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July-September, 2020

Stay Safe… Stay Home

by Rev. Stepan Mead, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

Almost daily on TV, the governor of our state has addressed we Washingtonians regarding COVID-19, with a background banner reading, “Stay Safe - Stay Home.”  Electronic signs erected in various places on our highways flash the message, “Stay Safe — Stay Home.” Billboards throughout the city of Seattle blink, “Stay Safe — Stay Home.” One might get the impression the powers that be are trying to send us a message!

ACIM mentions the word “safe” 124 times and the word “home” 261 times. Perhaps the Power authoring ACIM is also trying to send us a message?

“The Father keeps what He created safe.” (T-24,VII.5:1) “Heaven is your home, and being in God, it must also be in you.” (T-12.VI.7:7) 

If I take those two quotes literally and I understand them correctly, I am always safe and I’m always home. What problem, situation or circumstance could possibly be a threat to me? How about the pandemic?
Like probably everyone else on the planet, my life was greatly affected with all the new rules and regulations that were quickly put in place, especially the quarantine. I couldn’t work, I couldn’t see my children and grandkids, and as I watched the news report, first hundreds, then thousands, then over a hundred thousand deaths — I wasn’t feeling all that safe.

Was this virus an exception to the Will of God? Wait! How could anything oppose the Will of God? So, does that mean the pandemic is God’s Will? That conclusion doesn’t make me feel too safe either, and what kind of home would foster the pain and suffering the millions who have been infected have experienced? Clearly, my conclusions must be erroneous, but they didn’t seem to be, at least at first. Might the answers be found in ACIM?

Fortunately, I’ve had much practice in quieting my ego mind when I really want to. There is an “Opening Preparation” statement included in the many study courses Pathways of Light offers. This statement contains six bullet points to meditate on. One of them, “I am willing to take responsibility for letting go of limiting thoughts and beliefs that reflect separation and specialness,” was particularly helpful. First, did I have limiting thoughts and beliefs about the pandemic? (check!) Second, was I willing to take responsibility that every non-loving thought about the virus was because I provided a “home” for it? (check!)

This was a bit difficult because all my thoughts were unloving, and how could it be looked at other than “I and my loved ones are not safe” And, “none of this is my fault!” I haven’t mentioned this yet, but two of my son-in-laws were diagnosed COVID 19 positive and were told to assume their spouses and kids (my daughters & grandchildren) had also been exposed. Who wouldn’t feel unsafe and far from the comfort and security of home under these circumstances?

Another bullet point in the Opening Preparation is, “I am willing to quiet my mind and ask Holy Spirit to take the lead.” (check!)

With a new willingness, I read the various ACIM references about “safe” and “home.” A peaceful calm replaced the storm in my mind. I was invited to contemplate a different conclusion about the pandemic, an inspired conclusion. Articulated, it would read, “You have unique and wonderful opportunities to ask Me how you can be helpful to your family and everyone else now, IF that is what you want to experience.” So, “Stay Safe, Stay Home!”  I’m going to go with that.

Rev. Stephan Mead, O.M.C., is a Pathways of Light minister living in Seattle, Washington. Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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

Solving Problems with the Peace of God

by Rev. Myron, Jones, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

While I was working on course 902: Remembering to Choose Peace, I did the meditation, “Solving Problems with the Peace of God.” I worked with a memory of something I did as a young woman that I have never forgiven. I reminded myself that forgiveness is recognizing that nothing was done, that there is nothing to forgive.

Here are a couple of things I noticed. It all started with a single thought that I believed was true. That thought moved an entire mountain of related guilty and fearful thoughts into my awareness. Every time I thought I had let one go, another came in to take its place. Pretty soon, the untrue beliefs seemed so solid and real that it felt immovable. The thoughts themselves felt too real to deny.

Normally, it is easy for me to bring a thought to the Holy Spirit and to let Him reinterpret it for me. But this one got away from me and its stubborn existence in my mind seemed to prove it must be true. I was working with Chapter 19, Section IV of the Course, which was very helpful to me. I especially find that this prayer helped me to untangle the confusion in my mind:

“Take this from me and look upon it, judging it for me. Let me not see it as a sign of sin and death, nor use it for destruction. Teach me how not to make of it an obstacle to peace, but let You use it for me, to facilitate its coming.” (T-19.IV.C.i.11:8-10)

I remembered that I do want the peace of God. I felt like I could say that I want to be taught not to make this thought an obstacle to peace. I want the Holy Spirit to use this situation to facilitate the coming of peace into my mind.

About the same time I was doing this part of our course, I was also facilitating someone through a ministerial course and what we read together helped me, too. There was a section that was explaining a way to approach a grievance against someone else. In this case, the grievance was against myself, so I changed the language slightly to accommodate that. The following is what helped me to let go. I was basically addressing this to the young woman who was never healed.

(To my younger self) “I want you to know that no event or experience has any meaning other than what you choose to give it. You didn’t know that at the time, but it is known now. We can now choose the way we feel in response to any behavior no matter when that behavior occurred. Time only seems to have passed and is completely irrelevant. Together, we will undo this.

“In the past, we chose to respond with blame and condemnation. Now we know to respond with understanding and compassion. We were doing the best we could with the belief structure we had at that time. Now we have a belief structure that is closer to the truth of our being as a child of God. We have carried around a heavy burden of guilt, fear, and blame and it has driven us to be judgmental and unkind, sometimes to others and always to ourself. We have projected onto others, often in the form of expectations. We have done the same to ourself. It is time to let that all go and now we know how to do that.

“What we need is love and compassion, cheerfulness, calmness and inspiration. We have failed to give that to ourself, especially regarding this situation. We have been part of our own problem, but now we know how to be part of the solution. The choice is ours to make. No one else is holding us hostage to our past. The decision to judge and condemn ourself is more important than we could have known at that time. The beliefs we held have caused us to believe that what is not of God has power over us. We will no longer believe this, nor foster belief in this in any other mind.

“Dearest younger self, you are innocent. You are God’s own treasure. He loves you deeply and you love Him. You have dreamed of guilt and it is time to wake up from that dream and let it fade into the nothingness it is. Life becomes so much better and your lessons are an important part of that. How you experienced them helped us to get where we are now. We are very happy now and live in peace most of the time.

“I want you to know that nothing you did has any bearing on your reality. It does not mean what you thought it did. When I asked the Holy Spirit what it was for, He said that it was for the Awakening of God’s own Son. You thought you were a bad person, and all along you were doing your part to bring us all into God where we want to be.

“I love you and I know that you always did the best you could. No one is to blame for any mistakes made and mistakes are not sins. Mistakes don’t blemish the beautiful soul that you are. You can throw off the dark thoughts of failure and come out into the sun and play with me. Be one with me. It’s a good place to be.”

Rev. Myron Jones, O.M.C., is a Pathways of Light minister living in Westlake, Louisiana. Read her inspiring Healing Journal articles on the Pathways website. Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Myron’s website is: http://www.forgivenessisthewayhome.org

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

Healing

by Rev. Joyce Peebles, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

A Course in Miracles (P-2 VI.1:5-8) says, “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.”

Notice it says the first step. We do not advance to step two until we get step one. The ego fights “tooth and nail” against us understanding this step. It is the secret to salvation. In Chapter 27 of ACIM, Jesus says, “The secret of salvation is but this: that you are doing this unto yourself. No matter what the form of the attack, this still is true.” (T-27.VII.10:1-2) The ego screams that you do not understand. The reason I am unhappy is someone else’s fault or if the world were different, I could be happy.

ACIM tells us happiness cannot be found in the world because it was made by us as a place to escape from God. There is nobody to blame for the dirge we sing because there is nobody outside our mind. That leaves only me.

Consider the idea that you are doing this to yourself, whatever your source of unhappiness. Who made the decision to want specialness and believe in the separation? That would be me. Who decided there was such things as sin, guilt and fear? That would be me. Who decided I could escape from my mistaken thoughts by making an ego and illusory world to project my ideas onto? That would be me. Who suffers loneliness believing he has separated from his source of Love? That would be me.

The ego puts before me endless things it says will give me satisfaction and fill my aching void. ACIM tells me what I want is the Love I thought was possible to separate from. I have not lost Love but it is obscured by my faulty beliefs. This undoing of my mistaken thinking is what ACIM is all about.

The process is forgiveness and there is really only one person to forgive. That would be me. I can choose to think with the Holy Spirit or with the ego. Only one Teacher brings me peace and joy. As I listen to the Holy Spirit, It reminds me of who I really Am, safe, innocent, and holy. Who is the only one that can decide to believe this? That would be me. When I take responsibility for my mistaken thinking, healing must occur. Nobody I think ever mistreated me needs to change, nothing that happens in the “world” is wrong or bad. There is only one who needs to be healed. That would be me.

Jesus likens our “world and life” as being in a self-made prison. The good news is there is a key to get out of jail. Who has it? That would be me. “I have done this thing and it is this I would undo.” (T-27.VIII.11:6) This is about changing our mistaken beliefs — a process we joyously accept once we decide our previously held beliefs did not bring the happiness we thought. It is true the Holy Spirit heals our minds but who allows the Holy Spirit to do this? That would be me.

“You have never given any problem to the Holy Spirit he has not solved for you, nor will you ever do so. You have never tried to solve anything yourself and been successful.” (T-16.II.9:1-2) Jesus is saying all my efforts have not given me the outcome I sought.

Before I discovered ACIM I used to belong to a fundamentalist church. One evening I sat there listening to the minister giving the “invitation” to the congregation, telling them to accept Jesus as the savior for their sins. He told them that, “feeling conviction was not enough. Stay seated as you were not ready yet.” He mentioned that there were some in the audience who felt they had nothing to offer of value to God, they did not even feel worthy to ask for forgiveness. He said, “Those of you who feel this way, you are ready.”

ACIM puts it this way, “Come unto me with wholly empty hands.” What this is saying is we need to empty our minds of all thoughts the ego taught us and come with an “I don’t know” attitude. An attitude of “I have it all to learn.” We cannot hear the Holy Spirit unless we empty our mind to fill it with His thoughts. The older I get the less I know. I don’t know why I made some really dumb decisions in the past. I sure do not know what you or anyone else should do with their life. I have no suggestions about how to fix the world or anything else. But I do know and believe the Holy Spirit can heal my mind IF I let Him.

Rev. Joyce Peebles is a Pathways of Light minister living in Hot Springs Village, AR Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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

Learning True Empathy

by Rev. Larry Glenz, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

“To empathize does not mean to join in suffering, for that is what you must refuse to understand.” (T-16.I.1:1)

I received an email this week from a man who lost his son to an accidental opioid overdose only a few weeks ago. The dad lives on the north shore of Long Island in Manhasset and I live on the south shore in Long Beach.

Someone had given him a copy of my book, Forgiving Kevin. His son’s name was also Kevin — Kevin Jr. The father is Kevin Sr. He said he is struggling with the tragic loss of his 17-year old. The boy was to graduate high school the next month.

It has been over ten years since my Kevin passed from a similar overdose. The dad was reaching out and I felt the Holy Spirit was about to bring us together. I have spoken with many parents who have lost their child this way. They most often appear lost, broken, and burdened with a feeling of guilt.

Holy Spirit has given me the strength to heal from such a tragedy. I believe my own extended family — Kevin’s family — is following me in this healing. It is not like we can just get over something like this. But we can embrace the love we all feel for him. It has slowly brought us closer together. We are kinder and gentler. And we can each feel Kevin’s presence in our own way.

I would like to be able to help others who suffer. But there is much I need to remember about helping others in such a difficult situation. I am reminded of how the Holy Spirit sees empathy. I was guided to read Chapter 16, Section I, of A Course in Miracles entitled, True Empathy.

“The Holy Spirit does not join in pain, understanding that healing pain is not accomplished by delusional attempts to enter into it, and lighten it by sharing the delusion.” (T-16.I.1:7)

“You do not know what empathizing means. Yet of this you may be sure; if you will merely sit quietly by and let the Holy Spirit relate through you, you will empathize with strength, and will gain in strength and not weakness.” (T-16.I.2:6-7)

I find that each family grieves differently. I meet most of the grieving parents for the first time, knowing little or nothing about them. To believe that I know what to say to them would be self-deception on a massive scale.

“You do not know what healing is. Step gently aside and let healing be done for you.” (T-16.I.3:3,7)

I have no formal training as a grief counselor. I am an ordained ministerial counselor for Pathways of Light. I have a similar horrific experience of losing a son to opioids after repetitive relapses. That alone does not give me the answers. I must not think that I know how to help.

“… to recognize and accept the fact that you do not know is to recognize and accept the fact that He does know.” (T-16.I.4:4)

I met with the dad yesterday. He came down to Long Beach and we walked the boardwalk together. Since he has read my book, he knew a lot more about me than I do of him. I was prepared to just listen but he wanted me to talk about my experience with the tragedy.

I described the frustration of not being able to save my son’s life throughout the seven long years of his addiction. I explained how I had prayed daily for his recovery. I spoke of the disheartening relapses and how I sometimes lost hope. I told the dad about the night of his fatal overdose and the following week of the wakes and funeral.

He then felt comfortable about telling me about the horrible incidents that had preceded his son’s demise. He was choked with emotion. The wounds were so very fresh. He told me how my book had helped him in some way by seeing how similar our situations were.

We have plans to see each other again next week. I am grateful that Holy Spirit is using the story of my boy Kevin to help others. I am reminded not to think I know what to say or do in these circumstances. I am not the healer.

I can keep the spirit of my son with me during our talks. I can feel his arm around me during these sessions. I know that I continue to heal as Holy Spirit uses me to help others. And I am grateful for it all.

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

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