Miracles News

January-March, 2016

My Inner Wisdom

by Rev. Andrea Sassa Archuleta, O.M.C.

Rev. Andrea Archuleta As a nondenominational minister, I embrace all religious and spiritual traditions as they are understood at their core. The shared core teaching being that we are all connected. Because of this interdependence, it behooves each of us to act with kindness and compassion toward one another. In this sense, ‘As we give, so do we receive.’

Believing in this faith, I still encounter many situations where I do not know what compassionate or kind act to take; what should I give or allow myself to receive? Over the years, though I have cultivated a reliable relationship with an Inner Guide, known to me as Inner Wisdom, that unfailing Guide aids me in choosing the exactly perfect act, or compassionate gesture, or knowing what to give and what to receive in every situation.

How does this happen? How does my Inner Wisdom know what the people I am interacting with need? How does my Inner Wisdom know what I need, even when I don’t? Well, I’ll tell you a story…

This past May, I noticed myself feeling fatigued and edgy. I was sure my feelings were caused by something my husband was doing and that if he would just change, I would return to peace. My husband indulged me and explored making the changes I was asking for.

At the same time, I began inviting my Inner Wisdom into my tension and fatigue. I call this invitation prayer, which in my practice is much more about listening than speaking or petitioning. I asked to be shown what the source of my tension was and I surrendered any hold on what the answer would be.

The days went by. My prayer continued, and in mid-June, I saw an announcement for a women’s group called Reclaiming Balance. The group was using meditation, chakra energy and art making to explore feelings, thoughts, and whatever else arose. Wow!, that looked fun and I joined the eight-week journey.

In the seventh week I created a three-part pastel drawing that was to depict in part 1.) a problem in my life; in part 2.) how to resolve the problem; and, in part 3.) how my life would be transformed with the problem resolved. With great ease I drew all three parts, colorfully and boldly guided by my Inner Wisdom. Yet, when I was finished, I reported to the group that I had no idea what the problem was or how to resolve it. I knew part 3.) was showing me an integration within myself that felt whole and complete. But an integration of what? For what? Unbeknownst to me, my Inner Wisdom was planting a seed in my awareness.

By September, my husband and I were discerning that I may have been wrong — that he was not responsible for the tension and fatigue I was feeling. At the same time, a friend who knew our situation intimately made an off-the-cuff suggestion that I explore possible codependent patterns in my thinking as a way to return to peace. I didn’t embrace this comment when it was made, but I didn’t dismiss it either. I continued asking my Inner Wisdom to guide me in returning to peace, surrendering what my path to peace should look like.

On a lovely mid-October Sunday afternoon in Santa Fe, I was strolling through our enchanting Plaza sipping a yummy chocolate cafe latte when I noticed how peaceful I was feeling being by myself. My thoughts were absorbed in enjoying my day which included an earlier lunch with a wonderful girlfriend. My thoughts were not focused on my husband at all. Throughout my stroll, my Inner Wisdom guided me in realizing that I was voluntarily choosing to focus on my husband to the point of giving away my peacefulness. I saw my insanity and prayed to my Inner Wisdom, ‘Why was I choosing to give away my peacefulness?’

Over the next week, my Inner Wisdom gently guided me to the answer. I was using codependent thinking in my marriage. I was choosing the fear of codependency and its controlling self-reliance instead of choosing to let go and be in peace.

I am not a new-comer to codependent thinking. I lived with the family disease of alcoholism for a long and protracted period of my life. I have spent years healing from the effects of this disease, and yet, here it was again… really?

For the next several weeks, I sat in Al-anon meetings listening with my mouth hanging open. Each speaker was telling my story, revealing what I was feeling, and showing me that even after so many years there was more healing to do. I’d been in these “rooms” before and must have heard all this again and again over the years, and yet it was as if I was learning about the effects of distorted thinking for the very first time. Shortly thereafter, my Inner Wisdom’s revelation dawned fully into my awareness — that earlier planted seed was ready to bloom.

I was driving home from meeting with a couple whose wedding ceremony I was soon to officiate. I was reflecting on their twinkling eyes for each other and their joyful laughter and was reminded of my love, my husband. My earlier drawn three-part picture appeared in my mind. In that instant I knew part 1.) was showing me my yet unhealed codependent thinking; and, part 2.) was showing me the path to healing I was finding in the fellowship and understanding of Al-anon meetings and literature.

With great humility I tell you, without my Inner Wisdom’s guidance I would never have realized how codependent thinking was affecting my marriage and my life. I am in awe of how my Inner Wisdom guided me so gently and so compassionately to becoming aware of my need for healing. The concept of Inner Wisdom, a key component to the freedom offered by A Course in Miracles, is why I study and teach from this beloved text. I cannot say enough about the ‘miracles’ that have occurred in my life as a dedicated student and teacher of the Course. In great gratitude for each and every one of these miracles, humbly, Amen.

Reverend Andrea Sassa Archuleta is a Pathways of Light Ordained Minister living in Santa Fe New Mexico. Rev. Andrea joyfully joins with you for spiritual counseling and to officiate your wedding and ceremonies. Find Rev. Andrea at Awakening JOY Ministries, LLC at http://www.spiritualcounseling.us and by emailing her at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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