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January-March, 2025

My Experience with Hurricane Milton

by Sabrina Rollins, Pathways of Light Spiritual Counselor student

“Everything is for your own best interests.” (W-pI.25.1:5)

The above quote probably rings a bell for most Course students. A comforting sentiment right? And most of the time, a sentiment that is easy to swallow when our daily lives are going well. But how easy is it to swallow when the proverbial rubber meets the road? When an experience comes along that can truly test out the beliefs we say we have when things are going well in our lives?

Recently, I had such an experience. I live in Florida and we had a monster of a storm visit us. His name was Milton.

The warnings of a storm were given early. Hurricane Milton was slated to slam into the western shores of Florida within a week. Immediately, uneasiness arose in the state, as we had just had hurricane Helene hit a couple of weeks prior, causing damage and a loss of lives in several states.

Tensions mounted as many different predictions continuously came to us, never knowing for certain if Milton would hit Ft. Myers, where my family and I live, or further up the coast in the Tampa area. The storm kept “wobbling” as the meteorologists called it, from Tampa to southwest Florida.

The rains began pouring down days ahead, soaking the ground, encouraging everyone to speculate that there would be flooding because the ground was already soaked and the swales were filling up quickly. The winds began increasing in intensity even though hurricane Milton was still hundreds of miles out to sea.

I could feel the “excitement” rise as the day Milton was to make landfall, approached. My body had perpetual butterflies in its stomach. I could “feel” the swirling energy in the air. The animals could feel it, too, as even the lizards were disappearing into their hideaways.

“We ask for peace and stillness, in the midst of all the turmoil…We ask for safety and for happiness, although we seem to look on danger and on sorrow.” (W-pI.109.I:2-3)

This was building up to be an excellent opportunity to practice peace in the midst of chaos. Would I, could I, still those butterflies and find the peace of God in the middle of a hurricane?

I felt inspired to begin praying the Ho’oponopono, a simple Hawaiian prayer.

“I Love You… I Am Sorry… 
Please Forgive Me…  Thank you!…”

As I prayed, I felt a stirring in my heart. I began to feel a calmness surround me. I repeated the prayer hundreds of times over and over throughout the days leading up to the hurricane. The calmness increased daily and expanded into my body, quieting those butterflies. I felt at peace.

“The truth is that you are responsible for what you think…” (T-2.IX.3:5)

Ho’oponopono means to correct or amend, and is meant to cleanse or clear away the past errors in judgment and behavior. This is consistent with ACIM’s teachings about the ego’s use of the past to keep us locked into judging the present from the past. The Ho’oponopono prayer releases the energy of these painful thoughts, or errors, which cause problems, such as disease and disorder in our current lives. The Ho’oponopono prayer also teaches that I am responsible for everything that comes into my awareness; therefore, since this hurricane was within my awareness, then I was responsible for it.

The thoughts behind my Ho’oponopono prayer went something like this:

“I take full responsibility for this Hurricane.
I am sorry; please forgive me for whatever is going on inside of me that is a part of this hurricane.
Thank you for forgiving me. I Love You!”

Even though some may view this as extreme to take responsibility for a hurricane,  the more I prayed, the more I began to feel differently about Milton. I actually was feeling warmly about it! And then, I had a shocking discovery! I realized I was feeling love for the hurricane! A hurricane that was barreling toward me and millions of others to do us harm! A “natural disaster” that could very well leave me without a home, power or water, and worst of all, I could “lose” my body or “lose” a loved one! Yet, I was feeling a strange closeness, a real love for this churning, convoluted wind!

“Yet every mistake must be a call for love.” (T-19.III.4:6)

And then it hit me! Spirit showed me that this swirling, angry wind called Milton, was simply made up of millions of Calls For Love. It was made up of my calls for love, your calls for love. It symbolized our collective negative energies and thought patterns, along with our attacks on ourselves and others. The energies of all these calls for love had simply built to the point where the earth had to release them. I realized that perhaps other so-called “natural disasters” are just nature’s way of dealing with the energies surrounding our thoughts.
 
I take full responsibility…

ACIM states that “The Truth is that there are no “idle thoughts.” All thinking produces form at some level.” (T-2.X.7:1-2) Our thoughts, our calls for love, are not meaningless or harmless. Our attacks on ourselves and others, even if not acted upon outwardly, still have effects!

I am sorry

Upon realizing this, I began to pray the Ho’oponopono for all the calls for love that made up Hurricane Milton. I saw myself and others behind each swirl of wind. I felt our cries, our heartaches, our judgmental attacks against ourselves and others.

Please forgive me

Over and over I prayed for these cries for love, and little by little, my love grew for the hurricane and for my loved ones behind the hurricane.

I Love You

And so I came to love hurricane Milton itself. But I still didn’t know what the outcome of the hurricane would be. I prayed for each one of us to live out our individual scripts as gently as possible and to open our hearts and minds to the miracle of forgiveness.

Thank You

As hurricane day approached, it became clearer that the Ft. Myers area would probably not be a direct hit, although there was still the danger of storm surge and flooding, as well as the danger of tornadoes occurring. I continued to pray for those who were in the line of a direct hit, and continued to feel connected to Milton with no fear attached.

I am Sorry

On that Wednesday, my family and I gathered at my son’s home to wait on whatever our fate would be. We had just made it to his house when the tornado warnings began. Each of our cell phones began ringing out the alerts. The excitement and energy was palpable, although I still didn’t feel any fear. We huddled in two hallways and waited. The winds grew louder. A whistling was heard. The wind could be felt flowing in from under the doors. Prayers were said. Panic struck some.

Please forgive me

And then there was silence. The tornado was gone as quickly as it came. We cautiously left our hiding spots and looked out the door windows. Neighbors were gathering. Trees were down. Debris was everywhere.

Thank you

We were all safe! The house was undamaged. We later discovered that there were multiple tornadoes in our neighborhood, but miraculously, there were only downed trees.

I Love You

We celebrated our safety and returned inside. The main event was yet to occur. I thanked God and continued the Ho’oponopono prayer for hurricane Milton’s landfall. No matter the outcome, no matter if we were flooded or if Hurricane Milton would make one final “wobble’ and hit southwest Florida, I knew all was well. I surrendered.

I am sorry; Please Forgive Me

In the end, the hurricane did indeed stay north of us, and because I had been in hurricane Ian only two years before, which pounded Ft. Myers for hours and hours and caused major damage, storm surge and many lives lost, I knew firsthand what my brothers and sisters were experiencing just a couple of hours away from us.

Thank You

It’s now been over a week since my friend, hurricane Milton, dropped by, and I am still realizing all the effects he brought with him. I am remaining open to his many lessons to take root in me and bring me a step closer to my full awakening.

I am also very mindful that my experience and perspective of Milton may not be the same as others who did lose their homes or even a loved one. I continue to pray for them as their scripts play out. My experience is neither “better” or “worse” than theirs. My healing is theirs and their healing is mine. I remember we are all One!

And that includes a Hurricane named Milton, as well!
I Love You.

Sabrina Rollins is a Pathways of Light Spiritual Counselor student living in Ft. Myers, Florida.
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Phone: 304-941-7393

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