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Love Holds No Grievances

by Rev. Christine Anderson, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

As I practice returning to Love each day, every circumstance provides new opportunities to heal my mind and return to the truth that we are all Love and nothing else.

The following quote from ACIM Workbook Lesson 71 helped me with an experience I had recently.

“The ego’s plan for salvation centers around holding grievances. It maintains that, if someone else spoke or acted differently, if some external circumstance or event were changed, you would be saved. Thus, the source of salvation is constantly perceived as outside yourself. Each grievance you hold is a declaration, and an assertion in which you believe, that says, “If this were different, I would be saved.” The change of mind necessary for salvation is thus demanded of everyone and everything except yourself.” (W-pI.71.2)

One morning I woke up, but I was still very sleepy. I was approached in a very hurried manner by an aide who works at the facility where I live. I just wanted her to go away and let me sleep. It was still dark out. Why are they getting me up?

The next thing I knew I was thrashing my feet, trying to keep her away from me, but not for the purpose of causing any injury. Things were getting worse by the minute. This was not a pretty scene. I was not very happy about this and started forming judgments about her.

But somewhere in my mind I was remembering that all mistakes are forgivable.

The way things were unfolding told me right away I was not at peace. It was obvious I was projecting from my own mind and I remembered that projection causes perception. Remember, projection is just the inability to be honest about something that we do not want to look at in ourselves. And so we project it on the other person.

In my moment of insanity, where I was forgetting my true identity as a Child of God, I called out to Holy Spirit for help in my mind and the chaos suddenly ended and I was left alone.

As time went on, the aide came in to talk to me about what was going on at that time. I said to her that in that circumstance, I was not at peace and I asked for her forgiveness and I apologized profusely.

As a student of A Course in Miracles, I needed to remember the real meaning of forgiveness for myself. And that is nothing ever really happened. Only Love is real. So that was the beginning of forgiveness for myself.

So my friend and I parted for a couple of days and then she returned again to talk to me about the matter. She expressed to me she was having a hard time forgiving me. And then the miracle happened. She asked if we could pray together to help her let go of her grievance.

I responded, “Of course we could!” We held hands for a moment of silence and we waited to see what the prayer would be.

The prayer went as follows,

“Dear loving Father, we ask for the awareness of Your Love and peace right now in this present moment. We had a misunderstanding and are willing to let it go.

We thank you Father for all the blessings of this day, those to come, but most of all we give thanks for this present moment for the peace and Love and the awareness that all is well.”

I thank God for this miracle of joining to let go of the grievance and return to Love, our true Nature. I see my friend in reality as the Christ. And I love and appreciate her for joining with me to experience the miracle of forgiveness of letting go of our grievances.

And so now when we greet each other, we sing a little song which is sung to the tune of “Let it snow.” Instead the words are, “Let it go, let it go, let it go.”

In singing this song, we are reinforcing that we were willing to let go of the grievance that we had. It is as if it never happened. When I see her, I feel only peace. There is no sign of anything else. I remember that only Love is real and Love holds no grievances.

There is a song that is called “Love Holds No Grievances” by Charley Thweatt. It is a wonderful song to remind us of the blessing of forgiveness. Go to YouTube and key it in.

Below is an excerpt from Lesson 68, paragraph 6 that will help you to see your friend forgiven:

“Determine now to see these people as friends. Say to them all, thinking of each one in turn as you do so:

I would see you as my friend,
that I may remember you are part
of me and come to know myself.

Spend the remainder of the practice period trying to think of yourself as completely at peace with everyone and everything, safe in a world that protects you and loves you, and that you love in return. Try to feel safety surrounding you, hovering over you and holding you up. Try to believe, however briefly, that nothing can harm you in any way.”

Rev. Christine Anderson is a Pathways of Light minister living in N. Aurora, IL.
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Phone: 773-704-5483

© 2023, 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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Miracles News, January-March, 2023

 

Love
Is the
Answer

© 2022, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Mind Games and the Miracle I Need Do Nothing

by Rev. Bill Poppa, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

In the song “Mind Games” John Lennon sings “Love is a flower. You gotta’ let it… You gotta’ let it grow.” This simple lyric seems nice, and it works well in the message of the song itself. However, the simplistic truth in the lyric is more powerful than just a first impression of it.

Often times I experience conflict and confusion on the small things I encounter in everyday life. From a practical standpoint, I deal with them in quick fashion and there is no perceptual loss in my peace as I navigate the solution. In fact, any perceived problem always resolves itself, because my mind does not bother to judge the situation in need of a rational solution. For example, a parking spot is inevitably available in a crowded lot; or the slow-moving checkout line does not move to my liking, yet I’m out of the store with time to spare. There are many incidences like this in any given day and my thinking mind does not labor to resolve these minor inconveniences, they simply resolve themselves in the unfolding.

But what about the apparent larger and seeming more consequential problem that arises unexpectedly, one that serves a greater inconvenience with a demonstrable consequence?

Just this kind of unexpected problem presented itself last night. I co-facilitate Pathways of Light’s “Listen and Receive” program. We meet once a week at 6:30 pm local time on a conference call. We have many people who take part regularly, and often, there are first timers at any given time. The call is set up ahead of time and those who wish to take part dial in to attend and share in the lesson and fellowship.

My co-facilitator and I always dial in early to set up the call by being host and taking control of the software for a seamless experience. There are the occasional technical difficulties for sure, but inevitably they are easily corrected, or are not enough of an issue to be disruptive. Not last night.

We quickly discovered that the software would not allow us to take control of hosting. Without a host, background music plays incessantly and anyone who is speaking has to shout over the music in order to be heard. Shouting causes distortion and further muffles the speaker’s voice. To say the least, it was an unpleasant situation. I experienced mild stress and began to have thoughts of being a victim of technology. To make things more stressful, people were joining in as this was happening, and a sense of helplessness and embarrassment was creeping into my awareness.

We spent 15 minutes trying to troubleshoot to no avail. Accepting the fact, the software malfunction was not to be resolved, we kept our sense of humor in the face of our shared interest in handling a planned session. The participants, unsurprisingly, were completely understanding and cracking jokes as well. It turns out, we experienced a camaraderie in the middle of a seeming problem that allowed us all to bond in a way that was miraculous. A seamless call is hoped and is planned for, but the unfolding turned out to be not only an opportunity to practice forgiveness, but a gift far greater than the best laid plans.

Having a relationship with my Inner Teacher is the most important relationship I have. My Inner Teacher sees only innocence and the changeless reality of God’s Love in all things. Staying vigilant for judgment thoughts so I can let them go as soon as they arise is my responsibility. After that, I need do nothing, because everything is perfect once I turn my upset over.

My True Self knows that is the way Love grows. Love, not fear, is the peace of an abstract mind. Love is Who and What we are and is our natural inheritance. Love knows Itself and sees only Itself in everyone and all things. I do not need to learn Love. I just need to awaken to it. It is a recognition, not a getting.

My True Self is perfect Love, and It is the flower that grows. Its fragrance is God’s scent that permeates all things. It is the Wisdom that does not come from my personality self. Rather, it comes through my personality self whenever I remove the obstacles to peace. It is hard to believe that the first obstacle to peace is our desire to get rid of it. The Course says:

“The first obstacle that peace must flow across is your desire to get rid of it. For it cannot extend unless you keep it. You are the center from which it radiates outward, to call the others in. You are its home; its tranquil dwelling place from which it gently reaches out, but never leaving you. If you would make it homeless, how can it abide within the Son of God? If it would spread across the whole creation, it must begin with you, and from you reach to everyone who calls, and bring him rest by joining you.” (T-19.IV-A.1:1-6)

Be it something as small as finding a parking spot, or as large as a life changing event, I need do nothing once I remember to listen to my Inner Teacher. It is without effort the large is small and the many are few. Typically, there is no specificity coming from my True Self. It is the Love that guides my actions, for Love is the content that envelops all things. It is the connection of all things I experience. I develop a greater trust in this kind of unfolding.

Oh, we still had the call. It was with Spirit as our Guide, we changed phone lines. That meant everyone had to hang up and call in on a new number. Everyone on the call called back in. We even had someone from overseas that took the time to do so. It was past midnight his time. The sharing was wonderful, and everyone tasted a little morsel of eternity and was pulled out of time and felt the changeless peace that we are as one. It is not outside circumstances that decides my true happiness. It is my inside condition that does. I am grateful to know I have the power to choose my right mind over my ego thought system.

My friend Ricki Comeaux said, “I decide to see God, or I decide not to see God. It has become that simple.” How right she is.

Rev. Bill Poppa, O.M.C., is a Pathways of Light minister living in New Orleans, LA.
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

© 2022, 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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Driving Home

by Rev. Joyce Peebles, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

Have you ever been driving while thinking about something else and missed an exit or arrived somewhere on autopilot because your mind was elsewhere? As bodies we can live our life like that too. Going through all the motions but not fully present. Unknowingly we choose blindness.

When you realized you have missed the exit you immediately seek to get back on track to your destination. The same occurs with our spiritual development. The Holy Spirit speaks, and we recognize where we are and decide to take another path. There are certain intersections we come to in life and we must make a choice. One of the most important intersections we come to is the recognition that love, compassion and empathy are essential. We can decide not to take this road but avoiding it does not get us where we want to go.

A road does not appear desirable until we learn what is valuable and what is valueless. Lesson 182 (8:1) says, “When you are still an instant, when the world recedes from you, when valueless ideas cease to have value in your restless mind, then will you hear His Voice.” This voice leads in the direction of love, compassion and empathy.

What stands in the way of taking this road? Our belief in victim-hood, blame and guilt, and the belief that what we are seeing is real rather than an illusion. From the point of view that the upset is a projection, a judgment made by my mind, a learning tool I need and want, I cannot be the victim or unfairly treated. I hear the Holy Spirit say the other person is always innocent, despite what appears to be happening. We are not these ego bodies.

The book, A Course in Miracles, is itself another intersection you come across on your journey. It is not the only road you can take to get home, but it is a shortcut. In the introduction it says, “This is a course(road) in miracles. It is a required course. Only the time you take it is voluntary. Free will does not mean that you can establish the curriculum. It means only that you can elect when you want to take it at a given time.” Whether you take this course or use another route, learning forgiveness, the fore bearer of miracles, is required.

Psychologist Lee Jampolsky Ph.D. says, “I may not know you, but I can say this: Much of the upset in your life is due to two reasons — either someone did not live up to your expectations, or some event did not go as you think you wanted it to go.” Ah, identifying with the ego body, I get my panties in a wad because somebody has fallen short of fulfilling the function I decided they should fill. Coming from this perspective, even my ego finds it hard to justify grievances.

Ego based thoughts and the Holy Spirit’s thoughts are opposites. One road leads to misery and one road leads to happiness. For example, as a human walking this earth Jesus’s focus was not on how others viewed him. It was on how he saw others as innocent or guilty because that told him how he saw himself. He recognized that other people were either giving love or they were asking for it, no exceptions. To accept this mindset is another intersection we come to on the journey home. We take the road that we want by what appears valuable at the time. Once we come to understand the road we are on cannot get us where we want to go, we finally take another road.

The road of love, compassion, and empathy; that sees others as innocent and perfect, and that recognizes others as either giving love or asking for it, is always before us. It is the fastest way home and only our misperceptions stand in our way.

Rev. Joyce Peebles is a Pathways of Light minister living in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

© 2022, 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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