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Why I Practice the Teachings of A Course in Miracles

by Rev. Jennifer McSween, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

In May of this year, 2022, I received the “Dreaded Diagnosis,” the “Big C,” as a biopsy confirmed that the cells of the 2.7mm lesion on my upper left lung was cancerous. I say the “Dreaded Diagnosis” because as the world teaches… whether it’s within the context of religion, spirituality, philosophy, or the secular world… “cancer” of any sort is one of the things in the world by which we seem to be most victimized. This is partly because despite our best efforts, we can’t seem to prevent it… we have not yet found a cure… and it is still among the leading causes of death.

The world therefore teaches that “cancer” is something to be feared and fought against so… most of the time receiving a cancer diagnosis begins a cycle of worry, fear, and fight. It’s common to hear people who have been diagnosed with cancer and/or who have been cancer-free for some time, talk about how hard they are fighting against the disease and describe themselves as “Cancer Survivors.”

For me though — from the first time I heard the diagnosis up to the time of this writing, which is six days after having surgery to remove the entire upper lobe of my left lung — I have been totally at Peace. I remember feeling extremely calm as the two Pulmonary Specialists discussed the results of the first CT Scan with my husband and me, in April. The results showed a clearly defined “spot” on my upper left lung and they suggested a series of further scans, tests and exploration over the following four to six weeks to determine the exact nature of the ‘spot.’

After they left the room, I turned to my husband and asked, “So how do you feel about all this?” He responded by saying, “Never mind me… how do ‘you’ feel?” I shared that I was feeling quite calm and at peace despite the possible diagnoses.

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Spirit and the Brain

by Rev. Larry Glenz, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

When I was an athlete in high school and college, my coaches often stressed a concept that is best expressed in a quote attributed to Henry Ford:

“If you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”

As a younger man, I did not necessarily believe that to be true. But I wanted to know how to get myself to believe I can. That statement began to resonate in my brain and heart from the repetition of being told that by my coaches over the years. Then later, I became a high school coach of football, wrestling and lacrosse. I repeated that statement many, many times to hundreds of players.

As a Course student, I have found that the statement has spiritual truth. I have been devoted to A Course in Miracles for almost 30 years. The Workbook of ACIM teaches in the earliest lessons:

• “I do not understand anything I see.” (W-3)

• “My thoughts do not mean anything.” (W-10)

• “My thoughts are images I have made.” (W-15)

“My thoughts” referred to here, are my ego thoughts. That is not really thinking; it is image making. And it is all illusion.

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Mindful Morning In and Out of Time

by Rev. Bill Poppa, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

“Nothing is ever lost but time, which in the end is meaningless. For it is but a little hindrance to eternity, quite meaningless to the real Teacher of the world. Yet since you do believe in it, why should you waste it going nowhere, when it can be used to reach a goal as high as learning can achieve?”  (T-26.V.2:1-3)

“To you who still believe you live in time and know not it is gone, the Holy Spirit still guides you through the infinitely small and senseless maze you still perceive in time, though it has long since gone. You think you live in what is past. Each thing you look upon you saw but for an instant, long ago, before its unreality gave way to truth. Not one illusion still remains unanswered in your mind. Uncertainty was brought to certainty so long ago that it is hard indeed to hold it to your heart, as if it were before you still.” (T-26.V.4:1-5)

I wake up this morning. I am free of thought. Everything I look upon is new. There is no past.

I walk into the kitchen to make coffee and it is as if I am doing it for the first time. I know how to do it. The smell of the coffee grinds is a surprising gift. I am grateful I am making coffee. It is the perfect thing to do. It is the only thing to do. When I close the top of the coffee maker, the smell of the grinds diminishes then is gone.

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Joy and Peace

by Rev. Joyce Peebles, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

The text tells us light, joy and peace abide in me. I came to admit that I did not believe these words. To “spiritual people” they sound good and thus I enjoyed saying them. Yet the problem remained that I could not believe them entirely.

Due to my split mind, I am engaged in a daily struggle to see myself as an ego body or as pure spirit.

Jesus has instructed us that this body, the world and our special relationships are all made to conceal the beliefs in sin, guilt and fear. I know this is true from observing my projections. Too often I see my brother as my enemy; conflict, competition and strife are present. Now I understand it is the belief in guilt in my mind that is the cause of my upsets.

A quote from the Song of Prayer says, “Praying for others, if rightly understood, becomes a means for lifting your projections of guilt from your brother, and enabling you to recognize it is not he who is hurting you. The poisonous thought that he is your enemy, your evil counterpart, your nemesis, must be relinquished before you can be saved from guilt.” (-1.3.1:4-5)

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Puzzled

by Rev. Paula Richards, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

One of the best things about the used bookstore near me isn’t the books. It isn’t the lovely couple who own it or the warm, welcoming space they’ve created. It’s the puzzles. Row upon row of used jigsaw puzzles that you can rent for a full month.

Not everyone enjoys doing puzzles. I happen to love it if there is a pretty picture and not just some mind-boggling challenge. I don’t feel the need to prove myself in that way. But, as I sat the other evening, pouring out the contents of another 1,000-piece puzzle box, I couldn’t help wondering what the fascination is with cutting a photo into many pieces only to put them back together again. Why would anyone do that? It somehow felt important to have an answer.

I asked Holy Spirit to explore this with me because I suspected that puzzle-making might be a metaphor for life. A Course in Miracles tells us over and over that we are whole, complete, and perfect, that we are One. But we are experiencing ourselves as billions of separate individuals trying to rejoin, to see where we fit into the bigger picture. Again, why would we do that?

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The Three R’s: Reset, Renew and Remind

by Rev. Vicki Evans, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

One of the most beautiful lessons that I learned through my journey at Pathways of Light is that I always have the opportunity to choose my path; dwell on the past, or move forward into peace and joy with Holy Spirit. Reset every morning — no need to regret or ruminate yesterday. This has become my mantra.

I want to be the tide that moves forward collecting shells of experience by latching on to activities that contribute to my goals and create waves of purpose. In the past I can think of so many times when I would ruminate on my thoughts over and over in my mind in hopes of grasping a perspective that I could make sense of in my false state of ego. Sometimes that circulating of mind thoughts would take the form of going over my encounters and almost rating them on a scale of 1 to 10. I was thinking from a state of worry instead of self-trust.

Knowing that I have a lifelong partner in Holy Spirit and my own Internal Wisdom, I now live in the joy of awakening when I choose the path of peace. I can always trust myself to be my authentic self in any situation to revitalize myself in a state of Love, not ego.

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Learning Through Joy

by Rev. Ashley Rose Legrand, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

I used to think that everything needed to be perfect in order for me to be happy. All my conditions had to be met for me to be at peace and really live. Even with the deepening of my spiritual life over recent years, there was still a small remnant of this old thought system lingering in my mind.

Over the past month though, I have begun to notice a shift. I have even surprised myself in the most delightful way. My ego is very strong in a certain area of my life and I’ve had to work overtime to rein it in and choose, over and over again, to see the situation differently. These last few weeks it seems something has taken over me.

“Hi, Holy Spirit…” has taken my hand and infused me with a greater strength than I’ve yet known and guided me beyond more of my mental blocks to the awareness of Love’s presence within me, regardless of what the outside conditions were presenting at the moment.

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