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October-December, 2019

Heaven Is Here. Heaven Is Now.

by Rev. Dan Strodl, O.M.C.

“Heaven is here. There is nowhere else. Heaven is now. There is no other time. No teaching that does not lead to this is of concern to God’s teachers.” (M-24.6)

Since childhood I believed that Heaven was a place you went to after you died. It was up in the sky, amongst the clouds, and you were greeted at the gates by angels flying about. And if you had led a sinless life, the gates of Heaven were open to you, and you sat on a cloud with God.

“Why wait for Heaven? It is here today.” (W-pI.131.6:1-2)

But with A Course in Miracles all my beliefs have been turned upside down, including my beliefs about Heaven. I now see Heaven as in my mind, always there, waiting for me to choose my right mind.

“Heaven is here, and Heaven is your home.” (S-IV.8.9)

As I let go of the ego’s insane dreams and see this world with true vision, Heaven comes to the fore. Through forgiveness, (letting go of false beliefs), the dream changes from fear to love. I gently awaken to the fact that I am one with all my brothers. We share infinite love, joy and peace. Heaven is the realization that we are all one, all share peace, all share light. This beautiful realization comes to us as we release the ego’s insane stories.

But the ego’s thought system doesn’t give up easily when it senses the game is up. It tries to hook us back into the dream with fear, anxiety, stress and guilt. It has thousands of tricks to snag us, and it takes great diligence and willingness not to be hooked back in.

Last night I was woken up at 1 a.m. by some noisy kids partying in the communal gardens. I felt angry and started thinking of ways to retaliate. I thought of calling the police, or the noise team, but knew I would have to wait hours for them to arrive. I thought of going down and yelling at them. Why were they so inconsiderate? Who are they? Where are their parents? Do they belong here? Would I get into a fight? Do they have a knife? I was totally hooked into the ego’s rant.

“Heaven is the decision I must make.” (W-pI-138)

I decided to step back and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. I stood there by the window and quietly asked Holy Spirit, “What would you have me do?” What came to me was, “They are innocent, simply calling for love. Send them blessings and love. Then close the window and put on the fan.” So that’s what I did.

“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?” (T-23.II.22:6-9)

I could no longer hear them in the garden.

I smiled and felt peace return. My heart was filled with a reflection of Heaven, and I had a great night’s sleep.

Rev. Dan Strodl is Manager of Miracle Network in the UK, Pathways of Light Spiritual Counsellor, and Accessing Inner Wisdom Counsellor. Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Website: http://www.danstrodl.com

© 2019, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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October-December, 2019

Why Not Forgive?

by Rev. Stephan Mead, O.M.C.

“Forgiveness offers everything I want.” (ACIM W. 122)

Do I want everything that I want? Of course I do, doesn’t everyone want what they want? The question almost seems like nonsense. On the deepest inner level I can reach, my answer is yes! And what I truly want is proper alignment with all the spiritual principles ACIM and other paths teach. Hmm, that sounds kind of lofty. What I really want is to feel good all the time. As soon as I typed that last sentence, I could hear the nuns & my parents from my childhood days. “Stephan, you cannot feel good all the time, life doesn’t work that way.” In my immaturity I would think, “Why wouldn’t God figure out a way that I could always get what I want? — how hard could that be for God?”

One way of reflecting on my entire life is a discovery that all I’ve ever done is to try and get what I want. It sounds selfish. (please note the small “s” in selfish.) And by all spiritual definitions of “selfishness,” that’s a very fair description of my life. My ego driven way of thinking presented me with many choices about how to attain what I wanted. Many times it seemed to work but most of the time it didn’t.

If I take the promise of Lesson 122 literally, (which is a direction in the course) all I need do is forgive, forgive everyone and everything and in return I’ll get everything I want, (or I will see I have it already).

Does forgiveness seem too high of a price to pay for getting everything I want? Wouldn’t any sane person gladly sign up for that deal? Uh oh, perhaps I shouldn’t have brought up sanity.

In the 12-step program I am part of, there is a very recognized, often quoted line taken from our recovery book, “Resentment is the number one offender. It destroys more alcoholics than anything else.” (Alcoholics Anonymous pg 64.)

I could test my level of self-honesty by asking myself if I am still harboring any resentments, or put another way, not forgiving who or whatever I haven’t. Am I choosing hell instead of “everything” I want? (Which must be Heaven, right?)

One of my daughters called me yesterday in tears about how unfair and mean a person very close to her had been. She read me a couple of texts she received and, as the world would see it, this person did appear to be mean. The more my daughter talked about it, the angrier she got. Ha, I wish I didn’t so easily identify with what she was experiencing! When she finished telling me her story (three times), she finally asked what she could/should do about it.

I asked her what she would like the final outcome to be if it could be anyway she wanted. As I suspected, because maybe the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, she said her deepest desire was for the other person to admit their wrongdoing, apologize and promise never to behave like that again.

I said nothing and there was about two minutes of silence on the phone, then she started laughing… laughing hard and in a joyous way. She said, “That’s never going to happen, is it dad?” Then I laughed too and agreed with her.

Then, on a serious note, I said there was a way to put it all behind her — to not feel any resentment, annoyance, irritation, or anger. She, said, “how?”

I said, “Forgive her.”

This time we hit the three minute mark of phone silence, but no laughter. She said, “Dad, that’s crazy, I didn’t do anything wrong, why should I forgive?”

“Do you want peace and happiness in your life?” I answered, “all you have to do is forgive.”

Of course by now I have realized this whole conversation with my daughter is for me — it’s a dynamic I’ve been in hundreds and hundreds of times, and I could have finished the talk speaking for her too.
She said, “No!” “Absolutely not!” “It wouldn’t be fair!”

I sensed the conversation was about to end. I mentioned that she was choosing pain and suffering over peace and joy — she was choosing that.

She said (and to be accurate, in a loving tone of voice,) “Dad, sometimes you are so weird!”

This happened yesterday and is still foremost in my mind, not her story but where I’ve reacted in the exact same way. And even more important, are there still situations where I’m still thinking exactly like my daughter?

Here’s a well-deserved plug for Pathways: I recently started going through Course 918:The Power of Prayer and Meditation with a long time course study partner and, spoiler alert! Wouldn’t you know, it’s all about True forgiveness.

Even though I’ve gone through Course 918 a few times, this time I felt like God answered the question I asked as a seven year old, sixty years ago. “Yes Stephan, I actually am a big enough God to set up life where you can feel good all the time!” “Forgiveness offers everything you want!”

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

© 2019, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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October-December, 2019

Is Guilt Justified?

by Rev. Myron Jones, O.M.C.

Well, I hate to spoil the suspense, but I’m just going to say right off that the answer to that question is an unqualified no. I know that it sometimes seems like guilt could be justified. We read things in the paper and listen to the news at night and certainly it seems like someone and often a lot of someones out there are guilty. Believe it or not, no one is guilty.

I used to say that evidently, I came here this time to undo the belief in guilt. I said that because I felt so guilty for so many things that clearly releasing guilt had to be my purpose. It seemed so difficult to do this at times. I would remember something that happened when my children were young and I would feel so guilty for not handling it better. I would think about someone I know whose child was murdered and the effect this loss had on her life, and I was sure that the murderer was guilty.

It has taken me most of my life, but I have finally given up on the idea of guilt. One reason for this is that we are the Sons of God, perfect creations of a perfect God. How could we ever be guilty? To believe we could be guilty is to believe we have changed God’s creation. I know that being His child I am powerful but this is the one thing I cannot do. I cannot undo or change creation in any way.

It does seem that somehow I have actually accomplished this impossible task. God created us whole and complete and it looks like we have shattered that wholeness and have made ourselves separate and special. But this has not actually happened, in spite of appearances. What we have done is use our creative power to make something temporary, like children building complex and spectacular sand castles that will one day be washed back into the ocean.

But in the meantime, we are experiencing a world of our own making and we are always having the experience that we choose. Lesson 152 is one of my favorites. It says this about our power of decision:

No one can suffer loss unless it be his own decision. No one suffers pain except his choice elects this state for him. No one can grieve nor fear nor think him sick unless these are the outcomes that he wants. And no one dies without his own consent. Nothing occurs but represents your wish, and nothing is omitted that you choose. Here is your world, complete in all details. Here is its whole reality for you. And it is only here salvation is. (W-pI.152.1:1-8)

This is uncompromising. The world in its totality, and that part of the world that seems to be me, is exactly as I chose it to be. This time around, I chose some very interesting experiences to have, and I chose some very challenging experiences as well. I have suffered abuse and failed relationships. I have experienced both extreme lack and abundance. I have had joyful moments and terrifying moments.

This story of Myron has all the elements of a good movie script and it is exactly what I wanted, all of it, not just the fun parts. Therefore, how could anyone in my script actually be guilty? First of all, it’s my script and if they are part of it, it must have been my choice to have them there. I owe them thanks for helping me to have the experiences I wanted, not anger for playing their part.

Second, it’s a script, a play, a chosen experience. Why would I judge the characters I chose to play the parts I asked them to play? Why would I judge something that is not real anyway? When I leave the movie theatre, I’m not mad at the actor that played the villain. I just appreciate his skill. We didn’t vilify Anthony Hopkins for his role as the creepy and awful serial killer, Hannibal Lector. In fact, we gave him an Oscar for doing it so well.

The villains in the story of Myron are not guilty for playing their part either. Sometimes Myron took on the role of villain and she is not guilty for that. It is silly to think of any of us as guilty when we realize that we are all just playing parts in fictional stories. And it is vital that we remember that this is all fiction. We are not bodies living out real lives. That fact negates any guilt that we might imagine for any of the players.

I used to say that I wanted to give up guilt but I just didn’t know how. Now isn’t that just silly. I don’t know what I was thinking. Well, actually, I do know. I thought guilt was a real thing. It turns out that guilt is just a belief. I believe someone is guilty but that doesn’t make that belief true. I can justify the belief by listing all their sins, and then I run into an objection. Sin is not real, either. It, too, is just a belief.

So, having established that guilt was a belief, I could no longer claim that I didn’t know how to give it up. If I believe something and don’t want to believe it anymore, I just change my mind. It’s simple. I change my mind all the time. I decide to go to the store and brush my hair, grab my keys and head for the door. Just as I get there, I remember that I promised to take a call in a little while so I put the key down and go back into my office.

It took about a second to change my mind. So why should it be hard to change my mind about guilt? I have all the reasons it doesn’t make sense. When I was complaining about how hard it was, what I really meant was that I didn’t want to forgive that idea. I found value in guilt and I wanted to keep it. When I finally realized the value was false and that guilt was too costly to keep, I let it go. If you are still choosing to believe in guilt, I recommend you reconsider. The freedom and peace of mind that is discovered when guilt is discarded is miraculous.

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

© 2019, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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October-December, 2019

Soaring in Sedona

by Rev. Paula Richards, O.M.C.

In 2005, the synchronicity that led me to Sedona, Arizona, did wonders to increase my faith that we are guided by Holy Spirit at all times. I wrote about my experience in my first book, The Journey of Spirit Rising. Here is an excerpt:

Soaring In Sedona

With its red rock formations, Native American culture and its reputation as a spiritual center, Sedona had been calling my name for years. Little did I know that a return trip to the library to pick up something I had left there by mistake would lead me there. While at the library I decided to search for a travel book about the southwest. The very first one I picked up just happened to be about sacred sites in Sedona.

All morning, I poured over the travel book, noting places I wanted to visit someday. That afternoon, when my friend Mary came to visit, she suggested that I pull an angel oracle card for advice about my (ailing) health. The card I pulled said, “This situation is perfect. Dive right in. No further research is necessary. Do not procrastinate at any cost!”

I immediately and intuitively knew that this was in reference to my going to Sedona. I had just finished telling Mary about the travel book. She picked it up, let it fall open randomly and began reading. “The desert will lead you to your heart where I will speak.” I was stunned. Then she told me that just the day before, our friend, Joanne, said to her, “Paula needs to go to Sedona.” And a few days before that my friend Dave had told me, “I don’t think you’ll be truly happy until you go to Arizona.”

“Mary,” I said. “I can’t go to Sedona! How am I going to pay for it?” …She suggested that I select another angel card and ask about finances. The first one I pulled out of forty-four cards on various topics said, “I am the Angel of Abundance. You will receive the money that you need, and God is in charge of how that will happen. Have faith.”

Okay, I was being shown that I would be all right financially, but I was still concerned about having enough physical energy to make the trip. I was also afraid of traveling alone …At the same time, I knew with certainty that I had to go to Sedona alone because it would be a spiritual journey for me. I needed to be able to follow my inner Guidance and change my plans at a moment’s notice without concern for anyone else’s agenda.

Two days later, I decided to stop at the Triple AAA Travel Agency just to ask a few questions and get a price estimate. Who am I kidding? I thought again. I can’t afford to do this.

The desert will lead you to your heart, where I will speak.

Those words kept burning in my brain. Suddenly I thought I can’t afford not to do this! So I did something that I normally never would have done. I pulled out my credit card, handed it to the agent and said, “Book it!” Even though my health was poor and I was afraid of traveling alone, whether the extra money showed up or not….

I was going to Sedona.

Once I found the courage to set the wheels in motion, the universe supported my plan in the most surprising ways. For example, just a few days before my trip, I met a friend at a local bookstore. When I asked how she was doing, her face lit up. “Great!” she said. “I just got back from Sedona!” In her hands was a bag with all the travel literature that someone had lent to her. She lent it to me.

On September 30, 2005, I left for Sedona …I started my week by visiting a nearby place called Talaquepaque (Ta-la-ka-pa-kee) that the couple on the plane told me about. It is a group of shops, galleries, and restaurants with Spanish colonial architecture, bubbling fountains and lush greenery everywhere. Wandering through the maze of walkways, curved stairwells, and flower-filled courtyards was delightful….

There was a greeter’s booth at the entrance to Talaquepaque. That’s where I met Martha. Right away, I had a good feeling about her, so I told her a bit about myself and why came to Sedona. I asked if she had any advice for me. Besides directing me to points of interest within the shops, she pulled out a brochure and said, “This is the man you want to see!” The man was a masseur and spiritual counselor. It turned out that Martha’s advice, on the very first morning of my stay, led me to an encounter that was to be the highlight of my trip. She was also emphatic that I did not need to go to the Grand Canyon on this trip. She said, “Stay here in Sedona. This is where the energy is.”  . . .

Later, when I called the counselor Martha had recommended, he graciously offered me his services at a discounted rate which exactly matched what I would have spent on the canyon tour. Also, the only appointment time he had open was on the same afternoon the tour had been scheduled. Great confirmation. I would see him in three days . . .

My session with him left me feeling like I had walked through a gateway into a whole new life. Through his healing work, which included, but was not limited to, age regression and massage with hot rock therapy, I felt like I had communed with the pure essence of love, joy, and laughter. When he asked me to look into his eyes, I literally thought I could see eternity. Simultaneously, I was able to experience all my loved ones who had passed, lovingly looking back at me! And the massage was like nothing I had ever experienced. I could easily have been convinced that I left his office in a different body than the one I had arrived in. It took a long time after that for me to find any words at all to describe what transpired without feeling like I had diluted the experience. It was truly beyond words . . .

My last full day in Sedona found me taking my first hot air balloon ride. We were up and out at 5:30 a.m. for a gorgeous sunrise flight. The weather was perfect, and the scenery was spectacular …The quiet was palpable. I felt like I was One with God. When we landed, we had a continental breakfast which included fresh fruit, an assortment of deliciously moist muffins, and a champagne toast. Following my transformational meeting with the healer, and now my balloon flight, I was pleasantly surprised to read the Balloonist’s Prayer.

The wind has welcomed you with softness.The sun has blessed you with warm hands.You’ve flown so high and so well that God has joined you in laughter, and set you gently back again into the loving arms of Mother Earth.

(Author unknown, believed to have been adapted from an old Irish sailor’s prayer)

Back at the hotel, I spent the afternoon strolling the grounds of the resort. If I had never ventured off that property, the week still would have been well spent. All my anguish over whether I should have taken the trip was put to rest as I took in the splendor that enveloped me…

The morning of my departure, I woke up laughing. There was no particular reason, I was just laughing and feeling like I was floating in the air like on the balloon ride. I was euphoric …I felt like there was nothing left for me to do on earth but live in joy. My heart was filled with gratitude and overflowing with unconditional love for this extraordinary life. When I went down to the dining room for breakfast, I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to discover a woman seated right across from me wearing a jersey that had JOY printed in big letters across the back.

The trip to Sedona was a major turning point for me. I gained many insights, conquered many fears, and discovered a deeper level of joy than I had previously been capable of experiencing. It was extremely difficult for me to leave. It wasn’t just beautiful scenery I went to see, I went to find a part of me that seemed to be missing. And, it wasn’t just beautiful scenery that I left behind. I felt as though I left a piece of my soul. There is no doubt in my mind that I will return. Before my trip, three of my friends gave me journals. The guidance was clear. Write everything down. I did.

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

© 2019, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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