Miracles News

Tweet

January-March, 2004

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
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this copyright notice and website address are included.

Tell a Friend

Printable Page

---

Tweet

January-March, 2004

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
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this copyright notice and website address are included.

Tell a Friend

Printable Page

---

Tweet

January-March, 2004

Looking Back with Gratitude

by Rev. Susan Hanshaw, O.M.C.

At the very top of my favorite holiday activities is the ritual of writing cards to friends and family members. I’m blessed with loved ones far and near, and I treasure this annual opportunity to reach out to those I don’t normally connect with throughout the rest of the year.

This year, as I sat down to begin the process for the very first time, it occurred to me what a very special year it has been, and how many new friends I’ve welcomed into my life, with whom I’ve shared on a very deep level.

I look back with deep gratitude at three specific callings I said “yes” to this year whose teachings enriched my life, and the friendships made added lots of love to my heart. First, I became a Chaplain for Unity In Marin, in Northern California. After several half-day Saturday sessions, twenty-five of us went to the mountains for a weekend retreat of heartfelt bonding. It turned out to be one of the most meaningful weekends of my life. I didn’t know any of my co-participants more than casually at first, yet walked away with an understanding of the depths of connection I can feel through sharing from my soul.

The second experience was late in the summer, after Spirit had led me to “stumble” across the web site for Alan Cohen Publications, where I learned about a Mastery Program to be held in Maui. I turned out to be the final registrant, and they didn’t have room for me at the main retreat facility, so I had to be placed a mile away at another, more remote facility. When I arrived, I discovered that my room, with it’s private pond overlooking the ocean, was the most spectacular room of all, and I knew that it was my gift from Spirit to make the experience even more soulful. Once again, I bonded from the heart with 25 strangers from all over the country, feeling the joy of sharing true love in my heart for all of them.

Last, but not least, was the week-long experience I shared with five other ministerial candidates and three facilitators in Kiel, Wisconsin, the week I was to be ordained at Pathways of Light. The days passed quickly, as we sat for hours studying and sharing. There were many, many precious moments, and we felt them at the time, yet for me, one of the most precious gifts is now looking back at the pictures taken, the memories frozen in time, that bring me back to the depths of the open hearts that we were sharing.

As I think about these 60 or so strangers that I came to love deeply over a few days time, I imagine that I will never see many of them again in a physical sense. Even though our physical time together on this planet may only be these few days, these friends will be among my life’s greatest teachers, for they taught me the deep joy of giving and receiving with an open, loving heart, and about how connected we really are on many levels.

Rev. Susan Hanshaw is a Pathways of Light minister living in San Rafael, California.

© 2004, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this copyright notice and website address are included.

Tell a Friend

Printable Page

---

Back to main page of Miracles News.

Has this page been helpful to you?
Your contribution to support this site is greatly appreciated. To make a tax deductible contribution with a credit/debit card, click here.
Click here to donate from your PayPal account.
Or send a check to Pathways of Light, 12530 Lions Chase Court, Huntley, IL 60142.