Pathways of Light Miracles News, 1/00 p. 1

Miracles News Winter 2000

Gifts from My Constant Companion • The Time Is Now • Choosing Peace Opens Doors • Unexpected Forms of Love • More Winter 2000 Articles
Click here to email a link to this page to your friends.

Gifts from My Constant Companion -- by Rev. Mary Stoelting

We all have an Inner Teacher, a constant Companion that is always with us, ready to bring clarity to our conflicted minds, whether we are aware of it or not. I have been practicing with going to my Inner Teacher and listening to what It has to tell me. I recently contracted the flu, so I had a lot of extra time to be quiet and listen. As I did this, the following insights gently flowed into my mind. As I wrote them down, little by little, I was encouraged by my Inner Teacher to give more and more time to this process. I was also asked to encourage others to do this for themselves. So I am encouraging you now. It is well worth the time and effort. Not only has it been instrumental in correcting the conflicted thoughts in my mind, it also gives me the opportunity to share with others through this newsletter.

That is the purpose of this newsletter, to encourage us all to share with each other the messages of awakening we are receiving from our Inner Guidance. We don't go Home alone. We share our messages of awakening on our journey Home with each other because we are each other in reality.

So the following are some messages I have received recently from my constant Companion. The process is simple. Simply stop the mind chatter, be quiet and listen. If we are willing to be open and not intrude, the constant Companion Who is with us all will always be there to heal our minds. The following is my experience with my constant Companion:

First I want to talk about pathways to remembering the Truth about yourself. The most important is to remember to choose peace. "I choose the peace of God." That really means a lot. It means that you want the peace of God more than anything else. Being willing to have peace means being willing to be in the "state of mind" of peace.

When you are not in the state of mind of peace, it means that you have bought into or accepted a state of mind that is denying the truth of your natural beingness. Trying to be in a state of mind other than your natural, innate Self generates internal conflict. You are not at ease when you are buying into an idea that does not come from your true Self. Since your innate state of mind is peace, when you return to a state of peace, you are returning to your true beingness, your natural state.

When you are upset, you are investing in a thought that is not innate to your true Self, which is inherently a 'state of peace.' One important idea to let sink in is that you are peace. That is what you are. If you are not in a state of peace, you are not 'being' yourself. You are buying into or investing in an alien mind set. You are accepting a thought or idea that is the opposite of your inherent Self, your true nature.

Because you have become so used to or familiar with this alien, false mind set, you get accustomed to this alien state of being. You think that being in an unpeaceful state is normal. Let me tell you, it is abnormal. It is unnatural. It is not your real state of mind. It is buying into or accepting a false state of mind.

You may ask, "If this alien state is so familiar, how to I recognize it and let it go?" Well, it is simple, but it takes a lot of willingness and determination to be consciously aware of where your mind is in the present moment. What thoughts or ideas are currently residing there? You might ask yourself, "What am I thinking right now? What thoughts are running through my mind? Are these thoughts angry, blaming or in some way separating me from others? Are these thoughts contributing to a sense of lack, vulnerability, loss, being alone, unsafe or guilty?" If so, these thoughts are not coming from your inherent, true Self. They are alien thoughts to be seen as false and then dropped from your mind because they are recognized as false and not to be accepted as true. No longer be willing to energize them by believing in them.

The truth is that you have enormous help when you are willing to let go of these false ideas. When you recognize that you are not feeling peaceful, ask your peaceful Self for help. Say, "I want to return to the truth. I want to return to my true Nature of being the peace that I am." Your desire is what is needed to help peace return. Then focus your mind on allowing peace in. Consciously choose peace. Focus on returning to a peaceful state of mind. Imagine that peace is returning. Be open to the peaceful ideas, images, knowings and feelings of your true Self.

Your true Self always sees you as whole, complete and innocent. Your true Self knows that you have and are all love, joy and peace. Your true Self knows you as Itself. You are not separate. There is only one.

Catching When You Are Trying Too Hard

One of the avenues the ego uses to keep itself intact is to bring in the idea that returning to or remembering your true unlimited beingness as Love and nothing else is next to impossible and requires eons of time and effort. This is just a delaying tactic. It is a false idea to let go of. Holding on to the thought that being your true unlimited Self is hard just holds the experience of limitation in place.

The truth is you are now what you have always been and will always be—pure Spirit—an extension of Love, God. Think about what this means… You are an extension of God's Love. You are infinite and eternal Spirit. What you truly are has nothing to do with time and space. You are infinite Love and nothing else. You are not a body. The true you is not vulnerable to outside forces like the body appears to be. You are an idea in the Mind of Love. Think about that… an idea in God's Mind. That is what you really are. You are Love's thought—and that thought is one of oneness, of all having all, all giving all to all, all being all, with no differences or differentiations. This is the truth. This is Heaven. Think of that.

Stretch your mind to wrap around the idea that you are Love, and as Love, you are eternally giving yourself to all of yourself. You are infinite Love, and that includes all that is. It includes your brother and mother, your mailman, the grocery store clerk, the television announcer, and even the person in jail for murder.

So when a false idea creeps into your mind that this is hard, imagine giving that thought to your true unlimited Self to be shown for the false idea that it is. Practice letting your true Self be in charge of your life. Take the back seat and let your true Self be in the driver's seat. Relax and step back. Wait to be led. Pause and soften. This is the easy way. It is not hard, but it does take a willingness to step back. It takes practice in trusting in God rather than the false self-image of your ego identity. It takes a willingness to surrender, moment by moment. It takes humility that comes with the understanding that the personality self does not know and your eternal Self in God does know, and will lead the way if It is allowed to take the driver's seat. When this happens, it is effortless. When this does not happen, that is when it can seem to be a struggle or require a lot of 'trying and efforting.'

Thank goodness this is not what is needed, but just the opposite. If you seem to be faced with a challenge (which seems to come up every day in one way or another), practice relaxing instead of tensing up. Practice joining with the peace of God. Let it in. Practice being still and letting it lead you instead of efforting and trying to do it on your own based on what you learned from the past. You will like the experience. Taking the back seat to Spirit is indeed a smooth and pleasant ride. It will always lead you Home to your true Self in God.

When Doubt Comes Up

When thoughts of doubt come into your mind, it is helpful to take it to the Holy Spirit for clarity and understanding. Clarity and understanding come with the return of peace. In the softness of peace, new ideas can come into your mind that were shut out before. To get to that place of peace, allow a river of peace to flow through your mind. Allow yourself to feel and identify with the peace you are allowing into your experience. Let the peace guide you to a greater sense of certainty and clear direction. If you need to, be patient and wait.

Putting Your Life in your Inner Teacher's Hands

There can be such a temptation to take charge and try to figure out the solutions to your problems yourself. So being asked to put every decision into your Inner Teacher's hands may seem to bring up quite a bit of resistance. You are not used to remembering to hand it over to your Inner Teacher, your true Self. You are used to thinking you, as a separate identity, already know what is real. You are used to thinking your world of differences and separation is real. It is not. It is a false world coming from your false beliefs in separation.

This is how it works: Because you are a child, or extension of God, your mind is very powerful. When you choose to believe in separation instead of oneness, your mind can generate the appearance of images that appear to be outside of you, or separate from you. These images appear because of the power of your mind and your decision to see and believe in separation.

This decision to buy into separation takes the form of seeing separate bodies or distinct 'things' and believing they are real. This decision requires the denial that All is really one with no division or differences of any kind. This decision to believe in separation and see differences requires the denial of the Truth. With this denial of the Truth, you are trying to fool yourself in order to believe in the fantasies of separation. Underneath the fantasies of separation, there still is the Truth of oneness. That can never change. The truth is, you can never really change the Truth of oneness.

When you are tired of fantasies, you will let them go and return to the Truth of oneness. That is what forgiveness means, letting the false ideas of separation go. When you let belief in separation go, the Truth, which has never really left, simply returns to your awareness. You let it return by letting go of the denial of the Truth.

Because at this point you are so confused, you need to take all that you now believe and hand it over to your Inner Teacher, your true Self. You need to train your mind to follow your true Self and not to try to do it on your own. Because of your confusion, you cannot do it on your own. If you continue to repeat the thoughts from the past, you will fail because your whole thought system is based on false ideas. All your ideas are illusions. You need to learn to surrender all your ideas of what is real to the loving direction of your true Self, your Inner Teacher. You true Self knows how to lead you out of these fantasies of separation. Your true Self is all that is real. It is the real you. Your personality self is the false identity. This false self is the effect of your belief in separation and is not you.

As you surrender and put your life in the hands of your Inner Teacher, you will relax more. You will always be remembering to follow and not to take the lead. You will learn to be quiet and listen. You will learn to be gentle with yourself and others. You will learn to be patient and see through the delusions that crop up in your mind and the minds of 'others.' You will be reminded that you and your brother are one and the same. You will see all differences as a camouflage. You will learn to see through the camouflage to the oneness that lies behind.

As you continue to practice, your confidence in your Inner Teacher will grow. Your true Self will not seem like such a stranger to you. You will feel you have a constant Companion that goes with you wherever you go and is there for you whenever you ask. You will learn to trust this constant Companion to lead you past all your delusions to the Truth. With consistency and vigilance, you will gradually build a habit of stepping back and asking for the Truth, knowing that basing your decisions on what you have learned in the past is not the way to happiness.

Closing note: My commentary with my constant Companion will continue as I return to Its wisdom each day. Let's continue this together. Make a commitment to listen to your Inner Teacher, your constant Companion each day. By writing down what you receive, you help build your habit and sharpen your focus on asking for and listening to the Truth within you. Another benefit is you can go back to your notes and be reminded of what your constant Companion is encouraging you to remember. I also encourage you to send in your contributions to the newsletter, if you are so inclined. If it is appropriate to the purposes and intents of this newsletter, we will be happy to share your contributions in future Miracles News newsletters.

Click here if you want to email Mary.

The Time Is Now -- by Rev. Bob Slawson

I was reading my morning lesson in the ACIM Workbook, lesson 7, "I see only the past." A thought came to me regarding many experiences I have had while meditating. Frequently when I go to Holy Spirit, I have in my mind questions relating to the future. Sometimes the future might be tomorrow, sometimes next month or next year or even five years from now. The questions might be quite general or very specific.

The answer I get is almost always the same. "You don't need to know now. Live in the present. Live in the now."

This answer does not always satisfy me. I want to know now. I want what I want, when I want it.

It reminds me of the man who, when driving down the street, saw a sign at a gas station, "Free Car Wash Tomorrow." He made a mental note to go to the station the next day to have his car washed. He came to the station the next day and the sign was the same as yesterday. He continued to return each day for a month, when he finally caught on. Tomorrow never comes.

The only difference between that man and myself is that I am not as quick a learner as he.

I am just starting to understand that there is no tomorrow. That when tomorrow comes, it is today. When next month or next year comes, it is still today.

Lesson seven in the Workbook of A Course in Miracles says, "I see only the past." The Course teaches me the past is not real, so what I am seeing is not real.

So, the Holy Spirit tells me there is no future and ACIM states the past is not real. What am I to think? Duh!

There is only today. But part of today is already past and part is still in the future. I get it. Even today is made up of infinite periods of now. There is only the present, only this instant, only now. But now is enough, now is everything. Now is eternity. Now is God.

Click here if you want to email Bob.

Choosing Peace Opens Doors -- by Rev. Derek Dube

Recently, while driving from Milwaukee to Chicago for a work-related trip, I had an experience that I would like to share. About 20 minutes after leaving my house, I had a feeling that I was forgetting some important paper work necessary for my business the next morning. I had left Milwaukee around 9:30 p.m. and planned on arriving at my hotel around 11:30. Feeling that I did not want to go all the way to Chicago and find out I had left the important papers behind, I decided to pull over right there on the expressway and check the trunk to see if everything I needed was packed. To my relief, it was all there. I hopped back in the car, tossed the trunk key in the cup holder and continued my drive to Chicago.

I had a very pleasant ride and pulled into the hotel parking lot about 11:15, parked right by the front door, stepped out of my car and shut the door. Time stood still for a split second, and as the door was closing, I realized the keys were still in the car and the doors were locked. I reached for the door, but it was too late. I went inside, registered and asked if they had a hanger I could use to open the locked door. The gal at the front desk said they did not have a hanger, but would call the police for me and see if they might be of some help.

An officer came about 10 minutes later and I went outside with him. Having only a short sleeve shirt on (my car was warm when I was driving and I didn't need a jacket to run in and register, did I?) I got very cold, close to freezing as a matter of fact. Well, after 15 minutes of trying with no luck, the officer said he would call a lock smith for me, but that would be a $60 to $75 charge to have someone come out after midnight to open my car. I told him thanks, but I would have to think about that. The other choice that came to mind was to break my passenger side window and repair it with plastic and duct tape. I did not like either choice, I was cold, tired and had to get some sleep, it was now well after midnight and I had to get up by 5 a.m. for a 6 o'clock meeting… and I still needed to get my supplies out of the car for that meeting.

I was led to go into the lobby and sit down. I found a nice comfortable chair and sat back, closed my eyes and asked Inner Wisdom what to do. No answer… so I just allowed myself to become aware of my breathing… one breath at a time. I found that I was able to let go of most of my thoughts and get to a place of peace. The peace was broken momentarily by a thought of frustration because I was not coming up with a "good" solution. I asked that the frustration disappear and I again returned to a state of peace.

The next thing I hear is, "Derek, your car is open." I opened my eyes and standing in front of me was the officer who had worked on my car just a few minutes earlier. I asked him what he meant and he told me that after driving away, he had a peaceful thought that he should go back and try my locks one more time. He turned his car around and came back to the hotel and unlocked my car on the first try. I thanked him for his assistance and for listening to that peaceful thought, then wished him a good night.

My lesson was to remember to always ask Inner Wisdom for help when making a decision and not just react to a situation. If I had reacted, I would be driving around with a broken window. By going to peace, the best possible solution came about. I realize it goes beyond a locked car or broken window. The experience showed me that when I let go of the way I think something should be (which is usually limited), move into a place of peace and ask for help, the BEST always comes through!

Click here if you want to email Derek.

Unexpected Forms of Love -- by Rev. Therese Anne Ward

"As an ordained minister of Pathways of Light, in the Name of God, through, with and in the power of God, I baptize you. You always were and ever remain the holy child of God, forever loved by It's Creator." With these words I dipped my hand into holy waters and touched her forehead.

Reflecting on that day of officiating my first baptism ceremony, I see connections of God's Love flowing full circle to further the extension of Love.

Twenty years earlier, a troubled girl of fifteen, a daughter of my friends, sat in my office. "I haven't been feeling well; been sick to my stomach," she said. Having daughters of my own who were just a little older, the moment felt familiar. I asked her about her periods. "Haven't had any for a few months," she mumbled. As her girth was somewhat wider than usual, I asked her if she might be pregnant. The thought had never occurred to her. "It isn't possible anyway," she said, "My Dad would kill me if I was."

With a deep breath in, I asked the Holy Spirit to help me help this child. Words just came from my heart and I began to speak as a trusted and loving parent, assuring her of her parent's love and God's providence always being the Truth in every situation; that choosing to trust God's Love in her heart is the answer to everything, and anything less is just mistaken thinking.

Well, wrapped in the mantle of the Holy Spirit, she drew forth her courage and confided in her mother and father. And of course the only world that came to an end was her world of fear and false belief in separation from her parents and God. Extensions of Love surrounded her in the form of many helpers from home and community. Three months later she gave birth to a healthy baby girl.

With a community of love surrounding them, mother and daughter unfolded. As a mother, she matured; a young man came into her life and they married. He adopted the little girl. Now they were a family. Love abounded. Time would reveal that this little girl would be their only child. How blessed this family felt with her presence.

As life tarries not, it continued on in ordinary, eventful, living love, creating an ever enlarging circle of relatives and friends. Today that 'unexpected baby girl' is in college, being helped financially by her biological father who has reentered that circle of Love.

When given to the Holy Spirit, all things work for good and the extension of Love. This week I was graced to see the continuous weave of Love's unfolding in a tapestry of unbounded beauty, as this same 'unexpected girl,' who's name is Christina, stood to be baptized, with her mother, aunt and two cousins joining her. Truly, all that is Real is Love. It only takes a little willingness to see it and be it.

Gifts from My Constant Companion • The Time Is Now • Choosing Peace Opens Doors • Unexpected Forms of Love • More Winter 2000 Articles