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Sitting at the Feet of the Master

by Rev. Christine Anderson, O.M.C.

On December 20, 2003 I became certified in Reiki-reflex and Reiki-ssage. One of the requirements for certification was to give 100 hours of documented sessions. To my delight, many of my friends and relatives supported my venture and many “put their feet in my hands.”

I learned so much through the practicing and I loved receiving the helpful feedback from everyone.

The pile of documentation forms was growing steadily. However, I looked at the calendar and realized that to meet the deadline, I needed to come up with some way to do several sessions daily. I got quiet and asked Spirit for guidance in this matter. Guidance came in the form of an idea: “Call and offer the sessions to the local hospitals.” Again to my delight, within a few days I received a call from the director of the pastoral care department at one of the hospitals. She was very receptive to my offer and invited me to come and give sessions for a week in a lovely little healing room located right in that department.

All who came for a session were very willing to share about their experience. They gave me wonderful documented feedback and helpful suggestions.

And yet again was I delighted! On my last day, I was scheduled to practice with four nuns at the convent adjacent to the hospital. These “angels” were all around 90 years of age. I say angels because it seemed as if there was a light around them like we see on the TV program, “Touched by an Angel.”

I could see so clearly their childlike innocence. I was amazed at their stories of traveling the world to do one thing: Serve God and Jesus.

As I sat at their feet, I could feel so much Love, the Love of their own Christ Spirit pouring through them. Here I thought I came to give and I was given so much.

Each of the Sisters expressed their heartfelt appreciation. I told them that they were the ones who were giving me the gift by allowing me to practice and giving me the privilege of sitting at their feet whilst their wisdom and love came pouring through them to me!

Oh Lord, let me remember those who are resting upon their completion of a task well done. They have paved the way for me and have even met me on the homeward path. They do me honor by receiving my Love… I feel theirs coming back to me… It is the same Love… We are bathing in the same light… I feel the complete circle of giving and receiving.

With hearts and minds full of love and wisdom, they know there is always more to come in the way of serving… Only a short pause to rest and to reflect… to touch the gathered wisdom like a beautiful bouquet… tossing it to the winds to be scattered like seeds… falling upon fertile soil… to grow again… to rise up to the sun!

May I always be in sincere appreciation of their great strides to awaken in their own perfect way.

My heart sings a song of joy, a song that holds the perfect rhythm of all of the steps they have taken to open to Love… to serve… to pave the way for me… And still they are willing to learn and receive… for in their wisdom, they know that giving is receiving.

Rev. Christine Anderson is a Pathways of Light minister who lives in Chicago, Illinois.

© 2004, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Rouge

by Rev. Georgeann Medvid, O.M.C.

My Irish grandmother told me about my guardian angel when I was seven. She told me that Red, my angel, had been with me since before birth and was here to protect, guide, play and pray with me for the rest of my life.

I asked her why my angel’s name was Red and she simply said her name had always been Red. I didn’t think Red was a very fancy name for an angel but accepted my wise grandmother’s knowledge. I had sensed one spirit with me for a long time but had never had a name for that guide.

Red is a faithful companion. She has been with me during good times and bad times. She was there when my Irish grandmother died and helped escort her to Heaven. My grandmother died when I was 13 and when my mother called and told me, I walked to Gram’s house. Upon arriving, my mother told me that she heard a choir of angels singing at the moment of Gram’s crossing and she knew that they had escorted Gram into Heaven.

In 1985 I went to St. Francis Cemetery in Petosky where my Irish grandmother, who gave me Red, is buried along with my grandfather and many other relatives and family friends. As I was visiting each grave, I noticed something I had never observed before. It was a gravestone that had the name Autumn Rouge on it. It was a two year old child’s grave. The date of birth was October, 1910 and the date of death was December, 1912.

Since autumn is associated with red and orange and rouge means red powder, I was curious. Two graves beside her were marked Rexfield and Anna Rouge, and the date of death was August, 1912 on both of them.

When I returned home, I went to see my old Aunt Emma and asked her if she knew of a two year old child named Autumn Rouge and her parents buried in the same section of cemetery as many of our relatives.

She told me that Autumn was a two year old orphan with the nickname Red that died from whooping cough shortly after her parents, very dear friends of my grandparents, were killed in a horse and wagon accident.

I told Aunt Emma the story of my angel called Red. She chuckled and said that Gram had very special insight and had given each grandchild their own special angel. For example, cousin Bob’s angel’s name was Stony, a nickname for our Great-Grandfather, who was a stone mason.

My Irish grandmother was a treasure. I have always been thankful for her and her unique gift of insight. Every morning since 1985 I awake knowing that not only Autumn Rouge but Rexfield and Anna are with me too.

Course 202: The Mystical Power of Rituals, explains the great love Gram expressed to me by giving me Red.

Rev. Georgeann Medved is a Pathways of Light minister living in Columbiaville, Michigan.

© 2004, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Remembering I Am the Light

by Rev. Linda Ricker, O.M.C.

A Course in Miracles first came to my attention in 1998. I began studying the Text in 1999. I journeyed to Roscoe, New York for an academy class with Ken and Gloria Wapnick in April 1999 and again in August of 1999.

I began a small group study of the Text of the Course in September 1999 at Covenant Community Church, where I serve as an Associate Pastor. In 2001 I completed all the Workbook lessons of the Course for the first time. In September 2002 I journeyed to Ferdinand, Indiana for a week-long silent retreat sponsored by the Roman Catholic “Sisters of St. Benedict.” My goal for the week retreat was to immerse myself in the Text of ACIM. I also conscientiously practiced a few of the Workbook lessons to see if this would be my chosen spiritual path.

Several events occurred during that week which convinced me that my mind is a cause and what I perceive is an effect of my thoughts. This is a major shift from how my previous perceptions convinced me to think. I decided to go with Jesus and the Holy Spirit in the use of ACIM as my spiritual path.

Ken and Gloria’s retreat site in upstate New York offered a quiet, secluded spot with other Course students where I could devote myself single-mindedly to understanding “what” Jesus was teaching his students through ACIM. When the Wapnicks moved to Temecula, California I was disappointed that a retreat site would not be a part of their continued work.

In January 2002 I used a search engine and keyed in “A Course in Miracles Retreat site.” Pathways of Light web site was one of the top to appear. I called immediately and talked with Robert Stoelting, who helped me arrange to attend a weekend Course at the Pathways of Light Campus in Kiel, Wisconsin scheduled for March 2003. I did attend the March class. The course was 901: Introduction to Miracles Practice. It helped me advance in learning to “let go” of my perceptions and have them replaced with God’s loving outlook. However, later in January, before the March campus class date arrived, I became convinced that I wanted to take all of the Spiritual College courses with a facilitator, and be able to facilitate Pathways Courses here in Indianapolis.

I began the facilitated correspondence courses in February, 2003 taking a one-year sabbatical from my work responsibilities as a Christian Minister in order to complete each required course in time to attend the on campus training and ordination in October 2003.

The ordination itself was not my goal because I had been ordained in 1990 by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and currently hold ordination status with the International Council of Community Churches enabling me to practice ministry. What was vital to me was “joining” with others on a spiritual path so different from the ordinary that I believed I needed the presence of others who would understand my difficulties and my happiness. That joining was more than met during the on campus training.

At the ordination service each of the eight new ministers were asked to give a brief summary of why they wanted to be a Pathways of Light Ordained Ministerial Counselor and what it meant to them. When I considered why, one of Dolly Parton’s songs, “I believe in Santa Clause” came to my mind. Dolly sings this line, “I believe I am and therefore I should do all that I can to be a better piece in the puzzle of God’s plan.” I am bursting with joy that I have found a way to actually be a better piece and that is through following the teachings found in A Course in Miracles study and supported by Pathways of Light Spiritual College courses.

When I think of what it has meant to me to take the on-campus training, two pictures come to my mind. The first is of a little girl around seven years of age. The second picture is a scene from the movie, “Bridges of Madison County,” starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood.

In the first picture in my mind, the little girl is around seven, halfway through the 20th century. She doesn’t know anything about computers, cell phones, color television, or remote controls. She does understand the value of an incandescent light bulb. She lives four miles East of Marion, Ohio with her family.

Every Sunday her dad would drive her into town to attend Trinity Baptist Church Sunday school. While she attended Sunday school from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m., her dad would drive on to his watch and clock repair shop located in town. The girl’s dad said the watches he had repaired would suffer if not wound. I came to believe the little girl was me.

So each Sunday, after leaving the church, I would walk heading North across Center Street and on to my dad’s shop. When I got to the big brick building housing my father’s shop, I needed to turn west and go up a steep flight of 16 steps of wooden stairs, appearing very dark behind the Sunday sun to a landing. It was a scary journey up until I quickly turned to my right and opened the door into my dad’s sunlit reception area. There was an incandescent light bulb hanging from the ceiling above the landing. Once I let my father know that it was frightening to climb the steps in the dark, he would turn the light on for me because he knew I was arriving. I once thought I was the little girl. Pathways of Light classes have reminded me and encouraged me to remember that I am the Light.

The second picture that comes to my mind when I think about what the on campus training has meant to me is a scene from “The Bridges of Madison County,” where Meryl Streep is questioning Clint Eastwood in the kitchen of her Iowa farm home.

Meryl’s husband, Richard, has taken their two teenage children to the Iowa State Fair for a week and Meryl is left to tend the family farm.

Clint is a famous National Geographic photographer and world traveler who is shooting pictures of the bridges in Madison County, Iowa. They meet. Meryl is from Italy and has found the farm life to be tedious.

She is taken by his knowledge of her own home town in Italy, his attention to her every desire and, before he parts, she is fearful that these days which are life transforming for her are merely another “nothing” among his conquests. So she is angry and he says, “Now you just stop that. If I have done anything to lead you to believe that what we have together is an ordinary experience, I am deeply sorry. For it seems to me, when I think about these past few days and everything I have ever done in my life, the places I have been, and things I have seen and done, it seems to me that all of it was simply to make my way to be here with you.”

I feel somewhat like the character Eastwood played in regard to the spiritual experiences I shared with the seven other newly ordained ministers and our two co-facilitators.

I thank Robert and Mary for their vision in founding Pathways of Light and all those who participated in any way during our eight day stay in October. I love you all.

Rev. Linda Ricker is a Pathways of Light minister living in Indianapolis, Indiana.

© 2004, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Sharing the Spirit of Christmas

by Rev. Jennifer McSween, O.M.C.

It’s December 12th, 2 a.m. I’m seated in my living room, enjoying the stillness of the night, the tiny flickering lights of our beautifully decorated Christmas tree; basking in the deep sense of peace and the growing feeling of joy I’ve been experiencing, as we moved into the Christmas season.

For me, this in itself is a miracle. It’s not that I did not normally experience joy at Christmas. It’s just that joy was not the only thing I experienced. It was more of an experience of “mixed emotions.” The joy of getting together with loved ones to celebrate this joyous occasion was mixed with the pain of identifying with my own guilt that surfaced as I interacted with those very same loved ones on this joyous occasion. How this played out in the drama of my life would read along the lines of Dr. Seuss’ story of “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas,” where everyone seemed to have “the Spirit of Christmas” but him. But I digress.

In last winter’s issue of Miracles News, Rev. Therese Anne Ward of Kentucky, wrote an article about finding a whole new meaning to the words of the old Christmas song “Oh Holy Night.” Rev. Ward’s “new meaning” of that old song led me to see myself in a new light as I found a deeper meaning of Christmas. I had the revelation that “Christmas,” the Birth of Christ, is really about the Recognition (Birth) of “Christ Consciousness” in me, as me. That means that my true Identity is the one created by God, not the one I created based on “guilt-ridden” characteristics, and so is everyone else’s. As it says in Lesson 61, Who we are is the Son of God. Who we are is the Light of the world. That is the Truth of Who we all are.

As I accept this as the truth of Who I am and Who we all are, what naturally follows is a deep sense of peace, which the Course says is “the condition for the awareness of your relationship with God.” and “Joy, for the time of Christ is meaningless apart from joy.”

Accepting that Truth is recognizing the Presence of the Spirit of Christ (Christmas) in me. Embracing that Truth allows me to experience and express the joy and peace that comes with my acceptance of the Presence of this Spirit in me, in all situations.

It was in this Spirit, that I approached the last meeting of the season, on December 8th, of the weekly ACIM study group I facilitate. I wanted to extend my Joy of recognizing “the Spirit of Christmas” in me. I felt led to select Workbook Lesson 61, “I am the light of the world,” as our Workbook lesson for that week. Our topic was “The Gift of Christmas.” In place of a reading from the text, I took along copies of Rev. Ward’s “rendition” of “Oh Holy Night.” The group sang, line by line, the words to the song “Oh Holy Night,” while I narrated and commented on Rev. Ward’s new words and meaning. It was magical!

There we were, a culturally and religiously diverse group of 8-10 Muslims, Jews, Catholics and other denominations, joining with each other in the Spirit of Christmas. Thank you, Rev. Therese Anne Ward, for sharing your Miracle. And to All, I wish You “A JOYFUL NEW YEAR.”

Rev. Jennifer McSween is a Pathways of Light minister living in Nuns Island, Quebec, Canada

© 2004, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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