Miracles News

April-June, 2018

Hello My Friend

by Rev. Cindy Lyn Bartholome, O.M.C.

Rev. Cindy Lyn BartholomeThe message on my voicemail said, “Cindy, this is Lorraine Merritt …  I don’t know if you’re aware that Linda Wisniewski made her transition a short time ago…”  I was stunned.  Linda Wisniewski, my Pathways of Light ministerial facilitator, the person I talked to on the phone every week for the past nine months, is gone from this physical world. I broke down and cried.

I felt a deep connection with Linda from our very first phone meeting. We never physically met; yet it seemed I knew her my entire life. With each phone conversation our friendship flourished.  Through the ministerial lessons and with Linda’s guidance and encouragement, I shared with her my deepest fears and worries; my greatest joys and aspirations. I joked with Linda that she knew more about me than my husband of twenty plus years.

Linda diligently, before each phone meeting, read my email of completed ministerial lessons and made notes of her insights. Our phone conversations included her notes along with anything else we thought of while discussing the lessons. By sharing her amazing insights, Linda helped me to expand my awareness of myself and enhance my understanding of A Course in Miracles.

The last time I talked to Linda we were reviewing my completed lessons from the course titled, The Healing Bridge of Symbols & Rituals. Linda mentioned she wasn’t feeling well; however she wanted to proceed with our discussion and was ready with her notes.  It quickly became apparent Linda wasn’t feeling strong enough to continue the conversation. We decided to end the call and talk about these exact lessons the next week, when she was feeling better. 

I thought Linda had the flu or an awful cold or something like that. I didn’t realize how ill she was. I thought I’d be talking to her again in another week or two. I never got a chance to tell her how much she meant to me; I never got the chance to say good bye to her. Now I’m to continue this path without Linda’s guidance and encouragement on the other end of the phone.

I called Lorraine, thanked her for telling me about Linda and told Lorraine that I was grateful to be moving forward in my ministerial training; with her as my facilitator.

My first facilitated phone meeting with Lorraine began where Linda and I left off; the lessons that Linda reviewed but was too ill to discuss. During this first meeting, Lorraine read each of my completed lessons out loud. She would read the lesson then read the answer I wrote. When Lorraine finished reading my answer she paused for any comments; then she moved onto the next lesson.

I listened as Lorraine read what I wrote for lesson number twenty one, which was marked ‘optional.’

This is what I wrote…

“This is the symbolic object I was guided to share with my facilitator…Why I chose this symbolic object and what it means to me:

“I knew I was going to be leaving town within the next hour and wanted to finish the course before I left. I wasn’t sure I’d have time to complete this optional lesson before I went on my trip. I didn’t want to feel rushed. My thought was that by feeling rushed I would be forcing the symbol and not allowing it to come to me. I walked outside to turn off the water and as I was doing this I said in my mind, ‘I would really like to find something that represents my relationship with Linda’.

“As I bent down to turn off the water I saw an object on the ground and I knew this was the symbol. The object was covered with dirt so I wasn’t sure what it was. I took it in the house and washed it off to see what came through. It’s a rusted Bud Light bottle cap.

“I laughed. Of course, this is the perfect symbolic object. ‘Bud’ is a term of endearment meaning friend and ‘Light’ is a Symbol of Spirit which shines the light on all the shadows of illusions. A Course in Miracles is about helping us to remember Spirit. The words ‘Bud Light’ can barely be seen because of the rust, but I know what it says because the words are familiar to me. The words are in the middle of a circle which to me represents oneness. The circle also reminds me of the world because it’s blue like the oceans and rust is in the places where land would be.

“What this symbol represents to me as related to Linda:

“Linda and I are friends who have come together through Spirit and A Course in Miracles. The words we share about Spirit and A Course in Miracles have not always been part of my physical vision but are still very familiar to me. Although I may never meet or see Linda physically she will always be a part of me. We not only share physical oneness because we’re both part of this beautiful world, we also share the oneness of Spirit.”

Tears streamed down my cheeks as Lorraine read this. I was heartbroken that Linda will never be on the other end of the phone. At the same time I was overjoyed that Linda read these words before she made her transition. I did get to tell Linda how much she meant to me; I did get to say good bye to my friend.

I wrote the above shortly after November 7, 2016 when Linda Wisniewski made her transition. At the time I was more focused on saying good bye to a physical Linda which I never knew. Any physical attributes I may have thought she possessed, I made up in my mind as I listened to her voice on the phone. Linda was a voice leading me as she helped me to connect with my own inner Voice for guidance.

Thanks to the assistance of Linda’s voice, Lorraine’s voice and many other Pathways of Light facilitator’s voices plus the guidance of Holy Spirit, I will become an ordained Pathways of Light Ministerial Counselor, March 18, 2018. I now understand these words I wrote over a year ago about the symbol I found related to Linda, “Although I may never meet or see Linda physically she will always be a part of me — we share the oneness of Spirit.”  There was no need to say good bye to Linda. She has been with me throughout my training and will be beside me during my ordination. Hello my friend. I Love you.

Rev. Cindy Lyn Bartholome, O.M.C., is a Pathways of Light minister living in Crawford, Colorado. Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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