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The Introduction of Abilities

by Rev. Myron, Jones, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

“The introduction of abilities into being was the beginning of uncertainty, because abilities are potentials, not accomplishments. Your abilities are useless in the presence of God’s accomplishments, and also of yours. Accomplishments are results that have been achieved. When they are perfect, abilities are meaningless. It is curious that the perfect must now be perfected. In fact, it is impossible. Remember, however, that when you put yourself in an impossible situation you believe that the impossible is possible.” (T-6.IV.8:1-7)

God created me perfect. He created me as part of Himself. There is no such thing as abilities in creation, because all is accomplished. With the introduction of the separation idea, abilities were needed because in separation there was now the illusion of imperfection and so there was the illusion that something needed to be done. I am still perfect and still in God and I do not need to learn anything because in the Kingdom there is not even the idea of learning.

However, since I do not believe I am in the Kingdom, since I believe I am separate from the Kingdom, I have placed myself in the truly bizarre position of needing to become perfect and so I need abilities and I need to develop them.

An example of an ability that I developed is listening to Holy Spirit. When I began this process, it was pretty shaky. I tried different methods until I found what works for me, which is meditative writing. It sounds pretty cut and dried. Try this. No. Try that. No. Oh, okay, this works. But it is never easy with ego because ego is questions, doubts and fears.

So, I would try meditating in the usual way and would fail. I failed over and over. I watched everyone else succeed and report these wonderful results and, yet, I could not do it. I felt like a failure and I felt like I was the one who was unforgiven. In other words, I suffered. 

That’s the way it works with ego. Ego would have kept me in this process forever if it could, trying one method and then another, reading books on meditation, listening to meditation CDs, taking meditation classes. But I had a burning desire to hear that Voice and enough willingness to keep that desire alive.

Finally, I turned from the ego and sought help from my Guide. I didn’t even know I had been trying to learn from the ego what the ego was determined I not learn. I didn’t know that I was finally turning to my true Teacher. All I knew was that I still wanted it but that I gave up trying to give it to myself.

Surrender is what allowed the Holy Spirit to help me. He can never take from us what we want to keep, or give to us what we are determined to give to ourselves. But the moment we truly want His help, it is done.

Once I discovered that I could speak to and listen to the Holy Spirit as I wrote, it only remained to develop this ability further. I did this through daily practice and even that felt like suffering at first. This is because the ego joined me in the practice, constantly criticizing and discouraging my attempts. But because I truly desire this communication, I learned how to become more fully surrendered to the process.

Actually, looking back on it, I realize it was never hard to hear His Voice. It only seemed hard because I was trying to listen to two completely opposed Voices at the same time. When I finally chose the one Voice I wanted, it became easy and now I look forward to each morning sitting here with Him. Occasionally, I am not able to give this time to Spirit. When that happens, I miss it.

So, this is an ability I developed. I learned to hear the Voice for God and to write what I heard. This is a ridiculous thing. How could I not hear that Voice? It is in me. It speaks to me all through the day. It is the only thing that is real. It is both God’s Will and my will. And yet, I had to develop the ability to hear clearly, and still, I am further developing the ability to hear even more clearly. It is an insane situation made necessary through insane choices.

Another ability I had to learn was forgiveness. Like most people, I didn’t know how to forgive and didn’t know I didn’t know.

So, I learned what was not forgiveness as I read in the Song of Prayer about forgiveness to destroy. In the Workbook, I learned what forgiveness is.

“Forgiveness recognizes what you thought your brother did to you has not occurred. It does not pardon sins and make them real. It sees there was no sin. And in that view are all your sins forgiven. What is sin, except a false idea about God’s Son? Forgiveness merely sees its falsity, and therefore lets it go. What then is free to take its place is now the Will of God.” (W-pII.1.1:1-7) 

I began to think of forgiveness as letting go. If I forgave myself for a mistake I made, I looked at it with the Holy Spirit and let the guilt go to Him. I forgave my projections onto others and any event I judged as less than optimal. They were all forgiven in the same way. I did the same with any false thought, any thought that was not what I would think with God.  Of course, to do so, I had to learn to watch my thoughts.

“I cannot let you leave your mind unguarded, or you will not be able to help me. Miracle working entails a full realization of the power of thought in order to avoid miscreation. Otherwise a miracle will be necessary to set the mind itself straight, a circular process that would not foster the time collapse for which the miracle was intended. The miracle worker must have genuine respect for true cause and effect as a necessary condition for the miracle to occur.” (T-2.VII.2:1-4)

I thought I knew how to do this, too, but I discovered that I wasn’t very good at it. Reading and practicing what I read in Dan Joseph’s book, Inner Healing, helped me learn to be vigilant and consistent in mind-watching. I also learned to be self-honest. This book is a spiritual process that outlines a three-step process of inner healing. These three steps involve: (1) acknowledging our inner blocks (any distressing thought or feeling),
(2) becoming willing to prayerfully release them, and (3) opening to an inner experience of comfort and peace.

This is the process the Jesus shared with us in the Course. Most new students ask me how to forgive and I tell them to learn to be vigilant for their thoughts and then I share those three steps with them. Often, they come back and ask me again how to forgive. It is hard to believe something so essential to awakening could be so simple. But the ego is complex and reality really is that simple. The only thing that makes it seem difficult is our conflicting desires. But as we continue to practice our abilities, we are instructing our mind to desire only the eternal.

Rev. Myron Jones, O.M.C., is a Pathways of Light minister living in Westlake, LA. 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 
Phone: 337-515-1042

© 2024, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this notice and website address are included.

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Above the Battleground

by Rev. Robin Singler, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

Sword and shield,
attack and defense
One a fierce weapon,
the other a fence
Judge and be judged,
mind dark and dense
Ego hides the Truth
with fearful nonsense

Sword and shield,
attack and blame
In service of
the separation game
I’m right, you’re wrong,
they try to claim
A losing battle,
they are both the same

What would it be like
to lay them down?
Walk silently off
the battleground
Give up all judgment
of any kind
Reclaim my precious
Peace of Mind

No armies of hurtful
thoughts at war
End of competition,
keeping no score
Serenity replacing
a sense of dread
Into the stillness of Love
I am gratefully led

The warrior within
has at last retired
The ego war general
is summarily fired
As I retreat and reflect
on the seeming mire
I find that nothing at all
has ever transpired

All is now quiet,
mind now clear and calm
And all that remains
is an eternal Song

Rev. Robin Singler is a Pathways of Light minister living in Huntley, IL. Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

© 2024, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this notice and website address are included.

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Letting Love Be Our Guide

by Revs. Robert and Mary Stoelting, Founders of Pathways of Light

As we daily continue to practice the message of A Course In Miracles, we have found that, as we are willing, the Holy Spirit removes our barriers to Love and leads us to see past the ego’s lies of separation to the awareness of Love’s oneness.

The Holy Spirit leads us to forgive the world for all we thought it was. As we practice quieting our minds and willingly go to God, we quietly learn the truth. Consistently asking Holy Spirit how He sees situations that we find disturbing is the most important thing that we can do each day.

If we think we already know, we will forget to pause for inspiration. If we think we are the one to make decisions on our own, we are letting the ego lead the way.

The ego is not our friend. It guides us to blame or to see guilt in others and ourselves. The ego leads us to believe that we are victims of a guilty world that is outside of us. With the ego leading the way, we will feel fearful and afraid. We will think we have to defend ourselves and judge others. We are finding that we need to be vigilant of our thoughts and notice when we have fallen into the ego’s false perceptions.

To help with this vigilance, over the years we have found several helpful sentences which are easy to remember that help bring us back to the truth:

The first is, “I will there be light.”  (W-73)

Mary: Recently we drove past a car accident and I noticed that I started worrying about the people in the accident. I noticed that I tensed up and thoughts of fear about everyone concerned were in my mind. When I noticed where my thoughts were, I took a deep breath and relaxed. I said, “I will there be Light.” As I continued to relax, it came to me that I was not helping anyone with these fearful thoughts.

As I relaxed more, Jesus reminded me that we all are safe in God and, in truth, they are safe in Heaven just like me. We are all safe. We are all innocent. We are all loved. We are all Home eternally in the Mind of our Father. This practice of remembering, “I will there be light” brought me to a place of great joy and gratitude that we always have help when we are willing to receive it.

In Workbook, Lesson 87, it elaborates: “I will use the power of my will today. It is not my will to grope about in darkness, fearful of shadows and afraid of things unseen and unreal. Light shall be my guide today. I will follow it where it leads me, and I will look only on what it shows me. This day I will experience the peace of true perception.” (W-87.1:2-6)

Another saying that helps bring us back to the truth is:

“I could see peace instead of this.” (W-34)

In this lesson we are told, “Peace of mind is clearly an internal matter. It must begin with your own thoughts, and then extend outward. It is from your peace of mind that a peaceful perception of the world arises.” (W-34.1:2-4)

Robert: When we needed to move our website to a different hosting service, the web pages the host provided for managing the website were organized very differently than what I was used to. When I needed to make a change in a setting, I found the section where I believed I could make the change. But when I scrolled through the page, the place I needed to go was not on the list of options.

The Course points out that we see what we want to see. The ego thrives on complications. If we are following the ego, it will not see anything that simplifies, in keeping with its goal of seek and not find.

I noticed that I was feeling frustrated and impatient. I paused, took a deep breath and relaxed into peace. I asked Holy Spirit to help me see with His vision. I focused on relaxing until I felt peaceful.

I looked at the web page again and saw a button at the top of the page that I could click to go to the next page which would list more options. I clicked and there was the option I was looking for! I quickly changed the setting and moved on.

This experience reinforced the value of opening to the Holy Spirit’s vision. When my mind is open to His help, I let go of past experience as my guide (ego). I forgive the past and let go of giving ego’s meaning to my perceptions. This was a step toward accepting the reality that only Love’s oneness is real.

Another example that helps us is:

“This instant is the only time there is.” (W-308)

Whenever our peace is disturbed, it is always caused by thoughts of the past or future. We may feel guilty or upset about something that occurred in the past. We may wish that something will happen in the future. Or we may worry about something that might occur in the future. We assign meaning to our perceptions based on the past. These thoughts block the present moment from our awareness.

In the present moment, there is Love and nothing else. In the timelessness of now, there is no past and future. There is no form, only the changeless Love that is our true Self, united with our Creator.

This Love extends forever. It keeps us safely in Its peace. It brings joy as It extends the eternal giving and receiving that is Love.

Today it is important that we pause frequently to step away from thoughts of past and future. We ask the Holy Spirit to help us experience the present as it is. We welcome the Love of Christ that is now, everywhere and forever.

Below is a prayer that we practice from A Course in Miracles that helps us remember to be grateful for the eternal blessings of Love from our Father:

“We thank You, Father, for the light that shines forever in us. And we honor it, because You share it with us. We are one, united in this light and one with You, at peace with all creation and ourselves.” (W-239.2:1-3)

Clouds of guilt and fear hide the Light of Love that is our true Self. We let our Light shine when we forgive our illusions that make us feel separate, alone and lacking Love. Today we welcome the Light within that shines upon all in gratitude and peace.

We accept the blessing Love brings us by extending It to our brothers in the world. By letting Love be our Guide, we let Love’s Light illuminate the dream and open our mind to awaken to the Love we are.

The following is a meditation we received when we asked Holy Spirit for help to strengthen the helpful and important habit of paying attention to His perspective as we go through each day:

Be mindful of your thoughts as you go through your day… Be aware of the fear thoughts or judgmental thoughts that come up… ego thoughts that make this world of separate individuals seem real…

Now imagine having a day where you are focusing on Holy Spirit’s loving thoughts…

Holy Spirit is showing you the united Holy Spirit that dwells in everyone’s mind……

As you do this, you see and feel the Love that is everyone’s true Nature……

You feel surrounded and immersed in God’s Love… You feel so safe…

You feel so happy as you accept Holy Spirit’s Thoughts in your mind…

You see the truth that everyone is still the Love that God created them to be… 

You see the truth that we all are the same Love that God, our Father is…

Everyone is safe… Everyone is innocent…

Everyone in truth is Loved and extends God’s Love to all…

Everyone is Home in the Eternal Mind of God…

We will close this meditation with this important message from A Course in Miracles:

“His gift of grace is more than just an answer. It restores all memories the sleeping mind forgot; all certainty of what Love’s meaning is.

“God loves His Son. Request Him now to give the means by which this world will disappear, and vision first will come, with knowledge but an instant later.” (W-168.3:5-6,4:1-2)

Robert and Mary Stoelting are co-founders of Pathways of Light.
Website: http://www.pathwaysoflight.org  Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

© 2024, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this notice and website address are included.

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Letting Go of Limiting Beliefs

by Rev. Joyce Peebles, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

Sometimes written words or phrases jump out at us. For me it was the phrase, “when you are ready.” To be ready is to be willing. I am discovering choices I did not know I had, specifically the choice of getting rid of fear and guilt completely.

Pathways of Light courses have us say a preparation before studying the course material. It is, “I am willing to take responsibility for letting go of limiting thoughts and beliefs that reflect separation and specialness.” I’ve read these words many times and had questions about how to do this exactly. The purpose of this article is to give you three distinct ways to actually let go of limiting thoughts and beliefs. I am grateful for the help given to me from others who have shown me exactly how to do this. Jesus tells us this life is an illusion and fear and guilt do not exist. They were made up by me. These are the epitome of the limiting thoughts I need to let go.

In the past I threw away some books. One was A Course in Miracles; another was by Jan Frazier called When Fear Falls Away. Looking back, I can see I was not ready or willing to accept the ideas they contained. At that time, I was thinking of myself mostly as a victim, fearful, guilty and just wanting to escape from the miseries of life. What I did not understand at that time was that both books emphasized the ideas of willingness or readiness. There is a huge difference between wanting to escape the world or wanting a happier ego body experience and wanting to wake up and know your real Self.

I remember praying, thinking I was sincere in asking for relief and help. What I really wanted back then was a more spiritualized ego. I thought if I could make myself a better person, I would be happier. The idea that I could literally have all my fear and guilt taken away was not a choice for me. I did not ask for those things because I did not know I could ask. I thought anxiety and fear were just part of life, not an option.

Over a period, I’ve read enough books by people just like me who were able to let go of fear and guilt. They let go because they were finally willing or ready to do so. I said to myself if they can do these things then so can I. I am in the process of doing exactly that. How? First, when I have a fearful thought or attack thought , I stop and say, “I don’t want this thought anymore.” I use these exact words. I had to understand the goal was not a happier existence on earth. The goal was the recognition of my real Self. I also had to understand that what I was seeing with the body’s eyes was the direct result of my thoughts in the mind.

I have read books that talk about joy that does not go away despite outside circumstances in the world. It was the understanding that fear and guilt are choices I made, and can let go of, that made the difference. I was unaware I was choosing to be fearful and guilty. I was a prisoner of my own thinking. Also the Holy Spirit brought to my awareness that I have no control over the atonement. I have no choice; I will wake up no matter what. I cannot make myself into something I am not, such as an ego body. I can fantasize or deceive myself, but I am still as God created me. I chose to have amnesia about reality.

I choose how long I’m going to stay in this state of deception. Not whether I’m going to stay in it but how long. That’s the choice. The end is certain. I can deceive myself for as long as I want but the Holy Spirit will bring me back to the awareness of who I really am, when I am ready.

Jan Frazier in her book and other authors including Jesus, talk about witnessing. This is the second habit I am utilizing to let go of the limiting beliefs of fear and guilt. It is cultivating the idea of who am I, watching that this story is not the real me, not the body character I see going through daily activities.

I watch the body figure, but I do it from a distance. I detach as if I was watching a movie on TV. I can get engrossed in the story or movie, but I know it’s a movie, just a story. I am not the character in the movie. I am the one watching it.

The Holy Spirit’s Voice from this witnessing or watching mode is easier to hear. This is also the way to get above the battleground that Jesus talks about.  It is a battleground between my real mind and the fictitious limited self.

The third way to let go of limiting thoughts is to practice forgiveness. I still use the example in Gary Renard’s book, “The Disappearance of the Universe.” It is as follows:

“You’re not really there. If I think you are guilty or the cause of the problem, then the imagined guilt and fear must be in me. I made you up. Since the separation from God never occurred, I forgive both of us for what we haven’t really done. Now there is only innocence, and I join with the Holy Spirit in peace.”

The human brain thinks logically. If it does not agree with or understand something, it dismisses the information as invaluable. Gary Renard’s book and A Course in Miracles are saying the same truth. The introduction to the lessons says, “Remember only this; you need not believe the ideas, you need not accept them, and you need not even welcome them. Some of them you may actively resist. None of this will matter, or decrease their efficacy. But do not allow yourself to make exceptions in applying the ideas the workbook contains, and whatever your reactions to the ideas may be, use them. Nothing more than that is required.” (W-in.9:1-5)

I say this because it is not easy to follow a script that does not seem logical to the brain. Do it anyway. You will begin to see and feel more peace as you are ready and willing to accept ideas your mind previously rejected.

The reason we sometimes reject ideas is because they frighten us. I think about the lion in the Wizard of Oz who desired courage. He faked it until he felt he had it. Courage feels better than fear. Believing that Jesus is really on our side, our constant companion like the Holy Spirit, has been helpful in gaining courage and comfort.

I accept and claim these promises.

Rev. Joyce Peebles, OMC is a Pathways of Light minister. Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

© 2024, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this notice and website address are included.

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