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July-September, 2018

How Do You See Your Life? How Does Your Helpful Self See Your Life?

by Rev. Mary Gerard Lenihan, O.M.C.

Do you ever notice those thoughts in your mind telling you all the things wrong with you and your life? I do. As a Pause for Inspiration Mentor, I run across a lot of people who do, too! We tend to think we are alone in having these thoughts; we’re not. Thoughts telling you that there is no hope for you, you’ve made too many wrong turns, why bother, it’s too late for me, etc., are favorite one-liners of this me-jokester. But we don’t have to believe the words of this confounded joker.

Yesterday, I was about to do some simple movements to help calm my mind and wring out accumulated stress. I always begin with a Pause for Inspiration, and in this one pause, I received the following suggestion from My Helpful Self, “Let go of your perceptions and judgments of you and your life.” WOW! This was a direct solution to a problem so many of us roll over again and again in our minds.

The list of negative opinions we have about our selves and the lives we live is a dirty laundry list from this cubicle mind who is always gossiping about us to ourselves! I can forget about what I think anyone else thinks of who I am, and look at the nonsense and lies I am thinking and believing about who I am. 

In that momentary Pause for Inspiration I was shown how easily I can make my day miserable or peaceful by choosing to not listen to that me-character who is, by the way, constantly assessing itself, analyzing itself, sizing itself up and down, and comparing itself to others. Your Helpful Self has a whole different view of you. So, switch out the headphones playing such greatest hits as, “Something is wrong with me and my life.”

How? Instructions for Switching Out Headphones: Pick up a Pause for Inspiration practice card, read it and be willing to be easily guided out of hassling yourself and into Accepting Your Helpful Self. If the new headphones seemed to have failed, repeat instructions.

A student of Pause for Inspiration courageously shared his experience after being guided through “Getting to Know Your Helpful Self.” He shared that at first it felt weird to open to connecting with his Helpful Self, but his experience shifted from feeling weird to feeling comfortable as he realized that his Helpful Self is him!

So, who has time to Pause for Inspiration? One student dealing with impatience shared how after asking her Helpful Self, “What will be truly helpful now?” she saw herself staying with someone through a conversation even when she felt like bolting out the door. She could practice Pause to be present and listen to another. She also had the insight that this practice is like “multitasking and meditating at the same time!” She is right on! I don’t have to stop doing the things I need to do to Pause for Inspiration. I can pause in motion with my Helpful Self!

Rev. Mary Gerard Lenihan is a Pathways of Light minister living in St. Louis, MO.
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Website: http://www.pauseforinspiration.org

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

True Gratitude

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

Ten years ago I went to a talk by Sarah Breathnach where she shared about the value of doing gratitudes. She suggested doing five gratitudes every day and see what happens. I started doing them that night, and noticed I was appreciating things in my life I used to take for granted. And a list of gratitudes kept growing.

Then a few years ago a new kind of gratitude came in to my life. As upsetting, fearful, or judgmental thoughts came up, I stepped back, quieted my mind, and invited Holy Spirit to show me a new way of seeing the situation.

The first miracle that caught my attention was with my rich non-biological sister. She was terminally ill, and she told me that she was leaving her millions to her adopted daughter. I didn’t say anything, but inside I felt upset that she wasn’t going to put me in her will. I asked Holy Spirit, “How you would have me see this?” And what I received was “You will always have enough.” This brought me back to peace ... why would I ever need more than enough?

The second miracle that stood out for me was when I had an appointment with an oncology consultant to get the results of the cancerous lesion on my nose. I had met him before and found him in a hurry, unhelpful and he made no eye contact.

Before I left home I went to Holy Spirit and asked for a new way of seeing this situation. What came back was “Treat everyone as your angel.” So I went to the appointment and treated him as my angel. I softened, smiled, and blessed him with loving thoughts. OMG! ... he made eye contact and smiled back. Then he gave me the prognosis, which was that I had a spot on my nose that was cancerous. He said I could have it removed with a new treatment which was non-invasive, but I would have to wait three months. The thought of having cancer growing on my nose for three months was so upsetting and I told him that. My consultant angel then offered me the phone number of the surgeon’s secretary. He said to call her and see if she could get me an earlier appointment.

I went home and called the secretary, and I treated her as my angel. She said she would speak to the surgeon and get back to me, which would probably take two to three weeks. So I sat there feeling helpless and alone.

Five minutes later the phone rang and it was the surgeon’s secretary. She said there had just been a cancellation and could I get there in fifteen minutes. I flew there like I’ve never moved before, and fifteen minutes later I was on the operating table. All went well and I had a successful operation.

These two miracles really got my attention, and from that day on, whenever my peace was disrupted, I turned to the Holy Spirit for a new way of seeing. With this simple practice and with all the blessings I receive every day, my gratitude list went from things of this world to true Gratitude. I am so eternally grateful that the Holy Spirit is always there 24/7, giving me a new way to walk in the world, always being there for me, always ready to return me to peace love and joy.

Rev. Dan Strodl O.M.C., is a Pathways of Light minister living in London, UK.
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  Web: danstrodl.com

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

The Chronic & Critical Illness Support Group

by Rev. Maria Kingsley, O.M.C.

Have you ever thought: How on earth am I ever going to change my mind about this illness when it is so painful, so debilitating, so strongly impacting my life? How can I say that this is not real, it does not exist, it is just illusion?

In The Chronic and Critical Illness Group we talk about these topics and offer ways to see things from a different perspective.
For example, last month (we meet by teleconference once a month on the first Sunday) we talked about “How can I accept that I have decided to have this illness?” 

This seems to be where a lot of people just walk away and can’t go on to accept that there is a decision that they have made to avoid a worse fate than this illness. And yet, we have to look beyond our body, our current physical situation to find within ourselves the event that was unacceptable to us that we moved away from it, and we need the Help of the Holy Spirit for this.

For example, as a child we may have been so upset over our parents’ fighting and criticizing but we didn’t realize that it was their choice based on their beliefs. Without this understanding a child’s mind decides it is their fault … “I am bad, I am the reason they are not loving me. I need to try harder. They are supposed to love me. If they don’t love me, then it must be my fault. I did something wrong, and I have to try harder to get their love. This must be true because I don’t understand how else it could be.”

So we find something that either gets a compliment or some negative attention. We repeat this over and over again until it becomes our ‘truth.’ We don’t believe anything else will bring the desired results. When we blame ourselves, we can’t imagine that we deserve better results, better health, better worthiness, better love because we don’t realize our parents behavior was their acting out their beliefs. 

For a child who has lost the sense of their loving Essence, there seem to be no alternatives. The child has to find his way in a confusing world full of hardship, sorrow, pain, and difficulty. Our small mind tries to make sense of this nonsensical world, but we never can.

So, it is helpful to talk to someone who can find our error in our thinking. We continue to walk around with this world view because this energy will play out what we believe in our lives.

Or we can go within and ask the Holy Spirit what needs correction. As we recognize the thread that leads us to our childish assumptions and silly errors, we may experience guilt and horror because we can’t understand that anyone could forgive us, that anyone would still like us, let alone love us.

Yet we are here to help each other do just that. We need each other to see the Love, the Light, the Beauty that resides in every person and in every thing because God has placed it there. And it cannot be removed. It is permanent, guaranteed and unchangeable. We grow through relationships with our brothers and sisters.

There is a way to get past our blocked perceptions. In our monthly meetings, we help each other understand, at least in concept, how to find another way to see our situation. We bring not just Course passages to mind, but also suggest other authors who have experienced similar difficulties and have shared ways they used to move beyond the hardships with the help of the Holy Spirit and the principles of A Course In Miracles.

We also talk to anyone who would like one-on-one help by connecting in various ways — email, phone, Skype, or in person. There is no charge and no obligation. It is confidential, and there is no judgment.  We are here to forgive and see the Light in each other. We share our loving thoughts and our experiences. We want to help you heal your mind; that in turn has a powerful effect on the body. The body is a mind reader, and like a computer, it reads what it is programmed to do. And we look at what program you have accepted as the only one, and bring it to the Light.

We come together to correct the old program we have accepted as children, or from our world around us, and replace the old lessons with what we receive from Divine Wisdom, from the Holy Spirit, from our Higher Self, or from the Divine Universe … there is only One Divine Realm, and that is our Home.

We want to help you remember Home.

You don’t need to be terminally ill or in chronic pain to join us. These discussions are for everyone who is trying to gain insights into living in this ego world. There is another world beyond this one and we can get there any time, and under difficult or better circumstances.

We would welcome you wholeheartedly.

The link is on the Pathways of Light website. Or contact me, Maria Kingsley and I’ll send you the phone number to call. We also record the discussions and I’ll be happy to send you links to any one of them.

Help is available, and all you have to do is ask.

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 Tucson, AZ 85740

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

What I Hear My Brother Say Is Up to Me

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

It is, therefore, your choice whether they support the ego or the Holy Spirit in you. And you will recognize which you have chosen by their reactions. (T-15:II.4:5)

I asked the Holy Spirit for an example of this so that I could understand it better. How can it be my choice whether my brother witnesses to the ego or the Holy Spirit? He immediately brought to mind someone I used to work for. I didn’t like or trust this man. Everything he said or did reflected my dislike for him. His words to me, and his actions toward me, seemed to be an attack and I did not feel safe around him. I always expected him to fire me at any moment, and each attack seemed like a preamble to that.

What I did not see at that time is that I had an ego-driven attitude toward him and he was reflecting this back to me. My ego and his ego seemed to be in a pitched battle all the time. The loss of peace this caused me was too much for me to bear, and so I finally decided to end the war. I asked the Holy Spirit to show me a different way to see this man. I told Him I wanted to love this man.

My intention set the stage for the Holy Spirit in me to communicate with the Holy Spirit in Him, and the only communication the Holy Spirit knows is love. Very quickly, I began to notice so many good qualities in him. I began to enjoy our conversations and I found him very easy to work with. His words seemed kind and conciliatory.

It was as Jesus said: “It is, therefore, your choice whether they support the ego or the Holy Spirit in you. And you will recognize which you have chosen by their reactions.” Well I certainly saw a change in communication with him. Perhaps he was always the man I came to know and I simply heard from him what I expected to hear. When I changed my mind about supporting the ego in me, how I heard his words changed. It is a lesson I am not going to quickly forget.
Learning to Accept Magnitude

I find it very reassuring to know that the Holy Spirit can keep my magnitude clean of arrogance. I want to live in my magnitude but not let it be tainted by the ego needs and desires. In the past, I tended to play small because I was afraid of this. I was afraid to claim the power of God in me, afraid my ego mind would be using it. This was because I was not yet clearly identified with my Self and still often I identified as my ego. Now, it is the other way around, and I am clear that the ego is on the way out, and I am not afraid of it anymore.

For the Holy Spirit to guard my magnitude, I must watch the decisions I make about myself and let Him decide for God for me. For instance, I am a minister, a teacher, and an author. If I decide that makes me special and that people should treat me special because of it, I am deciding against God. I am using my gifts to inflate my littleness to give me a false sense of magnitude.

If this were to happen, I would ask the Holy Spirit to correct my thinking by deciding for God for me. This is how I do my part to side with the Holy Spirit. I simply give Him permission to correct me when I am misusing the power of God that is in me. I feel pretty safe with this power now. I know the difference now between being arrogant and being truly humble. I feel safe claiming magnitude because I am happy that I am being used for His purposes and I know that I am not useful through the ego self, but through my surrender of the ego self.

I do join with you, Jesus, in deciding for holiness for me. I will work with you to restore the awareness of magnitude. Here I am, Lord. Give Yourself through me. I surrender the little self that I have so long treasured so that there is nothing blocking You. I think of the power of God working through me to help complete the task Jesus chose for himself and I am flooded with joy. There is nothing I want more than to know myself as the host to God.

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
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this copyright notice and website address are included.

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