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October-December, 2020

The Self Discovery Journey

by Rev. Cathy Silva, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

My mid-thirties were a particularly tumultuous time in my life and ended up being a big turning point and stepping off point in my spiritual and self discovery journey. During that time, I was experiencing some significant challenges in my relationship with my husband and in my role as a mom especially. In the midst of it all, I was struggling to find myself.

A recurring image came to my mind in the form of a waking dream:

I was inside a large bird cage suspended in midair. The door of the cage was open so that if I so desired, I could simply step out and fly. But my fear and insecurities kept me locked inside.

I wanted so badly to be free of the confinement my life felt like. At the same time, I had grown comfortable and a bit complacent where I was. I was in a rut, yes, but I had grown rather safe and ‘comfy’ in it.

I was however, weary from struggling with an underlying desire for ‘more.’ I wanted to play safe and yet something deep within me wanted to throw caution to the wind and step out and fly.

In my imagination I stood at that open door frozen with fear. There were times when I would imagine stepping out and flying. Oh what freedom, exhilaration and complete trust I would experience if I took that step; if only I wasn’t so afraid.

Upon further examination, I realized the cage represented the identity I had so skillfully made of myself. I had fashioned this identity (cage) from sturdy metal, composed of the roles I was attempting to juggle in life — supportive wife, loving mom, successful business woman, devoted daughter and sister to name a few.

Also present in its sturdy composition was an accumulation of my failures, successes, accomplishments and the conclusions I drew about myself as a result of them.

All of this seemed to define me and confine me to be this person who I suddenly realized was not really me at all, and whom I had grown to resent and feel trapped by.

I was ready to discover more. I sensed there was much more to me that I didn’t know or perhaps had simply forgotten. There was more beyond the roles I was playing and this identity of being weak, and not worthy, not important, not enough. And I had this sense, perhaps a ‘knowing’ that this was true of everyone. So I embarked on a new journey to remember who we really are.

I was vigilant in my search.

It’s a question that is ages old: “Who am I?” It was the question that drove and motivated me.

I read and listened to every self-help book and audio I could get my hands on. I started running and walking every day while listening to “gurus” and spiritual teachers that I resonated with. I drank in their wisdom and teachings, and felt them begin to integrate into my own being and life.

I listened intently for the loving messages and reminders God was giving me in all its forms. Many of my walks would take me to the beach. On every walk I would look for that special shell or stone that spoke to me in some way. Some days I would find a perfectly whole shell that swirled inward representing my desire to go inward. Other days the shell that caught my eye was broken and damaged and reminded me of how perfectly imperfect I am.

I collected those shells over time in a jar and they now sit on the prayer table in my office as a reminder of those special walks with God.

I sought out personality assessments and self discovery tools like the Kolbe Index, Meyers Briggs and the Enneagram. The purpose of my search was twofold. I was seeking an understanding of myself and I was looking for tools that would help me in my work as a professional coach.

The ones that resonated the most for me were those that pointed to our beingness and the aspects of ourselves that don’t change. It seemed there was an inner truth about us that we come into the world and leave the world with. One process that stood out and aligned perfectly was “Discover Your Sacred Gifts” created by Monique MacDonald. I became one of a few Certified Guides for the Discover Your Sacred Gifts Process. I love that this process helps us identify the aspects of our Beingness.

In A Course in Miracles this passage seems to describe this ‘Beingness’ which in Reality is our true identity as Love.

“God is but Love, and therefore so am I. The Self alone knows Love. This Self alone is perfectly consistent in It’s thoughts; knows Its Creator, understands Itself, is perfect in Its knowledge and Its Love, and never changes from Its constant state of union with Its Father and Itself.” (W-pI.rV.4:3-5,5:1-2)

The key for me has been my acceptance of the truth that I am an expression and extension of perfect Love. In discovering my Sacred Gifts, I could see the specific ways in which I am Love’s expression. Our gifts are the ways we are in service in the world. When we are living in this giftedness we feel fulfilled and on purpose. There’s no need for ‘more.’ The awareness of my true Self helped me to let go of the self constructs I had made that imprisoned me.

“A concept of the self is made by you. It bears no likeness to yourself at all.” (T-31.V.2.1)

Along my journey now I am so inspired about the work I’m doing along my path most of the time. I feel connected and on purpose. I feel energized, on fire, unstoppable! I know God’s got me and I trust I am being carried along with everyone.

Then sometimes the resistance comes… from my special relationships especially. This happens when I fail to remember who I am and unconsciously buy into those old limiting self-constructs.

When this happens I pause and go within. I recognize the limiting thoughts and beliefs being triggered and with help of Holy Spirit I let them go. I then open to new insights from Inner Wisdom. These insights are symbols of remembering what I know is true.

Here’s one of the beautiful messages from my journaling:

Dear One,

You radiate love. Thank you for listening to the Voice of your soul that you recognize as inner promptings from Holy Spirit, your True Self, and following Its Guidance. As one of your dear teachers has said, “that is true genius.” You are truly the wind beneath the wings of so many and you are coming to peace with that so beautifully. You are becoming that loving, quiet and powerful guide that you have desired to be. People seek the wisdom, encouragement and comfort you so naturally extend and express. With your loving works you empower others to be their true Self.

You so easily recognize the brilliance in others and you are beginning to see the brilliance and beauty and power within you. You see it and you are embracing it and celebrating it.

You are seeing the misperceptions of the past as just what they are — untruths — and you have a clear sense of what is truth. You have such love and compassion for others. You love unconditionally. You have a way of seeing others without judgment, which sets them free to be who they are.

Thank you for being you and for embracing our shared mission with such passion and love. Through the authentic expression of the Love you are, hearts and lives are transformed.

With this loving awareness I am healed along with everyone.

The answers you are looking for that are right for you right now are within you. It does take a commitment to your inner Self discovery journey and mind healing work. That work may come in the form of processes like Discover Your Sacred Gifts, Healing Inner Child, Accessing Inner Wisdom Counseling or simply meditation.
Ultimately the steps are simple and to be repeated.

1. When you are feeling resistance of any kind, STOP and step back in your mind.

2. Be willing to quiet your mind and awaken to your true nature.

3. Look at the limiting thoughts and beliefs that are showing up and recognize what they are. (Thoughts and beliefs that reflect separation and a limiting idea of what you are.)

4. Let them go.

5. Open up to new insights and reminders of the truth. Help will come in just the right form that is helpful for your Highest good and the good of all concerned.

Rev. Cathy Silva is an Ordained Ministerial Counselor, Relationship Transformation Author/Coach and Discover Your Sacred Gifts Certified Guide living in Punta Gorda, FL. You can reach her through email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or on her website: cathysilva.org

© 2020, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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October-December, 2020

Reality Beyond Duality

by Rev. Gina Lucia, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

Now is a perfect time to explore the “duality” paradigm of life in the physical and how it has served us as we move away from our limitations of separation from Source. Each event in our world becomes an opportunity to bring us closer to awakening to the truth of our oneness with each other and with God. “The real world is attained simply by the complete forgiveness of the old, the world you see without forgiveness.” (T-17.II.5:1-2)

As we move from body identity to Spirit identity we will find Source, our Guide, our Inner Teacher. “Your worth is beyond perception because it is beyond doubt. Do not perceive yourself in different lights. Know yourself in the One Light where the miracle that is you is perfectly clear.” (T-3.V.10:7-9)

Wow, if there’s ever been a wakeup call it’s right now! We are witnessing a plethora of duality in the current landscape of our entire planet regarding pretty much everything: We are asleep, we are awake, death, separation, unity, reality, illness, healing, heaven, hell, Light, darkness, physical, non-physical, 3D, 5D, I could go on. All being viewed under a magnifying glass.

Let’s take a look at the dualistic thought system. We are always choosing either fear or Love, complete opposites of each other. I’ve come to know that only one is real — the thought system of LOVE.

Love never changes; fear is constantly on the move. I’ve also learned that we can stay on the pain and suffering train to get our lessons, or we can choose the Love train, a much easier route. All aboard!

But the ego is always ready for instability. “You can speak from the spirit or from the ego, as you choose.” (T-4.in.2:1)

So how do we get beyond hearing the dictates of the ego and into that instant place of hearing that still small voice? We know the ego speaks first and the ego speaks loudest. “Spirit need not be taught, but the ego must be.” (T-4.I.3:1)

Now let’s take a look at the chaos in the world right now. Who’s creating our current reality? Remember it’s just a dream, it’s all an illusion, it’s the matrix of the human mind… our collective mind. “The laws of chaos can be brought to light, though never understood.… Let us look upon them calmly, that we may look beyond them, understanding what they are, not what they would maintain.” (T-23.II.1:1,4.) “Here are the laws that rule the world you made.” (T-23.II.1:6)

“The first chaotic law is that the truth is different for everyone. Like all these principles, this one maintains that each is separate and has a different set of thoughts that set him off from others. This principle evolves from the belief that there is a hierarchy of illusions; some are more valuable and therefore true. Each one establishes this for himself, and makes it true by his attack on what another values. And this is justified because the values differ, and those who hold them seem to be unlike, and therefore enemies.” (T-23.II.2)

Boy, we can sure witness this all around us, quite a few polarizing narratives going on in the collective matrix. What an interference for miracles, “Miracles are natural. When they do not occur something has gone wrong.” (T-1.I.6:1-2) We are actually witnessing varying degrees of truth amongst illusion, which makes it appear to be harder to overcome some illusions than others. The ego always complicates everything. All is illusion.

“The second law of chaos, dear indeed to every worshiper of sin, is that each one must sin, and therefore deserves attack and death. This principle, closely related to the first, is the demand that errors call for punishment and not correction. For the destruction of the one who makes the error places him beyond correction and beyond forgiveness. What he has done is thus interpreted as an irrevocable sentence upon himself, which God Himself is powerless to overcome.” (T-23.II.4:1-4) Simply put, the war against yourself.

“This leads directly to the third preposterous belief that seems to make chaos eternal. For if God cannot be mistaken, He must accept his son’s belief in what he is, and hate him for it.

“See how the fear of God is reinforced by this third principle. Now it becomes impossible to turn to Him for help in misery. For now he has become the “enemy” who caused it, to Whom appeal is useless. …And now is conflict made inevitable, beyond the help of God.” (T-23.II.6:5-6;7:1-3,5) And here’s where we invent a vengeful God — no forgiveness, just destruction, the ego’s mantra.

“The ego values only what it takes. This leads to the fourth law of chaos, which, if the others are accepted, must be true. This seeming law is the belief you have what you have taken. By this, another’s loss becomes your gain, and thus it fails to recognize that you can never take away save from yourself. Yet all the other laws must lead to this. For enemies do not give willingly to one another, nor would they seek to share the things they value. And what your enemies would keep from you must be worth having, because they keep it hidden from your sight.” (T-23.II.9)

So what is it that is so precious? What did the “enemy” take from you? Here we make the “enemy” strong, hiding the “valuables” that should be ours, a justification for attack. In the ego’s savage world, good cannot survive, so if the ego takes, it cannot be taken from. What are you looking for but haven’t found? The ego’s mantra, “seek but do not find.” The ego will continue to dictate a never ending search, to project outside the body, while hiding this “precious little gift” in the body — guilt!

The final principle of chaos comes to the rescue. It is all just a substitute for Love. We simply receive Love from Source and naturally extend. But that little separation from Source is all about guilt projected onto the world around us. How much deeper can we continue burying ourselves? Each other?

“Outside of Heaven, only the conflict of illusion stands; senseless, impossible and beyond all reason, and yet perceived as an eternal barrier to Heaven. Illusions are but forms. Their content is never true.” (T-23.II.19:7-9)

The world is crying for healing and Love. To return to our freedom of Life as it was given us by God, our Creator. Now stronger than ever, the dictate of the collective ego is to separate. We must go within to find the answers. The journey must be taken to lift the veil of illusion. The only thing that can drive out darkness is the Light. The ego is at war with God. “The memory of God comes to the quiet mind.” (T-23.I.1:1)

Heaven is here now, there is no life outside of Heaven, the only thing that stands between our ascension is our conflicts with a dualistic thought system. Illusion is form, projected onto the screen in front of us.

“How can you know whether you chose the stairs to Heaven or the way to hell? Quite easily. How do you feel? Is peace in your awareness? Are you certain which way you go? And are you sure the goal of heaven can be reached? If not, you walk alone. Ask then, your Friend to join with you, and give you certainty of where you go.” (T-23.II.22:6-13)

There is a huge nonphysical staff waiting to assist us; just lean in and receive. Pathways of Light has ministers around the globe always available for prayer, discussion, or an enlightening correspondence course. Pathways of Light offers wonderful material to experience a journey down the road less traveled.

Please feel free to reach out with any questions. May we all rise up above the fears, sorrows, and the limitations of this world, above the duality, into the circle of Light, unity and the greatest of all, Love.

Rev. Gina Lucia is a Pathways of Light
minister living in W. Sacramento, California. Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

© 2020, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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October-December, 2020

The Illusion Delusion

by Rev. Peggy Rivera, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

I received an email from one of our sisters with a message from the ACIM text.

“I am come as a light into a world that does deny itself everything. It does this simply by dissociating itself from everything. It is therefore an illusion of isolation maintained by fear of the same loneliness that is its illusion.” (T-8.lV.2:1-3) I thought, “That is the main point of this discussion. It is literally how we deny ourselves everything and accept nothingness in its place.”

Then I thought, “Okay, what is an illusion? A thing that is or is likely to be wrongly perceived or interpreted by the senses. A deceptive appearance or impression. A false idea or belief.”

And what is a delusion? The dictionary definition is, “A belief or altered reality that is persistently held despite evidence or agreement to the contrary, generally in reference to a mental disorder.”

I read in the book From the Christ Mind that “Abilities can be invented to take reality’s place; what is all powerful and forever free can seem to be a weak and pitiful thing, tied to a form destined for destruction, imprisoned by fear, and threatened by all that appears to surround it. …Reality has been lost so long ago that not even its memory remains.” We were lucky, though, because the Holy Spirit is the keeper of the memory of who we really are. And that resides deeply within our mind. Without that connection we would be totally lost in a prison that we created.

“His Presence guarantees the end of suffering and illusion, and the return Home to the Reality you left but in dreams. Yet dreams are real to the dreamer and illusions are strong in their effects. No one asleep in this world thinks what he sees is but imagination, without the power to affect him unless he wished it so. Wish makes a world and projection establishes it as you would have it be. Desire produces form and belief gives it reality through perception. Yet is illusion, illusion still. Reality is not the result of idle wishes placed outside the mind that thought them and esteemed them as true. Reality is One, all parts joined in a Unity that extends forever, created by God in His Likeness and all encompassed by His Being; It leaves not the Mind of Its Creator to appear as if outside and separate. Madness makes a world that could not be, carving separate figures out of what is One. These shadows appear to move about, and come and go, until the Light of Love returns to shine them away.”

So, illusion is our incorrect perception of the “reality” of this world and our physical experience. It causes our delusion to persistently believe this world is real, contrary to the fact that we have agreed with the Holy Spirit and Christ that this is not our true reality. Because it seems so real to us and tangible to our senses, it can be very hard to remember who we really are in truth.

That is the work of the ego. The ego is there to blind us to the truth. It is really masterful at creating more illusions. I suppose that is why I struggle so with this one. I get distracted with my stories and how I have to solve them. I think I just need to remember that the stories I have created in my egoic mind are just illusions and not really important. I can look at them as witnesses to the fact that I am still trying to heal my mind.

Instead of looking at them from ego, I can ask the meaning of them from Holy Spirit and seek His perspective on why I created that drama. I can open my mind to the fact that only Love is real and anything outside of Love is there only to distract me from the truth.

In the past, I have believed that the meaning of the Course’s description of the world not being real was only meant metaphysically, that it was only talking about the way we think being the illusion. But according to the readings in the books, From The Christ Mind and A Course in Miracles, none of this exists except in our perceived separated mind. When we so desire, we can wake up to the reality of our Spiritual life.

The Course says our true Self is spirit. I take it this dense physical form that seems so real is just a vivid dream that is hard to believe is not real. You know, the kind of dream that when you wake up from it you can be actually acting out. I have wakened crying or even screaming. One time my dream felt so real and scary I got heart palpitations. I was out of breath and sweating from it. It felt very real.

In that same way our ego self is dreaming. Our true purpose here is to help each other remember our true Self so we can all go to our real home, where there is no pain, no death, no sorrow. Who in their right mind would choose a life where they are often scared, sad, sick or waiting to get sick and die? That is the fear of the ego, annihilation, not existing at all, losing power.

In From The Christ Mind Jesus says, “You cannot know what you are as long as you are choosing to be what you are not. To choose illusion is to choose against Truth, as they are mutually exclusive, and the presence of one is the absence of the other. You would never choose wrongly if the memory of Truth had not been driven from your mind and lost to you, until you decide for It once again. Your True self is complete, it does not need help to be itself but you need help to clear your mind of all that prevents the memory of the Self from returning to your awareness. The self you made has eclipsed what God created and taken its place in your experience.”

As I think about this from the perspective of Spirit taking the body out of the equation, I feel less confused. It seems easy to figure out that if I just allow myself to see that we only have to recognize Love in the present moment, forget about the thoughts of being separate or different than someone else, all is peaceful. All is right, I just have to keep deciding that this is my Truth.

“The inevitable result of delusion is the loss of contact with Reality. …When delusion is permitted to take the place of Reality, chaos and suffering will result. When delusion replaces Truth in your mind a state of consciousness develops that does not know itself or anything else.”

As I pondered over the material I was reading, I got the feeling that this earthly existence was sort of like being on a hamster’s wheel. We keep going round and round, going nowhere. When we decide we don’t want the same old path to nowhere, we start to search beyond ourselves, keeping in mind that the body’s eyes were made only to see form, not the spiritual Self that we are.

It talks about the body’s eyes being incapable of seeing truly because they were made to see separation and differences. Wholeness and light are beyond form and are not limited by it.

I think the fact that the body’s eyes are not made to see truth is important for me to remember. It helps me understand this idea of our experience being an illusion. I realize that without the help of Holy Spirit I would never be able to see past it. Because the Holy Spirit is the keeper of our memory, It holds the truth deep within our mind. All we need is the desire to know the truth and we will never be denied. But the desire needs to be complete; we do not halfway heal. We cannot give part of our mind over to truth. One foot in the dream and one foot outside doesn’t work. We have to be committed completely to the truth.

In an article on A Course in Miracles Blog called, The Blinding Illusion of Form – the world is an illusion, there is no world, Paul West described the meaning of this blindness to the unreality of this world. He pointed out that people believe it means that the world exists only in our own personal mind. But it is much bigger than that. He says you have to see it as the collective mind, not a personal mind that you can change. We all are included in the Mind of God, not a separate mind that can change the way we think but that everything real is in God’s Mind.

The body is not outside the mind, nor is this world. They are not solid or real. They are ideas of separation. That means as mind changes, physical form must change as well. This is why the physical body can be a symbol of immortality, why all sickness must be reversed, why a broken body is proof that the mind has not been healed. Miracles, true miracles, are not restricted to the “scope” of your little mind. Nor are they limited to the scope of what you think of as mind, separate from matter.

Miracles apply to the mind’s misperception of God. Period. You can change how “you” seem to perceive the world, to see God in it, but if you are still seeing physical matter according to its illusory laws, and still think of yourself as separate, then you are still perceiving incorrectly. We seem to focus on trying to change our little mind thoughts, as if we can think it into reality. But we have to remember that we are in the Mind of God along with the whole world. God is all inclusive. As in “I am in the Father and the Father is in me.”

I close my eyes and think Loving thoughts and I am grateful that I am Love. I see us all together as whole and loving. I notice that there is nothing around me, and I feel so blessed to be a part of this. I feel the light on my face and I feel it expand larger and larger to include my entire body, I remember that my senses only block my real Self. I just bathe in a sea of Light and Love and remember who I am in God. No more distraction, no more thoughts of fear and death. Only happy thoughts, and sweet dreams. I no longer have the desire to be what I am not.

Rev. Peggy Rivera, O.M.C., is a Pathways of Light minister living in Palm Bay,FL 305-322-6610 Email:7seas@bellsouth.net Web: http://www.revpriveralifeministries.com

© 2020, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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October-December, 2020

Body of Proof

Rev. Paula Richards, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

A number of years ago, I developed a cellulitis (an infection that can quickly become life-threatening if left untreated) just above my left ankle. Because I had mistakenly let my health insurance lapse, I didn’t bother going to the doctor. Rather quickly, the area turned into a nasty open wound that was quite painful and literally took months to heal. When I finally saw my physician and told her about it, she scolded me. “You could have died!” she said.    

A few years later, like before, I began noticing a warm, red spot that was very tender above my other ankle. Not taking any chances, I called my doctor’s office. She was not working that day so I agreed to see another physician whom I had never met. He was very quick to dismiss my suspicion that I had another cellulitis. He not only disagreed with me, but he did so with a great deal of arrogance. I left his office angry and sporting an “I’ll show him!” attitude.  

For the next few days, I kept watching and waiting for the sore spot to get worse. I actually began to hope that it would. I kept visualizing myself with an open wound, limping past that arrogant man into my regular doctor’s office and telling her my tale of woe — how I was misdiagnosed and mistreated and how much I was now suffering because of it. I was not only aiming to prove him wrong, to my horror, I suddenly realized that I was more than willing to suffer in order to do that!  

It was such an Ah-ha moment for me! This is what A Course in Miracles has been telling me all along. We are willing to suffer and sacrifice for the sake of proving our bodily existence real. We aren’t doing it consciously. But once we do become aware of our motive, we can begin to see and understand how our suffering is a choice we are making as opposed to something that is happening to us.  

Thankfully, I did not have another cellulitis and I certainly stopped entertaining the thought that I did! Whatever the “cause,” the soreness disappeared within a few days. I am very grateful, though, that I had that experience and the deep understanding it afforded me. Once again, what I saw as adversity became a great lesson in self-awareness.  

What Will It Take?

One day, at the assisted living facility where I used to work, one of the memory-impaired residents entered a bedroom and closed the door. The problem was, it wasn’t her room. When the housekeeper pointed out the woman’s mistake to her, the resident became belligerent and barricaded the door. 

From the shared living room where I was giving a presentation, I could watch what was going on. None of the staff, nor the woman’s grown daughter who had been called in, were having any luck convincing her that room was not her home. Because they were being gentle and trying not to frighten her, the problem still had not been resolved when I left a half-hour later. 

On my ride home, I began thinking how perfectly that situation mirrors what I am experiencing as I study A Course in Miracles. The Course tells me repeatedly that this body that I believe I reside in is not my real home. That my true home is at one with God in Spirit — not in the world of form. It teaches this slowly and gently through 365 daily lessons so as not to overwhelm or frighten me. 

As much as I swear that I want to know and live the truth, my defenses go up, and I dig in my heels. This body must be my home! I can see it, feel it, and touch it. I seem to be able to attack with it or be attacked. I have to protect it and feed it. I experience pain with it. On and on it goes — the Course reminding me of the truth, and me inventing one scenario after another to disprove it, afraid to let go of the image I have made, unwilling to admit I might be wrong. 

I wonder what it finally took to convince that woman that the territory she was so staunchly defending was not her home. 

I wonder what it will take to convince me.

Rev. Paula Richards, O.M.C., is a Pathways of Light minister living in North Billerica, MA. Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Web: spiritrisingministries.com  
Call me at 508-517-9361

© 2020, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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