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May-August, 2025

There Really Is Nothing to Fear

by Rev. Myron Jones, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

As I am writing this, I am doing Lesson 48: “There is nothing to fear.” I love this Lesson. It is so clear. There are no caveats. It is simple, straight-forward and uncompromising.

I seldom read news other than the headlines of local news, since I might need to know what is going on in my town. But every once in a while, I hear about something or read the national headlines.

This morning, I decided to do that in conjunction with the Lesson. Each article would trigger a response in me and each time that response was fear, it was an opportunity to remember that there is nothing to fear.

How could it be that some of the things happening in the world today could not be fearful? Well, let’s start with the fact that there is no world. It is an illusion we chose to experience, but it cannot hurt us. It is like dreaming of a scary moment and awakening to discover nothing happened except a dream. Whew! That was good news. And today’s lesson is good news in the same way.

What is there to fear except harm to a body? Well, more good news because there are no bodies. I do not have a body. I am not in a body. This body I identify as me is just another illusion. It is an avatar of sorts, a way to have this experience safely.

Even when the body story is done and the body appears to die, nothing happened because it was never alive. “It does not die; it was merely never born.” (T-5.IV.2:3)

Every morning this year, I am writing my contemplation of the daily Lesson. I have done this before, but this year, I wanted to share my present experience with the lessons. The following is my contemplation of Lesson 48:

You may not actually believe this Lesson. Probably you hope it is true. I know when I began the Lessons, I was conflicted about Lesson 48. Sure, I wanted it to be true, but I also felt cheated. There was nothing for me to do. I was big into doing back then. I thought that I was in charge of my awakening and I could make it happen if I did enough things right. Yes, there are things for us to do. Ideas to take in, beliefs to let go. But that is not what wakes us up.

This work helps to loosen the hold we have on our ego persona. It helps us realize that we are not trapped in hell, that there is a way out. It is like a farmer tilling the soil, removing rocks and other obstacles to growing a healthy crop. He then fertilizes the soil and finally plants the seeds. But then, it is left to the sun and rain to do the rest.

This is what I do with these Lessons. I am preparing my mind for the change that is occurring. I am removing obstacles (my wrong minded thoughts.) And I am planting the seeds. The seed this morning is the truth that there is nothing to fear. I have moved past doubt in what Jesus tells me. While the Myron character still feels surges of fear at times, I know there is nothing to fear. There is no world and nothing is happening.

What could there be to fear? I am among the Sons of God. I have no body that could get sick and die. I am not trapped in a world gone mad from separation thoughts. I am Spirit and only Spirit. I am aware of an impossible experience because I want it. When I am done with the experience, it will seem in the story that Myron dies, but all that is happening is that I have removed my awareness from the idea of Myron.

Sometimes I think of this life as a game I am playing. There are many levels to this game. At the beginning level, the goal is to set up the situations that will help me attain the higher levels. Some of those were things that seemed to make me a victim and unfairly treated because letting those beliefs go are goals at the higher level. At the next level, I am also gaining tools that will help me achieve the final goal.

One of the obstacles was my first divorce which got me kicked out of the Catholic church. And the tool I eventually gained as I forgave was A Course in Miracles. It was the map and instructions for winning the game. It also showed me the prize for winning. I would discover that it was only a game. I exist apart from the game. I am not really the avatar in the game, but the player of the game.

Since I now knew that the fear I often felt was not real and I am always safe, I discovered that there was a way to win the game. It is called awakening in the dream, playing for fun without fear of losing, and helping others win the game. Everything looks the same and my avatar is still sometimes caught up in the game, but within, I know that fundamentally everything is fine.

Things may still look scary in the game, but it is just a game. Nothing is happening and I can relax, knowing there is nothing to fear.

© 2025, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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May-August, 2025

Letting Go of the World

by Rev. Dan Strodl, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

We live in a world built on the ego thought system of fear, guilt, separation, and sin. And we have taken on many worldly beliefs, opinions and judgements to help us navigate our way through this mad illusion, believing that we are separate bodies, needing to defend ourselves, protect ourselves from others, surrounded by dangerous people, facing climate change, getting old and dying. But this world is not real. It’s a mad illusion created to escape from who we truly are… we are eternal Love.

“The world is false perception. It is born of error, and it has not left its source. It will remain no longer than the thought that gave it birth is cherished. When the thought of separation has been changed to one of true forgiveness, will the world be seen in quite another light; and one which leads to truth, where all the world must disappear and all its errors vanish. Now its source has gone, and its effects are gone as well.” (W-pII.3.1:1-5)

We have a choice. We can stay in this mad dream grounded in fear, separation, and guilt, or we can return to the real world of love, peace, and happiness. All we need to do to let this insane world go is tune-in to the Holy Spirit in our mind. He is always there to guide us home. He is the Voice for God, the communication link between our Father and his separated Sons. He sees our illusions and leads us through them to the truth. He reminds us of our true Identity, Love, which we forgot. He will guide us to the real world through total forgiveness (letting go of illusions).

“All this beauty will rise to bless your sight as you look upon the world with forgiving eyes. For forgiveness literally transforms vision, and lets you see the real world reaching quietly and gently across chaos, removing all illusions that had twisted your perception and fixed it on the past. The smallest leaf becomes a thing of wonder, and a blade of grass a sign of God’s perfection.”  (T-17.II.6:1-3)

When we follow His guidance, we will see the world through Christ Vision, which blesses rather than condemns, and undoes our thoughts of separation to show us our true Identity, Love. We will see past bodies to the Spirit that is our brother’s true Identity. Our perception shifts from seeing others as an enemy, to seeing our brother, removing the projections of guilt on him. This is the miracle, looking beyond all seeming differences that reflect separation, to the real world that we are all one.

A recent experience:

I was sitting outside a restaurant having lunch with my partner, and people were walking along the pavement near us. Suddenly, I heard screams in the distance. A man was screaming obscenities about different countries, races, gays, and I felt so afraid. I asked the Holy Spirit what to do, and what came to me was “Send him blessings”. So we blessed him in his peace, his quietness, his gentleness, his softness, his happiness. As we extended Love to this man through blessings, my peace returned. And then the screaming stopped! What a blessing to him and to ourselves.

Another experience:

I was walking down the street last week, looking at people passing me by, trying to see past their bodies, to the Light inside of them. I do my best to let go of all the judgements that I’ve collected over the years and remember the truth — we are all One. It’s not easy but I’m doing my best. Then a car came down the street, and I looked at the registration plate. It read… I AM U. I couldn’t believe it!  Holy Spirit was giving me a nudge!

Rev Dan Strodl is a Pathways of Light Spiritual Counselor and Manager of Miracle Network in the U.K.

© 2025, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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May-August, 2025

Guideposts

by Rev. Joyce Peebles, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

A Course in Miracles describes the dream we experience as a journey that never was in reality. In a sense, there is a journey we take to wake up from this dream. It’s the shortest journey you will ever take, and it takes the longest time to get there. It’s the one that starts in your brain and goes to your heart.

We were taught in school to study and accumulate a lot of information that will help us accomplish our chosen occupation. This information is useless unless we use it to get the job done. As Course students, we can read the Text, do the Lessons and have an intellectual understanding that stays in our head. To wake up, this information needs to travel to our heart. How do you know that this is happening? The Course gives us some guideposts or landmarks along the way. The following is a list of some of these guideposts or landmarks: (they are not in any particular order).

#1. A new beginning is established, and you learn you can pick the day you want. “Healing occurs as a patient begins to hear the dirge he sings, and questions its validity. Until he hears it, he cannot understand that it is he who sings it to himself. To hear it is the first step in recovery.” (P-2.VI.1:5-7). In Chapter 30, see The Rules for Decision, which gives you step by step instructions on how to have the day you desire. There are instructions on how to let the Holy Spirit make decisions for you and how to create new habits.

#2. You recognize the purpose of the daily lessons. While going through each day, you understand there is a Love beyond the dream that you are connected to which is always there. The lessons teach you to discipline your mind, which helps bring real vision. As the years go by, the Lessons have a new meaning to you.

#3. A serene forehead. About twenty years ago I went to see someone who was reputed to be able to access my akashic records. I asked him what it was I was supposed to be learning in this lifetime. He got quiet and came back with something that surprised me. His answer was to learn to be calm. To my knowledge this man knew nothing about me or ACIM.

Years later I read, “Can you imagine what it means to have no cares, no worries, no anxieties, but merely to be perfectly calm and quiet all the time? Yet that is what time is for; to learn just that and nothing more.” (T-15.1:1-2)

#4. You laugh more often. The ego would have you believe you are supposed to suffer for your sins. The Holy Spirit tells us we only suffer because of this belief in guilt. In reality it is God’s Will we be happy; thus, you find yourself smiling and laughing more often as the burden of guilt fades. You discover suffering is causeless and serves no purpose.

Lesson 129 is: “Beyond this world there is a world I want.” We can smile and be happy once we realize this world is not real and was not meant to make us happy but keep us stuck in fearful beliefs. We learn to be calm and happy as the Holy Spirit teaches us to interpret our circumstances differently.

#5. Your dream becomes a forgiving one. Forgiveness is how the ego thought system is undone. You ask for help from the Holy Spirit and take responsibility for making up the life script you are presently in. The one you forgive is you, for believing you are anything other than what God made which is perfect Love, total innocence. “A concept of the self is made by you. It bears no likeness to yourself at all. It is an idol, made to take the place of your reality as Son of God.” (T-31.V.2:1-3)

The Course teaches us to forgive the images we think we see until we realize there is nobody “out there” to forgive.

#6. Where before you saw guilt, you now see a call for love. At first you think it would be compassionate or kind to overlook the sins of your brother. Then it is revealed that the problem is not your brother. It is the belief in sin and guilt which you have projected onto your brother. His call for love is your call for love. You really want the relief of being innocent, which was impossible with your belief in guilt. The image you seem to see is a projection of your beliefs. The Holy Spirit shows you that the exact same spark of Divine Light is present in both you and your brother.

#7. You recognize the valuable from the valueless. You give up the ego’s toys. These include manipulation, judgment, anger, depression, etc. The list is long. These toys have not brought you joy. They have not served you well and you want to give them up. We used these toys as maladaptive defenses to cling to a self-concept of a weak and limited body. The world and body were made as a place to hide from a fearful God. You come to understand that the only valuable things are those that are eternal. Eventually your special relationships are transformed into holy relationships.

#8. You cease to become offended and stop thinking of yourself as a victim. When you know yourself to still be with God, complete, lacking nothing, you are not open to criticism. The Holy Spirit has shown you that this script was written by you, there’s nobody to blame. Everything you are experiencing you have asked for, it’s all a learning classroom.

#9. You notice that fear is falling away. This happens gradually till one day you notice that what upset you before no longer does. For example, your children do not need to act in a certain way for you to be happy. You understand that you do not know what is best for anyone or what anything is for. An acceptance of what is occurs. You trust life to unfold, knowing all is for your own good.

#10. For the limitations of this article, the last point I want to mention is what Jesus calls the branch in the road. “When you come to the place where the branch in the road is quite apparent, you cannot go ahead. You must go either one way or the other. For now if you go straight ahead, the way you went before you reached the branch, you will go nowhere. The whole purpose of coming this far was to decide which branch you will take now.” (T-22.IV.1:1-4)

You understand when you come to a branch in the road because a change in your thinking is required. For example, making the decision to stop judging your brother and instead see the Light in him consistently.

Rev. Joyce Peebles, OMC is a Pathways of Light minister. Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

© 2025, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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May-August, 2025

The Value of the Opening Preparation

by Rev. Larry Glenz, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

I have had quite a few mind-healing partners while studying the Pathways courses over these many years. Studying these Pathways courses with a partner is a great way to take the teachings of the Course deeper.

Each of the Pathways of Light courses begin with the Opening Preparation. As a student and teacher of A Course in Miracles, I believe the Opening Preparation describes a powerful dedication to connecting to Holy Spirit.

By repeating the Opening Preparation each time I practice as suggested, I let Holy Spirit do His work on my thoughts.

The Opening Preparation asks us to dedicate this time to healing our minds and awakening to our true Nature.

It asks us to surrender to the Source of Love within us and to let It be our Guide.

We all need a willingness to be mindful of our thoughts without judgment.

The willingness seems to be the key to letting go and letting Spirit take the wheel.

We ask Him to take our thoughts and clean them of ego judgments.

Spirit asks us to view our life circumstances as helpful feedback that shows us where there is still a need to heal our minds. We want to be willing to turn our thoughts over to Him. This is how we receive His Wisdom.

He reminds us that we need to take responsibility for letting go of limiting thoughts and beliefs that reflect separation and specialness.

We can be certain we are asking this from the One that can give us true healing and peace.

We let go of judgments about ourselves and others.

We ask Spirit to let us see the innocence beyond the circumstances and events. We are given this Wisdom from Holy Spirit.

It is as simple as being willing to quiet our minds and ask the Holy Spirit to take the lead. Our ability to quiet our minds is only as strong as our willingness.

His help is guaranteed.

We are asked to be willing to let go of tension. We soften and imagine the Holy Spirit leading us into peace.

We are being led by our aware Self.

The Pathways courses are filled with the Holy Spirit’s teachings. The repetition of the Opening Preparation shows our willingness to experience His peace.

Rev. Larry Glenz, O.M.C., is a Pathways of Light minister living in Long Beach, NY. Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

© 2025, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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