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What Is a Pirate?

by Linda Cosentino

What is a pirate? One who robs ships at sea. We have a pirate in our thoughts. This pirate is called the ego thought system that edges God out.

This is not an entity. This is not a real thing outside of you. This is a thought. This pirate is vicious and out to destroy our True Identity, if we let the thoughts control us.  This is our little self that thinks it is God.  It robs us of our treasures.

We are the treasures of God. We are created in the image (reflection in a mirror) and likeness (exact copy) of God, and we have all the attributes (distinguishing characteristics) of God. These attributes are Love, Peace, Joy and Happiness. Your ship is your vehicle to bring you back to God.  “Your ship has come in.”

These pirate thoughts try to make you think you are something less than what you are.

“Yo, Ho, Ho, and a bottle of rum.” Too, much rum makes you drunk and does not make you think clearly. These pirate thoughts will bring you all kinds of addictions instead of the peace of God that passes all understanding. Only God can fill the hole or void in your life. Our soul yearns and longs for us to be back in the arms of God forever in our thinking.

A person that is a robber is one that thinks he is deprived of something that you have.  What does it mean to rob?  Taking property unlawfully by force.

This is what the ego thought system does. It is like the drop of water that wants to be the ocean instead of all the drops together making up the ocean. Your little self or ego self can never be God. All of us together make up God. Without one piece (You) God is not complete like the picture is not complete with one piece of the puzzle missing. Every piece is very valuable.
 
Pirates are after treasure. The ego thoughts want your treasure. You are the treasure of God in an earthen vessel that is more precious than all the gold in the world.

God needs you to speak to all the world of His Love and Forgiveness. All of us are precious stones or gems with many facets (cuts or parts) of the whole jewel. You are like a diamond in the rough. Diamonds have much pressure and polish before they shine to have a great brilliance. You are like the pearl whose sand paper is needed from other people in order to make you a smooth round stone or pearl.

The way to get rid of the pirate (thoughts in our lives) is not to give these thoughts power. The ego thought system is afraid of you learning your True Identity. When you learn your True Identity, the pirate thoughts no longer exist. This pirate cannot deceive, rob, or kill you without the power you give it.

So now, we know our True Identity — that we are created in the image of God, and we are already Perfect Spirit Beings. No thoughts can rule our lives in a lower realm (poor thoughts) of human thinking that is the pirate thoughts.

Aren’t you glad the pirate thoughts have no effect on you at all? We can change our thoughts. Don’t you want to change your thoughts to the Thoughts of God?  You can if you choose. You are a child of the King.

Linda Cosentino is a student and teacher of ACIM who lives in Hammond, Louisiana. She and Richie conduct classes in their home.

© 2007, 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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God Is Famous too

by Rev. Georgeanne Medved

Through television, radio, magazines and other media I learn about many famous people, even heroic people. Many of these people have great qualities that I would like to imitate. A Course in Miracles, however, teaches me that I should always imitate God and walk His path in Love.

My highest calling and largest struggle in life is to open to God’s insight with my attitudes and actions every day of my life. Unlike the famous, unapproachable people I learn about, God knows me and really desires to have a personal relationship with me. He is a merciful and loving Father Who knows all of my shortcomings but still accepts me as His Child.

I know that if I love God and open up to obey God, the Holy Spirit will dwell in my heart and work with me to be more God like. I communicate with the Holy Spirit through prayer and meditation and as I struggle in my daily life, I hope to develop the positive character traits of thankfulness, humility and love and have them flow through me and mold me into a strong person who is able to be of service to others.

When I neglect prayer, which is the central place where I experience the Holy Spirit’s presence, I become confused and my faith is weakened. Then I backslide into my old, negative lifestyle and habits and once again must ask the Holy Spirit to help me right things with my merciful and loving Father.

Holy Spirit helps empower me to achieve my highest goals and to reflect God’s Love so that people around me may experience the radiance of their Creator.

Rev. Georgeann Medved is a Pathways of Light minister living in Columbiaville Michigan.

© 2007, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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A Holy Instant of Release

Rev. Linda Wisniewski

As a passenger on a seven hour drive, I had a chance to be still and go within. All of a sudden I noticed a lot of sadness coming up. “What is this about?” I asked Holy Spirit. It was as if a lifetime of unfulfilled dreams and fantasies were being projected on a screen right before me.

In my younger years, I considered myself a “romantic” and my fantasy was to find the perfect man who would fulfill my every need.  I have been married twice and each partner could not be described as the  “romantic” type.  My latest partner is teaching me that I don’t need him to fulfill my needs and expectations.  I need to learn to trust in my Self. Of course, before I started studying A Course in Miracles, I didn’t want to believe him and our relationship was very stormy because I kept projecting onto him my disappointment that he wasn’t a fulfillment of my expectation and fantasy of what a romantic relationship should look like.  I created in my separate mind, in opposition to God, what I believed to be perfect love.

In this ego thought system, perfect love meant giving to get and believing another had to give me love to make me feel special and worthy.  I truly believed that the source of perfect love was in another person outside of me. In the ego thought system, the source of everything i.e. love, value, safety, wellness, abundance, security, worthiness, seems to be outside of myself.

The ego thought system is very clever.  If we keep believing this, we will keep looking outside of our Self for security, love, peace, joy and value. We then will forget to remember to look within. And, we will forget to remember that God is our Source of Love, joy, peace, strength, safety, value, and worthiness. And we will forget to remember we never left our Source. Everything we desire will be given to us because we are as God created us. We are of Him.

The Course is teaching me that in one instant a thought entered that made me and my brothers believe that this Love wasn’t enough. In that one instant we were made to believe we could create a better kind of love, a special love more perfect than God. And, in that one instant, we forgot to laugh and realize it was a crazy insane thought. It seemed so real. And then one crazy fantasy led to another and another and pretty soon we forgot we were fantasizing and forgot where we were.

It all seemed too real, like Alice in Wonderland falling through the rabbit hole into the land of magic. We fantasized first that we created a body and that this body was our new home; a solid place in which to make believe we were special. We created in that instant a separate family believing they would give us special love. When this didn’t happen, we became angry with them because we convinced ourselves that they weren’t fulfilling our magical wishes and desires to be loved in a special way.  So the more we fell into the dream, the more we looked for a special relationship and created images of Cinderella and Prince Charming as the embodiment of this special fantasy. And, when our special partner didn’t turn out to match this fantasy, we dumped them and kept searching for that special love. And not only did we search for a special love, we also created a special world that would ensure we were special. 

The more we forgot reality and forgot our true nature, the more we fantasized about what we needed to be special.  Maybe we could become the CEO of a large company; or, maybe we could write a book and become famous and go on the Oprah show; or maybe we could go on an adventure and do daring things that would give us pleasure; or maybe we could find a way of making so much money we would never have to worry about not having all the goodies that money could buy. If we did these things, we became certain that we would finally feel safe and secure and never have to worry. We would be happy and fulfilled. 

Well guess what? In my fantasies, I managed to find romantic love but it never lasted and every time a relationship ended if felt devastating because what I believed was the source of love left and since I forgot it was in me, it felt excruciatingly painful. When my special love left, I was left feeling loveless and alone, or so I believed.

I once had money and lost it mostly by giving it away and later would feel devastated because I believed the source of my safety and security was in the money. When the money was gone, I experienced feelings of panic and terror. I believed the source of wellness was in the body I created to separate from God and when I didn’t feel well, I felt scared because I felt certain I was going to die and lose everything especially myself. I would be a nothing.

If I lived in less than a perfect body, I also was scared because how could I function and be special unless this body could run in perfect order. I never wrote that book that would have made me famous and never became a CEO that I believed would have given me a sense of importance and I never became well known in anything. I did become depressed because I believed I wasn’t of value in this world of my making. I believed I was useless. 

In the ego thought system value is equated with doing because its only in our body doing something specific that we realize our specialness and uniqueness. And while my illusory life seemed to flash before me in the car, I asked Holy Spirit to look with me and help me see this life differently.
I started experiencing a deep gratitude and thanking God for His Infinite Wisdom. I thanked God for placing Holy Spirit in my mind and the mind of my brothers so that, when I  believed I was lost and alone and feeling depressed and unworthy in this world of unfulfilled dreams and fantasies,  Holy Spirit could help me remember the truth. 

It was at those times when I felt most lost and desperate, that I humbled myself and called out to God, “Help me see this differently.” It was at the times I experienced busted illusions that I turned within and heard the quiet voice of Spirit whispering His Love and Will for me.
It is in the silence that I experience the peace I so truly desire. The more I listen to the gentle Voice within, the more peace and joy I experience. The more I am learning to trust this Voice, the more I am allowing myself to be guided by His Will, and, the more I am willing to surrender my fantasies and dreams. 

“Father, it is today that I am free, because my will is Yours. I thought to make another will. Yet nothing that I thought apart from You exists. And I am free because I was mistaken, and did not affect my own reality at all by my illusions. Now I give them up, and lay them down before the feet of truth, to be removed forever from my mind. This is my holy instant of release.  Father, I know my will is one with Yours.” (Workbook Lesson 227, This is my holy instant of release.) 

I am so grateful to be learning that Who I Am is not of anything I made in the separate mind. I Am of God not man. I am learning that when I attack a brother it is because I expect this person whom I made in separation to fulfill a expectation I made up in this fantasy mind.
I am learning that the sadness, depression and fear I experience is because I forget that the Source of everything of Real Value is of God. I am learning that my loving Father knows my holiness and perfection and innocence and as His Child I Am of Him. I am learning the Source of Love, peace and joy I was so desperately seeking does not lie in my fantasies but in joining with HIm.

“Father, I was mistaken in myself, because I failed to realize the Source from Which I came. I have not left that Source to enter in a body and to die. My holiness remains a part of me, as I am part of You. And my mistakes about myself are dreams. I let them go today. And I stand ready to receive Your word alone for what I really am.” (Workbook Lesson 228, “God has condemned me not. No more do I.”)

Rev. Linda Wisniewski is a Pathways of Light minister living in Plymouth, Wisconsin.

© 2007, 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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Our Experience with Weekend with Holy Spirit

by Revs. Robert & Mary Stoelting

We recently experienced a weekend here at Pathways of Light called, Weekend with Holy Spirit.

As a group we made the commitment to give time to quieting our minds and listening to the Holy Spirit. We started the weekend focusing on a message from A Course in Miracles: “The Holy Spirit will, of Himself, fill every mind that so makes room for Him.” (T-14.XI.13:6)

After a guided meditation to set the stage, we as a group practiced opening our minds to the inspiration that the Holy Spirit brings to us as we are quiet and receptive.

The first day we practiced again and again letting the busy-ness and hustle-bustle of our everyday lives gently fall away. We practiced opening our minds to periods of receptive listening to Holy Spirit.

Together we read ACIM Workbook Lesson 106: Let me be still and listen to the truth. We prepared our minds to receive Holy Spirit’s miracles. We focused on this idea from the Course: “Be not afraid today to circumvent the voices of the world. Walk lightly past their meaningless persuasion. Hear them not. Be still today and listen to the truth. Go past all things which do not speak of Him Who holds your happiness within His hand, held out to you in welcome and in love. Hear only Him today, and do not wait to reach Him longer. Hear one Voice today.” (W-pI.106.3:1-7)

We let everything slow down and gave time in quiet to God. During our quiet times, if we found our mind wandering, we would reread to ourselves the message: “I Go Within to Find God. I turn inward very deeply into my mind… I go inward past all form, past all thoughts of bodies, time and distance…
I go to the quiet place in my mind. I sink into and feel the Light of Love that is in me and surrounds me. I accept and experience the quiet peace of God within my mind, and rest awhile… In quietness I receive God’s gift of peace… and Love… and joy. In stillness I receive God’s Word.” (from Miracles Practitioner Course 911: The Healing Journey Inward)

After a period of quiet, we all returned to the group to share about our experience with listening to the Holy Spirit. The following are excerpts from messages we received during the weekend:

Robert: There is no barrier between me and the Love and peace of God. If I perceive one, I put it there in my imagination. It will disappear as soon as I no longer want to imagine it. Anything I perceive that is not the peace and Love of God is imagined. It’s not there. I imagine it because I value separation. I think it offers me something I want. In truth, Love is my only Home. Love is my nature. Love unites me with all that is. When I see “others” as Love, I have no fear. I feel safe and gentle. If I see someone who appears to be angry or depressed, my only thought is that they are safe in Love along with me.

The gift of peace is worth practicing to receive. You are worthy of receiving it. When you are unwilling to give time to opening to peace, it is because you think you do not deserve the gift. You disguise this in scenarios where you seem to need to solve problems yourself. But that is just reinforcing the belief that you are by yourself. You are not alone. When you think you are, you are mistaken. Allow that mistake to be corrected by diligently practicing opening to peace. In peace you remember that you are one with all that is real and you could never be alone.

All concerns for the body are of the ego because the body is the ego’s defense against God. Any thought that a circumstance in the world should be different is a concern of the body and therefore a defense against God. This is why it’s so important to step back and follow Holy Spirit.

Sometimes I feel like I ask for guidance and don’t seem to receive it. What’s really going on?

Answer: Remember, Love is ever present. There are no barriers except those you imagine. You ask for help because you feel you have a need. You could only feel a need if you felt a lack. That could only occur if you believe there is a barrier between you and the Love that is ever present. So, at it’s core, a request for guidance is a call for Love.

While you believe you are in this world, there will be appearances of lack because you believe you are separate from Love. The form of perceived lack will change from one moment to the next. A machine will seem not to work. There will seem to be too much to do in too little time. You will plug in the wrong cable. Software will seem to fail. Someone will not do what they said they would do, or do something you didn’t want done. There are endless variations to these stories. They have one thing in common: They all reflect belief in lack of Love or separation.

The antidote for them all is Love. But you won’t recognize that the antidote is present unless you forgive the circumstance for not meeting your definition of salvation. You believe you will be happy if the outer circumstance changes. It is this belief that must be let go or forgiven. When you have forgiven, or let go of judgement, your mind and heart will be open to receive the Love that you are really seeking. Then you will recognize the solution in form as it pertains to the circumstance. And it may look very different from what you thought the answer would be.

Because the peace and Love of God is in me, if I am not experiencing it, I must have made a barrier against it. In some way, that barrier is a judgment that (I think) something other than the peace and Love of God is all that is real, I must be choosing hallucinations over reality. This is the insanity of the ego thought system.

If I am offended because I think someone has misunderstood me, misinterpreted what I said or misrepresented what I value, then I must believe that I am not the peace and Love of God and that I am vulnerable to loss. This can only mean that I believe I am an hallucination, a false image of myself. It is time to open my mind to the Holy Spirit to receive His gentle correction of my mistaken belief. Call upon the peace of God in me to return me to the state of openness to Holy Spirit’s vision. Peace first! Then everything I need will follow. Practice, practice, practice. In peace ask: “What would You have me do?” Make every decision with peace.

Mary: Pay attention to what is true eternally — now. Pay attention to the eternal now. Let go of the past and future, that is of time and that is coming from the ego mind. Give time to quiet listening, now. Let this practice prepare you to accept this way of being always.

Allow yourself to feel the peace of your true Being. See that it is always there… Give yourself time to rest in the truth about you… Rest in the stillness and changelessness of God’s peace… your peace… the peace that is the real you… formless peace… formless joy…

Practice resting in the truth… You are in Heaven now, along with everyone… Allow yourself to become aware of this truth…
You are being carried… Allow yourself to trust enough to become aware of this…

Let everything in your mind quiet… These thoughts that come up do not matter… They are thoughts connected with a world of separate bodies… Hand them over… You do not need these thoughts…

Rest… Let your mind quiet and rest… Let the deep still waters of peace replace all the thoughts of what you think is real… In peace you find these thoughts are not real. They are just false ideas of separation…

Only what is of the Father is real… Only your Source is real… Return to your Source… Like the prodigal son, return to your Source and receive the banquet awaiting your return… Receive the riches of your Father… Welcome Home. Welcome Home. You are still as God created you… Everyone is still as God created them…

No matter what anyone dreams, know that everyone has a complete support system… Everyone is totally immersed in God because they are part of God. They cannot leave their one Identity as Perfect Love. Think about that for everyone. That is being truly helpful. As you remember it for others it helps you remember it for yourself.

Your Beingness in God is connected with everyone’s Beingness because it is one undivided Beingness in God.

Take time to rest in God… Let this practice this weekend quicken your remembering during the rest of your week. Let this habit of resting in God become strong…

Let awareness of God’s Love in everyone’s mind become strong. Be willing to see God’s Love in everyone’s mind… Practice that… With this consistent practice you are becoming more familiar with what it is like to consistently step back from the world and receive the happiness that is inherently in you…

You are in Heaven now. Let yourself feel the happiness and contentment the real you is aware of while resting in God. Hand over everything that appears to be separate from you. See that only Love is really there. The rest are hallucinations. There is only God. There is only Love.

My Prayer: I rest in Love… I rest in remembering oneness… I give up trying to make something different than Love’s oneness. I stop trying to make the world of bodies appear to be real…

Where am I placing my faith? With placing my faith in the Holy Spirit I am able to see the Christ in everyone, no matter what the body’s eyes show me. Am I energizing the ego’s world or am I energizing the Holy Spirit’s way of seeing past the world to the fact that everyone is in reality resting in God?

God is peace… God is oneness… God is universal Love. I accept God as God is. I would not try to change God. There is nothing but God.

Mary & Robert Stoelting are co-founers of Pathways of Light. They live at the Pathways of Light Center in Kiel, Wisconsin.

© 2007, 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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