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October-December, 2016

Sometimes the Miracle Is “Who Cares?”

by Rev. Carly D. Glasmyre, O.M.C.

Sometimes I think the miracle has to be a big, momentous thing. But sometimes it’s as simple as Holy Spirit saying, “Who cares?”

Recently in the weekly study group call I run, I was sharing about some struggles I’ve been having with my job. One of the participants began to coach me around my job and ask questions to help me take action. She did this out of love and out of the desire to support me, but all I felt was embarrassed.

All these thoughts came up —“I’m such a bad minister. I’ve lost control of the call. I made this all about me. How can I help people when I need so much help myself?”

I felt anger and shame. I was annoyed with Holy Spirit for letting this happen to me. (This is one of my favorite ways to avoid responsibility — believing that Holy Spirit “lets” things happen to me.) I reached out to my facilitator Maria Felipe for help. 

The Course says, “Because the miracle worker has heard God’s Voice, he strengthens It in a sick brother by weakening his belief in sickness, which he does not share. The power of one mind can shine into another, because all the lamps of God were lit by the same spark.” T-10.V.7:4-6

This is why Pathways of Light is so important. It has created a network of miracle workers that, at different times, can shine into each other’s minds and help each other hear God’s Voice again.

Maria’s mind shined into mine, and reignited my inner spark. She did not believe in my sickness (that I am this separate body who can get embarrassed, who can be affected by the world around me) and I experienced a miracle — and that miracle could be summed up in two words: Who cares?

Who cares that I was coached on the study group call? Who cares that I am supposed to be the “leader”? Who cares that I’m the minister so that means I should be in charge?

That experience does not have to mean anything. I don’t have to make it a big deal. It’s just an outward symbol of my belief in my unworthiness, and my underlying belief that I want to be separate and special. I want to be the minister, the leader, the person in charge.

My ego wants to hijack the role of “minister” and use it for its own grandiosity. It’s always looking for ways to say “me, me, me! I did this, I did that, I healed that person, I help people. I’m good. I’m special.”

But what I forgot is that Holy Spirit is the minister, the leader, the teacher, the healer, not me. My ministry isn’t about what happens out there, but which teacher I am choosing.

When I focus on how being a minister should look, I avoid my real function — forgiving the thoughts of separation in my mind that appear inside and outside of me — and lose out on the peace, joy, and love that come from letting Holy Spirit lead.

I am committed to letting the Holy Spirit guide me, and I am grateful for the opportunity to see myself differently and experience the healing miracle.

Rev. Carly Glasmyre is a Pathways of Light minister living in Reading, Pennsylvania. She will be a speaker at the 2016 Miracle Share Virtual Conference. Get more info here: http://www.miracleshareconference.org. Visit her website at http://www.carlyglasmyre.com or email her at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

© 2016, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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October-December, 2016

The Prince of Love

by Cindy Lyn Bartholome

I was experiencing the Pathways of Light meditation titled, “Letting Love Return You to Peace.” I was deep into the meditation, not even hearing the guiding words, when half way through the meditation my cat, Prince, jumped on the chair and laid his body right next to my leg. He was there the rest of the meditation. I knew Spirit was telling me something by having Prince lay next to me during this specific meditation. What was the message? By exploring who Prince is I’d have an answer to this question.

Prince is a big cat, about 14 pounds, with long black fluffy hair. While sleeping at night in my bed, Prince would be cuddled next to me with one paw around me and his head on my pillow. This simple gesture has always given me a sense of the love Prince has for others. Prince allowed my grandkids to crawl all over him when they were babies. At Easter time last year Prince brought two baby bunnies alive and unharmed into my house. Prince has always been a lover and could never understand why cats fight.

Almost eight years ago Prince was attacked by a feral cat in the hay fields next to our house. Prince never fought back. The feral cat kept attacking Prince but Prince kept trying to get away. Prince finally got away from this vicious cat after my husband threw a rock at the cat and chased it away.

I trapped the feral cat about a month after Prince’s incident with it. My intention was to catch the feral cat, get it immunized, and release it in a hay field far away so it couldn’t hurt my cats anymore. This wild cat was starving, had dull eyes, his fur was coarse and he was extra fearful. He was the most aggressive, mean cat I’ve ever known; he would even attack me, a human, ten times his size. While I was standing he would hiss and bite and scratch at my legs. If I had to handle him or get close to him I used welding gloves and wore long pants. I named him Taz, short for Tasmanian Devil. When it came time to release Taz, far away from our house, neither my husband nor I could do it. It went against some sort of belief we had about how an animal should be treated.

Taz ended up living in a dog run which we set up in our garage. We figured Taz would live the rest of his life in this dog run. He couldn’t be trusted around our three cats and three dogs. Our cats would go in the garage to eat or use the litter box and Taz would hiss and snarl at them from his dog run clear on the other side of the garage. For everyone’s safety, including Taz’s, the dog run was the best place for Taz to live.

In the evening I’d open the double garage door, sit by the dog run and talk to Taz as I watched the sun set. Prince would on his own, lay out by the dog run with me. First Prince made sure my body was between his and the dog run where Taz was sitting. Eventually Prince started lying closer and closer to the dog run till eventually he was close enough that Taz could reach his paw through the dog run and touch some of Prince’s long black hair.

In time Prince was able to go in the garage with me as I let Taz out of the dog run for a little bit of enclosed garage play time while I gave him fresh food and water. Prince was the only one of our cats I’d dare allow in the garage as Taz ran around free. Taz would follow me around the garage knowing I was fetching food for him while Prince would calmly sit next to his own dish of food. Every once in awhile Taz would slowly walk over to Prince, sniff at him then quickly run away. Prince would sit calmly as he allowed Taz to “check him out.” There was no hissing or growling; only a calm self assuredness displayed by Prince which Taz seemed to understand and respect.

As Taz showed he could handle more responsibility we would let him come out of his dog run to hang out in the house with the rest of us for small stretches of time. Taz would hide under the bed or behind the furniture. If the front door opened and we weren’t paying attention Taz would run outside and hide in the sagebrush or under the porch. Prince would always be close by setting an example on how to be a calm, loving house cat.

Last year was the first year Taz was domesticated enough to be out of his dog run all day long, every day, with complete freedom. At night Taz slept in the dog run so we could all feel safe while sleeping and at dinner time Taz ate his food in the dog run because Prince was diabetic and he needed to eat an exact amount of food before his insulin shot. During the day Taz would play outside for a little bit on his own then he’d look for Prince to see what Prince was up to. Wherever Prince was, Taz would be about two feet away. Taz was still a bit skittish and unpredictable (especially with other cats) but Prince stayed calm and let Taz hang out with him. Because of Prince, Taz learned how to relax in the house and just stretch out on the floor in the middle of the room…no hiding, no cowering, no hissing, no fighting, just relaxing all spread out in the middle of the floor.

Prince died a year ago, 4th of July weekend. The dog run is outside, accumulating weeds and no longer used by Taz. I know Taz misses Prince, the only cat he could call his friend these past eight years. Seeing Taz able to relax without hiding reminds me of Prince and how his calm, loving presence is what helped Taz to go from a fearful feral cat to a loving affectionate house cat. Taz insists on cuddling against my husband’s chest while sleeping in our bed at night and the name Taz is now short for Taz-a-roo.

What message was being given to me as Prince nestled against my leg during this meditation? Love! That one simple gesture conveyed to me what Love is: Love is beyond form, it doesn’t need bodies; when the body leaves, the power of Love is still there; you may not be around to see the effects of the Love you extend; Love heals, it transforms fear; Love has no boundaries, it transcends space and time; Love is steady, calm and unwavering; Love may look like inaction but it’s more powerful than any other action that can be taken.

Now as I go about my day and I see individuals acting in fearful ways, whether on the news or in my everyday life, I’ll remember to extend Love the way one loving house cat named Prince extended Love to a fearful feral cat named Taz.

Cindy Lyn Bartholome is a Pathways of Light student who lives in Crawford, Colorado.  Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  Website: http://www.cindylyn.com

© 2016, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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October-December, 2016

Valuing Content Over Form

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

When I became a Pathways of Light Ordained Ministerial Counselor a few years ago, I dedicated my life and ministry to doing what Holy Spirit wanted me to do. Actually, I think that most people who study ACIM eventually do the same thing as they grow in their understanding of what the Course teaches.

The problem with this approach for me, has been to avoid looking at what I am doing and making judgments about it.

As POL ministerial students we were counseled to avoid the temptation to create our own (ego) vision of what our ministries would look like and let the Holy Spirit guide us. And, to the best of my ability, I think I did that. We were further counseled that what actually comes to pass will most likely be quite different from we had envisioned.

It wasn’t long before I started having thoughts that told me there was something missing or something wrong. I thought, I “should” have been doing more and bigger things with my newfound “calling” by now. 

What I would learn over the next year or so was that this kind of thinking is, while common, one of the many traps of the ego, and you don’t have to be a minister or ministerial student to fall headlong into it.

I see how this kind of thinking has permeated my entire life. The old, I “should” have done this or I “shouldn’t” have done that thinking has been with me for a long, long time. I always thought there should be an 11th commandment. “Thou shalt not should on thyself.”

It was really hard to look at what a few of my fellow ministers were doing in their ministries and avoid comparing it to what I was doing, or more accurately, not doing, in mine. Some of them had been ordained with me or just a short time before me and were creating awesome websites, speaking at conferences, teaching classes, giving sermons at metaphysical churches and writing books etc.

Of course, I never thought to look at what the majority of the other ministers were doing. Many were very simply and quietly working in their part of the vineyard, doing whatever Spirit sent to them with a peaceful, grateful heart. What better way is there to minister to others than that? To me, that is valuing content over form.

For other ministers, I’m sure the ordination process was a way of getting the help and learning that they needed to heal their own lives and that their ministry would be somewhat formless as they shared what they had learned with others by moving through the rest of their lives in a more peaceful, loving way.

I know that this was at least partly true for myself as well. My wife would often comment to me that she was convinced that I was led to the ordination program mostly to be healed myself.

I went to Holy Spirit about my ministry a lot, and was generally not very happy to hear that I was perfectly on track and there was no need for concern. In fact, I heard from Spirit more than once that my concern was actually getting in the way. You would think that would have brought me the peace I was after, but it didn’t. I was totally focused on the form.   

As time went on, I learned to just relax about it and keep the focus on my own learning and growth. As I did, things really started to change. I became available to Spirit because I had at least become willing to see things differently.

Before I knew it I had been asked to perform a wedding, several memorials and two students chose me to facilitate them through the Ordained Ministerial Counselor program. But Spirit didn’t stop there.

I learned something very valuable in the process. For one thing, I learned the True meaning of the words, “Minister or Teacher of God.” I learned that Spirit works with all people and most of them are not ACIM students and may have never even heard of it. I learned that Spirit is only concerned with the awakening of The Son of God (content) and not the tools (form) he uses to awaken. Actually I think I had always known that, but I was having trouble applying it.

Today, many of the people Spirit sends to me come through 12 step programs that I have been involved with for over 20 years. The Spirit I feel when working with them is identical to the Spirit I feel when working with a ministerial student. Again, Spirit has made it very clear to me that the forms of the world and the way I meet others does not matter, (every encounter is a Holy Encounter) but what we do together has eternal significance for both of us.

I often say to those that I work with that I am not sure what they get out of our interactions, but I know what I get out of them. They teach me new things and strengthen other things in me each time we meet and invite Spirit to be with us.

I remember a quote (paraphrasing) by Mother Theresa of Calcutta where she said, “It isn’t about doing great things but doing small things with great love.”  Just a simple smile can change someone’s day and a few seconds of eye contact that says, “I see You” can change their life.

I will never forget, and practice every day, the last words Ken Wapnick spoke in a class of his I took. He said that we could make the most progress in our practice of this Course by just being kind.

I am not discounting the value of reaching many people with our words, but who is to say that the value of reaching many who may not be ready to hear, is more valuable that reaching only a few who are?

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

© 2016, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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October-December, 2016

Learning to Forgive Promotes Healing for Us All

by Rev. Peggy Rivera, O.M.C.

Relationships are a very good place for opportunities for us to see where we need to heal our minds.

How often do we hear ourselves or our brothers complain about something someone else said or did to make us unhappy? It is our thoughts that get out of control and when we believe our unhappiness is caused by some outside force, we fall deeper and deeper into the perception we are alone and afraid and separate from our Source.

If we listen to the voice of the ego we have chosen fear and pain and sickness. These are blocking us from the healing thoughts of our true nature.

I imagine having those little beings on my shoulder the devil (ego) on one side and an angel (Holy Spirit) on the other. And we have to choose which voice to listen to. In A Course in Miracles page 451 in the Manual for Teachers it says, “I can obscure my holy sight, if I intrude my world upon it. Nor can I behold the holy sights Christ looks upon unless it is His vision that I use. Perception is a mirror not a fact.”

We always have the choice that is our freedom. Our call is to hear the Voice and share it. To share makes it increase.

We use the body for communication. We listen to the Voice for God and He guides us gently back to our wholeness. It takes our focusing on hearing only that Voice so that we can heal. We heal through each other. We teach what we learn and we learn what we teach. If we are listening to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, we expand the Love and joy that promotes healing for all of us. So, when someone is really down in the depths of despair, we can see what they have forgotten the truth. That is all we really need to do. We do not judge, we support, we offer our unconditional love, kindness and prayer.

I am aware in my own mind that as I go to Holy Spirit whenever I have symptoms, I receive flashes of insight in my mind. For me it is a process that takes time. I think sometimes healing takes time. Healing is not something we rush through. We all will heal, we focus on forgiveness of ourselves and each other. I think that’s what I am being made aware of. When I experience the flashes of images from my past, I am getting the opportunity to see differently.

Forgiving the dream is essential for all healing. I think it feels really wonderful to know that God has already forgiven us. We just have to accept forgiveness for ourselves. And to teach that to others so it can expand to more and more people everywhere. That way the whole is healed.

Rev. Peggy Rivera, O.M.C., is a Pathways of Light minister living in Palm Bay,Florida 321-914-4694 Email:7seas@bellsouth.net Web: http://www.rev.priveralifeministries.comwww.revpriveralifeministries.com

© 2016, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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