own ailing pride, taking credit for what you have motivated
them to do.You always play a role! You are the one who gets
hurt, and then you become the one who does the hurting,
       Patience is the way to perfect love. By not responding
to a parental tease, you express correcting love, which lifts
you out of the age-old system of chain-reaction response.
Patience is love for children, as well as for parents. Patience
is love for mankind.
       Patience is the evidence of love maturing, and it is this
kind of unselfish love which points the way to maturity for
those around you. So, you see, filial love, parental love and
brotherly love should all reduce to the one agape, Godly
love—patience.
       May the Creator bless you to see that your parents are
out of control, that something in them is driving them to
hurt you. If you are able to see this clearly, you will not
feel the hurt or the need to relieve your pain by hurting
others.You will also feel relief in realizing that you are not
mad for seeing what is wrong with them.With compassion
comes patience and, through patience, the good which
overcomes evil.
       A soul inclined toward good, will see clearly that it has
no alternative except to be patient. It is not a matter of con-
scious control, but of being so close to reality—so objective,
so distant to emotion—that you become part of the sol-
ution rather than part of the problem.
       Patience is the gift of the Spirit, given through under-
standing. Understanding the spiritual agony others suffer in
their cruelty toward you will help you have compassion for
them, rather than feelings of resentment.You will no longer

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