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January-March, 2022

I Need Do Nothing

by Rev. Michael Dagenais, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

The ambulance sped down the road with siren blaring and lights flashing. It was a hot June day in Las Vegas, Nevada. This was my first ride ever in an emergency vehicle. I felt it rock back and forth as the driver drove over a median to bypass traffic. The medic attending to me in the back called out to the driver and instructed him to notify the hospital that they were transporting a “code white.” I was to learn later that a “code white” indicated a patient having a stroke.

Less than an hour ago, I had been calmly getting ready for work when I started to feel odd. I sat down at my dining table to relax for a few minutes. But the strange sensations increased. I began feeling disoriented. The right side of my body seemed to be growing numb and I noticed that my speaking was slurred. I realized that whatever was happening, it was getting progressively worse. I asked my son, who had the day off from work, to call for an ambulance.

As we approached the hospital, my mind was a jumble of thoughts. I was supposed to be at work in an hour. I had meetings to attend, projects to complete, deadlines to meet. Yet, I wasn’t in any shape to make a phone call or text a message to a coworker or my boss. I felt suddenly cut off from my world of responsibilities and to do lists. What do I do now? I felt helpless.

At the moment that I realized I couldn’t do anything, my mind cleared, and my Course in Miracles training kicked in. “Okay, Holy Spirit,” I thought. “This is your responsibility now. I can’t solve this myself. I put myself in your hands.”

A team of medical personnel were waiting when the medics wheeled me into the hospital. I was taken to a curtained off section of the emergency room where I was awkwardly transferred from the ambulance gurney to a bed. As the medical staff scurried around me, attaching various instruments to my body, I felt a strange sense of peace. There was nothing I could do. “I need do nothing.” (T-18.VII.)

In the Course, Jesus teaches: “To do nothing is to rest, and make a place within you where the activity of the body ceases to demand attention. Into this place the Holy Spirit comes, and there abides.” (T-18.VII.7:7-8)

Up until now, my life had been one of always striving to be in control. But now the realization set in that I really have no control in this world. I never had control and I never would. The things of the world that normally seemed so important to me now faded into the background.

Jesus teaches that the only problem that exists in this world is the belief in separation. Well, there is nothing like a serious illness to separate oneself apart from others. Jesus also teaches that there is only one solution to this one problem — the atonement. Lesson 79 of the Workbook states, “Let me recognize the problem so it can be solved.” (W-p1.79) I could trust in the Holy Spirit to take my belief in sickness to the truth. He is the problem solver and the great comforter.

The emergency room nurse explained that since I had arrived within three hours of having the stroke, I would be able to receive a medication that was designed to dissolve a clot which a CAT scan had revealed was lodged in the left side of my brain. I was thankful that I had not hesitated to ask my son to call for an ambulance. And I was grateful that he had been home with a day off from work. I am not sure that I could have made that phone call on my own in my disoriented condition.  Perhaps the Holy Spirit had already been at work in the healing process.

As the drug flowed into my veins over the next three hours, I again sought comfort in the teachings of A Course in Miracles.

I knew, at least intellectually, that despite appearances, my stroke was a mental issue, not a physical one. l was only dreaming that I was a body having a stroke. I was projecting my dream outward so that it appeared to be happening to me rather than something that I was doing to myself.  Healing must be a process of changing my mind. Lesson 94 of the Workbook states “I am as God created me.” (W-pI.94). And Lesson 199 states “I am not a body. I am free.” (W-p1.199)

At the same time, I obviously believed that I was a body that could get sick. As the drug continued to flow through my “body,” I knew that I was going to have to overcome my suspicions and distrust of doctors, medical procedures, and medications. I had read awhile back about something called a nocebo effect. Whereas the placebo effect indicated that someone could be helped by a pill based solely on their belief that it would work, the nocebo effect was a situation where a medicine would not work simply because someone believed it wouldn’t. The Course teaches that the mind is very powerful. Belief is powerful.

I asked the Holy Spirit to help me see the doctors and nurses as my brothers and sisters who, despite appearances, were one with me. I asked the Holy Spirit to help me see them as trying to be truly helpful, as offering healing according to the best way they knew how. Later, I began to see the doctors, nurses, and therapists as friends through which the healing power of the Holy Spirit was working. I would forgive the medicines (magic) that they would administer and offer them to Holy Spirit, who would reinterpret them according to truth. “Healing is the change of mind that the Holy Spirit in the patient’s mind is seeking for him.” (M-6.4:3)

I would be in the intensive care ward for five days. During this time, a steady stream of therapists, case managers, doctors, and nurses visited me in my hospital room. I said a silent prayer of forgiveness and blessing for each one, thanking the Holy Spirit for working through them. They would help me relearn how to speak, eat, walk and write.

The experience was not without its share of frustrations and anxiety. The medications had bothersome side effects. A friend of mine brought her copy of A Course in Miracles in to me which I read from daily. I was grateful to have a copy of the Course in my room for the rest of my stay.

After seven days in the hospital, I was transferred to a rehab center where I began physical therapy. Ironically, as I began to regain my physical strength and coordination along with my ability to speak and chew food, I found myself losing awareness of the Holy Spirit. Instead, I was hearing the ego interject that I didn’t need the Holy Spirit, that I could do this by myself. It became more difficult to maintain vigilance over my thoughts. The more I progressed in physical therapy, the harder it was to keep myself from thinking that I was healing myself, doing it all on my own. I was forgetting that the Holy Spirit was the only real healer. I was experiencing the confusion that Jesus mentions in Lesson 96: “Mind can see itself as divorced from spirit and perceive itself within a body it confuses with itself.” (W-p1.96.4:4)

Guilt began to rise up in my mind. If only I ate a better diet or exercised more or managed stress better, maybe I wouldn’t have had the stroke. I needed to remind myself that guilt was of the ego. My healing was in my forgiveness. Jesus teaches about forgiveness in Lesson 62 of the Workbook: “It will remove all sense of weakness, strain and fatigue from your mind. It will take away all fear and guilt and pain. It will restore the invulnerability and power God gave His Son to your awareness.” (W-pI.62.3:3-5)

I was in the rehab center for about 10 days. During that time, I was well taken care of by a team of nurses, doctors, case managers. social workers, housekeepers etc. On the tenth day, my doctor told me I was well enough to go home. I reflected on the gratitude I felt for my brothers and sisters who had done their best to be truly helpful in my healing. I saw clearly now that the Holy Spirit had worked through them. I forgave myself for thinking of them as separate bodies and identities. I forgave myself for seeing myself as a body.

I knew that a lot of hard work was still ahead of me in my recovery. And there would still be many lessons to learn. But I was finally going home.

I Need Do Nothing.

Rev. Michael Dagenais is a Pathways of Light minister living in Las Vegas, Nevada Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

© 2021, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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January-March, 2022

What Can Stillness Give Me?

by Rev. Maria Kingsley, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

The other morning, I was sitting outside in the fresh air while it was still dark outside, contemplating what is happening within and without.

I asked myself: Am I joining with this world, am I hiding from this world, where am I at?

What came to me was that I wanted to be still and just be. When I did this, I realized that I was just being, being as the plants and other beings (rabbits, bugs, birds etc.) were just being. They were being … quietly, not happy, not sad, not low, not high, just being. They were bringing to this world what they came to bring, without needing to worry, needing to hurry, needing to despair or reject who they are, what they are. They were just that: a rabbit, a bird, a bee, or a tree. 

I noticed how wonderful it was to just be. Tears came to my eyes because I realized that I had been longing for this Beingness for a long time. Plants and flowers had always brought that feeling of being centered and just being to me. It is where we live.

The title of Lesson 291 is: “This is a day of stillness and of peace.”

In this stillness, this Beingness, there are no demands, no conflict, no desires, no pain, no need. All just IS.

The title of Lesson 106 is: “Let me be still and listen to the Truth.”

There is nowhere to go, nothing to even observe. I allow it all to be just as it is. Peaceful, quiet, being what ‘we’ are.

The title of Lesson 268 is: “Let all things be exactly as they are.”

Here is all given because there is no lack, no time. I am safe here, protected yet unaware of any need for protection. I am safe without knowing I am safe. Just safe, just being right here and now.

The title of Lesson 349 is: “Today I let Christ’s vision look upon all things for me and judge them not, but give each one a miracle of love instead.”

In this spacious Beingness, Guidance will come to me to move in this world with Love and purpose. My purpose is clear, and I am connected. I receive what I need in every way.

The title of Lesson 273 is: “The stillness of the Peace of God is mine.”

Can I follow this through the day?  Not all the time. Can I reconnect any time? Of course, but I need to be the one finding that peace within me. There may be fear coming up — ever so slight — of following what Guidance will tell me to do. Yes, it does get noticed. However, when I do notice it, I can use that as a signal to return to peace. I do this by telling myself, Lesson 101:  “God’s Will is for me is perfect happiness.”

I have experienced that. When I follow, all things somehow work out in amazing ways. It always astounds me, truly, how perfectly it all falls into place. When I ask for the highest good for all, including me, and I remember to trust that (even when little doubts come up), it is so much fun to see the Divine plan unfold before me. It has happened again and again.

Lessons 361 – 365:

“This holy instant would I give to You.
Be You in charge. For I would follow You. Certain that Your direction
gives me peace.”

And so, I return to the Stillness, the Peace and Spaciousness within.

There I am at Home, I am safe, I am happy.

In the stillness, everything is given,
all just IS, and All is well.

I am so grateful. Thank you.

Rev. Maria Kingsley is a Pathways of Light minister living in Tucson, Arizona. Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Phone: 520-780-0170

© 2021, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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January-March, 2022

By the Grace of God the Pain Was Gone — When I Forgave

by Rev. Tarra Bennett, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

June 21st 2021. It’s midday and suddenly I am struck with an intense toothache, excruciatingly painful. It lasted all that day and into the next day and the next day. Going to a dentist is not something I like to do. However by now I have come to realize this intense ache is not going away. Since moving east ten years ago I had not put in place a dentist for myself.

I contacted a local friend for a recommendation on the best dentist in the province. The dentist they suggested was a six hour drive from where I live. However I am willing to drive that distance for a dentist I trust.

I finally got up the courage to call the dentist’s office. The earliest date they could book me an appointment was for August 6th, almost six weeks before I would get relief from the pain.

Daily I continued to endure the discomfort and the pain.

It’s now July 12th. As soon as I woke up, the first thing I felt was the excruciating pain in my mouth. I decided I’d had enough, I can’t take this pain anymore. I have to call a dentist, any dentist will do at this point. I decided I would call around today and find a dentist that would see me on an emergency basis as soon as I finished my morning ACIM Study Group Class at 10:30 a.m.

The lesson for the day was Lesson 193, “All things are lessons God would have me learn.”

It’s 8 a.m. I read the lesson.

“Forgive and you will see this differently. I will forgive and this will disappear.”

It states in paragraph 6 of Lesson 193:

“Shall we not learn to say these words when we are tempted to believe that pain is real, and death becomes our choice instead of life? ²Shall we not learn to say these words when we have understood their power to release all minds from bondage? ³These are words which give you power over all events that seem to have been given power over you. ⁴You see them rightly when you hold these words in full awareness, and do not forget these words apply to everything you see or any brother looks upon amiss.”

I checked in with myself to see if there was anything coming up for freedom, anything to be forgiven and low and behold there was.

This lesson I remembered clearly through out my meditation: “I will forgive, and this will disappear. To every apprehension, every care and every form of suffering, repeat these selfsame words, I will forgive, and this will disappear.”

I continued to repeat those words and I forgave.

I meditated for 20 minutes in silence on the lesson.

After the meditation I prepared for my morning ACIM Study Group. It finished at 10:30 a.m. and as I was about to call a dentist I realized the pain was gone.

I was in awe. In awe and in praise of God.

I was so happy, so relieved and elated to experience the Grace of God. It was a validation of my belief, my faith and trust in God and what the Course teaches me daily when I forgive.

By the Grace of God I was healed, the pain stopped.

As I write this memo it’s July 22nd the pain has not returned.

“Child of God, you were created to create the good, the beautiful and the holy. ²Do not forget this. ³The Love of God, for a little while, must still be expressed through one body to another, because vision is still so dim. ⁴You can use your body best to help you enlarge your perception so you can achieve real vision, of which the physical eye is incapable. ⁵Learning to do this is the body’s only true usefulness.” http://www.healingfromwith.ca

© 2021, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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January-March, 2022

A Miracle in Church

by Rev. Dan Strodl, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

Recently, I was asked to give a tribute in a church to my friend David, as part of a celebration of his life. He died last year, at the height of the pandemic, and only his family were able to attend his funeral. I worked with David over 40 years ago, long before he met his wife and had a family. His wife wanted me to share my personal experiences of David, so the congregation could get a full picture of him. I told her I’d think about it and get back to her.

My first thought was “No”. I couldn’t remember what we did together or what he was like so many years ago. But, then, memories came flooding back into my mind. We had so many fun and wacky times together, working in the creative department of a major advertising agency. I wrote down everything I could remember, which filled two pages. I got back to David’s wife and said “Yes.”

I turned up at the church, feeling a bit nervous about giving a speech, but I thought it would be only a few members of his family and friends and I would get through it. As I walked into the church, I was filled with terror!! The church was packed with 250 people!

Public speaking was never my thing, although I took many workshops on public speaking and building confidence in front of large groups of people. All of what I learned had vanished, and what I was left with was terror. What if I forgot to mention important stories about him? What if I mixed up the names of people? What if I said something that embarrassed his family?

Yikes! I had my notes and my glasses, and I accepted that I could just read from the pages, but even this filled me with fear. I sat in the pew wishing I had never agreed to this. Then, I remembered that I had someone who was always there to help me, so I handed it over to the Holy Spirit. I closed my eyes, stepped back, quieted my mind, and invited the Holy Spirit to talk through me.

“The miracle comes quietly into the mind that stops an instant and is still.” (T-28.I:11)

When I was called up to speak I was feeling happy and peaceful. I climbed up into the pulpit, and looked out into the church, filled with David’s family and friends. What a joyful occasion to share about a truly remarkable person to a roomful of people who loved him.

I just let the words come through me, as Holy Spirit was in charge. I didn’t need my notes. And as I shared my experiences of this wild and wonderful creative genius, the audience responded with laughter and applause.

What a miracle! I’m so glad that I quieted my mind and invited the Holy Spirit to speak through me.

“In quietness are all things answered, and is every problem quietly resolved.”
(T-27.IV.1)

After the ceremony so many people came up to me and thanked me for my tribute to David. But all tribute is due to the Holy Spirit.

Rev. Dan Strodl is the Manager of Miracle Network, a Pathways of Light Spiritual Counsellor, Accessing Your Inner Wisdom Counsellor. Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

© 2021, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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