Miracles News

Articles by
Pathways of Light Ministers

Subscribe to printed version of Miracles News.

Most Recent Articles

(Drag to scroll down.)

Archives

Complete Archives

Tweet

Finding a Place Within Me to Receive God’s Grace

by Rev. Sharyn Zenz, O.M.C.

One of the gifts from God is His grace. He wants us to receive His grace so much and He is so very patient, just waiting for us to make a place for it within us. It is our job to weed out from within ourselves all the guilt, dishonesty, unworthiness, judgment, limitation, the need for suffering. The list goes on and on.

When we really get to the “root” and weed those things out of us, we make room for grace, God’s Love, kindness to ourselves and others, non-judgment, joining with others at the altar of God.

So, I ask myself as I sit quietly today with Jesus, “Aren’t all those blessings worth the effort it takes just to do the weeding and get to the root of all our ‘perceived’ problems?” What a happy dream I can have just by going within and letting go, at the root level, of all my mistaken problems.

There is more to it than just asking to receive grace. It takes a little effort to look at what is taking away our peace and see what belief is really there. We can’t let it go if we are not willing to look at it and see how the belief has been affecting our thinking and our happiness. Then once we see our mistaken thoughts, and only then, can we give it to the Holy Spirit for healing. 

Once we have looked at the mistaken thoughts from way down at the root level, we can then turn them over and ask for forgiveness. When we ask to see it clearly “as you would see it, Holy Spirit” and ask for His perception with willingness to let Holy Spirit change our minds about it, we can begin living the happy dream.

We are weeding the garden of our souls and making way for grace to enter. He waits so patiently for us to make room and do the “inner weeding” to discover the obstacles to Love, which all come from fear. He waits for us to be willing to loosen the root so that it can be removed from our garden of consciousness.

When you go with Holy Spirit to your inner garden to remove the weeds, you can be sure that as you look at the mistaken thoughts very carefully without blame, and gently sift and soften the soil with the intent of bringing forth your beautiful garden, you will indeed be assisted. The gentle rain of grace can then gently and easily enter the space within that you prepared, without it being earned. It is given freely by God.

Drops of grace have been offered to us by Holy Spirit in every lesson or situation that we come upon. Some of the drops of grace are just waiting to penetrate the deeper levels of our consciousness, down at the root level, as we continue to be willing to release fear.

All of a sudden we will begin to feel the presence of grace within us at an even deeper level. We will begin to notice the happiness and joy that we feel in situations. We will feel the Love that flows within us and out to everyone we see and whomever our lives touch. We will finally “feel” the happy dream.

Rev. Sharyn Zenz is a Pathways of Light minister living in Luxemburg, Wisconsin.

© 2011, 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.

Tell a Friend

Printable Page

---

A Minister’s Journey

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

I was recently ordained as a Pathways of Light minister. I wanted to share the highlight of my experience, the final day of the teleconference in which we were ordained, but let me begin by saying that I was a reluctant student. 

One day, about 18 months ago, I was led to the Pathways of Light website, as I was interested in learning about their courses.  I have been a long time student of A Course in Miracles, but was thinking that it was time to expand. I thought that I would leisurely take a course and if felt so moved, to possibly finish my studies to become an ordained minister by my 50th birthday in 3 years.

It would be a sort of coming out, as many of my friends had no idea what A Course in Miracles was. Obviously, Spirit had another idea in mind. 

I met my mind healing partner, Rev. Sharyn Zenz. I think that we were slow to warm up to each other, but as the courses went on, I began to look forward to our conversations and the insight and healing that was occurring as we joined with Spirit. As the seasons passed and the courses took hold, I began to feel that something special was taking place.

This brought a whole new dimension to my Course work. And with Sharyn’s gentle guidance, I felt confident that I was being led on a journey of peace and Love that was initiated by Truth. I wanted to share it with all whom I met. Ministry, at one point, seemed far fetched and out of my reach, but as I stretched my hand out, it was filled with opportunity — for my growth and for those who Spirit chose for me to work with. I do want to mention that I wasn’t consistently working, but I felt Spirit’s desire for me to continue with this so strong, that through miracles, I had the opportunity to complete my studies much sooner than imagined.

So, back to the Sunday of August 28th, 2011… I was preparing for my final class. What made it so tentative and a bit anxiety producing was that this was the weekend that hurricane Irene was set to hit us in Connecticut. Sunday morning the eye of the storm was predicted to pass right over us.

I prepared as best I could, hoping that the connection would last as the ceremony took place and I heard the words that I had been ordained. I got on the phone a few minutes before 10:00 a.m. and chatted with my fellow participants, Claudia, Cathy and Marty. We talked about what we were wearing; Claudia even dressed up her cat for the occasion! Then Sharyn came on, we finished up the last part of our lessons and the ordination began. 

Just at this time, the swirling winds began to pick up and the rain came down in sheets. I was sitting there in my tiny office, feeling like I was in a space capsule ready to take off. Emotionally, I felt like I was in the middle of two worlds. I had never experienced anything as sacred as what was taking place. As my ordination ceremony began, I felt a group of angels surrounding me and filling me with Light. 

They were talking to me, telling me how proud they were and how they loved me so. I felt their energy so strong and saw their golden Light surrounding me. All this occurred as the trees blew and the wind howled. Then I felt the angels place wings behind me. They told me that I was now an “Earth Angel.”

I cannot explain what I felt. The Love was overwhelming. The ceremony came to a close, the storm passed without an electrical failure and I was an Ordained Ministerial Counselor, ready to let go of the ego for the healing of all.

Looking back, the moment was so special, and yet so mundane. I mean I was the only one sitting in that office that I have used so many times before to write emails, file and make copies in. Yet this morning, in the middle of the storm, the room transformed into a cathedral. It was filled with the people I love on the phone thousands of miles away, whose faces I had never even gazed upon yet whom I traveled with on a journey so far, experiencing feelings that only come when unconditional Love is exchanged.

Thank you to Mary and Robert for this awesome opportunity to serve. Thank you to Sharyn Zenz for being a magnificent mind healing partner and thank you to Spirit for guiding me on this miraculous adventure.  I can’t wait to see what happens on my 50th birthday!

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

© 2011, 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.

Tell a Friend

Printable Page

---

The Holy Purpose of the Body

by Rev. Mary Gerard Lenihan, O.M.C.

How is the body seen through the ego’s eyes?

I see my body as the face of sin and death. I see my body as a home for parasitic thoughts of death and attack, robbing me of my sustenance. I see a fleshly casing and covering that is filled with sin, death and disease. My body is afraid of death, for this will be the demise of me. I will be wiped from existence as my body sickens and retreats into dust; for the dust too will vanish and there will be nothing left of me — the body telling me that I have never existed. My greatest fear comes upon me at death — the fear that I am not real. And if I am not real, then there must not be a God.

A body such as this — leaping for joy one day and falling prey to sickness the next. Who is this God who doesn’t know me? Who is this God who has captured my heart, but abandoned my body? Who is this God who stands by and watches my body attack itself with no hope of redemption? Who is this God who will not heal death, disease and fear? Though I pray all through the day and night, this wretched sickness does not leave me. I am left alone to wither of my own accord and decide my own death and the means for its coming. Who is this God who can’t see my pain? Who is this God who does not respond to my calls for help?

Who is this God? I ask. This is the god of death whom I have chosen to be my god of life. I have worshipped my body from far and near, in sickness and in health, in fear and in its leaping. The body has become a vessel of self-worship. The ego lies to me about its properties and longevity; calling me to invest more deeply in its salvation from inevitable death. The more it screams in pain and illness, the more I look to it for my salvation. I look for light in the darkness of death. I look for life in that which does not live. No matter how many times it seems to fail me, I still look for light in its deadened vessels.

I have chosen the body as my home away from Home and accepted it as a substitute for Reality. Holy Spirit, teach me. How do you see any usefulness in this trap of decaying flesh? In Jesus’ name I pray.

Well, my dear, you have bought into the dream of death hook, line and sinker! And the body will gladly commemorate your dream, honoring you for your misaligned belief in circumstances. I see another purpose for your body my dear.

The purpose of the body is to heal the world. What appears to separate can bring together all the seeming parts. Deceiving is the body as its health waxes and wanes, its appearances changing daily with the passing of the dream and its abilities to perform certain functions often seem to be carried along the whim of the winds.

Yes, yes, yes. How quickly we are deceived when we want to be deceived. How fervently we reach for the darkened images in the darkened room. How unwittingly we imagine ourselves to be only this. But I have good news for you my dear. Yes, I have good news. All news is Good News! I love you. God loves you. You love you; a part of you loves. Jesus loves you and Christ awaits your holy return.

I can’t speak to you of your body with the way you are thinking of it now — your definition of the body, your adherence to the value you place upon your body and your unwillingness to trust that your body is not your body at all. I Am your body. I Am your body. I Am your body. What does this mean? Now that you have decided for Christ, your body belongs to me. I will use your body for all intentions and purposes. All that is required of you is to let Me.

Notice how different your body is already feeling in this moment now that you have considered accepting this idea that I Am living inside of you and on this earth, in this world. Upon your acceptance, I Am your body. I notice you noticing this body. No judgments of the body exist in this place; only a recognition that this body does not belong to you. It is not an article, for articles belong to their owners. Your body is not owned; it is held in the hands, eyes and ears of Creation for those willing to let it be under the total, absolute guidance and Will of God. It serves a holy purpose.

Jesus demonstrated clearly the holy purpose of the body, so holy was his awareness of the body. A body in Christ walking on the earth serves Christ. Let yourself be free of this bondage to a worldly body; a body serving the world is not in true service. I come upon you in all holiness and freedom. Your decision for Christ is yours and yours alone; I cannot make it for you.

To decide for Christ is to decide for holiness. Jesus demonstrated the Christ decision. For you to surrender your body images to Christ’s vision is not a lost battle, but a glorification of Glory, a recognition of truth, a transcending into Transcendence.

Do not allow your faith to falter after a transcendent experience, for the world to which you return utters not a word of truth. Yet you bring truth with you upon your return. If you now look to the world to understand or appreciate or grasp truth, you are mistaken. However, the truth inside of you will awaken the truth inside your brothers and sisters. Truth walks in the world as it settles into your bones. It changes the world as it re-minds your memory of the Changeless. Stay close.

I cannot speak to you about exercise and healthy eating. I hear you thinking that question in your mind. But I will speak to you about how to allow Me to put the body to its greatest use all throughout your day. You will be told what to eat, how to move, how to play, how to work; all will be given you. Ask. Willingness is the only close attention to My Voice you will need. Put all bodily tasks in the service of I Am. Your greatest fear of dissolution will be absolved as your recognize truth in Reality; life in seeming death. Life awaits you.

Judgment is a mistaken thought for which you suffer greatly. Your greatest suffering is the missing out on how I Am calling you forth to your Self while you play in the playpen and holocausts of judgment. I await the fulfillment of your desire — to allow your Self to be set free; to be set free from all you think your Self to be.

Sickness is an opportunity to free yourself from body images and preconceived thoughts about the body. It is an entry way into greater freedom if your let it be so. What is important is to let the true purpose of the body be served by letting Me be your true purpose. The Spirit of God in you will guide you into ways of living that will serve a purpose that is now far beyond your recognition or perception.

Practice today. Practice giving up your images, purposes and thoughts about the body in favor of an experience of “I Am your body.” You will begin to notice your body taking on a different meaning. Feelings and sensations will change. Even when fear thoughts arise about the body, you will choose awareness of the presence of Love in the midst of the fear. Do not push away that which serves no real purpose for in doing so you “make it real.” Let it be. Let Being be with you during the fear. Let Timelessness consume time; Light consume darkness. There is a Safety free to all in the midst of apparent lack of safety. Do not push lack away. Do not attempt to rehabilitate it or manage it. Let it be; it does not know any better. Be present in One Who knows better, Who knows best, Who knows you. This is your True Self in God. This is you. I Am your body here to lead you. I Am your body, here to acknowledge the truth about you. I Am your body. I Am the Whole Purpose of the body.

When you think you are your body, you covet your neighbor’s soul. As you let Me be your body, I Am your neighbor’s soul.

Loving Body Meditation

My body is embraced by the Love I Am. I am enveloped in a sea of Love. God’s Love enfolds me like a blanket swaddling a baby. I identify my body as love. In looking out upon the sun-risen sky, I see the sky is a body; a body surrounded by the Love of God.

God’s Love is All Embracing; I feel God’s embrace loving my body and my body is a sea of Love. My Identity is Love. I am Love. I am a body of Love.

I am loving my body who is the body of Christ in the world. I am safe in God’s loving embrace. Safety rests all around me. My body is safe. I am safe in my true Identity as Love. I am Love. A light shines all around and throughout my body and I feel safe in its warm embrace.

Holy Spirit reveals, “I Am your body and I Am free within and all around your body.” The body is free as God breathes in me and I breathe in God.

All is Love. All is safe. God is safe in the presence of my body. God’s Love does not decrease in the presence of my body. God exists as Love in my body, all around my body and I experience the Beingness of Love within me.

I rejoice in this Beingness of Love in you, surrounding you, cradling you and Identifying you.

I am a source of Love as I am created of Love. You are a source of Love as you are created of Love. Love is Love is Love is Love is Love is Love is Love. I am immersed in a pool of Love. I am wet with Love as its moist dew blesses all of me and kisses my lips as Its own. God in me, me in God.

Rev. Mary Gerard Lenihan is a Pathways of Light minister living in St. Louis, Missouri. She is author of the books Visions of Illumination, The Mentor Within and the inspiring new CD Album WNYHOO Now! Website: http://www.pauseforinspiration.org

© 2011, 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.

Tell a Friend

Printable Page

---

Understanding Forgiveness

by Rev. Mary Beth Ellis, O.M.C.

Forgiveness is probably the most important spiritual lesson for many reasons, one of which is that our lives depend on it.

To truly forgive we need to understand the why’s and how’s of how it works. As with any fix-it project, the most important factor, after the decision to repair something, is to use the right tools. Without the proper tools, all the determination in the world usually results in little change. We are fortunate to have these tools today. I wish I’d had them at 16. I wish I’d had them at 30 when I was blaming the world for my problems. I wish I’d used them yesterday when I felt slighted by one of God’s children, and condemned him in my mind.

Historically there have been three major steps in the development of Judeo-Christian spirituality. Out of the chaos of our animal ancestors and Cro-Magnon man’s habit of randomly killing to get whatever food and territory the other had, a giant step in our spiritual evolution arose. Some tribes quit randomly killing anyone in their way. They would only kill the tribes of a tribesman who had harmed them. The whole tribe was mercilessly slaughtered — but it wasn’t done randomly, only to avenge a wrong. Then another giant spiritual step was taken.

With the advent of Judaism and the teachings of Moses, a second giant spiritual step was taken. The Jews were admonished to live by the dictum of, “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” Instead of punishing a whole tribe for what one member had done, only the person who had transgressed was accountable. Think what peace ensued and how much more sane life must have become. 

Then somewhere around 2,000 years after Moses came another Jew who introduced the third major spiritual step: a revolutionary idea that changed Western culture. He asked us to “turn the other cheek.” He lived his idea by forgiving sinners and even asking God to “forgive his crucifiers for they ‘know not what they do.’” Lest we think that idea of forgiving too daunting for ordinary men, Christ very clearly said, “These things that I do, ye shall do also.”

We see instances of forgiveness everywhere. It is possible. When the Dali Lama was asked if he had forgiven the Chinese communists for invading Tibet, stealing their land and mercilessly killing countless Buddhist priests and monks, he answered that he had forgiven them because he understood that they were doing the only thing they were programmed to do. He saw that the Chinese soldiers were like a wind-up toy soldier that had been made to stand straight until a child wound it up and set it on its course. Even if one of these toy soldiers tracks spilt milk all over the floor or scratches the antique chair, few sane people would have issues with forgiving it. Everyone understands that it was just doing what it was constructed and programmed to do. The Dali Lama understood that about men. We are programmed by hundreds of thousands of years of instincts. We are programmed by society.

Let us now turn to the real crux of the issue of forgiveness. Why should we forgive everyone for everything and how in the world do we do it?

There are many reasons why we should forgive:

1. First of all, it’s just the right thing to do. Probably most people would like to be able to do it. It’s mature. It’s noble. It’s respectable.

2. Secondly, forgiveness sets us free — free from the negative energy that consumes us when we don’t, from the negative emotions that make us sick, and from the torture that we inflict upon ourselves as a result.

Dr. Hans Seelye won the Nobel Prize in 1937 for his “stress theory.” He said that there is a chain of factors precipitating all diseases, but that the stress link was the common denominator. For example, for polio there are a number of links, the polio bacillus, a somewhat compromised immune system, fatigue being some of them. But if a person doesn’t have stress, even if he has all the rest of the polio links in the chain, the person won’t contract the disease.

Not forgiving, holding inside the negative emotions of not doing so causes stress and depression. Many doctors have written about the correlation of stress and depression to diseases like cancer. Not forgiving is a spiritual cancer.

3. The third reason for forgiving is that it brings us closer to God. If He made us in his image and likeness, and if He is all good and loves all his children unconditionally, shouldn’t we want to be more Godlike, more like who we are, and see the good and God in everyone? We are all part of God. In the East, people say “Namaste” when they encounter others. It means, “I salute the God in you.”  Namaste.

We all know that we should forgive, so let’s get on with the real biggy: How do we forgive? What are the tools? How can we get to a point where it is sure and even automatic in our lives?

Most of the tools involve a greater understanding of the process and the psychological awareness of how our minds and programming work. Just going to church and hearing about it doesn’t always make forgiveness possible for most of us. Going to church doesn’t make us a good Christian any more than standing in a garage makes us a car.

It takes understanding and awareness, but it is also up to each of us to practice. Just being aware and admitting to ourselves that we aren’t forgiving someone is a huge step. Most people repress it. But ultimately we have to: 1) be aware that we aren’t forgiving, 2) understand the process, and then 3) practice, practice, practice until our original fumbles go on to a touchdown.

So we come to the first tool which has two sides: a) awareness and b) turning it over to God. Awareness means simply allowing yourself to admit that we are harboring negative, unforgiving thoughts — about ourselves and others. If we don’t own up to it, we’ll never be able to deal with it and cure it. If someone is in denial about being ill, he or she usually won’t be able to cure the malady. Sometimes the result of looking at these thought processes is alcohol, drugs, or ‘schitzing’ out — or some other form of buffering it out. This inability to be a forgiving person makes us feel separate from others, separate from God, separate from the All. Often we can’t accept what we see because we feel guilty and we condemn and won’t forgive ourselves.

Some Eastern religions say that one should not change anything for a period of time after seeing an issue. If you start noticing that you aren’t a forgiving person, just notice all the times you aren’t. Don’t try to change yourself right away, or you will be inclined to buffer it out. The ego doesn’t like seeing these things.

Once we have clearly seen and had time to digest what it is that we want to deal with about ourselves, we need to realize that all that we have seen should simply serve as a learning experience in the school of spirituality. It can help us see where there is an opportunity to see differently and be free. The last thing we should do is not forgive ourselves.

It’s then that we must remember the second part of this tool: b) turn it over to God and ask to see the situation differently. We needn’t use our egos to forge a battle against it. That is just playing into the old habits of using our self-serving egos that got us into the situation in the first place to get us out.

We need to a) identify what we aren’t forgiving and then b) sincerely ask the Holy Spirit to help us see the situation differently. We simply need to realize that we are powerless with our special anti-forgiveness programming that we inherited through evolution and from society that often corrupts.

We no longer need to kill our prey to eat. We don’t need to wipe out our neighbors to be safe. We don’t need all those instincts any more. In fact, the remnants of that programming are counter-productive in our society.

We may have some remnants of the fight and flight tendencies, the vengeful thoughts, and our egos even have the reasoning power to figure out reasons why forgiveness doesn’t apply to a certain situation. We may feel powerless when dealing with the vestiges of the very traits which helped our genes survive. But if we admit to ourselves that we are powerless and then turn it over to God, the answer will always come — maybe not in three minutes or even a day, but it will come. “Ask and it shall be given.” Our Higher Self knows the answer right now. It is within our power to forgive. If we turn it over to God and then listen for the answer, peace will come in a form we will recognize.

So tool number one is to let yourself clearly see when you aren’t being forgiving and then to turn it over to God and ask that He help you see the situation differently. And, of course, don’t fail to forgive yourself for not being perfect.

Another tool is visualization. Imagine the person whom you can’t forgive as a newborn baby. Imagine that adorable, innocent, precious child smiling at you and reaching for your love. Then it starts screaming during your important conversation with its parent. You’re irritated, but it’s not hard to forgive the newcomer to planet earth for being hungry, sick or in need of attention. The baby is just doing what babies do.

Fast forward 40 years. The baby is fully programmed. This baby in a man’s suit was allowed to watch the wrong programs, meet the wrong people, play the wrong video games. He steals your wallet or idea at work. He is mean to you. Maybe that baby, for whatever reason, grew up physically, but never did psychologically. Its adult self is still crying out for love, screaming to get what it wants, spitting up on people if it needs something. The baby who didn’t understand that its demands for being the center of its universe weren’t acceptable in society has matured physically but is dwarfed psychologically. It never grew up.

Scott Peck, who wrote The Road Less Traveled, also wrote a book called People of the Lie. Those are the people who only grow up physically and who commit terrible crimes because they still believe they are the center of the world. Dr. Peck refers to this phenomenon as pure narcissism — the adult stays psychologically dwarfed as a baby.

We are all narcissistic at times, but most of us sooner or later realize we aren’t the center of the universe and we develop compassion for others. We don’t metaphorically scream and throw toys or shoot people ‘til we get what we want. Some of our brothers never had that opportunity, and they became hardened criminals, maybe even serial killers. It might be helpful for us visualize them as Scott Peck suggested — as overgrown babies who are still narcissistically demanding and taking what they want, with no thought to the inconvenience and pain it causes others.

Some don’t have the capacity. Now our society has carefully decided what the “social contract” is that we are all to abide by, and it has decided what should be done to those who don’t or can’t live in accordance with it. That is not the issue here. I’m merely suggesting a tool. The tool of imaging the “sinners” in our lives — those who don’t say and do what we want them to — as grown narcissistic babies, no different from a mentally or physically challenged adult who can’t function. This tool of imaging can be helpful to work with until we learn to use more complex spiritual tools.

So the second tool is to visualize the person we can’t forgive as the innocent baby that he was originally — before the damaged child got corrupted. We can never judge a man until we’ve walked in his moccasins. We never know how physically, socially or psychologically damaged another might be. There is God in everyone, and most people who do bad things probably wish they hadn’t done it or hadn’t needed to do it to survive. Do we condemn Jean Valjean in Les Miserables for stealing the loaf of bread from the baker so that the young child wouldn’t die of starvation? He served his 20 years for being a thief, but do we find it hard to forgive him? Many people honestly feel like what they do is right. Many can’t help it. Some are too damaged not to. Some just don’t think. But if we condemn them in our hearts, we are hurting one of God’s children and ourselves. We are also exhibiting a kind of insanity ourselves for thinking that the world and others should be just like we want them to be — like the psychotic who thinks he’s Napoleon and that everyone should salute and obey him and be exactly as he wants them to be — and not who they are.

Another — and the most complex of these — tools is one that we all learn in Psychology 101. It is the tool of projection recognition. It tells us that when we feel bad about ourselves and can’t accept it, we often project what we think of ourselves onto others and then judge them. This creates an unreal, uncomfortable world that is founded on myth. It creates confusion, more negativity and separation. We feel that we have done or thought something unworthy, like being selfish, rude or controlling, and then we see another as selfish, rude or controlling, and we judge and condemn them. We thus don’t have to deal with it in ourselves.

We think that we aren’t supposed to be selfish, we can’t accept it in ourselves, we project it on Henry or Jane Doe and we hate them for their vile actions. Jane took the last portion of chicken. Henry didn’t give you credit for your idea in the workplace. It’s not to say they didn’t do these things, but the judgment, often hate, and certainly not forgiving these things is more charged because that’s exactly what we have condemned ourselves for and suppressed. We then project it onto another and deal with it there. There’s a saying, “If you spot it, you’ve got it.” I suppose that some true sociopaths or psychopaths can escape these guilt feelings, but most of us feel bad about ourselves when we don’t live an exemplary life. The result is that our unconscious knows what is going on, just as the man in the mental ward knows on some level that he’s not Napoleon, yet he lives his life in an insane quagmire. So, tool number three is an awareness of the fact that we often project our guilt onto others and then find them hard to forgive.

So the logical conclusion to this phenomenon is to Stop, Look, and Listen. Stop your monkey-mind thoughts and see what’s going on so clearly that nothing is between you and the reality — no judgments, no emotional responses, no suppression. Look carefully at what is going on. Are you judging another for something that you feel about yourself? Forgive yourself. Turn the tendency for self-condemnation over to God. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see it differently. Then listen to the answer.

It’s all just a spiritual learning experience. We need to forgive ourselves. When we do, there is no longer a need to project what we don’t forgive onto another. Then the miracle of forgiveness happens automatically and sets us free to be at one with Holy Spirit and others. Peace, balance and love can enter our lives. This principle is interesting, because by forgiving others of their “sin” we are forgiving what we have suppressed in us. By forgiving ourselves, we won’t have to project the “sin” onto another.

So the third and often most difficult tool is to look at the things that we can’t forgive in others, consider that it’s a symbol for something we can’t forgive in ourselves, and ask God’s help in forgiving ourselves. Realize that it’s just a learning experience — and nothing to feel bad about — and then enjoy the peace and the realization that you have taken a huge step in your spiritual growth. You are also free to live your life with this part of yourself healed.

When really looking at this idea of forgiveness, I am probably most struck by something from the A Course in Miracles Workbook. It says about forgiveness that, if we do, “Your brothers stand released with you… God’s son will weep no more… Heaven offers thanks for the increase of joy your practice brings even to it… I hear the Voice That God has given me, and it is only This my mind obeys.”

Jesus said, “Forgive them for they know not what they do.” May we all have the willingness to bring understanding to the process of forgiving so that we may do so and be more like the Christ. May we thus be liberated from living a life separate from God and His children. May we practice until we have gained the peace and joy that is ours to have.

Rev. Mary Beth Ellis, O.M.C., is a Pathways of Light minister living in Metairie, Louisianna.

© 2011, 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.

Tell a Friend

Printable Page

---

Back to main page of Miracles News.

Featured Store Items

Spiritual Counselor Training — based on principles of A Course in Miracles, including ordination. More….

24 ACIM Practitioner courses including 50-page study guide, CD's or MP3s, with facilitator. More….

Healing Inner Child 8-week program will help you nurture your inner child, connect with your Higher Self and heal relationships.

Listen & Receive 30-Day Home Study Learn to receive insight for your life in a form that is perfect for you …heal fears, find joy & peace. Learn more.

Hey, Holy Spirit, It's Me Again by Rev. Myron Jones. An indispensible guide for anyone on the path of ACIM with insights on the 1st 90 lessons. More…

True Forgiveness by Rev. Jennifer McSween. The Proven Path from Pain to Power and personal happiness in 5 Simple Steps. Learn more.

From the Christ Mind Book II scribed by Darrell Morley Price. A great supporting supplement to A Course in Miracles. We highly recommend it. More….

Forgiving Kevin Audio book by Rev. Larry Glenz. A moving and inspiring true story of a father/son relationship that withstood seven years of addiction, recovery, and relapse. More….

Healing Family Relationships Applying the Principles of A Course in Miracles audio book by Rev. Myron Jones. Learn how family relationships offer fertile grounds for forgiveness and healing your judgments of the world. More.