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

Fear

by Rev. Lee Catalano, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

Fear is not the fear of God, which is what I believed for SO long. The material of A Course In Miracles must be digested over time, for there is so much resistance to truth buried in the unconscious. I have been a devout student for 33 years. Remember what Jesus told the apostles? They had been with him every single day for at least three years, and He told them they would understand His teachings later.

When Saul was struck down blind, he went into the quiet for several years and emerged as St. Paul. This fear that we have is our anguish and terror that we have been abandoned by God’s Love. Jesus wants us to see through the interpretation of the Holy Spirit when we feel someone has defaulted into fear and attack. Can you see it in yourself? I sure can. This realization, this awakening had me very still at my desk this morning. I normally write an article for Pathways very fast, but nothing was dawning. Well here it is.

Can you remember a time when you felt pure and devastating anguish? Allow the Holy Spirit and His pure Love to go there with you and re-interpret it in your mind.

There is TERROR and ANGUISH in the mind. As I answer every call for Love that comes my way, this terror and anguish is healing within MY mind. Remember “we do not heal alone.” That angry cab driver, that obnoxious co-worker, that rude daughter-in-law, that gossipy, jealous neighbor? All my SAVIORS. Why and HOW is that? Because what is appearing there is not only fear, but the unconscious TERROR of being cut off from Love. The desire to receive the Holy Spirit’s interpretation of them, heals me! 

<---- Me at my desk sighing and praying right now. Wow, just wow.

I need to end this article now so I can put my head in my hands and cry. I’m so very grateful.

Rev. Lee Catalano, OMC, is a Pathways of Light minister living in Worcester, MA
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

© 2025, 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

---

Messages from Spirit (Via Joey My Cat)

by Laura Woodyard, Pathways of Light Spiritual Counselor training student

My cat Joey went missing one day. My husband asked if I’d seen him in the morning, and I hadn’t. He didn’t show up for his breakfast.  The search began. My three kitties are indoor only, so I looked everywhere, opened every drawer, looked under all the furniture, scoured the closets. I rattled the box of food, which usually brings him running. The basement and garage were searched as well, no cat.

I decided my (guilty) husband had carelessly opened the garage door and he had run outside. So I made flyers, walked through the neighborhood, looking under cars, peering into bushes.

Then I grieved. Two of my cats, my little family, my hearts, had died earlier this year due to a mistake I made. My stepmom died this year as well, my last close family member. She had been the bright light in my life. Losing her was terrible.

After sitting for a time in prayer and meditation, I remembered all is well in truth.  I let my story go, my story of disaster, my cat will be run over, he’s terrified of strangers. My story that other cats will attack him, he’ll starve, and on and on.  (This was starting to sound familiar.) 

When I surrendered my story, my mind returned. Fear dropped away. I had peace, trust and forgiveness instead. I rested in God.

About 10 minutes later I heard his distinctive meow. I have two other cats, and it wasn’t them. I searched the house, high and low, looked all through the basement and garage. I figured it was just hopeful hearing.

The next morning my husband said he’d heard him too, in the back corner of the garage where the freezer is. When I looked up I saw he could have climbed into the space between the ceiling downstairs and the floor upstairs. I planted a bowl of his food on the floor, and the food was gone when I checked 20 minutes later.

Now, how to catch this nervous elusive beast? He won’t let himself be touched.  (I have to lure him upstairs into a small room and quick shut the door to catch him for the vet.)

I took charge and devised a plan. I would plant bits of food every three feet, make a trail, the Hansel and Gretel trick. I put the food out, little blobs of it all the way upstairs. I explained my plan to my husband, who promptly walked all over the food. I waited until my husband left and reset the bait. It was a long path, through the garage then basement. Up the stairs, through the kitchen and out into the foyer. That way I could quick shut the door behind him so he wouldn’t bolt back downstairs. 

I waited, sitting in an uncomfortable chair.  No cat. I started listening to a satsang. They were talking about relinquishing control, how the ego’s plan for happiness is try and do, and stress and worry, but never succeed. The leader then suggested instead of looking at a plan for future happiness, remember God’s truth is now, in the present, and not dependent on outcomes.

It’s so novel to me, understanding gifts that are mine in the immediacy of the moment. Happiness now? Regardless of what appears to be happening? Relax, and trust now? I shifted with such gratitude, to be learning that I am already that, filled with happiness when I open to it.

I stopped worrying about my operation to outwit Joey. I lay down on the couch. I heard him in the kitchen. He traipsed in like he’d never left. When I got up to shut the basement door, I saw that he didn’t even eat the trail of food. All my work for nothing! (The dogs were delighted to clean it up.)

Holy Spirit’s lessons for me are so gentle, always filling me with relief, appreciation and happiness. As I lighten up, the more I give up the blocks I create to the awareness of love and joy, the sillier my plans look. The world will end in laughter, right?

Laura Woodyard is a Pathways of Light student living in Coquille, OR.
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

© 2025, 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

---

Letting Holy Spirit Purify Our Minds

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

In dreaming of a world of separation, we have made up a concept of an individual self. This concept hides the changeless Self that God created from our awareness. We have not lost our true Self. But as long as we identify with a separate self, we cannot know the glory that God shares with our Self. But we have a choice. We can choose to let go of a self-concept we made and accept our Self as It is.

We need to accept the Holy Spirit’s help, Who always speaks for our Self and our Father. By declaring that the power of decision is our own, we are reminding ourselves that we can choose once again. We can choose to let go of our self-concept and accept that we are Love and nothing else. In this acceptance we awaken to the Heaven of God’s Love.

We have the means to live in joy. We need only make it a priority to step back and listen to the Holy Spirit’s Guidance all through the day. He will teach us to see beyond the dream of fear and disaster. He will help us see the reality of Love shining everywhere, unencumbered by dreams of separation.

As we accept the Holy Spirit’s help by choosing peace and letting our mind quiet, we will let the false images of conflict and judgment dissolve in the Light of God’s Love, which shows us unity and brings us peace of mind. With the Holy Spirit’s help, we choose to see every brother truly. In recognition of our oneness, every day can be a joyous day of reunion with our true Self.

“You have never given any problem to the Holy Spirit He has not solved for you, nor will you ever do so. You have never tried to solve anything yourself and been successful. …This year invest in truth, and let it work in peace. Have faith in Him Who has faith in you.” (T-16.II.9:1-2,7-8)

Here we have a practice that can set us free from fear and guilt. We can have full remembrance of our Identity in God. Our Identity is a given; It can never change. To ask the Holy Spirit to make all decisions on our behalf is willingness to let truth replace all self-deceptions.

To perceive anyone as a body, including our own, is to accept false beliefs. The Holy Spirit sees past these perceptions to the Love that is our Identity.

Each day we can set our intent to let the Holy Spirit decide all things on our behalf. As we practice pausing throughout the day to accept His help, we become His messenger to bring healing to the world and heal our minds as well.

Experience: We were particularly challenged as we watched the U.S. election. Politics are always centered on opinions about “right and wrong.” One person’s right can be another person’s wrong. This is inherent in the duality of the dream of separation. Opinions maintain the perception of differences and conflict.

As we observed ourselves being disturbed by political rhetoric, we saw that we needed to step back and let Holy Spirit purify our minds from our investment in our opinions. We asked for help to see past differences to recognize our calls for Love and everyone’s call for Love.

We remember that feeling fearful can only occur when we have forgotten that only Love is real. By stepping back and accepting the Holy Spirit’s help, we remember to let Love shine away the dark thoughts of fear. We remember we are safe, no matter what the dream looks like. We feel peaceful and offer Love to those we have judged as wrong.

We learn to see that we are all seeking to feel the safety of God’s Love. We join with perceived adversaries as we remember that in truth, we are united in Love.

We need to forgive the beliefs that are a defense against Love’s oneness. Forgiveness unites us with Love. In reality, there is nothing to forgive. In the dream of denial, forgiveness is Love’s mirror. While we believe we are a body, we focus on perception of what seems to be external. When we forgive, the Love that is our brother is reflected back to us.

Forgiveness is a way of saying: “I accept God’s gift of Love.” This acceptance returns the memory of God to our mind. Today we welcome His Love and let the Holy Spirit help us overlook the false barriers to see the Love that is everywhere. In Love we find peace and joy.

In Workbook for Students, Lesson 350 we learn: “And as we gather miracles from Him, we will indeed be grateful. For as we remember Him, His Son will be restored to us in the reality of Love.”

We have found that the Holy Spirit is our best Friend. He gives us the means to live in joy. We need only make it a priority to listen to the Holy Spirit’s Guidance all through the day.

He will teach us to see beyond the dream of fear and disaster. He will help us see the reality of Love shining everywhere, unencumbered by dreams of separation.

As we accept the Holy Spirit’s help, we will let the false images of conflict dissolve in the Light of Love, which shows us unity and brings us peace of mind. With the Holy Spirit’s help, we choose to see every brother truly. In recognition of our oneness, this will be a joyous day of reunion with our true Self.

We have thoroughly trained ourselves to believe that what the ego sees through the body’s eyes is true. But what we see with the ego are images in darkness, devoid of the Light of Love. The effect of this “seeing” is appearances of conflict, loss, guilt and fear — lack of Love.

It is time to retrain our minds to choose the Holy Spirit’s vision, which sees with the Light of Love. This vision shows us the reality of Love’s oneness. There is no conflict here, for Love is one and the same, everywhere, always and forever.

This vision cannot be seen by the body. It is seen with the vision of Christ in our mind. With this vision the images of the ego’s dark world are dispelled by the Light. They are overlooked as Love’s reality dawns upon our mind. Where we saw loss, we see only the constant extension of Love. Where we saw cause for guilt, we see Love’s eternal innocence. The reality of Love replaces the illusion of fear.

All this comes as we forgive by choosing the Holy Spirit’s vision over the ego’s image-making in darkness. This is how we accept that the Light of Love is here, now and always.

Robert and Mary Stoelting are co-founders of Pathways of Light, which is dedicated to helping people access Inner Wisdom and find inner peace. Pathways of Light offers many helpful resources through its website at:  http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

© 2025, 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 Body as Means or End

by Rev. Myron Jones, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

“It has been particularly difficult to overcome the ego’s belief in the body as an end, because it is synonymous with the belief in attack as an end. The ego has a profound investment in sickness. If you are sick, how can you object to the ego’s firm belief that you are not invulnerable? This is an appealing argument from the ego’s point of view, because it obscures the obvious attack that underlies the sickness. If you recognized this and also decided against attack, you could not give this false witness to the ego’s stand.” (T-8.VIII.3:1-5)

I have decided that sickness is a defense against God in every case. No matter what kind of sickness I am experiencing, what pain or discomfort, I know that it is the symbol of an attack thought in my mind.

I still hear the ego suggest reasons for the sickness. For instance, if I have a headache, the ego mind checks the barometric pressure. It thinks about what I have eaten that might have triggered the headache. It suggests that the headache is the result of stress from dealing with a difficult person.

I have learned to ignore this chatter as entirely irrelevant. The headache is a projection of an attack thought. That is the cause every time. I have an attack thought, and I want it away from me. So, I project it outward and use it to prove I am blameless because someone or something else is to blame. A pain pill might bring me temporary relief simply because the pain pill is a magical solution I decided on, but no magical solution will heal me.

I am healed as I give up attack thoughts. Attack thoughts are interesting, too. I attack someone I know because he caused me a problem. I might say something to him, or I might just attack in my own thoughts, but it is the same either way. I see the attack, and I recognize that I am never upset for the reason I think. I ask the Holy Spirit for clarity, and eventually, I am led to the belief that I am separate from God. That is the actual attack thought, the one that sources all other attack thoughts.

There is a solution for this: forgiveness. I forgive the attack thoughts and, eventually, forgive the idea of attack. In the Psychotherapy section of the Course, it says this:

“Sickness takes many forms, and so does unforgiveness. The forms of one but reproduce the forms of the other, for they are the same illusion. So closely is one translated into the other, that a careful study of the form a sickness takes will point quite clearly to the form of unforgiveness that it represents. Yet seeing this will not effect a cure. That is achieved by only one recognition; that only forgiveness heals an unforgiveness, and only an unforgiveness can possibly give rise to sickness of any kind.” (P-2.VI.5:1-5)

I had to smile when I read that a careful study of the form a sickness takes will point quite clearly to the form of unforgiveness that it represents. I have to take off my hat to Louise Hay. She has an entire book dedicated to this idea that I was never entirely sure about. I have a nerve problem that has appeared in two separate parts of my body. Now, I am thinking about something I have said many times in the past. When I was bothered by someone, I would say that person gets on my nerves. Hmmm. I wonder if I still do that, or even think it.

Here is how it is working for me. I started out watching my mind for attack thoughts, and as I found one, I would use a forgiveness process to undo it and accept the Atonement in that situation. And now I have a very specific thought to watch for as I say, think, or even feel like someone or something is getting on my nerves. Slowly, as more and more are undone in my mind, I begin to see the end game. I see that the real problem is the belief I am separate from God, and that idea begins to unravel. As it does so, my reality is being revealed to me. I am starting to remember what I am, and attack in any form is losing its appeal as it loses its purpose.

Rev. Myron Jones, OMC, is a Pathways of Light Spiritual Counselor living in Westlake, LA. Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  Website: forgivenessisthewayhome.org https://www.youtube.com/@RevMyron

© 2025, 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.