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Our Pathway Home Comes from Holy Spirit

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

Forgiveness guides us to overlook the world of separation to experience our oneness with our Creator and every brother. We willingly shed our judgments in favor of seeing the truth and blessing our brothers. As we welcome the Holy Spirit, we are safely led out of the dream of separation to find the eternal Love that has always been ours.

“Forgiveness is the Holy Spirit’s great learning aid in bringing this thought reversal about. …As we learn to recognize our perceptual errors, we also learn to look past them or “forgive.” At the same time we are forgiving ourselves, looking past our distorted self-concepts to the Self That God created in us and as us.” (ACIM Preface, xi)

The ego fantasy is that we have succeeded in separating from our Creator. From this wish, a whole universe of fantasies comes forth. Being dependent on these dream fantasies of separation for its existence, the ego never questions its choice of being unique and special. Rather, it always seeks to make the false idea of separation from God more real. The ego’s plan for forgiveness is to first believe that something has happened and then tries to disregard it or put it out of awareness to hold the illusion of separation from God in place.

The unconscious mind is the ego’s repository for all the illusions it wants to keep held in place but which we do not want to be aware of. By seeming to put thoughts and beliefs out of awareness, we have the illusion of overlooking them while still hanging on to them. The ego smiles happily at this charade because it keeps it safely entrenched in our mind. To break free from this imprisoning cycle, we need help from outside the ego thought system. This is why we need the Holy Spirit’s plan of forgiveness. The Holy Spirit gives no credence to all ego ideas.

The ego’s plan for correction is to make the error unconscious rather than undo it. This allows the ego thought system to remain in place by making us unaware of the intense fear and guilt that we would surely reject if we were conscious of it. On the other hand, the Holy Spirit’s plan for correction is to undo the error at its source in our minds. This is why it is important that we not hide from our errors, which are our mistaken beliefs in being a separate identity.

The initial error of believing that separation is real is played out in our life experience in myriad ways every day. That is why it is essential that we develop a habit of taking all our perceptions to the Holy Spirit for His reinterpretation. When we let Him, the Holy Spirit will reinterpret what we have perceived in His own Light of perfect Love. He will show us that what we thought confirmed our separation is not true. As we accept this, He will undo the effects of the error because the error was not real and therefore had no effect in truth.

This practice, done moment by moment, takes us back up the ladder that we have descended into the hell of separation. We undo all the images of separation until we reach the point of true perception, where we see that everything is, in truth, part of us and we stand at the threshold of the unity of Heaven.

To the ego, this process seems like it must be endless because there seems to be so many different forms to forgive. But as we work with the Holy Spirit, we learn to see more and more that what seemed to be different is really all the same. We come to the point of realizing that there is really only one error — the belief that separation occurred. With the Holy Spirit’s help, we let that go and we return with joy to the welcoming arms of our loving Creator. We return to the awareness of Reality.

“Forgiveness is acquired. It is not inherent in the mind, which cannot sin. As sin is an idea you taught yourself, forgiveness must be learned by you as well, but from a Teacher other than yourself, Who represents the other Self in you. Through Him you learn how to forgive the self you think you made, and let it disappear. Thus you return your mind as one to Him Who is your Self, and Who can never sin.” (W.121.6:1-5)

The Holy Spirit represents our true Self. To be happy, we must have a consistent practice of letting Him be our Guide in everything we think, say or do. This practice will free our mind from fear and guilt, returning it to its natural state of Love.

The Holy Spirit’s vision shows us the presence of Love everywhere. He teaches us that what we see with the body’s eyes is not real and has no effect on the Self God created one with Him. Reason under the ego’s guidance cannot teach us illusions are not real. The seeming existence of the ego depends on maintaining the belief that illusions are real.

But as we let the Holy Spirit guide our perception, we see the world in a different Light — the Light of Love. This Light dispels the shadows of mistaken beliefs in what could never be true. This Light is in us. We need only choose the Light of Love in our mind to see a forgiven world, free of the ego’s denial of God’s Love. By choosing the Holy Spirit as our Guide, we choose life instead of death, Love instead of fear, innocence instead of guilt. We are returned to happiness.

Because we have been attached to a false ego thought system, which is based on the desire for uniqueness, specialness and being different from Universal Love, we will practice being led by the Holy Spirit to become aware of the thoughts we are believing in and recognize the difference between ego’s thoughts and Holy Spirit’s thoughts.

We need a Teacher Who is not deceived by the illusions we have made to substitute for the truth of Love. By the grace of God we always have the Holy Spirit in our minds, right there, where we made up the illusions. Being in the place where we make the error, He is in a position to offer correction if we are willing to learn His lessons. His lessons begin with helping us recognize that what we have believed brought us happiness has no real value because it is made of nothing. It is a simple lesson, but one that may not be easy for us to accept.

His teaching helps us to change our values so that we no longer give value to nothing. We learn to recognize the real value of Love, Which is everything and is What we are. Gradually the fear of change subsides and we become happy learners of the fact that only truth is true — only Love is real.

The Holy Spirit shows us that nothing really matters in a world that is not there. What really matters is remembering the truth that we are in Heaven where we belong, now. No worldly stories can change the truth. Truth is true and nothing else is true. As we see our brothers in the light of truth, we help ourselves and our brothers because we are one.

As we let the Holy Spirit be our Guide in awakening from our belief in separation, we become God’s messengers. We remember that we are Love Itself and extend Love equally to all. This is the one function God would have us fulfill. Today and every day we practice being a messenger of Love.

Understanding the difference between our function and the Holy Spirit’s function is a very important part in being able to experience the happy dream. Our one constant focus is, “‘…Thy Will be done,’ and not, ‘I want it otherwise.’” (T-18.V.4:3)

Once our role is clear, and we are willing to do our part of stepping back and following, the Holy Spirit knows how to do the rest.

“On your little faith, joined with His understanding, He will build your part in the Atonement and make sure that you fulfill it easily. And with Him, you will build a ladder planted in the solid rock of faith, and rising even to Heaven. Nor will you use it to ascend to Heaven alone.” (T-18.V.2:6-8)

We do not ascend to Heaven alone because, as we allow the Holy Spirit to heal our thoughts of separation, we learn to see that all the little illusionary ‘minds’ in the dream of separation are really connected. We are, in fact, joined. This means we are not alone and never were, even though we believed it for a while.

Our experience: We still find ourselves believing in the thoughts of the world, but as we continue to practice, we find that it has become easier to see these thoughts sooner and again remember that calls for love are reminders to extend Love, not judgment.

In truth, we are all God’s children. There is nothing to fear. We are still safe in the Mind of God, where we were created. We are a great help to each other when either of us forget that only God’s Love is real. The following is a process that we work with to deepen our connection to the Holy Spirit:

Relax and open to Holy Spirit’s healing guidance in your mind… You remember that the Light of Love is what you are, given you by our Creator to be forever united with Him… You remember that this is true about you and every brother in this world…

Because you are the eternal Light of Love, you remember that you have the power to bring peace to every mind…

You practice seeing every brother as the Son of God he is… You practice this by seeing him as God sees him… (allow time)

Tell yourself frequently, “The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my forgiveness. I am the means God has appointed for the salvation of the world.”

Today we choose to accept Holy Spirit’s help to let go of our wish for specialness, or separation from Love’s oneness. We want to remember the Love we are. We want to be happy. We remember with the Holy Spirit that forgiveness is the key to everything we truly want.

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

© 2026, 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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Learning to Trust My Little Willingness

by Rev. Myron Jones, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

My ACIM study group has been reading about the little willingness, and as happens often, it is like I have never read it before. It’s not new information, but it hits me differently this time. It begins by telling us that the holy instant is the result of our determination to be holy. It reminds us that only our willingness is needed, and in fact, to do more will interfere with the Holy Spirit’s part.

I used to wonder how it was that I interfered, but that was because I just couldn’t believe that my desire for awakening was enough. Surely, I had a lot of work to do. I couldn’t just sit back and expect the miracle to awaken me. It felt irresponsible of me to do less. Now I see that this was just the ego trying to stay in the game.

In reality, doing less is precisely what I am to do. For example, when I feel afraid, I know it is because I am holding onto the past. I tried to think of a fear that isn’t about the past, but I couldn’t find one. I wasted time yesterday, and this morning I regretted it. Why? Because in the past, I’ve run out of time to finish all my tasks, and so I fear it will happen again. If I accept that the past is gone and focus only on the present, I would have simply enjoyed the moment, and now I would have no regrets — only a pleasant feeling.

Every fear thought I could find was caused by focusing on the past. There is no past, and there is no future — only the present moment. I am afraid of nothing, yet that is the ego’s plan for sustaining the illusion. If I stay afraid, I will not remember my true identity. I will not remember why I am here, and I will continue to suffer. I am Love Itself, and I cannot know this and at the same time know fear. I must choose, and to choose fear is insanity.

So, what is there for me to do about these fear thoughts and holding onto the past? I have already done it. I saw the problem and I wanted the solution. The Holy Spirit does the rest. I accept His miracle, and my mind is healed. The ego just can’t believe it’s that simple, but it is.

Jesus tells us this: “The Holy Spirit will not delay in answering your every question what to do. He knows. And He will tell you, and then do it for you.” (T-14.IV.6:4-6)

The ego argues the point. It says I must try to always stay in the present moment, which, of course, I will not do, so it sets me up for failure. I’m not asked never to make mistakes — only that I forgive them and let them go. In fact, we are encouraged to not judge ourselves for our errors.

“But trust implicitly your willingness, whatever else may enter. Concentrate only on this, and be not disturbed that shadows surround it. That is why you came. If you could come without them you would not need the holy instant.” (T-18.IV.2:3-6)

The shadows that surround our efforts are the ego’s attempt to distract, distort, discourage, and obscure. If those don’t work, it will attempt to take the Holy Spirit’s job.

We don’t need to worry that it is happening. As long as we think we are here, we will hear the ego. There is no reason to be disturbed by that happening. I simply ignore the ego and focus on my willingness.

Here is why we need do so little:

“The holy instant does not come from your little willingness alone. It is always the result of your small willingness combined with the unlimited power of God’s Will.”  (T-18.IV.4:1-2)

Clearly, this is not something the ego can help with, nor do we need it to do so. We can relax and trust the Holy Spirit to do His part. In the past and sometimes even now, I have worried that the ego never stops its chattering. I worried that I would ask for healing and then find myself in the same situation again. I was afraid all this meant that I was failing. Now I see that it actually means I am succeeding.

There was a time when I didn’t know that I was making a mistake, when I would assume that my problems were someone else’s fault. It did not occur to me that I was doing all this to myself. Even when I had to face the fact that my problem was my own fault, I thought I couldn’t do better because of the way I was raised or because of past trauma. I actually believed that my salvation lay in being a victim.

I hear the ego trying to interest me in this kind of thinking, but I will never believe this again. These shadow thoughts are unimportant unless I believe them, and even then, I have instant recourse through forgiveness. The moment I desire healing, the Holy Spirit answers me and then joins my small willingness with the unlimited power of God’s Will.

There is nothing we need to do to prepare ourselves for God. This idea is just another way we interfere with the miracle.

“If you maintain you are unworthy of learning this, you are interfering with the lesson by believing that you must make the learner different. You did not make the learner, nor can you make him different.” (T-18.IV.4:8-9)

Sometimes Jesus makes a simple statement that just hammers home the point as he does in the next sentence.

“Would you first make a miracle yourself, and then expect one to be made for you?”  (T-18.IV.4:10)

We are worthy because we were created worthy. All efforts to improve on perfection are merely foolish. Our errors are just that — errors. They don’t make us less than what we were created. We are still as God created us. This cannot be repeated too often. I used to absolutely believe that I had to do something with myself before I approached the Holy Spirit. I have to laugh at that now.

“Atonement cannot come to those who think that they must first atone, but only to those who offer it nothing more than simple willingness to make way for it.” (T-18.IV.5:6)

Now my approach is more like this: “Here I am, Holy Spirit, believing that I am a fool, making the same mistakes over and over again, and choosing suffering over healing. I want to make better choices and call on You for a miracle.” Now that is an honest approach. I recognize my error and come for help to correct it.

I’m not trying to fix myself and then approach the Holy Spirit, something that makes no sense. There is nothing wrong with me. I’m just confused and lost in a world that is not my Home. I am asking for directions back to my true nature and to my place in God. And finally, I’m turning to the Teacher who knows.

“You are still convinced that your understanding is a powerful contribution to the truth, and makes it what it is. Yet we have emphasized that you need understand nothing. Salvation is easy just because it asks nothing you cannot give right now.” (T-18.IV.7:5-7)

So many times I have pondered the words I read and tried to understand them. I would discuss it with others, argue over the meaning, and be afraid that if I didn’t understand it correctly, I was doomed to never awaken. This is something else I have released. I accept that I don’t have to understand. I just have to follow directions.

You would think that would be both obvious and simple. After all, if my recipe calls for a teaspoon of salt, I don’t research to discover why this is so. I don’t need to understand why I am to cook it at 350 degrees instead of 375 degrees. I just do it. I don’t know why I need to know why I am to wash one blouse and dry clean another. And I don’t question my GPS when it tells me to turn left rather than right.

I know how to follow directions without understanding why. In this most important area of my life, I don’t need to know why I am to do a thing. I only know that I will.

“If you believe the holy instant is difficult for you, it is because you have become the arbiter of what is possible, and remain unwilling to give place to One Who knows.” (T-18.IV.8:2)

I will remind myself today of this fact. I am not asked to do the impossible. I’m not even asked to do the difficult. I’m only asked to be willing for it to be done, and I give way to the Holy Spirit and not interfere. I cannot fail because I did not fail.

“Everything God wills is not only possible, but has already happened. And that is why the past has gone. It never happened in reality. Only in your mind, which thought it did, is its undoing needful.” (T-18.IV.8:4-7)

Each time I remember this, I feel the burden lift a little more. My only task is to be willing — just willing. The rest is already done. The more I trust that tiny spark of willingness, the more I recognize how vast its light really is. The holy instant is not somewhere I must arrive; it is already here, waiting only for my quiet “yes.” And that, at last, feels like enough.

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

© 2026, 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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Reflections on Sickness: Choosing Love or Fear

by Rev. Joanne Goodrich, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

I have been thinking about “sickness” and how it is one of the sneakiest tools in the ego’s arsenal for attack. Why? Because sickness tries to persuade me that I am a body and separate from everyone else.

About five years after I started studying A Course in Miracles, I became very, very ill. I was told to get my affairs in order because it was likely I that I did not have long to live.

Lying in the MRI machine for the first time, I heard the banging noises and kept very still. Suddenly, I felt an otherworldly light envelop me and heard a question: “Do you want to come home now?”

My initial reaction was one of relief and gratitude: I had been so sick that my days were almost unbearable. I wanted so badly to leave this body behind. I remembered, too, that, “I am not a body.” (W-199-220) and that I had dedicated myself to living the prayer, “I am here only to be truly helpful. I am here to represent Him Who sent me.” (T-2.V.A.18:2-3)

So, I didn’t ask for the healing of my body but only if I had more to learn in this body: I was here to serve. My mind was completely willing to choose God and to follow His plan for me.

Over the next six months, tests began to look inconclusive; then, benign. I went through the process of major surgery and recovery. My body healed. Many years passed. Slowly but surely, the Holy Spirit continued to awaken me with gentle patience. My mind started to heal and my faith in God expanded, bringing more peace.

Almost twenty years later, my body is still “here” but, as the Course says, “…you have not utterly forgotten the body… You are not asked to let this happen for more than an instant, yet it is in this instant that the miracle of Atonement happens. Afterwards you will see the body again, but never quite the same. And every instant that you spend without awareness of it gives you a different view of it when you return.” (T-18.VII.2:1,3-5)

This has, indeed, been my experience. The Holy Spirit uses everything — relationships, situations, the body — as the classroom for teaching me about forgiveness and my fulfilling my purpose here.

The ego still plays its games of attack through the lens of “sickness.” My body gets sick, but I no longer think of this as dire; rather, it seems laughable.

Imagine my surprise when I had a flash of insight from the Holy Spirit recently about the symptoms of Type-2 Diabetes my body experiences! Brain fog, exhaustion, nausea, and headaches are hard to ignore. They don’t feel funny although, in the fog, they can feel absurd.

I asked the Holy Spirit for insight and guidance because the symptoms were becoming more acute. I felt the “fear” and was not willing to choose it. I understood that “There are decisions to make here, and they must be made whether they are illusions or not. Therefore, it is not the form of the question that matters, nor how it is asked. The form of the answer, if given by God, will suit your need as you see it.” (S-1.I.2:6-7)

I brought my fear to the Holy Spirit, saying, “My greatest fear is losing my ability to choose Love not fear.”  Here’s what He told me:

Remember you are not a body. You are Spirit.

There is no order of difficulty in the problems you face: they are all the same. This is why there is no order of difficulty in miracles.

Remember that a miracle is an extension of Love and that only the Truth is real.

Every single thing, no matter what it is, boils down to one choice: Love or fear.

Have faith that once your choice has been truly made it cannot be un-made.

Give your little willingness to Me and I will do the rest.

For me, diabetes is a nudge to remember forgiveness. It reminds me that it is a way that the ego tries to defend itself in me.
I have been in Type 2’s thrall for so long that I could hardly see it as an ego attack. Yet, my body is a wholly neutral thing.

I am asked to choose Love in every situation, including mundane choices about food, exercise, stress, etc. From a practical perspective, I recognize that every choice related to my body is the same: Does the choice I make have a neutral effect (reflecting the body’s neutrality) or does it make the ego’s message of sickliness and death seem real?

Recognizing this simple thing as it pertains to a chronic illness has been huge. My body may be “sick” and even “sicker” (as measured by doctors and symptoms).
I may be guided to make choices regarding my body (food, medication, etc.) and this is okay. (See T-2.IV.4:5-8.)

My only function is to forgive, to choose the Atonement for myself. Making this choice puts the Holy Spirit in charge and I am at peace, no matter what my physical body experiences.

In choosing Love, I am seated at the table Love has set, “…a table covered with a spotless cloth, set in a quiet garden where no sound but singing and a softly joyous whispering is ever heard. ...I will join you there, as long ago I promised and promise still.” (T-19.IV.A(i).16:1,4)

I am utterly willing to see things differently and am so grateful that I am never alone – and always right on time.

Rev. Joanne Goodrich, OMC, is a Pathways of Light Spiritual Relationship Counselor living in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. Email:
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

© 2026, 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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Jamming with Jesus — from the Album — Love Songs to A Course in Miracles

by Rev. Daniel Cratcha, Ordained Ministerial Counselor

Jesus my Brother, play ya song with me
I’ll back you up on voice and guitar,
I’ll follow Your lead
We’ll sing as one, a perfect harmony
I’m jamming with Jesus, He’s jamming with me

Jamming with Jesus, He’s strumming the strings
A message of Love when He sings

We’ll sing and laugh, bask in God’s happy glow
Pray thru our music and our gratitude grows
For sweet forgiveness that will always be
A reflection of Love on all that we see

Jamming with Jesus, He’s playing with me
Jamming with Jesus, gonna stay with me

Stay during struggles and when life is great
From the dark night of the soul to the pearly gates
I’ll walk with You, I’ll talk with You
Stay with me Brother the whole year thru

Jesus my Brother play ya song with me
I’ll back You up on voice and guitar,
I’ll follow your lead

We’ll sing as one, a perfect harmony
I’m jamming with Jesus, He’s jamming with me

Rev. Daniel Cratcha, OMC is a Pathways of Light minister living in Willougby, OH.
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Phone: 440-251-4892

© 2026, 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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