Love wants not guilt as a sacrifice, as repayment for things given. It hopes instead gratitude as the choice of a generous heart. Gratitude is never forced from the receiver of a gift as a payment, but only accepted when we choose to give it. The age of the world is long because love waits for our hearts to sing this song of appreciation in place of the remorse we send as a ransom. To let go of shame takes most of us a long time. To relinquish guilt is to release all humanity from its enslavement as well.
Guilt is given in place of gratitude when the gift of love is not properly understood. Guilt is not love. It is given in place of love as a this-for-that. Penance is paid as tribute in exchange for love when the payor believes that love is given conditionally, as part of a bargain, in a negotiation. Yet this is not love at all. It is something given in trade. The one who receives love and believes its gift is conditioned on the payment of any currency invented by this world believes that sacrifice must be offered to the giver. The feeling that is engendered when love is given to someone who thinks he must pay for it is guilt. He may seek to pay for the love he receives in many media of exchange — suffering, work, time. He experiences love not at all.
When love is truly experienced, it is known without conditions, as it truly is. The one who accepts love and believes its gift is given without expectations understands that by receiving love, she does its giver a great service. The feeling that is engendered when love is given to a receiver who knows this is gratitude. She experiences what love is.
To let go of guilt is to release all of us from its grip as well. It is to be grateful on behalf of all creatures, even those who have no voice for expressing thanks. Gratitude is really love. It is the love given by the receiver of gifts to the sender. It is equal to the gift itself. For in the end, the giver and the receiver are one, as a right hand gives to a left, both members of the same body. A gift cannot be given unless there is someone to accept it. A gift wouldn’t be a present unless it was received. Love, therefore, requires a recipient. A lover always needs another lover to recognize herself.
© 2022 by Michael C. Just
Mike’s novel, The Dirt: The Journey of a Mystic Cowboy, is available in softcover or eBook formats through Amazon.
You can purchase the book through this website. Or go straight to amazon at https://www.amazon.com/s?k=the+dirt+journey+of+a+mystic+cowboy&crid=1S40Q4BXSUWJ6&sprefix=the+dirt%3A+journey+of+a+m%2Caps%2C180&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_23
Mike’s other titles, including The Crippy, The Mind Altar, and Canyon Calls, are available through this website or through Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002
Four of his short stories have recently been published online:
Lies, Ltd. has been published by The Mystery Tribune @ Lies, Ltd.: Literary Short Fiction by Michael C. Just (mysterytribune.com)
The Obligate Carnivore has been published by the Scarlet Leaf Review @ Category: MICHAEL JUST – SCARLET LEAF REVIEW
I See You, Too has been published by the 96th of October @ I See You, Too – 96th of October
Offload, a short story about a man who can heal any disease, is now live and can be read at The Worlds Within at Offload – The Worlds Within