Pathways of Light Miracle Stories, 1/99 p.2

Miracles News Winter 1999

Bliss-Love-Peace • I Walk to the Memory of Love • If We Listen • A Model Who Gives Miracles • Learning to Live • More Winter '99 Miracles News
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Bliss-Love-Peace -- by Tom Szpond

Of all the meditations we all experience, some are better than others, and the very best end up on our mental list of "Lifetime's Best Meditations." Like the very first time we got some deep insights from meditating, really connecting to our higher Spirit, and exclaiming, "So that's what it's all about!" Or the time that everything physical turned translucent and glowing with white light, as I floated with my first out-of-the body sensation. Or the first time I was visited by a Master. Or the time I experienced the blessing, healing, and prospering energy of being in a "pyramid light shower." Or the connection to Spirit on the top of a sand dune on a wilderness island, and some other meditations in a wilderness setting. Finally, I was powerfully changed by a guided meditation when I first visited Pathways of Light.

I had been working on special projects at work for over two years, and the normal routine of a basic 9-to-5 type of job had been changed into a lot of overtime and a good deal of travel, leading to family pressures and other time conflicts. I had not meditated much in months. I was feeling frazzled, like a half-deflated, kicked-around, worn-out football. I was on another business trip, and stopped at Pathways of Light for a weekend visit between stops in Wisconsin and Oklahoma. I enjoyed the beauty of the grounds, meeting and sharing with the great staff, and the daily A Course in Miracles study sessions. But the highlight of the trip, and a highlight of the year, was a guided meditation facilitated by Reverend Derek Dube, also known affectionately as Reverend Forest.

True to this alternate moniker, Derek led me down to the forest gazebo on Pathways grounds on a sunny July afternoon. He asked me to consider my intent as we got started. I wanted to better manage my time. I wanted to feel like I had time enough to do everything. And as I relaxed, settled into the meditation and connected to Spirit in this tranquil setting, I had an incredible long timeless God moment. I reconnected profoundly to my peace. I reconnected to my happiness and bliss. I reconnected to universal Love.

I decided to start each day connecting to the power of bliss, love, and peace, and then to allow Spirit to direct me to do everything else. I use discernment to decide I have to do less; and I delegate where appropriate. Then there can be time for everything, easily and effortlessly. I formed the affirmation: I allow nothing to invade my peace. Everything is an opportunity for me to experience peace. I do not always need to know or do, I only need to be... peace. If I focus on the world, I will never finish everything. When I focus on peace, I have already done all I need to do.

I was so sky high after that meditation that the experience carries through with me to this day, many months later. I joined the words bliss, love, and peace into bliss-love-peace as one word, for how can you separate them? Blisslovepeace! Blisslovepeace! BLISSLOVEPEACE! I greet others with "Bliss-Love-Peace" on occasion, and use it as the message on my screen-saver. Whenever I forget and get caught up in little daily pressures, the mere remembrance of this word puts me back on track. Everything is an opportunity to experience bliss! I gratefully thank Derek and Pathways for providing this life-changing soul experience. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I Walk to the Memory of Love -- by Rev. Robert Stoelting

As I walk along the journey
to the remembrance of Love,
I know that I am safe, for You are beside me.

I can look at each seeming barrier
and remember that if it is not Love,
it must not be real.

Though a part of me may tremble at the
apparent mass of the obstacle before me,
Your strength is with me.

I hold Your hand and remember, "This is not real."

I turn to You and ask to see the truth.

And with Your help, the unreality of the
hallucination dawns upon my mind.

The path is cleared and I walk on to the memory of Love.

If We Listen -- by Rev. Terrie Elaine

I work in a situation where I perceived myself as constantly under attack by one of the women there. I have tried to be thoughtful and considerate of her needs, but it seems she sees me as a threat. So, I keep looking for answers because the conflict seems to continue. What is Spirit trying to tell me? It seems I must be pretty hardheaded because the message always comes in multiples.

Having a short attention span, or perhaps wanting to learn everything there is to learn all at once, I am reading three books at once and open others as well. I just read a passage in A Course in Miracles about forgiveness opening the door to Heaven, and looking at our lives so that we could forgive ourselves and others. What I read in Living Buddha, Living Christ said basically the same thing. This correlated to Castenada's The Art of Dreaming in which Don Juan postulates the idea about recapitulating our lives to become stronger spiritually. All three books were telling me the same thing. So I looked back on my past to see just what things stood out and why they were things I kept in my memory bag.

At one time many of these memories caused me pain from the knowledge that I had acted in a way that was not appropriate to the standards I set for myself. Ah ha! Expectations.

I wondered why I held on to these memories. As I explored them, I realized that in each case I was seeking union, a sense of completeness. Funny how we look outside ourselves for that which we already have.

After examining one of the memories in vivid detail and exploring the feelings that it brought up, I realized that I had done the best I knew how acting as the person I was then. Now I can let it go, or look at it with amusement and know that I have all that I need as I build my relationship with Spirit. That situation taught me what I wanted most in life, but of course I didn't realize it at that time.

People come and go in our lives. They give us the opportunity to remember Who We are and the opportunity to become that which we wish to be in that relationship. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Each encounter gives us the opportunity to let Spirit guide us toward home.

I'm guessing that this woman at work is teaching me to understand that all attack is a cry for help, to look for the Christ Spirit within, and to forgive so that I am forgiven. So, I'm not going to let her perceptions of the situation become Who I Am. Rather, I am going to look for the Christ Spirit within and approach her with patience and love. In extending love to her, I extend love to myself and that is the person that I wish to be. Maybe the message is getting through after all.

A Model Who Gives Miracles -- by Rev. Therese Anne Ward

When things get hectic and life feels chaotic and my mind is obsessing on problems, it's time to go see Evelyn. She is a friend I've known for over thirty years. We met through Yoga, a discipline she embraced at the age of sixty, becoming a teacher of Hatha Yoga a few years later. Today Evelyn is in her ninety-fifth year, as she likes to say, and enjoying life at Madonna Manor Retirement Center.

A knock on the partially opened door brings a vibrant response, "Come in." I'm greeted with the biggest smile and an exuberant, "Well, how's Therese?" followed by a vigorous, warmhearted hug, in which she administers a back rub too. Nowhere else on earth am I greeted with such love and joy. She usually says, "I was just thinking about you yesterday, and said I must call Therese, and here you are."

I feel so grateful to be here with this beautiful woman. To me she is a model of living love. Sometimes in response to her query, "How are you?" I may lightly disclose an overview of a present problematic situation in my life. Evelyn listens intently, looking at me and occasionally nodding her head as she rocks in her favorite rocker.

I am very brief, because one thing Evelyn has taught me is, "You never complain." I thought she was saying that I never complain, which I don't, hardly ever, but then I realized that she was stating a prescription for joy, namely: You Never Complain. She models this, she lives this. I have not heard her complain about one thing, nor say an unattractive thing about anyone in all the time I've known her.

Her response to my stated problem is first of all, a hearty laugh. She laughs a contagious laugh. Then she speaks words of love, recounting how lucky she is, how blessed she is to be here. She tells me stories of her life, always with joy and thankfulness. Then she speaks about what a lovely person my husband is and "the kiddies" as she calls my children and grandchildren.

As she speaks, she rocks and I see peace in her face and the light of her Being shining in her body and crowning her head of snow white hair, testament to her spiritual wisdom. She says we are lucky, we sure are blessed, we have such a good life. Now I want you to get it that this is the miracle that she offers to me. She does not enter into my melodrama of discord and pain. She does not join me in my illusion. Instead, she sees only good, God's blessing in all and everything. My mind hears her truth and my heart is lifted in her light. I receive her miracle offered and I am transformed. We are in joy, we are celebrating life, we are grateful for each other and we are thanking God.

All of this happens without her once telling me what to do. She doesn't give advice or act as if she has the answers. She doesn't try to teach me or fix anything. She simply is being herself. She simply loves me. And in this love I am transformed. In this love I find my way; she doesn't tell me the way. She loves me and allows me. She innately knows that I have to find the way myself. Her unconditional love is the light that opens the way, but I have to find it. She models the love I desire to live. This day I have received another miracle from Evelyn; in this changed perception I find my way Home to Love once again. All is well and I am grateful.

Learning to Live -- by Rev. Kevin L. Fields

In the early part of last September, I was at a low point that comes from living life on the "outside" looking in. I was beginning to give in to feelings of worthlessness and failure. I was experiencing, for the first time in my life, difficulty finding work. My financial life appeared bleak, and it seemed that every time I gazed in the mirror, failure was imprinted on my forehead in bright, fluorescent letters. Everything seemed gray, but I didn't want to admit to anyone else how I felt. Keep up appearances at all costs. I was comparing my "insides" to everyone else's "outsides."

During the previous year I had battled the specter of addiction, lost an important interpersonal relationship, moved to another city, and changed careers. It seemed I had lost all of the "roots" I had grown in the ground of life. No stress here, everything is fine. However, during this seeming dark period, I continued to look within, to Spirit for comfort and answers. Somehow I knew, to find the answers to my problems, I must seek that place where I was told, "BE STILL AND KNOW...."

On the outside, I continued to maintain what I believed to be an appearance of peace and calm, as if I had it all together. All the while crying out in pain and fear on the inside as I was seeking the place of inner peace and comfort. Life just didn't seem to be working. I reached a crisis point, or in the root Greek, a krinein, a point of separation. What this proved to be was a point of separation from life lived from the "outside" looking in to life lived from the "inside" manifesting out. So what happened? It was nothing less than a miracle of changed perception, the opening of eyes of Love.

Three years ago, while browsing through a secondhand store, I "happened" across a book by spiritual teacher Joel Goldsmith entitled, The Art of Meditation. Upon seeing the title, a recognition of sorts clicked in my heart and I knew that I must read it. What I found in its pages was a promise not written by the author, but by what I believe to be Spirit. The promise was that if I could quiet my mind and emotions, I might find the still, silent place where I could find refuge from the world. In retrospect, I know today that before my discovery that day in the second hand store, I was not ready to receive the gift I had been given.

Prayer and meditation were not new concepts to me. On the contrary, I had discovered meditation during my teenage years. With this base and many years involvement in the Unity movement, I was familiar with the practice. What had been lacking was an understanding of the spirit of the practice. And as a result of this lack of understanding, I held on to the mistaken perception that the still, quiet place that I sought was somewhere "out" there. Even the twelve step program which I have belonged to for many years spoke of the necessity of prayer and meditation. Still the idea that all of life, including a prayer and meditation life, was on the outside remained firmly rooted in my consciousness.

As I began to ponder the truth in the writing, I discovered a gradual change in perception began to take place. At the onset the change was almost imperceptible. Then a period of intense discomfort began to take place. The very ideas around which I had constructed my reality were being challenged. Truth however, is Truth. And no matter what form it may take, the Light that is created by Truth melts illusion back into the nothingness from which it springs.

My misperceived illusion of life, and reality, began to melt as new thoughts and attitudes began to take root. Suddenly, the Spiritual Truth of "as within, so without" began to make sense and take on new meaning. I knew, to the very core of my being, that the Light of Love was leading me into a grand, new adventure, no matter what "outside" appearances might be.

During the ensuing months, which turned into years, old relationships which no longer worked for me or other individuals, began to dissolve. I was literally picked up and moved to another city where I had no job, knew no one, and had nothing in the material sense. Still, through the practice of faith, I kept my vision turned inward with an unshakable trust that the Spirit of Love which had sustained all of my needs up to this point, would continue to do so. It was up to me to soften, turn my vision inside, and make contact with the Holy Spirit. I continued to persevere, being drawn always to the Light of Love which exists in all of God's creation.

It is important that you understand that this process which I share with you is just that, a process, an experience which has taken many, many moments of joy and frustration. This process, as time goes by, manifests in ever more glorious ways. There are still moments when the specter of the misperceptions of the past loom before me. What is apparent in this is simply an illusion created by ego trying to tell me that I am still unworthy of the glory which belongs to us all through Divine birthright and the power of Love. But this is a lie, and as stated before, all lies fade before the Light of Truth. Which, after dancing around the barn, brings me back to the early part of September.

By "chance" (I do not believe that anything really happens by chance) I had been given a Pathways of Light catalog earlier in the summer by the minister of the local Unity Church. We were considering adding a new line of angel cards to our bookstore, and he asked me to look over the material and give him my opinion.

What I found in its pages intrigued me, particularly the offering of correspondence courses. I had been ordained in an independent ministry earlier in the summer and I saw a possible opportunity to enlarge the scope and understanding of the power of Love Divine. Even at this time there was still a battle of consciousness taking place within me. You see, old ideas are incredibly tenacious and their roots run deep in the subconscious mind. I still had not let go completely the belief that what I perceived on the outside was my reality. This war of consciousness finally brought me to the point that I picked up the telephone and called Pathways. It was during the initial conversation that a feeling of peace began to settle in, a surrender in the battle. I know today that my "Higher Self" was letting me know that this was the right action at the right time and change was being facilitated.

Several days later the first course arrived and the roots of my old, subconscious belief began to wither. I began to comprehend that the "Peace which passeth all understanding..." was a reality all along inside myself, and I began to become aware of this magnificent manifestation appearing on the "outside." This has continued to be the case, moment by moment, day by day, in ever more wonderful demonstrations.

Today there is a deep knowing that all of this life experience can be lived in joy and gratitude. Those times in the life experience that seem to be points of frustration and despair are in actuality times which I can be grateful. For without them growth would not have occurred. Life experiences, when seen through the eyes of Love, in the Light of Spirit, become reference points on the journey back to Love. I take great joy in this understanding. The "outside" life is no longer my point of reference. Rather, the "inside" life, the life of Spirit. The life abundant has become the focal point. And what we focus on in this experience is what we create in our lives.

I find that I no longer compare my "insides" with anyone else's "outsides." Instead I can observe, without judgment, my interactions with all of God's children and know that we are all where we are on the journey. No one any better. No one any worse than anyone else. We simply are where we are. This awareness brings freedom from the illusion that the "outside" world is the determining factor in life. For when the world is experienced through the eyes of Love, the world becomes Love. Judgment of self and others—people, places and situations--fades away.

I know that I am still in the kindergarten of this new spiritual awareness. And I find that each moment brings with it a new awareness of the joy of life. I hope to share with you in the coming months bits and pieces of this new awareness. For wherever one of us goes in this experience, the rest of us get to go too. Until we next meet, remember we are always together in the Oneness of the Holy Spirit.

Bliss-Love-Peace • I Walk to the Memory of Love • If We Listen • A Model Who Gives Miracles • Learning to Live • More Winter '99 Miracles News