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October-December, 2010

An Old Hymn

by Rev. Stephen Cox

I was thinking about the verse of a hymn I learned in Sunday school a few years ago now and how it could be altered to reflect A Course in Miracles. The only alteration would be to add a few ‘for’s. It would read:

To forgive, forgive, and to forgive again
What God has forgiven thee
To spend thyself nor count the cost
To serve right gloriously
The God Who gave all worlds that are
And all that are to be. 

Forgiveness is, of course, the principal aim of the Course as well as the reason why we’re on this planet.

The spending of ourselves, in my opinion, is the gentle spreading of the good news of our return to God by practicing forgiveness.  Yes, that can be costly. It can easily be argued that it cost Jesus his earthly life. He certainly served in a very glorious manner by all accounts whilst on this earth.

Yes, we have created this world through our minds and our senses but God creates through Unconditional Love (and so can we). God has, no doubt, created other worlds, worlds where Unconditional Love is extended and no separation is countenanced.

Isn’t it amazing how changing one word in four places can give a helpful message?

Rev. Stephen Cox is a Pathways of Light minister living in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

© 2010, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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July-September, 2010

Letting Go of the Battle with God

by Revs. Robert & Mary Stoelting

Mary: God is changeless oneness. If I am not experiencing changeless oneness, changeless Love, then I am trying to make up something other than what God created. I am in a battle with God about what Is.

I am in a stage now where my willingness to give up this battle is getting stronger. This willingness shows up in my dream of separate bodies as a consistent practice in stepping back from what I think is true.

This has not been easy. Seeing the one Mind of Christ seems illusive and I fall back into the illusory story of making differences and uniqueness real again and again. I used to blame myself for getting lost in the dream and feeling angry, and afraid of what I thought was going on. But now I see that this is just another ploy to do battle with God. Now, when I recognize that I am not in a place of peace,  I remember that once again, I have tried to replace God with another story I am making up. Now I know that my job is simply to step back from what I have tried to make reality, and hand it over to the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit Who returns me once again to the truth that only God Is and nothing else is true.

We recently saw on the science channel that physicists are coming to the idea that this whole physical universe of time and space is just an illusion. This experience reflects my desire to return to the truth that bodies are only an illusion and only Love’s oneness is real. I am finding that an important part of the process of letting go of the battle with God is simply to quit efforting, to relax my hold on what I think is real and give time to quiet listening to my inner Teacher.

This is a radical change from my habit of assuming that what I see and hear and touch with my body is real. Letting go of my battle with God about “what is” is a radical change in life style and I struggle with this “letting go” process often. But that doesn’t mean that I am a hopeless case. Thank God my inner Teacher waits patiently for me to once again step back, where I am returned to remembering that I know nothing.

In this quiet place of surrender to a better way, I find peace, joy and Love. “The sight of Christ is all there is to see. The song of Christ is all there is to hear. The hand of Christ is all there is to hold. There is no journey but to walk with Him.” (T-24.V.7:6-10)

I have not completed my journey of letting go of my battle with God, but I’m on my way. And the more I practice remembering that I know nothing, the easier and more full of peace and joy the journey becomes. ❦

Simplify

Robert: Lately I have observed that there seems to be increasing discussions in the news and on talk shows about the value of simplifying. The motivation to simplify may be based on economics, a need to reduce stress, an interest in living “green” or a willingness to let go of old attachments.

For me life becomes more simple as I stop trying to use experiences and beliefs from the past as the basis for interpreting what I am experiencing in the present. The temptation to think that the past has taught me something meaningful comes up often.

The one area where I have frequently tripped on this is when I am working with machines or computers. What does Holy Spirit know about software and mechanics? Yeah, these are illusions, but I still have work to do. Get out of my way, Holy Spirit. I can take care of this. (In case you were wondering, this is just another form of the battle with God Mary talked about above.) But if I’m honest I have to admit that when I push Holy Spirit aside, my work gets increasingly complicated and stressful.

But when I step back from “my way” and stop sending Holy Spirit out on the “highway” with willingness to be taught, my work gets simpler. “In quietness are all things answered, and is every problem quietly resolved.” (T-27.IV.1:1)  As I allow myself to stay in peace, Holy Spirit and I become a team. As the bridge between the oneness and simplicity of Love and the mind-boggling complexity of the ego thought system, the Holy Spirit uses each situation I think I am in to show me Love’s reflection.

Love is one and sees only unity. So how does this help me work with the software I am using? To begin with, Love sees no adversaries. Believe me, I’ve done enough battles with software to know that I’m good at making it an adversary. When I am willing to step back from the battle, I make room for Holy Spirit to demonstrate that as I see the software as a friend, a means to be helpful, I will easily see how to apply it to Holy Spirit’s purpose. This recognition is reflected by my eyes being directed to instructions I hadn’t seen before, my thoughts making connections that I had blocked from awareness, by others bringing me answers, sometimes in seemingly unrelated contexts.

These experiences teach me that I am not alone and disconnected. I am connected with Love that is beyond all images and forms. When I let go and accept the simplicity of Love, simplicity is reflected back to me in the world. Every “project” in the world becomes a classroom for Holy Spirit’s lesson in the simplicity of Love’s oneness. The battle fades and the peace that I am is reflected in the world.

Revs. Robert and Mary Stoelting are co-founders of Pathways of Light. They reside in Sanford, Florida. E-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

© 2010, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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July-September, 2010

A Beautiful Experience of Love

Rev. Cathey Jo Tomilenko

God introduced my husband David to me in October of 1998. He made his transition in 2005. I have lived a life time of blessings in those few years we had together. We were very spiritually connected. Each morning began in prayer and every evening ended in prayer thanking God not only for each other but for every blessing in our lives. Each challenge and experience we shared brought us closer to God, knowing the Holy Spirit was always working through us for our higher good.  We both new that the Holy Spirit is the activity of God working through us all.

When they diagnosed David in December of 2004 with cancer, they told him he had two months to live. Of course at first there is shock. But because of our deep unequivocal Faith that God is the source of everything in our lives, we loved each other through the challenge. He taught me a lot about trust in God when it comes to the challenges we face every day of our lives. In February We were at the hospital for one last test and opinion to see if there was something else to be done. My daughter, son-in-law and I waited patiently, along with David. The doctor came in and with sadness said to the four of us, “I wish I had better news for you but we have done everything we can for you.” The four of us looked at each other with a sad kind of love. David looked at us and with the faith of God within him   said cheerfully, “Well, I guess this body no longer serves a purpose. It is time to leave it.” There was no fear in his eyes as well as his voice. With a smile on his face we left the hospital for our home where his family was waiting for him. Here was a man who at this point was driving, showering, feeding himself, laughing, telling jokes and enjoying his family. I heard him say to my daughter, “I don’t know why everyone is so upset. I am the one leaving this planet.” and laughed.

Two days later on Saturday we had a prayer service at our home where all of his friends could come and pray as a family and say their good-byes to David. We both thought, why wait until I am a total spirit to let them say good bye as well as have the chance to thank them for their friendships and love?  By Sunday afternoon, David could no longer feed himself and could barely speak. It was like he was getting ready to make his transition. Still there was no fear in his eyes or face only peace. His last words to me before he went into a complete coma were, “I love you. Thank you for loving me. Promise me you will finish your classes to become a Minister. It is your dream and when you are Ordained, I promise I will be there.”

In three days I watched him transform to from a fully living person into a silent coma. By Monday he was in a total coma but there still remained peace on his face.  Every once in a while he would open his eyes as if he were looking at something or someone, smile and close them again.  This was Valentines Day and we, as a family, shared our love with one another and continued to tell stories about our experiences with David. Finally at one o’ clock in the morning on Feb. 16th, David took his last breath. My hand was on his heart, his mother was holding one hand, my daughter the other and his son was at his feet. At the moment of his last breath, the color on his face which had been yellow from the cancer, turned normal, full of blushing color as if he were going to wake up at any moment. His face was relaxed and very peaceful. As his family shed the tears, I saw a light surround him and I knew the Holy Spirit was with him.

He was not in fear of dying. He knew it was time and he made his transition with peace and joy, giving thanks for all the blessings in his life. If there was any sadness in him, it was only for a moment. I held him in my arms as we prayed together, both of us saying we knew he was not alone, and that the Love of God was with him as well as the Holy Spirit. The tears lasted for only a moment, and then we looked into each others eyes, knowing the truth of us, that we are spiritual beings having this wonderful human experience with the body as a temporary temple.

It was an incredible experience watching him live the spiritual principles that we both believed in. There is nothing to fear.  He knew it was time to leave and he did so in five days. I will never forget this experience. He taught me never to be afraid of dying or leaving the body temple, for there is only beauty and peace beyond this life; that the Holy Spirit is always with us.

Trust in this truth. David still lives in my heart and so does this experience. I never feel alone. In fact, people thought I didn’t love David because I didn’t break down into hysteria. You see, I know in my heart that we are never alone. I know the Holy Spirit is always with me. I knew when he made his transition that there would only be peace and joy. Because I knew and lived the truth at the time of his transition, like him, I could also be at peace.

By the way, David was at my ordination in Kiel, Wisconsin in August of 2005. When we were married he always played with my hair. Maybe it is because he didn’t have much on top. At the moment I was ordained, I felt someone playing with the hair on the back of my neck. I had to turn around to see who it was. Believe it or not, no one in the physical sense was there. I knew at that moment that David kept his promise and was with me in Spirit.

Rev. Cathey Jo Tomilenko is a Pathways of Light minister living in West Bloomfield, Michigan. E-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

© 2010, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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July-September, 2010

Allowing

Rev. Gary Winslow Ledson

Since being ordained in January, I have come to realize and experience a new way of being that I had only studied before — namely, to experience Spirit (Love’s Presence) being expressed through me. Until recently I’ve been the doer and maker of my life. This way of living was a huge jump from being run by the world of events and circumstances. However, being captain of my ship still left me striving and uneasy. Running my life was an ongoing job, an ongoing struggle. Was there another way to be?

There are no accidents, of course. At the end of January a small job was brought to me. To be a paid “gopher” for my wife who is the artistic director for the local Mustard Festival in the Napa Valley. This was a challenge, for when working under my wife of 35 years I usually found myself being very contentious or in a shut down mode. Not satisfying to say the least.

Through a ceremony focusing on “context” in my men’s team, I committed to come from a context of “Yes or Yesness” while working for my wife. In doing so, I kept myself in the present moment. I eliminated using my past beliefs to argue, disagree with, or even to question. There was a new sense of hearing. It was like I had more room to listen.

As part of an intense production team for a black tie event of 500, my experience flowed. There was no struggle. There was a ton of work but it was more a way of being as opposed to doing tasks. My wife, out of nowhere, 3 days later said how enjoyable it was working with me. I decided to keep this context of “Yes” with my wife and use it for the rest of life.

It has been wonderfully interesting what I have been experiencing through allowing myself more and more to be led by Love (the present moment of “Yesness”). From “Yesness” I’ve joined an 11 person ACIM study group and it has been fun and rich (I had thought it would be argumentative and conflicted).

I am praying and being peaceful with a man in a nursing home. In a previous job as a social worker I hated this very same home. It smelled and I saw my death. I agreed to officiate at two weddings and maybe more. Wow! To love people and earn money. I helped ghosts to go Home and a woman to heal around the loss of her beloved dog.

What’s next Holy Spirit? It doesn’t matter. It is all the same. It is all another opportunity to allow the Presence of Love to come through me, to fill me, to heal my “No-ness.” And, of course, to pass this Love on.

I’ve been led to blog the Workbook Lessons. I had thought journaling was romantic daydreaming. I slugged through the Lessons 27 months ago. Today, this moment, now in the “Yes” is Lesson 27: “Above all else I want to see.” Liz Cronkhite’s translation is: “Above all else I want to perceive differently.”

Hallelujah! Yes, Yes, and YES! Get behind me, past. I’m allowing Love’s Presence!

Rev. Gary Winslow Ledson is a Pathways of Light minister living in Kenwood, California. E-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

© 2010, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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