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July-September, 2020

The Virus in Our Mind

by Rev. Maria Kingsley, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

A friend of mind used to say, “What a world, what a world!” and rolled his eyes. Indeed, what kind of world are we living in today?

Every day we are confronted with information on what to do and what not to do. The apparent threat of infection and disease, or death, is all around us. It is affecting all of our lives, our communication with family, friends, neighbors and helpers. It is affecting our work, our finances, our movements, and we are asked to look at life from another perspective. How do we deal with life when we are not focused on worldly careers, school, shopping, dining out, movie going, and other community events?

As students of A Course in Miracles, we want to remember that we are learning to ‘see things differently.’ And now it becomes even more important to say, “Above all else I want to see things differently,” as Lesson 28 urges us to practice. But how do we actually shift from fear to seeing Peace, and good, happy things? Of course, this is not seeing things in the world, but in our mind.

In Lesson 28, Jesus says, “… you will be making a series of definite commitments. The question of whether you will keep them in the future is not our concern here. If you are willing at least to make them now, you have started on the way to keeping them. And we are still at the beginning.” (W-pI.28.1:2-5)

So, let’s look at how to see this virus differently. How have we defined it; what thoughts and feelings have we attached to it; where does our fear come from? Are we afraid to get sick, to die, to have no money to pay for food or medical costs; are we afraid of other people who may give us the virus? I’m sure there are many more ideas that all lead to the same negative state of mind: We are not safe, and we will react as a body. It is the body identity that brings on fear and worry and loneliness etc. We intellectually know we are not the body; at least that’s what we read in the Course. But to trust and identify with our Spirit Self is a more difficult task. And yet, we are asked to only do this exercise now. Don’t worry about the future. But let go of the past, which is not here now.

In this lesson, we are asked to see this virus and the world differently. The virus is just another object in the world. It is not different than any other ideas that bring up fear in us. Whether we know it or not, we are choosing to be in fear, and we can choose love or peace or joy or harmony or excellent health.

We have the power of Christ within us, but very few know how to connect with It and apply It. Again, we know it is an intellectual thought but, by itself, it has no power. What keeps us away from that power is our choice to join with worldly powers and so we have given ideas and things in the world power over us. We make the virus a powerful force in our mind. We agree that it can hurt us, take things from us, make us poor and sick. And yes, it can do these things if we hold on to our attachments and rely on worldly goods, services, and safety instead of those given to us by our Creator.   

The commitment Lesson 28 is asking us to make is: “…  to withdraw our preconceived ideas about the table, (the virus) and open our mind to what it is, and what it is for. You are not defining it in past terms. You are asking what it is, rather than telling it what it is. You are not binding its meaning to your tiny experience of tables (or viruses) nor are you limiting its purpose to your little personal thoughts.”  (3:1-4)

The Course tells us that “The world I see holds nothing that I want.” (W-pI.128)

And yet, we want so much from the world. How can we combine those two thoughts: I want a wonderful, easy life, and I want the Peace of God. We are desperately in need of the Peace of God, but as the Course says, in order to have it, the cost is losing the world. It is either the world or Peace of Mind. Which one do we want more? We can say, “I am in danger no where in the world” (W-pII.244), but that would not be true for many people.

The body has a strong hold on us. We don’t believe that we are safe if we choose Peace or Love or God’s Protection. We are not practiced in feeling the Peace of God often enough and so it has a vague pull on us. We feel that this is somehow true, but we have not given it our full attention.

Siding with the ego and the all-pervasive fear has made us weak and eroded our will to choose. And yet we read, “I have given everything I see … all the meaning that it has for me.” (W-pI.2)

The Course tells us that we can choose differently any moment, at any powerful NOW. And yet, this seems to be so difficult. We have given our perceptions the power that God has given us and made the illusion true. We still believe that we are the victim of the world around us. These are the obstacles to the Peace we truly want.

There are many obstacles in our mind that keep us from choosing the Peace of God. We can, this moment, let go of all fears and choose to trust our Divine Creator that S/He will guide us safely. Sometimes we choose that for a moment, and we feel the power and joy in that. But the world can quickly come back into our mind as soon as we hear the news on TV or feel discomfort in our body.

Lesson 28 tells us that, “you will not question what you have already defined” but questioning we must do and listen for the answer. And we want to ‘see’ with vision, which includes ‘hearing’ the quiet gentle Voice within which reminds us of how to envision things differently.

Jesus continues in this lesson that simple items like the table, or perhaps seemingly complicated items like a virus, can help us gain vision from them if we can withdraw all our own ideas from it. “It has something to show you; something beautiful and clean and of infinite value, full of happiness and hope. Hidden under all your ideas about it is its real purpose, the purpose it shares with all the universe. You are therefore really asking to see the purpose of the universe.” (W-pI.28.5:2-3)

The purpose of the universe is the same as the purpose of this world. The world is here for us to remember that we are Love. Our function here is to forgive, to see beyond the illusion of viruses, to return to trusting That Which is trustworthy. We are not of this world, yet, we are in this world and we have a function.

The lesson that this virus has shown me is to see that this is another opportunity to go deeper within myself and find what I am really afraid of. What is the lesson here, and there may be many. But, when I meditate and go within and join with the purity of the Divine, at least for a while, I know that I can trust that the Holy Spirit is right there with me, guiding me safely, no matter where I go or what I do.

I’ve experienced this many times, and it is always very uplifting, joyful and energizing. And when my thoughts get pulled to worldly events or fears, I can adamantly tell my little self to no longer believe that I am a weak little child who is trying to be loved by her parents, but that there is a loving Father in a real world who keeps me happy and safe. I am so grateful for that.

So, what kind of world do you want to live in? Your answer will tell you whether you are coming from fear or Love. Choose wisely, choose Love!

Rev. Maria Kingsley is a Pathways of Light minister living in Tucson, Arizona. Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  520-780-0170 P.O. Box 35122

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

Peace in the Midst of Pain

by Rev. Jennifer McSween, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

On April 28th, 2020, my mother died, five days after coming down with symptoms of COVID-19.
She had been living at a seniors residence for the past four years, diagnosed with Dementia/Alzheimer’s.

We had visited each other “from-a-distance” two days before she came down with COVID symptoms. Because of the lock down, it was the first time in six weeks we had seen each other in person.

I had driven over and parked on the quiet side street on her side of the building. I called to let her know I was there and asked her to get a white cloth and wave it around in front of her window, so I’d know where to look.

We spent quite a few minutes blowing kisses and throwing each other ‘virtual’ hugs. We spoke to each other the next day, sharing how much we enjoyed our “visit-from-a-distance.” Without saying anything to her, I decided right then that I would visit her this way every week.

The following day she couldn’t get out of bed. Three days later her condition had deteriorated and two days later, while I waited to have a virtual visit with her through Zoom, a call came in from her nurse telling me she had passed away 15 minutes earlier.

I remember bursting into tears feeling a mixture of confusion and disbelief that this had happened so quickly. The last clear detail I remember about that day was feeling my husband’s arms around me. Working from home since the lockdown began, I had told him just minutes earlier that I was going to call for a virtual visit, via Zoom with my mother. He had heard me crying and came downstairs to comfort me, suspecting I had not heard good news.

The rest of the day went by in a blur with calls back and forth, making arrangements with the funeral home, and making and receiving calls from relatives and friends.

By the next day, I began to feel a deep sense of loss and sadness over her sudden and unexpected death. As the days went by and the fact that she had died set in, I became more and more saddened. However, I noticed something very surprising. Even though I felt very saddened, I wasn’t looking for ways to avoid feeling that pain.

I found that I was allowing myself to acknowledge my feelings of sadness and be fully present with them. This was new for me!

When my father died suddenly from a heart attack 27 years ago, I went into complete denial, refusing to acknowledge my feelings of sadness and loss because all I could feel was pain.

It wasn’t until two years later that I allowed myself to acknowledge those feelings.

During those two years, even though I was moving on with my life, it was like “pulling teeth.” Everything felt hard, and I was always trying to find some kind of rationalization or justification about my father dying, to keep myself from constantly crying.

At the time of this writing, it is exactly one month since my mother died. Unlike the way I responded to my father’s death, I find that I’m allowing myself to feel the pain of loss and sadness over my mother’s passing, without going into denial. And without the need to rationalize or justify her death to keep myself together. 

What is also different this time, is that I have been studying and practicing the teachings of A Course in Miracles for close to 20 years. It is what I’ve been learning from the teachings of the Course that is allowing me to honor my feelings about my mother’s passing.

A Course in Miracles teaches that forgiveness is the means to miracles, defining a miracle as the ability to experience peace, safety and healing in the midst of circumstances or conditions that by appearance are painful or threatening. And forgiveness, the Course teaches, is looking past appearances and recognizing the truth that lies behind.

Workbook Lesson 62 teaches that forgiveness is our function. It is what we are to “do” as the response to every circumstance, situation or encounter in which we find we are not at peace. So, we should look at every painful situation as a lesson in forgiveness or as an opportunity to practice forgiveness.

So, as the feelings of loss, pain and sadness over my mother’s death came up, I found myself asking: “How do I practice forgiveness here?” What came to me was that it was about “finding peace in the midst of the pain.”  At first, I wasn’t sure if or how I could do that, it seemed so contradictory, so I asked for guidance.

The answer that came back was simply this: “Practice forgiveness.” I was being asked to look past the tragic, painful appearances of the situation and my mother’s death, and recognize and remember the truth about her and what is actually taking place. And so I did.

I reminded myself that in truth, whether it’s the current pandemic or any of the myriad tragic events that take place in the world, we — who we really are — remain unaffected. The truth is, that everything that seems to be taking place in the world is literally nothing but our experiencing the idea of separation that’s in our mind. In truth, we are all — including my mother — always safe and healed in the mind.

Recognizing and reminding myself of these truths is allowing me to be at peace with the fact that my mother is no longer present in form in my life, and in the world. Yes, I miss her physical presence. But as I remember the truth, I no longer have that deep feeling of loss and sadness because in truth, she has gone nowhere and we are still one with each other in the mind.

I know that I am not the only one who has lost a loved one during this time. So many people, maybe even you, are sharing in what, by all appearances, is a sad, tragic and fearful experience. And for some of you, just like me 27 years ago when my father died, all you are feeling is a deep sense of loss and pain.

For those of you who feel that way, I’d like to share with you that you “can” experience peace in the midst of the pain. I am finding that practicing forgiveness here — as the Course teaches us to do in all situations that seem to cause us pain — is what will bring us peace.

Practicing forgiveness is allowing me to heal the pain of my mother’s passing in a gentle peaceful and genuinely loving way.

Rev. Jennifer McSween, O.M.C., is a Pathways of Light Minister living in Montreal, Canada. She Hosts a Weekly Podcast titled, “Understanding the language of A Course in Miracles.” You can listen at:
http://www.revjennifermcsweenpodcast.com  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

Love, Life and the Pursuit of Heaven on Earth

by Rev. Peggy Rivera, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

I have to say that when I thought of what I wanted to talk about for the article this month, it didn’t take but a moment, literally a moment. The thought came to me right away — Life, Love and the pursuit of heaven on earth.

I thought to myself, “How can that be because we are taught in the Course there is no world; what we think the world is is an illusion?” So, I set out to research the subject. And wow, I found many things to talk about. I mean, “What is Life anyway? Is life the gift our Father gave to us in the Creation?” Yes, it is. “Is it eternal?” Yes, it is eternal. But another way of putting it I found is Life is the sea of Creation in which L.I.F.E. arises. The acronym L.I.F.E. stands for Love In Full Expression. And Love is our true nature. I have to apologize I do not remember the source of that information. I found it online and I loved it, but then I forgot to write down the source. But it seems to fit right in for the explanations that I found. I also found a quote from Chuang-tse,

“The effect of life in society is to complicate and confuse our existence making us forget who we really are by causing us to become obsessed with what we are not.” Chuang-tse

I had a little chuckle over that because Chuang-tse is not a student of the Course, being that he was a fourth century philosopher. But I thought how much that is like the information the Course teaches us.

The job of the ego is to create confusion, which clouds our consciousness and makes us forget Who we are. In truth, we are the extension of God’s Light and Love. But because of the tiny mistake, we think we are a body condemned to Hell. If we relate ourselves to the body, we really are in a self-imposed hell.

I was really impressed as I listened to the recording of Rosemarie’s discussion about her childhood last month. And I thought how much I could relate to that. I think we all pretty much can relate to that. I also think that our stories are part of the journey in healing our minds. I love that. I have heard people say not to get too involved with the story, but to me it is really important to acknowledge our story. That is our call for Love and healing. It shows us where we need to shine the light so we can heal that aspect of our mind. As we learn to heal and forgive, we are able to shine brighter. We become clear vessels for God’s Love and Light to shine through.

This is how we bring Heaven to Earth. In ACIM Jesus says, “In this world you can become a spotless mirror, in which the Holiness of your Creator shines forth from you to all around you. You can reflect Heaven here. Yet no reflections of the images of other gods must dim the mirror that would hold God’s reflection in it. Earth can reflect Heaven or hell.”

“Could you but realize for a single instant the power of healing that the reflection of God shining in you can bring to all the world, you could not wait to make the mirror of your mind clean to receive the image of the holiness that heals the world. The image of holiness that shines in your mind is not obscure, and will not change. Its meaning to those who look upon it is not obscure, for everyone perceives it as the same. All bring their different problems to its healing light, and all their problems find but healing there.” (T-14.IX.5:1-4;7)

The reflections of the images of other gods that could dim the reflection of God’s light could be the perceptions we thought we were. They are the stories we have invested in here on the earth. The loss of our true Self, the depression, loneliness, lack of self-esteem, fear and separation. All of these distort our reality.

This is why I am so pleased to understand what Jesus meant when he said, “Let us be glad that we can walk the world, and find so many chances to perceive another situation where God’s gift can once again be recognized as ours! And thus, will all the vestiges of hell, the secret sins and hidden hates be gone. And all the loveliness which they concealed appear like lawns of Heaven to our sight, to lift us high above the thorny roads we travelled on before the Christ appeared.” (T.31.VIII.9:1-3)

Do I think I won’t ever get angry here on earth if I truly clean the slate? Will I feel peace and contentment all the time? This is why I titled this discussion Love, Life and the pursuit of Heaven on Earth. I won’t say it won’t happen, but I will say we strive for that. Every time we have sadness or judgment, we can see it as ego based and call on Holy Spirit to help us correct the thoughts.

It is so comforting to know that He is always there, waiting for us to choose Him instead of the hell that we lock ourselves in when we see darkness. There can be no darkness in the Light. It isn’t possible. When we see our brothers through the Light of our Father, we reflect His Love and It is reflected back to us. And we reflect It to our brothers. Before we know it, we all reflect God’s Love. We extend Love through the Atonement and that is Heaven on earth.

Have you ever been in a disagreement with someone who clearly wanted to fight with you, but you made the decision to say, “I’m not going to fight with you”? They kept trying but you stayed strong in your decision. They either walked away mad or found a way to agree not to fight.

We can choose that; we get to ask for clarity every time we feel something other than peace and we will know the answer like magic. We get to choose again, knowing that we are always supported.

Every time we choose to reflect Love, we come closer to Heaven on earth. Every time we look at our brother with Love and understanding, we are choosing miracles. Miracles heal, Love heals and forgiveness is part of the process. We can use our physical presence to assist each other in that healing. This is why it is really important that we work with our stories, to clear the misperceptions so we can become clear vessels for God’s Love to flow through us.

I love this part of this lesson that says: “I give You thanks for what my brothers are. And as each one elects to join with me, the song of thanks from earth to Heaven grows from tiny scattered threads of melody to one inclusive chorus from a world redeemed from hell, and giving thanks to you.” (T.31.VIII.11:4-5)

The Universe means One Song. We are all One Song in God.

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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July-September, 2020

The Discovery of a Temporal Loop

by Rev. Myron, Jones, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

Last night I was watching Discovery, a new edition of Star Trek. In this episode, the crew was stuck in a temporal loop in which they experienced the same 30 minutes over and over again. I looked up the term temporal loop and this is what Wikipedia said about it. A temporal loop in fiction is a plot device whereby characters re-experience a span of time which is repeated, sometimes more than once, with some hope of breaking out of the cycle of repetition.

In this episode, each time the time interval repeated, the end result was total annihilation of the ship. There seemed to be no way out of it. First, they had to realize that the loop was occurring and then they had to realize that if they kept doing the same thing, their future was not going to change. Finally, they had to find a way to do something different that would change the future.

I was left wondering what my choices would be if I were stuck in a temporal loop. What 30 minutes of my life would I change if I could do it over again. This morning, however, I had a different understanding. We are all in a temporal loop. Our life is a temporal loop and we have to find a way to change this or we will keep experiencing the same thing over and over and we will keep suffering as a result.

We fail to recognize the loop because within a single lifetime, the effects change form and over lifetimes, we fail to remember what has gone before. In the show I watched last night, one main character had a particular trait that made it possible for him to be outside time and so he was able to help the others remember what was going on. In our life, Jesus has escaped time and so he is helping us to remember what is actually going on. He has done this through inserting A Course in Miracles into our story.

Here is an example of how this has played out for me.

I came into this world a blank slate with no memory of what came before or how this would all end, just like all of us do. I formed many habitual thought patterns that were not helpful to me and that, if not changed, would cause me intense suffering and then ultimate death. These thoughts showed up as images that make up my life here.

For instance, I had a thought pattern of unworthiness that caused me to make a variety of choices that always ended badly. Sometimes the form would be financial choices ending in lack and loss. Sometimes the form would be unloving relationships that ended in separation from others. Sometimes the unworthiness took the form of sickness that caused suffering. For years, I kept making choices for pain and suffering based on the belief I was unworthy. It was my own personal temporal time loop; bad choices ending in disaster based on unhealed thoughts.

One day, I found A Course in Miracles and this “out of time” help led me to a better way. It showed me what was happening and gave me a way out of it. I began to see my habitual thought patterns and to understand how they were making a future that was the same as the past and would lead me to eventual destruction. I saw that if I continued to do the same thing it would always end the same way. Through the practice of A Course in Miracles, I learned that I didn’t have to keep thinking the same way, that I am not my thoughts and that these thoughts can change and with their change, my destiny changed.

I have now an awareness of the temporal loop, and though I am still in it, I am no longer blindly following the old script. I am making different choices as the opportunity arises. I have also become a helper in that I share what I have learned with others so that they can become more aware and then they will be helpers, too. In the language of the Course, I have listened to my Guide enough that my mind is healed of most of the fear thoughts that I learned here and I am now mostly a teacher of God.

This was the plan Jesus has for us all. As we are ready, our turn comes. We experience life over and over until we start to notice the Help we have in waking up to what is happening. Then we allow our perceptions to be corrected so that we can help others find their way out, too. Jesus calls this his Plan of Atonement. Life is more exciting and at the same time more peaceful without fear being the driving force. Now, redemption is the goal, forgiveness of the old ideas is the process, and the desire for God is what drives us.

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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