide illegally. The honey bees pollinating our crops got into the spray and brought it back to the hives, resulting in massive bee kills. Large piles of dead bees mounted in front of every hive. It was a monumental disaster leading to tens of thousands of dollars in losses, all in the matter of a couple of hours.

We felt so helpless. The kill was not just. The thoughtlessness and carelessness of our neighbors impacted us and our beekeeper terribly, and it wasn’t fair.

The offending party admitted they had sprayed improperly, but made excuses as to why. Dad could have sued, but he chose not to. He knew a lawsuit would turn into years of fighting in courts and drain his time and energy away from running a successful farming operation. He chose to let the incident go, regroup his resources, and concentrate effort on making the best of what we had left.

Looking back, he made the right decision. The farm flourished anyway, despite the bee loss. Our supply came from God, not from the bees, and no carelessness of a neighbor could deprive our farming operation from demonstrating success when we were drawing upon the unlimited resources of God.

What man takes away, God can replace.

The world may be unfair, but God is fair.

Evil may be flaring and boasting strength around the globe tromping over innocent by-standers and way-farers, but it will not have the final say. God has the final say. Our life and substance are spiritual. They cannot be touched by hatred and malice or even disease.

As we identify more with spiritual substance and not fear material loss, we will conquer evil more successfully through spiritual ways and means. Less injustice will occur, and life on earth will more nearly approximate life in heaven.

What do you think?