Miracles News

January-April, 2026

How to Walk in this World with Holy Spirit

by Laura Pastiva, Pathways of Light Student

(This article was inspired by POL Course 910: Living in the World While Waking Up.)

A Course in Miracles tells us we are living in a dream of our own making — and that illusion cannot impact or hurt the true Self, the eternal Self. That’s a difficult idea to embrace when we are faced with the daily challenges of life — getting stuck in traffic and arriving late to work, coming down with a cold and feeling miserable, arguing with a partner, or being hit with unexpected expenses and circumstances that make our experience feel chaotic and random.

In Workbook Lesson 135, my favorite lesson, we are told: “You operate from the belief you must protect yourself from what is happening because it must contain what threatens you.” (ACIM W-135.2:1)

Of course, I feel the need to prepare for the unexpected — sometimes even the worst — when I’m relying on my own strength and my own understanding of this world. Jesus says, “The world is based on this insane belief.” (W-135.2:3)

We seem to lurch from one threat to the next without logic or warning: a job loss, a serious illness in the family, a costly car repair. It feels like a never-ending game of whack-a-mole. How do we prepare for the next emergency?

And yet we are told: “…no one walks the world in armature but must have terror striking at his heart.” (W-135.2:5)

This means that nearly everyone we encounter is dealing with their own fears, their own troubles, and their own identification with the small self. As Course students, we must ask: What are we really trying to protect? It must be something fragile and vulnerable to the chaos of the illusory world.

“What but the body has such frailty that constant care and watchful, deep concern are needful to protect its little life?” (W-135.4:4)

Ah — there it is. We’ve identified ourselves as bodies, and bodies seem to have many needs for safety — food, shelter, money, medicine. The Course reminds us that we have assigned these needs in the dream. And so, we stock up on defenses — insurance policies, locked doors, surveillance cameras, prescriptions — and live in constant concern over threats we believe we are guarding against.

Over the past year of my dream experience, I left a job I had held for 10 years, one that had provided well for my family and me. I had long felt miserable in that role but convinced myself I had to stay to maintain the financial resources the world requires. The stress was making me ill, and I agonized over whether to leave or stay.

Soon after I left, my eldest son unexpectedly developed a serious spinal cord compression. He was in danger of losing control over basic bodily functions, including walking. Long story short: he needed urgent surgery to remove the offending vertebrae.

My son lived in Texas. We live in Connecticut. He moved back home, and I was able to accompany him to each doctor’s appointment, find the best surgeon, and assist with his post-op recovery and therapy. He is healing — perhaps even more gracefully than I am! Had I still been working, I would not have had the gift of supporting and caring for him in this way.

Surely, we were both held by Holy Spirit throughout that uncertain time. During those anxious nights before his surgery, I lay awake picturing the worst—yet praying, “Holy Spirit, decide for God for me.”

There is good news: “The body is in need of no defense.…It will be strong and healthy if the mind does not abuse it by assigning it to roles it cannot fill, to purposes beyond its scope, and to exalted aims which it cannot accomplish.” (W-135.7:1,3)

If we can remember this — that the body we’ve made and cared for so deeply has no real value except as a communication device for salvation — we can begin to let go. “Healing is the result of using the body solely for communication.” (T-8.VII.10:1)

All other uses bring evidence of weakness and threat.

If I focus on predicting the future based on past experience, I trap myself in a cycle of fear.

“A healed mind does not plan. It carries out the plans that it receives through listening to wisdom that is not its own.” (W-135.11:1–2)

In the Manual for Teachers, we’re told what a Teacher of God is and what they do. Who qualifies?

“A teacher of God is anyone who chooses to be one. His qualifications consist solely in this: somehow, somewhere he has made a deliberate choice in which he did not see his interests as apart from someone else’s.” (M-1.1:1–2)

So how do I plan for my worldly responsibilities while honoring the spirit (pun intended) of my function on earth? We are told:

“To the advanced teacher of God this question is meaningless. There is no program, for the lessons change each day. Yet the teacher of God is sure of but one thing; they do not change at random.” (M-16.1:1–3)

“He will be told all that his role should be, this day and every day. And those who share that role with him will find him, so they can learn the lessons for the day together. Not one is absent whom he needs; not one is sent without a learning goal already set, and one which can be learned that very day.” (M-16.1:5–7)

I ask Holy Spirit, ‘How can I be safe?’ And I am gently reminded:

“Your defenses will not work, but you are not in danger. You have no need of them. Recognize this, and they will disappear. And only then will you accept your real protection.” (M-16.6:11–14)

So far, the situations I’ve shared above are still unfolding. But things are working out. The people involved — myself included — are managing, learning, and likely growing through these perceived hardships. I need only trust the One sent to guide me home. I’m not perfect. I need lots of practice. But I am becoming a happier learner.

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

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