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April-June, 2018

Pause to Move from Anger to Being Present

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

“What is a common cause of anger?” and “How can The Pause Practice help?”

I experience that I am more susceptible to becoming angry when I am not present. That is, I am distracted, not focused on something worthy of my attention, following thoughts that are leading me down a negative path, making assumptions about what someone is thinking, jumping to conclusions about a situation, being easily offended etc. When I am distracted, me-character thinking leads me astray and vulnerable to irritation and anger.

Now, here is another question: “How did I become distracted in the first place?” I was distracted because I wasn’t present! How can I be more present? Practice the Pause! Being distracted is like standing on shaky ground; one isn’t balanced, stable and prepared to act.

So, why aren’t we more present throughout the course of a normal day? After all, conversations would go more smoothly, communication is less likely to become confused, we would make far less errors, be more productive and efficient in our work, and we would be less likely to latch on to passing feelings.

How come I choose to be angry over choosing to be present? In my experience here is what happens: When I choose to be angry, upset or irritated, the reason that is happening is because my overall mindset is not at peace; there is an inner conflict causing me to feel out of sorts. This can cause disagreements, divisiveness, and strife.

When I Pause for Help, I am now able to be present with my experience. Often simply being present to myself, no judgment or analysis, just simply observing my inner discord can bring clarity about what is bothering me. It can be as simple as seeing I am tired, or guidance about needing to schedule some fun time. It can also be something deeper and I can continue to Pause for Inspiration and My Helpful Self, in which I inevitably am shown helpful changes I can make in my perceptions, thought life or something I need to change in how I am living my life — My Helpful Self leads me in the right direction.

Pause is a practice in opening to being present with myself and others, instead of angry. Being present inspires us to see our connectedness to one another and opens our heart and mind to being compassionate with one another. You can Experience a Whole New You!

Jeffrey Taylor, Community Business Liaison with STLJCC said something to me this week which I thought was powerful. In so many words he said that once we choose to Pause and make a choice to do life differently, for the better, a whole new experience shows up, and now we see that we can’t go back! How I take what he said is, once I choose to Pause and Step Back from my angry self, and I open to my Inspired Mind, this Vast View shows up. Instead of looking to conflict to make me feel strong, appear powerful, or to avoid looking within, in this Vast View I experience true inner strength which is grounded in our connection to one another and the Peace we share.

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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April-June, 2018

Two Step Accessing Inner Wisdom Formula

by Christian Mauerer

A little over a year ago, on February 9th, 2017, I met my now wife — Rev. Maria Felipe (also a Pathways Minister), ACIM teacher & Author of “Live Your Happy.” (http://www.mariafelipe.org)

I had never heard of her before, even though I was studying A Course in Miracles (ACIM) two years before that.
I couldn’t really nail down what it was, but for some reason I felt so attracted to her, even shy. I met her on an ACIM retreat and I remember I didn’t even say, “Hi.” to her because I felt so intimidated by her presence.

1 YEAR LATER:

I am married.

I am expecting my first child.

I am on my path to becoming a Pathways Minister.

Wow!

HOW DID THAT ALL HAPPEN?

I learned to trust. Boy did I learn how to trust.

MY BIG DEALS

I had and still have some fears around all that happened, especially becoming a father so young — I’m 26 years old.

A lot of concerns around money and freedom showed up for me.

Will I have enough money to pay the rent and support a family?

Will I have my freedom that is so dear to me with this child consuming all of my time?

“The teacher appears when the student is ready” and guess what — the child is here. My biggest teacher of all. Phew — who thought I would be ready so soon?

HERE’S WHAT HELPED ME TO DEAL WITH MY FEARS:

I learned to write down all my big deals, all the things that seemingly upset me the most.

I learned to give it over to Spirit, universe, God, whatever you might call it.

And I received answers.

I was blown away.

I have the divine Voice within me.

All the answers are within me.

Ready to access. All we have to do is to access them.

The biggest “failure” (I know there are none, but let’s call it that for this purpose) is that we don’t make time.

We don’t make time to sit down and access that inner Voice.

We don’t make time to sit down and meditate.

We don’t make time to sit down and journal.

2 STEP ACCESSING WISDOM FORMULA

So here’s my formula for when I face big upsets and would like to get them out of my way:

STEP 1

JOURNAL ABOUT YOUR BIG DEALS

What major problems are you experiencing right now? 


What outcomes do you fear? 


What thoughts make you sad? 


Four Rules when you journal:

Be as raw and honest as you can be. 


Don’t try to be too “spiritual” about what you
really feel and think. 


Be gentle with yourself. 


Trust the process. 


STEP 2

GIVE OVER BIG DEAL LIST TO SPIRIT

Review your list of big deals.

Write the following in your journal:
“Dear Spirit, I don’t know what any of this means. I want to see this differently because I want to be happy. I surrender all these fears to you — show me the way!”

Start free writing, trusting that Spirit has heard you and will show the way. Even if it does not make sense, just write and keep writing! Take as much time as you need.

You may be surprised at the new and healing thoughts that come to you. Spirit is so benevolent and powerful and won’t let you down.

In my case Spirit told me:

None of your fears are real. You are the holy Son of God. Truly right now you are free. Whenever you think you are not it is just because you can not see your freedom, you’ve blocked it out — just like you’ve blocked out the awareness of Love’s presence.

God is always with you. I am always with you in the right part of your mind.

Yes, I’ve heard all these sentences before but hearing them in my own mind made all the difference and I am infinitely grateful for Maria and Pathways of Light for showing me this path of trust, surrender and acceptance.

I love you all dearly,  Christian

PS: I’d love to hear from you personally if you had any experiences with that exercise. See my email below.

Christian Mauerer is a Pathways of Light ministerial candidate living in Valley Village, California.Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

© 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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April-June, 2018

Hello My Friend

by Rev. Cindy Lyn Bartholome, O.M.C.

The message on my voicemail said, “Cindy, this is Lorraine Merritt …  I don’t know if you’re aware that Linda Wisniewski made her transition a short time ago…”  I was stunned.  Linda Wisniewski, my Pathways of Light ministerial facilitator, the person I talked to on the phone every week for the past nine months, is gone from this physical world. I broke down and cried.

I felt a deep connection with Linda from our very first phone meeting. We never physically met; yet it seemed I knew her my entire life. With each phone conversation our friendship flourished.  Through the ministerial lessons and with Linda’s guidance and encouragement, I shared with her my deepest fears and worries; my greatest joys and aspirations. I joked with Linda that she knew more about me than my husband of twenty plus years.

Linda diligently, before each phone meeting, read my email of completed ministerial lessons and made notes of her insights. Our phone conversations included her notes along with anything else we thought of while discussing the lessons. By sharing her amazing insights, Linda helped me to expand my awareness of myself and enhance my understanding of A Course in Miracles.

The last time I talked to Linda we were reviewing my completed lessons from the course titled, The Healing Bridge of Symbols & Rituals. Linda mentioned she wasn’t feeling well; however she wanted to proceed with our discussion and was ready with her notes.  It quickly became apparent Linda wasn’t feeling strong enough to continue the conversation. We decided to end the call and talk about these exact lessons the next week, when she was feeling better. 

I thought Linda had the flu or an awful cold or something like that. I didn’t realize how ill she was. I thought I’d be talking to her again in another week or two. I never got a chance to tell her how much she meant to me; I never got the chance to say good bye to her. Now I’m to continue this path without Linda’s guidance and encouragement on the other end of the phone.

I called Lorraine, thanked her for telling me about Linda and told Lorraine that I was grateful to be moving forward in my ministerial training; with her as my facilitator.

My first facilitated phone meeting with Lorraine began where Linda and I left off; the lessons that Linda reviewed but was too ill to discuss. During this first meeting, Lorraine read each of my completed lessons out loud. She would read the lesson then read the answer I wrote. When Lorraine finished reading my answer she paused for any comments; then she moved onto the next lesson.

I listened as Lorraine read what I wrote for lesson number twenty one, which was marked ‘optional.’

This is what I wrote…

“This is the symbolic object I was guided to share with my facilitator…Why I chose this symbolic object and what it means to me:

“I knew I was going to be leaving town within the next hour and wanted to finish the course before I left. I wasn’t sure I’d have time to complete this optional lesson before I went on my trip. I didn’t want to feel rushed. My thought was that by feeling rushed I would be forcing the symbol and not allowing it to come to me. I walked outside to turn off the water and as I was doing this I said in my mind, ‘I would really like to find something that represents my relationship with Linda’.

“As I bent down to turn off the water I saw an object on the ground and I knew this was the symbol. The object was covered with dirt so I wasn’t sure what it was. I took it in the house and washed it off to see what came through. It’s a rusted Bud Light bottle cap.

“I laughed. Of course, this is the perfect symbolic object. ‘Bud’ is a term of endearment meaning friend and ‘Light’ is a Symbol of Spirit which shines the light on all the shadows of illusions. A Course in Miracles is about helping us to remember Spirit. The words ‘Bud Light’ can barely be seen because of the rust, but I know what it says because the words are familiar to me. The words are in the middle of a circle which to me represents oneness. The circle also reminds me of the world because it’s blue like the oceans and rust is in the places where land would be.

“What this symbol represents to me as related to Linda:

“Linda and I are friends who have come together through Spirit and A Course in Miracles. The words we share about Spirit and A Course in Miracles have not always been part of my physical vision but are still very familiar to me. Although I may never meet or see Linda physically she will always be a part of me. We not only share physical oneness because we’re both part of this beautiful world, we also share the oneness of Spirit.”

Tears streamed down my cheeks as Lorraine read this. I was heartbroken that Linda will never be on the other end of the phone. At the same time I was overjoyed that Linda read these words before she made her transition. I did get to tell Linda how much she meant to me; I did get to say good bye to my friend.

I wrote the above shortly after November 7, 2016 when Linda Wisniewski made her transition. At the time I was more focused on saying good bye to a physical Linda which I never knew. Any physical attributes I may have thought she possessed, I made up in my mind as I listened to her voice on the phone. Linda was a voice leading me as she helped me to connect with my own inner Voice for guidance.

Thanks to the assistance of Linda’s voice, Lorraine’s voice and many other Pathways of Light facilitator’s voices plus the guidance of Holy Spirit, I will become an ordained Pathways of Light Ministerial Counselor, March 18, 2018. I now understand these words I wrote over a year ago about the symbol I found related to Linda, “Although I may never meet or see Linda physically she will always be a part of me — we share the oneness of Spirit.”  There was no need to say good bye to Linda. She has been with me throughout my training and will be beside me during my ordination. Hello my friend. I Love you.

Rev. Cindy Lyn Bartholome, O.M.C., is a Pathways of Light minister living in Crawford, Colorado. Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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

I Am Under No Laws but God’s

by Rev. Linda Wisniewski, O.M.C.

I was guided to work with three lessons after experiencing the appearance of a bronchial infection and having a flare up of arthritic symptoms along with a skin condition of psoriasis. The lessons I was guided to were: Workbook Lesson 76: I am Under No Laws but God’s, Lesson 91: Miracles are Seen in the Light and Lesson 92: Miracles Are Seen in Light and Light and Strength are One.

First it was interesting to note the sequence of what took place before I experienced the chest cold and what has taken place since and how it has served as an opportunity for healing my mind and strengthening my connection with my God Source.

Two days before, I experienced this cold or how people might express it, ‘I caught a cold.’ I spent a lovely afternoon with a friend going to a movie and dinner. The next evening, I went to a party where my friend was also to be coming and found out that she wouldn’t be there because she was sick with the bronchial infection. She also had made soup for the party and invited anyone at the party to pick it up. Everyone at the party said, “No, we don’t want to catch what she has.” Usually I don’t catch what anyone has because I realize I am not a victim of outside forces. The only problem was I didn’t catch my thoughts fast enough and I joined with the collective fear in believing I could catch what my friend had.

I was a victim of being hypnotized by the egoic law of the belief in contagion and that germs and bacteria had power over me. I wonder if I would have had a cold if I didn’t know of my friend’s getting a cold. It wouldn’t have been in my mind.

In believing this, I separated from the law of Love that says only Love is real and there is no other power than God’s. I also separated myself from my friend, who lovingly made soup, even though she wasn’t feeling well. If I hadn’t believed in the law of contagion, I might have volunteered to go over and receive her loving gift and give her love in return.

No guilt here, only awareness. Well, believing in the laws of the physical world, which are laws that protect the body, only ended up weakening me instead of protecting me. Is it any surprise that what I put my belief in I manifested by coming down with symptoms of the cold the next day?

So what other laws was I buying into? I heard that oil of oregano was a cure for this kind of cold so I quickly had my husband buy the magic potion and I took it. So here again, I made my priority in protecting the body and thinking salvation was coming in the form of a bottle of oregano. I was also focusing all my attention on the appearances that were going on in the body — the inflammation, psoriasis, and now a cold. I have special creams for the psoriasis and anti-inflamatories for the inflammation although another friend told me that anti-inflammatories were dangerous to the stomach and there are alternatives.

Now I was left in a state of confusion because I was allowing myself to be influenced by other people’s opinion. I appreciated their loving concern, but was it leading me towards true healing or away from it?

During the week, I also got caught up by the laws of nutrition: believing that eating certain foods would work wonders on the bodily symptoms. I also got caught up with believing in the laws of weather. Towards the end of the week when I was feeling a little stronger, I went out in a horrendous rainstorm to teach a class and then feared that I would catch pneumonia. I remember that my parents would say, “Don’t go out in this bad weather or you will catch the death of a cold or pneumonia.” There goes the word ‘catch’ again.

So, believing all these physical laws further left me weakened and in a state of fear. And isn’t this what the ego’s intention is — seek outside yourself and do not find; focus on keeping the body healthy and remain in a state of separation from Love.

And in all this time, where was my connection to Holy Spirit? Did I ask Holy Spirit for guidance as to what to do or how to think about it? No. I was seduced by the egoic laws, which protect the illusion.

But I didn’t forget about the Holy Spirit for long. I became still in the midst of confusion and asked the Holy Spirit for guidance. I was led to Lesson 76: I Am Under No Laws but God’s. Here are some of the main points this Lesson made that stood out for me:

“We have observed before how many senseless things have seemed to you to be salvation.” (1:1)

“Each has imprisoned you with laws as senseless as itself.” (1:2)

“While you would seek for it in things that have no meaning, you bind yourself to laws that make no sense.” (1:5)

“Thus do you seek to prove salvation is where it is not.” (1:6)

“It is insanity that thinks these things.” (4:1)

“You call them laws, and put them under different names in a long catalogue of rituals that have no use and serve no purpose.” (4:2)

“You think you must obey the ‘Laws of medicine, of economics and of health.” (4:3)

“Protect the body and you will be saved. These are not laws, but madness.” (4:4-5:1)

“The body is endangered by the mind that hurts itself.” (5:2)

“The body suffers just in order that the mind will fail to see it is the victim of itself.” (5:3)

“It is for this you think you are a body.” (5:7)

“The laws of God can never be replaced.” (7:1)

“Dismiss all foolish magical beliefs today, and hold your mind in silent readiness to hear the Voice that speaks the truth to you.” (9:2)

“You will be listening to One Who says there is no loss under the laws of God.” (9:3)

“He will tell you more. About the Love your Father has for you. About the endless joy He offers you. About His yearning for His only Son, created as His channel for creation, denied to Him by his belief in hell.” (10:3-6)

“Let us today open God’s channels to Him, and let His Will extend through us to Him.” (11:1)

“His Voice will speak of this to us, as well as of the joys of Heaven, which His laws keep limitless forever.” (11:3)

“[I am under no Laws but God] is a statement of freedom from all danger and all tyranny. It is our acknowledgment that God is our Father and that His Son is saved.” (12:2-3)

I know this intellectually but not experientially. What helped me experientially to know that I am not under any laws but God’s were Lessons 91 and 92: Miracles are seen in light and light and strength are one.

So, during the week, I took the magic potions without guilt. I was still in fear because I was still fearful of letting go of my body and my identity and wanting to make my body well and was still fearful of putting my full trust in God. Like they say, I was still fearful of fully letting go and letting God. And as long as I was still trying to put my faith and value in both places, to that extent I couldn’t be fully Miracle Minded.

But I did spend most of the week in quiet talking to God like He was my friend and taking all my fears to Holy Spirit for correction. As I surrendered to the stillness, God’s loving Voice came through. I realized that the reason I believed in the laws of the world and believed that the body was weak was because I believed I had separated from the Source of strength within me. The Source of strength and power comes from the One Mind of God. When I believe I am separated from my Source, I perceive myself as weakened and this shows up as weakness in the body. Like the Course says, the body is neutral; it doesn’t feel pain or pleasure but responds to the programming of our mind.

The practice Lesson 91: Miracles are seen in Light says to acknowledge that I am strong, not weak. I am all powerful, not helpless. I am unlimited, not limited. I am not an illusion of a body but a reality of Love and I cannot see in darkness, but in Light. I practiced being with this and I really did feel strength and power surging through me.

I used to think protecting the body would make me feel strong and powerful. Now I know from my experience that by connecting with my true power Source, the Mind of God that I share with my Creator, I will truly be strong and nothing will harm me or make me feel weak and vulnerable.

I am under no Laws but Gods. I also know that when I am tempted by the ego to follow the laws of the world that wants to protect the illusion of the body in my identity, I have the Holy Spirit to remind me of the Truth and the Truth will set me free.

Rev. Linda Wisniewski now resides in the Love of our One Self, the Christ Mind. We are grateful for her continued blessings in our awakening to Truth.

© 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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