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April-June, 2012

A Quick Course in Health

by Rev. Liz Swearsky, O.M.C.

This morning I was reading my workbook lesson, “My body is a wholly neutral thing.” (W-pII.294) I started thinking, we go through so much trouble taking care of our bodies, what we put on it, how we feed it, tend to it when it is sick. What if we had such a deep belief in our oneness with God that we never had to do any of those things? Now, I am not a proponent of walking around naked (although it would be nice if it was a society norm!), but can you imagine how much more time we would have if we didn’t have to do all this stuff? Think of how much more time we would have soaking in the Love of God, experiencing the joy that is our right, reveling in the pursuit of happiness… just relaxing. (We all seem to be so tired all the time!) 

Our health would be exemplary and health insurance would be a thing of the past. With God as our insurance company we are guaranteed perfect health. Think of all the money we would save! 

There are ways out of this. First is using our mind in a constructive way. As hard as this sounds, what we believe is what we attract. Sometimes these beliefs are tucked away deep in our unconscious mind, causing havoc, like a virus that infects a computer. We don’t know where it came from, but we definitely know it is there.

To begin the healing, we must recognize this and make a choice to change our beliefs. Question what you believe, be open to seeing things differently! Take micro-steps. This won’t happen overnight and celebrate the small successes.

Stop beating yourself up when you slip up a bit! In truth, we are perfect in every way. We have to make the overall decision to believe in this truth. When you are looking dis-ease or the flu in the face, choose to see perfect health, remembering that is what you are. You are not a body, you are free, (paraphrasing Lesson 199).

Your body is to be used as a means for awakening, it is wholly neutral. See it that way. Instead of identifying with yourself as the body, see yourself as eternal Spirit. Begin to detach from the body; don’t take its issues and this life so seriously. 

Another thing is forgiveness. Lack of forgiveness is like closing the door on God. I look at it this way. If I am not forgiving my brother, then I am only hurting myself. Forgiveness does not mean that you have to stay in the bad relationship or keep yourself in a negative environment; it just means that you choose to see the truth of that person(s) — the shining Light that is the truth of who they are, no matter how deeply it may be buried inside of them, and recognize that they are a mirror for ourselves. Be willing to see what is buried within us by looking at the people who disturb our peace as our teachers, who reveal the healing that we need. They are helping us to solve our internal puzzle, to clear our mental cobwebs. Ultimately nothing outside of us really means anything; it is our mind that decides how we perceive everything. Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy? Choose happiness. It’s a lot more fun! 

I had struggled with body image and mental health for much of my life, having climbed out of the dark hole of depression and bulimia. Now, as a customer service rep for an insurance company, I speak with people every day facing all kinds of health issues and the fear that surrounds dis-ease. I have great compassion for them and send them a silent blessing. I recognize myself in them. I know in my heart that they are perfect health and hold that for them until the day when they are able to believe that for themselves. 

I have also found that letting go and letting God, as trite as it may sound, has been a tremendous help to me. We don’t have to do this ourselves. We have been given the Holy Spirit to walk with us. Use the Holy Spirit! We have been given this holy Helper as our individual Counselor, Friend and Healer. Think of Him/Her as your best Friend, who has only your unending happiness in mind.

Find and listen for the small, soft Voice within. It is there. Get quiet and listen. And surrender… That can be the biggest one! Surrendering all that we think we have to “someone” (Holy Spirit), that we are not sure will get it right for us, understand us, know what we ‘want’ is difficult.

As I learn to do this more and more, my life becomes more peaceful… more aligned with God (or Good). Sometimes you need to get through the storm of doubt before that allowing can come in, but it is there and it is worth the effort to find. Being open to change will ironically lead to the changeless Truth and ultimately, great health.

Rev. Liz Swearsky, O.M.C., is a Pathways of Light minister living in Southington, Connecticut.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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April-June, 2012

The One About Charity

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

Charity (n.) the act of deciding since you are better than he, you can take pity on him and give him something of yours. (Especially if someone else is watching you.)

I hadn’t really thought too much about charity until participating in Pathways course 920 with Rev. Susan Lewis. As part of the lessons, we were directed to ACIM 2:V, where the concept of charity is presented in a much different light. In this section, I found the sentence, “Charity is a way of looking at another as if he had already gone far beyond his actual accomplishments in time.” Such a profound statement. I had never thought of charity that way. Receiving charity was to be avoided at all costs. In fact, haven’t we been conditioned by books, movies and most of society that “taking charity” is proof that the last part of one’s character has finally been compromised?

Last fall, when I was going through the most challenging financial times in my life, I borrowed money from my family, friends and even my mighty companion Nancy (soon to be Rev. Nancy.) Deep inside I felt so much shame because no matter how I phrased my request for money, I suspected I was really asking for charity and that feeling almost made me ill. The best I could do was to pretend it didn’t really matter if they helped me out or not. They all did help me.

In the same Course section already quoted is another sentence, “This is because healing rests on charity, and charity is a way of perceiving the perfection of another even if you cannot perceive it in yourself.” Another profound statement! My story has been that I do want healing, and if healing does rest on charity, my concept will have to change. Once again I found as soon as I was willing to set aside what I thought I knew, I was open for the miracle that we are promised is our birthright. The section quoted, ends with “…whenever you offer a miracle (charity) to another, you are shortening the suffering of both of you. …This corrects retroactively as well as progressively.” I don’t want anymore suffering; I would be honored to receive your charity and privileged to extend it!

Rev. Stephan Mead, O.M.C., is a Pathways of Light minister living in Seattle, Washington.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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April-June, 2012

New Pathways of Light Prayer Ministry

Rev. Joan Haber, O.M.C.

We are excited to share with you a new service offered at the Pathways of Light website whereby anyone can request 30 days of dedicated prayer from a Pathways Minister. The Prayer Ministry Team consists of the Revs. Joan Haber, Rebecca Brown, Christine Anderson, Magdalena Smrdelj, Julieanne Paige, and John Wolf. Since it’s inception in early February, the team has received almost 70 prayer requests from all over the world.

Each minister holds the person who requests prayer support in their consciousness for 30 days and shares periodic emails with that person as the month progresses. The inspiration for this ministry comes from a supplemental pamphlet published in conjunction with A Course in Miracles, called The Song of Prayer: Prayer, Forgiveness, Healing, which all Pathways of Light ministers study during their ordination curriculum. In The Song of Prayer, we are reminded that “Prayer is a stepping aside; a letting go, a quiet time of listening and loving” and that “Prayer has no beginning and no end. It is a part of life.”

The Pathways Prayer Ministry Team is eager to receive as many prayer requests as are needed to remember our Oneness with God. It is all of us that benefit from prayer, not just the person that asks. I am reminded of a powerful affirmation that says, “Never underestimate the power of two or more joined together for the purpose of healing.” The Song of Prayer says, “it is not the form of the question that matters, nor how it is asked…. Prayer is a way offered by the Holy Spirit to reach God.”

To request prayer, go to this link on the Pathways website:http://www.pathwaysoflight.org/prayer_request.

Tell your family and friends about this dynamic service and feel free to share it on Facebook. Thank you.

Rev. Joan Haber, O.M.C., is a Pathways of Light minister living in Sarasota, Florida.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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April-June, 2012

Jesus’ Teachings — Metaphor or Literal?

by Rev. Nouk Sanchez, O.M.C.

The whole aim of the Course is to teach us that we are mistaken about who we are. We are mistaken about the world, the laws of nature that seem to govern it, and we certainly don’t yet realize the singular purpose of the world.

We are not who we think we are. The world we appear to see is not real. We are not the helpless, fragile identity that is housed temporarily within a corruptible body. Nor are we dependents or victims of the laws of nature that appear, at times, to both support and threaten us.

The discovery of our true Identity cannot possibly be realized until all beliefs and values are exhumed, raised to the Light and systematically undone. These beliefs and values constitute the entirety of our defenses against knowing our true Identity. They act as a giant screen, blocking memory of our holy Self Who is a gloriously unlimited, uninterrupted, indestructible and powerful extension of God’s Love.

While I was researching the world’s definition of a ‘miracle,’ I found this: The miracle “contravenes the laws of nature.” Yet the laws of nature are not the Laws of God. The laws of nature, here in the ego dream, reflect the ego’s obsession with change and ultimately, with death. All things in nature must die. This belief is sacred to the ego. Life appears supported by the concept of death.

The laws of nature are the laws of the ego. We designed these in order to attack the memory of God’s Love as our one holy Self. When a miracle is seen to contravene the laws of nature, as Jesus did when he calmed an oncoming storm, or healed the sick and raised the dead, it is not doing anything out of the ordinary. The miracle, by reflecting our true state of wholeness, simply restores correct perception. And the miracle can restore the truth beneath the distortion that our body’s senses see.

Remember here that the body’s senses are made specifically to report what the ego sends them to find. Our entire world is built on the ego’s use of the body’s senses to go fetch what the ego projects. The ego world, which is run by the body’s senses instead of inner vision, is a closed-circuit, an insular paradigm that is made to reject all intrusions of Love.

Once we abdicate the body’s purpose to Spirit, the body takes on a divine purpose while we’re here in this dream. Part of this forgiveness process involves learning to deny that anything that is not of God’s Love has the power to hurt us or anyone else. Saying no to the ego is paramount in undoing the ego’s closed paradigm.

As our own fear of God’s Love falls away, so does the ego’s arrogance. The ego’s arrogance, expressed as false humility, is one of the last defenses that we willingly relinquish. False humility is one of the final guardians of our dream of death to go. It disappears as it is replaced with the last of the characteristics of the teachers of God — ‘open-mindedness.’ (Manual for Teachers) Acquiring open-mindedness entails learning to trust our Self. Not the ego self, but the holy Self. And we don’t come to know and trust this Self until we have undone much of the false self and its delusional value system.

False humility is a guardian of the small self. It’s the one that tells you you’re not good enough, not worthy. This is the ego in your mind that causes you to doubt your Self. It’s also the one that attempts to convince you that God’s invincible strength and innocence are unavailable to you. It wants to keep you victim of the world that it made ...and that is why it is one of the last ego sentinels to topple and fall. When false humility drops away, the memory of our joined power in God’s Love comes rushing in.

I feel that one of the areas where the spiritual ego hides best is in its choice to see the message of A Course in Miracles, as purely metaphor. It perhaps also views Jesus’ physical miracles as being symbolic but certainly not to be taken literally. So healing the sick and raising the dead might be viewed as being ‘safely’ symbolic. While they are kept symbolic, they pose no threat to the ego. God forbid if we became literal ‘miracle-workers’ ...because the world’s foundation, as we know it, would crumble rapidly. Jesus speaks of the necessity of accepting the miracle. He says that we must see the works he does through us or we won’t accept them as coming from him (the holy Self within us). We cannot set ‘limits’ on miracles… yet false humility does set limits.

“Yet you must see the works I do through you, or you will not perceive that I have done them unto you. Do not set limits on what you believe I can do through you, or you will not accept what I can do for you.” (T-11.V.9:2-4)

Jesus tells us that the miracle undoes error at all levels. He says, “A major step in the Atonement plan is to undo error at all levels.” (T-2.IV.2:1) This healing takes place first in the mind and if the fear of healing is not exaggerated, then the miracle is free to transfer to the effect (sickness in the body, or conflict, etc). However when we choose to believe that Jesus’ teachings are metaphor only, we deny the miracle full transfer to all levels (by Self-doubt). We may believe that ‘form’ is necessarily unimportant and therefore we unconsciously exclude it from healing. It’s worthwhile here to mention that our ‘will’ is as powerful as God’s. Thus, if we reject the miracle’s ability to transfer to form, God’s Will (which is that all levels be healed), cannot override our request to ‘limit’ the miracle.

It would be helpful to review our beliefs about the miracle. We might deny that ‘matter’ can be healed as beneficiary of a healed mind; we think that the laws of nature (ego) are more powerful than God’s Laws. Jesus clearly tells us that the miracle, if understood correctly, undoes the ego’s laws (laws of nature)! And it certainly is not bound by the ego’s laws… which it came solely to undo. This is what he says:

“How foolish and insane it is to think a miracle is bound by laws that it came solely to undo!” (T-27.VI.6:1)

Can you imagine embodying the power of God, to overcome the laws of nature (ego)? Sounds like the ultimate in blasphemy to the ego… because it is. In my own experience so far, I can see how much easier it is for the ego to view the Course’s message as largely symbolic. Of course! This divests us of the massive ‘paradigm-shifting’ responsibility to join with the Christ within, to use this body-dream to undo all the ego made through total forgiveness. This is the real meaning of the eventual disappearance of the universe.

This responsibility demands upending all the laws that we believe both support our life, and threaten it. Perceiving Jesus’ miraculous healings and the Course’s message as purely metaphor suits the ego by ensuring that true and limitless healing of both cause and effect is unattainable here and now. In short, I believe that this is an attraction to death. Death then is still seen unconsciously as escape or as peace. An escape from awakening to the Christ within.

Jesus, in his brief life in a body, was unprecedented in demonstrating the power of a healed mind, being the Christ Mind we all share. He overcame the ego’s most convincing dream symbols, the body, sickness, the laws of nature, and finally, death itself. He physically appeared in the dream to call us to follow him. And he dictated A Course in Miracles to further compel us to overturn the ego’s dream symbols and return to the perfect Love and joy that dwells within. Jesus says that all ‘forms’ of sickness can be healed by the miracle… or the miracle cannot heal at all. I believe his following statements are literal and certainly not metaphor.

“It must be true the miracle can heal all forms of sickness, or it cannot heal. Its purpose cannot be to judge which forms are real, and which appearances are true. If one appearance must remain apart from healing, one illusion must be part of truth. And you could not escape all guilt, but only some of it.” (T-30.VI.7:1-4)

“The guiltless mind cannot suffer. Being sane, the mind heals the body because it has been healed.” (T-5.V.5:1)

Becoming a miracle worker involves un-learning powerlessness and helplessness. It is learning that nothing in this world sustains our life, nor is there anything in this world that can threaten it. We cannot know this unless we truly ‘live’ the process of first recognizing and then relinquishing everything that is not of God’s Love and life. This… is forgiveness lived. Life is God and God is life. God therefore, is our life. Period.

Jesus came into the dream to lead us out of it. He did not teach only metaphor. He used the most compelling of all arguments to visually demonstrate that God’s Love is Who we are, and that this Love will overcome all the ego made to attack us and to keep us in a dream of fear. He healed the minds that believed they were sick by healing the cause in their mind. And knowing that both the cause and effects of sickness are always in the mind… he effortlessly demonstrated that the body can be healed, once the guilt in the mind was undone. In Jesus’ own words,

“A broken body shows the mind has not been healed. A miracle of healing proves that separation is without effect… Your body can be means to teach that it has never suffered pain because of him. And in its healing can it offer him mute testimony of his innocence. It is this testimony that can speak with power greater than a thousand tongues. For here is his forgiveness proved to him.” (T-27.II.5:1-2,6-7)

Note: This is an excerpt from Nouk Sanchez’ soon to be published book, The End of Death. Visit her new website for more helpful material inspired by A Course in Miracles, http://www.undoing-the-ego.org

© 2012, 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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