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October-December, 2018

Understanding Pain

by Rev. Larry Glenz, O.M.C.

I have been trying to comprehend the teachings of the Course concerning physical pain.

I had surgery for a total knee replacement in the beginning of this summer. My knees were damaged during my younger years as a college wrestler and again as a young high school wrestling coach. I had surgery in the 1970’s on both knees and now in my late 60’s they are arthritic. I held out for years on the surgery but finally took the plunge and went for a replacement of the more painful knee.

I am not certain how I ever formed the opinion that I was a tough guy when it came to physical pain. Nevertheless, I was howling like a baby every time I stood up in the weeks following surgery. It felt like a blow torch was igniting in my knee and I was not handling it with even a modicum of grace. I couldn’t get comfortable and I couldn’t sleep well. The painkillers prescribed were not doing the trick.

In my better moments I turned to Holy Spirit and to the teachings of A Course in Miracles. 

“The body can bring you neither peace nor turmoil; neither joy nor pain. Only the mind can set a purpose, and only the mind can see the means for its accomplishment, and justify its use. Peace and guilt are both conditions of the mind, to be attained.” (T-19.IV.B.10:4,8-9)

I wondered was it really my mind that was causing this great pain I was experiencing. It was hard for me to believe the body was not responsible for this. Then I would read: “The body is the great betrayer of faith. It was followed by: “And the correction of your mistake will give you grounds for faith.” (T-19.IV,B.11:4,9)

It seemed to me that I was being asked to trust that this pain was all part of the world as my classroom. I was being given an opportunity to learn something about the body and the mind through this experience?

I believe that I was being reminded how much I still equate myself with the body. And doing so is an invitation to pain. We are taught that it is impossible to seek for pleasure through the body and not find pain. This is the result of our identification with the body instead of who we truly are, God’s Children, eternal Spirit.

The ego seemed to be having a great time igniting the blowtorch in my knee for about 50 seconds every time I stood up. The body had my full attention as my eyes began to bulge and while I counted out every second until the intense pain dissipated. The searing pain supposedly came from the patella tendon, which was severed to put in the artificial knee, and then reattached. 

But the Course states emphatically, “At no single instant does the body exist at all.” (T-18.VII.3:1) The pain and, in fact all of form, comes from my choice to see myself as I am not. If I see myself as a body I will suffer pain. My mind, however, has free will. It can choose between Spirit and the ego.

I made an effort to go to Holy Spirit while I counted the seconds of pain upon rising from a chair. It gave me a focus and a feeling of greater strength. The Course reminds me: “I rule my mind, which I alone must rule.” (Workbook Lesson 236)

The best I can do is to remember to pause — to go to Spirit — and have faith that I will be given understanding, as I need it when I am ready. Although I realize that I still strongly identify with the body, I am willing to hand that identification over to Holy Spirit for correction.

It seems like this will take time. I have great resistance to letting go of the body. But that is what time is for. While fully entrenched in this illusion, I turn to Spirit and expect that I will be given what I need when I need it.

It is now ten weeks since my surgery and my knee is healing and the pain mostly gone. I am reminded that pain is part of the learning process — a part of my spiritual growth. My understanding remains imperfect but I trust the process of putting Spirit in charge.

This is how we heal from all pain, physical and mental. I rule my mind by putting Spirit in charge.  We have heard the axiom: time heals all wounds. When it is given to my Higher Power, my experience tells me this is true.

My attachment to seeing myself as a body remains strong. I ask Holy Spirit to let my mind see this differently and trust the process of healing.

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)

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October-December, 2018

Let Go!

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

In a tightly controlled voice, I said, “I have just two words for you.” And, then, I shrieked, “LET GO!” I was so mad at my 96 year old mother that I thought I would explode. I had recently moved in with her to ‘help her out,’ and there I was screaming at her and feeling oh-so justified.

The conflict was always the same. My mom bordered on hoarding, and I loved simplicity. On this day, she wanted to hold onto yet another small trinket that I unabashedly called “another piece of *%#*$. After I screamed at her, I managed to take myself for a very vigorous walk before I could do any more verbal damage because, as soon as the words “let go” came out of my mouth, I knew they were meant for me, not her.

With that tiny seed of awareness, Holy Spirit was able to slip in and help me begin to see the situation differently by asking a simple question.

“Ah,” He asked, “Is there something that you need to let go of?”
“But I’m not like her!” I countered. “I don’t hold onto stuff at all. Look at all the downsizing I did to move in with her.”

“I know,” says Holy Spirit. “My question isn’t just about ‘physical’ stuff.”
“Oh.”

“What do you need to let go of?” He asked again.

Okay. For starters, I queried, “Do I need to let go of the thought that my mother shouldn’t hoard things?” I’m sure He was smiling.

“What else?”

“Oh, let’s see,” I almost chuckled. “I guess I could let go of my fear, my anger, my sadness and my judgment…”

“Now we’re getting somewhere.” Holy Spirit replied.

I was still walking briskly, and my anger wasn’t completely gone, but I knew I was being opened up to a significant new way of seeing. I had often heard that whatever we don’t like in another person is a reflection of something we don’t like about ourselves. I struggled to understand that because I didn’t see myself as behaving in those ways.

For example, I didn’t see myself as holding onto things as my mom did. But through Holy Spirit’s questioning, He showed me that what I was holding on to was far more harmful than a few trinkets. It was time to begin releasing my anger, sadness, and judgment — my fear.

Do I still get upset with my mom about her “stuff?” Sometimes. But I am much quicker to catch myself before I say or do anything harsh. I am more likely to look at my own behavior instead of judging hers. I have also come to the realization that we both really want the same thing. We want to feel safe. We just go about it differently. She does it by keeping everything, “just in case.” I do it by decluttering and keeping things simple. And, though I may toss out or give things away rather freely, I’ve been shown that I still have a lot of “stuff” I need to let go of.

Jack and Molly

It wasn’t a pretty picture: me driving down the road, crying, gripping the steering wheel and shrieking until I was hoarse, “I hate my life! I hate my life!” There was no single reason for my distress. It was an accumulation of smaller things that brought me to that precipice. I obviously wasn’t coping very well with my current circumstances. Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to pull over, park the car and walk instead. And walk I did! I had so much negative energy that I was literally looking for steep hills to climb to help dissipate my anger.

I was relieved that it was a cold, cloudy day, and no one else was at the park where I had stopped. Or, at least, that’s what I thought. Suddenly, I saw a huge German Shepard bounding toward me. I halted in my tracks. From way off, I heard a voice. An elderly man called to me, “It’s alright. Don’t be frightened. She’s a therapy dog!”

A THERAPY DOG! The synchronicity was not lost on me. Holy Spirit sent me a therapy dog! Instantly, my anger vanished, and tears sprang to my eyes as this beautiful animal enveloped me with her love.

I learned that her name was Molly. I was soon engrossed in a conversation with her owner. Jack told me all about how he was training Molly to be able to bring her into nursing homes. Without going into detail, I shared with him how troubled I was that day, and what a miracle it was to have them appear right then.

“I thought you were walking rather briskly!” Jack said with a smile. I laughed.

“You know what else helps when you are feeling angry?” he asked.

“No, what?” I replied.

“Skip!” he said. Of course! I thought. Skipping takes a lot of energy and helps us connect with our inner child. Perfect.

I thanked Jack and Molly profusely for their kindness that morning, and continued on my way; not hastily, not muttering angrily, but skipping! I skipped down the path until I was tired out and then flopped on a park bench and wept tears of joy and gratitude for Jack and Molly; for miracles, and for the realization that I am always cared for, watched over, and deeply loved, even in my darkest hours.

Rev. Paula Richards, O.M.C., is a Pathways of Light minister living in Billerica, MA. View her inspiring videos at: http://www.pathwaysoflight.org/home/video_links Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Web: spiritrisingministries.com

© 2018, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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October-December, 2018

What Must I Sacrifice?

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

What will I leave behind to accept my glory? What will I sacrifice? I will no longer gather, organize and decipher information in order to make a decision. That is my sacrifice. Instead, I will simply ask for an answer and it will occur intuitively without any effort on my part. At least that has been my experience when I have asked rather than trying to work out the answer on my own.

I will not be worried or anxious about life. Fear is what I will sacrifice. Instead, I will simply accept that what is occurring is in my best interest and in everyone else’s best interest. If I can’t see how that is true, I will ask for clarity, and never doubt or be concerned. I will accept the perfection of all things and simply wait for guidance on what to do next.

I will no longer look for guilt or accept it when it shows up in my mind. Guilt is what I will sacrifice. Instead, I will accept that the host to God could not be guilty. There is no place for guilt in God. If I think I am guilty or someone else is guilty, I must be confused and will simply ask for clarity until I see the truth.  With no guilt within or without, love will be all that is there to be seen and felt. My life now revolves around love rather than guilt. Instead of looking for the guilty party, I ask how it is that I can best extend love to each one that shows up in my life. This is so much better.

Nearly everyone on the earth thinks of himself/herself as alone, small, and fragile. This is not who we are. This body/personality self is an idea projected outward. It is an opportunity to play-act something that cannot happen in reality, like a child playing at being Batman or Superman.

Jesus is inviting us to remember that we are only play-acting this character and that, in reality, we are part of God, exactly like God in every way. In Lesson 326, Jesus says this about us as part of a beautiful prayer.

I am forever Your Effect, and You forever and forever are my Cause. As You created me I have remained. Where You established me I still abide. And all Your attributes abide in me, because it is Your Will to have a Son so like his Cause that Cause and Its Effect are indistinguishable.

Does this sound like the self you are presently identified with? In our unity, we are exactly like God, indistinguishable from God.

And now Jesus is telling us that he is here with us right now, and he is with us to teach us, to awaken us to our birthright. He is here to help us to accept our holiness and our grandeur. He says we can have this awareness when we stop clinging to our guilt and our littleness. All day today I have committed to living as if this were done. When I start to feel some concern for time or circumstance, I stop and rest a moment in God and remember that today I am living as an awakened Christ. I question if this is the response of an awakened being. It is going to be great fun!

Jesus says, “My birth in you is your awakening to grandeur.” Of course, he is not saying that the man, Jesus, is birthed in us, but as the Christ He is born in us and awakens us to grandeur. He goes on to say that his Kingdom is not of the world but is in us. In us! We are the Kingdom! So, yes, we remain far beyond the little self we pretend to be. Let us welcome our destiny and accept it now. Let us throw off guilt and with it fear and be the Divine Beings we were created. Now, this warrants a celebration of Thanksgiving!

Call forth in everyone only the remembrance of God, and of the Heaven that is in him.

This is the lesson that has been put before me, my present classroom. I have been called to notice and to choose. I notice my thoughts about the one before me, whoever that might be, and I choose what I am to believe about that one. Will I believe his story? Will I believe what he thinks about himself? Will I believe that his ego actions and words define him? Or will I call forth in him the remembrance of God?

Can you feel the power in those words? To call forth is to cause (something) to come into action or existence. You could interchange it with the words to activate, awaken, animate, arouse, enliven. When I call forth something in my brother, I awaken it in him, I cause it to come into existence!

This is one of my favorite passages from ACIM. “The mind is very powerful, and never loses its creative force. It never sleeps. Every instant it is creating. It is hard to recognize that thought and belief combine into a power surge that can literally move mountains.” My mind is a creative force. Belief and thought combine into a power surge. Dear God, let me always remember to give belief only to those thoughts that create what is eternally true in my brother!

For where you would have your brother be, there will you think you are.

What I know for my brother, I know for myself. What I call into existence for my brother, I call into existence for myself. So when a friend tells me how sick she is, let my mind slide harmlessly over the thought of sickness. Let me settle on the thought of health and linger there instead. When I see my brother acting foolishly, let my mind know only wisdom and l will know that the power that is in me will awaken wisdom in him and that is where I will see myself as well.

God’s power is forever on the side of His host, for it protects only the peace in which He dwells.

We are God’s Host and His power is forever in us protecting our peace. Let us remember this in all our comings and goings. Let us remember this indwelling power and use it wisely in protection of our brothers and ourselves by choosing carefully what we would believe and thus bring to life.

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

© 2018, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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October-December, 2018

Fear and Choice

by Rev. Michael Graves, O.M.C.

Hello Mighty Companions!

I have come to love sitting down to write something without even a clue as to what will come. To be honest, it used to terrify me. I wouldn’t even start unless I had a clear roadmap of what I was going to say and how I was going to say it. I felt totally responsible for the content and there was this feeling that it had to be seen by others as “good” or “helpful” etc. No ego influence there, right?

The funny thing is, what would end up coming out seldom resembled what “I” had planned to write. As I began to write, I could feel the flow of the Spirit, and It felt so wonderful that I was willing to abandon “my” plan and follow His.

Spirit knew that I needed to have a plan to feel comfortable enough to get started and knew that I would follow the Flow once it began. Today, rather than be hard on myself for needing to feel comfortable enough to start, I choose to feel happy and joyful that I could actually recognize and eventually follow Spirit’s inspiration.

This is relatively new behavior for me. My personal history includes a lot of perfectionism and the subsequent self-condemnation and judgment it brings. Many of the courses in the Pathways of Light ministerial training program taught me that with just a small adjustment in perception and a willingness to see things differently, I could see the “good or positive” side of things. The things Spirit saw and knew were always there in any situation.

It is abundantly clear to me now how much of my life I lived in the fear of getting started or making a decision in general. There is a line in the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous that says: “Fear… our lives are shot through with it.” I know that it was true for me for a long time, but now I understand why. Lesson 47 titled, “God is the strength in which I trust” was very helpful in understanding why I seemed to be so afraid of everybody and everything in the world. “If you are trusting in your own strength, you have every reason to be apprehensive, anxious and fearful.” (W-pI.47.1) 

As helpful as it was to see why I was so fearful, I really needed a way out. I needed Jesus to show me how I could do it differently, even though I had a pretty good idea by now. His help came in the form of a passage from the Text: “When you have learned how to decide with God, all decisions become as easy and as right as breathing. There is no effort, and you will be led as gently as if you were being carried down a quiet path in summer. Only your own volition seems to make deciding hard. The Holy Spirit will not delay in answering your every question what to do. He knows. And He will tell you, and then do it for you. You who are tired will find this is more restful than sleep.” (T-14.IV.6)

And my very favorite passage in the Course from Chapter 20: “You may wonder how you can be at peace when, while you are in time, there is so much that must be done before the way to peace is open. Perhaps this seems impossible to you. But ask yourself if it is possible that God would have a plan for your salvation that does not work. Once you accept His plan as the one function that you would fulfill, there will be nothing else the Holy Spirit will not arrange for you without your effort. He will go before you making straight your path, and leaving in your way no stones to trip on, and no obstacles to bar your way. Nothing you need will be denied you. Not one seeming difficulty but will melt away before you reach it. You need take thought for nothing, careless of everything except the only purpose that you would fulfill.” (T-20.IV.8) 

For me, this was the right message at the right time. All I had to do was ask and be willing to receive the answer. If I am to take Jesus at his word, then in Truth, I truly need DO nothing. Now I understand that statement from the Course. It used to baffle me. But then, so did a lot of what I read in the beginning. I think that is why T-14.IV.6 starts with “When you have LEARNED,” instead of “Just decide with God dummy!” My confusion and lack of understanding used to be frightening but now when I am “baffled” I can just step back, relax and let Spirit do its work, confident that I have done mine. And today, I know the difference.

I have learned that there is really only one “Truth” and it can be found virtually everywhere if I am open to seeing it. The key word being “open.” The Course has the line in it that essentially says to forget what we know and “think” we know and even forget the Course and come with open hands to God. In the Bible it says, “Be ye as little children.” Zen Buddhism refers to the Zen mind or beginners mind. In many eastern traditions it is said, “Come with an empty rice bowl and let the wisdom of the universe fill it up.”

There is another line in the big book of AA that basically says: God either is or He isn’t. I see this statement as a call to choose. And for me, my choice has made all the difference.

I have discovered that my life runs much smoother and I am the most effective when this “choice” is made on a moment by moment basis and not just when something seems to be going wrong or like we say in 12-step programs, when my butt is falling off. Even while writing this article I’m hearing “take a little break, go outside.” Of course I’m thinking, “But I need to get this done!”

So I stop what I’m doing, get up, go outside or whatever seems to be right at the time and leave the rest to Spirit. As “spiritual” as I think this practice is, it is actually quite practical when I look a little deeper. If I was lost in a forest and all I could see was trees, how would I know how to get out? If I relied on my limited mind to guide me, I might be 50 yards from being out without knowing it and suddenly think, “I should probably turn left and go in that direction for a while.” 

Or, I could choose to ask for help in that moment. I like to think of God as a guy in a helicopter (above the battleground) and I have a VHF two way radio (prayer) clipped to my belt. If I choose to, I can use my radio and say (pray), “Mike to God. God here, go ahead (He always answers). Hey, how do I get out of here?  All I can see is trees.”  “Oh, it’s easy, you are just 50 yards from the edge. Go straight ahead and you will pop out right next to the parking lot where your truck is!”

Ok, who wouldn’t make that call to the guy in the helicopter? Me, that’s who.   

I have done it a thousand times and I’m sure I will forget at some point and do it again. That’s just the way it is and I don’t have to beat myself up about it because I can simply “choose again.” Now let’s look at what the ego might tell me in that situation if I were to choose its voice. “You don’t need any help. You are a smart guy and a former scoutmaster for crying out loud! Use your training! If you don’t know how to get out of here who does?” Hearing that question, Spirit whispers, “I do.” Again, I am at choice. Which voice will I choose and follow? Seems simple but we all know it is not always so clear.

So when life presents us with choices, which it always does, let us choose but choose mindfully.

Rev. Michael Graves, O.M.C., is a Pathways of Light minister living in Beaumont, California. Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

© 2018, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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