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Study of the Text 10-9-12

10-9-12
41 Wholeness is the perceptual content of miracles. They thus correct, or atone for, the faulty perception of lack.

In every case the miracle helps to reestablish wholeness in my mind. The belief in separation has had a grip on my mind for eons of time and I need help in letting the idea go. The Holy Spirit is that help, and the miracle is the mechanism for doing this. When I ask for healing and it is done, but not by me, I know that I am not alone. I am not separate but a part of a whole.

It is the belief in separation that accounts for every thought of lack. I used to think there were so many things I couldn’t do because I lacked the will power to make them happen; to be a better person, to resist that second piece of cake, to consistently choose God, are examples. I thought the weight of the world was on me and I could never live up to that responsibility.

A Course in Miracles taught me that I never bear anything alone, that my will is the will of God and therefore undeniable. This certainty occurred as I practiced turning my mind to the Holy Spirit. I gave my permission, and the Holy Spirit within me healed me. I began to realize the reason my will seemed so weak is that I was trying to work through a separated and small will, when all the time I had one will that I share with God. The miracle has awakened my memory of that will. In it is all power because it is not separate.

From within God, my true home and my reality, there is no lack. I learn this is true as I do my practice. I try it out on ideas one at a time. I used to worry all the time about money and I began to toy with the idea that my God is an abundant God and that He shares. It was a new idea for me and eventually led to my current understanding that it was only the belief I could be separate from reality that generated the feeling I could have needs at all.

I used to long for love but only felt loved at times. I yearned for a love I could depend on and that would not come and go. I learned through my practice that l felt lack of love because I didn’t remember that I am wholly love and therefore wholly loved. I thought I was separate and I had to deserve love from other separate beings. I often judged myself unworthy of their love and was afraid to even think about God’s love except in the most general way. If I didn’t deserve the love of the one standing next to me, how could I imagine I deserved God’s love?

I learned to be the love I wanted. I learned that in joining with the Holy Spirit my mind could be miraculously healed of the thoughts of unworthiness. I learned that in joining with the Holy Spirit my mind was miraculously healed of the idea that there was some separate person to love, some separate God who could withhold love. I understand that, as I am one with the Holy Spirit (and this has been proven to me over and over through the miracle of healing) I am one with everyone else and with God.

What could I lack if I am one with everything? How could I lack if I am part of all there is? I protect my new understanding, my new experience of oneness, with my vigilance. If I see someone “else” as sick or wanting in any way, I have embraced the belief in sickness, which is the belief in lack. My mind begins to slip back into the old belief in separation. But through my vigilance I notice the thought and the discomfort it brings, and I ask the Holy Spirit to come into my mind and undo what I have done. I ask for the miracle and the miracle corrects my perception. I remember I am part of a whole and in that whole there can be no lack.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of the Text 10-8-12

10-8-12
40 The miracle acknowledges everyone as your brother and mine. It is a way of perceiving the universal mark of God.

Ultimately, when the truth is accepted as true by everyone and there is no need for miracles, we will know ourselves as One with God. For now, while most of us are still confused about our identity, we need help. The miracle, by its nature, acknowledges our connection. The miracle calls for the joining of minds.

I spent the day yesterday with my family. I performed the wedding ceremony for my daughter, Sheryl, and her fiancé Barry. It took place at my home and for hours things were pretty hectic. The entire wedding had one week’s planning, but in spite of the short time involved, came together very well. However, there were moments that could have been very upsetting, but were accepted with fair ease and much grace.

Sheryl wasn’t the first nervous bride and I could have easily been drawn into that energy. Certainly in the past I would have. She forgot to buy hose and someone needed to do that. The cake didn’t come out as ordered and she thought that the perfect cake was very important. She felt like she had suddenly, overnight, become too fat for the dress that was a perfect fit just a couple of days before. She decided to iron her son’s shirt and smashed her finger opening the ironing board.

I watched myself deal with each emergency with calm. Wow! Even a year ago I would have been in the “let mom fix this” mode and would have been so overwhelmed and nervous myself, that I would have made things worse. I would have escalated the tension in the house if I had done that. I am so grateful for the miracle of a healed mind. I gave my mind to the Holy Spirit and the miracle of peace was His gift.

If the ego had been in charge, Sheryl and I would have fed the tension and anxiety. With Holy Spirit in charge, we joined in one purpose, the extension of love during this special occasion. I doubt my daughter had any idea of the miracle that was occurring, but that didn’t matter. I was in love with her, with Barry, with the little girls running around underfoot getting into everything, with the dozens of folks doing their part to bring this off for Sheryl, to make this day as lovely for her as possible.

Love was the purpose, and this was the point of joining for Sheryl and me. This was our shared purpose. This was where we met, Jesus, Sheryl and me. In this joining the miracle took place. When the wedding was over, Sheryl said it had been perfect. All the worry and stress she had felt before was forgotten, along with the injured finger, the unruly kids, the concern about how she looked, the cake that didn’t meet her expectations.

What was left was an overwhelming sense of love. She was basking in it, receiving and giving in equal measure. This is the memory she will take with her from her wedding day. Love is the purpose; it is always the purpose no matter what seems to be happening. In joining in that common purpose we experience the miracle and we see on each other the mark of God.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of the Text 10-4-12

10-4-12
38 The Holy Spirit is the mechanism of miracles. He recognizes both God’s creations and your illusions. He separates the true from the false by His ability to perceive totally rather than selectively. 

My understanding of the Holy Spirit has shifted and changed over time, as has my understanding of my true Self. Of course my understanding or my misunderstanding, as the case may be, does not change reality so, in the end, it does not really matter.  It is helpful for me to know that the Holy Spirit is the Voice for God that was placed in my mind to help me wake up.

The Holy Spirit has a function that is especially useful to me in my sleeping state. He both perceives and knows. He understands how I think and yet he knows the truth. He is the perfect answer to my quandary. When my mind gets tangled in ego thoughts I call on the Holy Spirit to correct my perception. He brings my thinking into alignment with truth, which is the miracle.

I cannot do this myself because I work from within a closed system. I can only trade one perception for another. Within the dream there is not knowledge so I have nothing to which I can compare what I think and thus judge how closely my thoughts come to the truth. The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, works within the system, but also has the advantage of knowing what is outside the system. He can do for me what I am temporarily unable to do for myself.

What the Holy Spirit is and how it all works is of little concern to me. I know that I can ask the Holy Spirit for correction, for help, for guidance, or for comfort and I am answered. I have a specific process I use that I know from my experience is effective in healing my mind.  I know what to do and that it works. I have seen that I don’t heal myself, and I have seen that I must desire the healing before it can take place. Through my willingness and the action of the Holy Spirit, I have experienced the miracle of a healed mind and the miraculous effects of a healed mind.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of the Text 10-3-12

10-3-12
37 A miracle is a correction introduced into false thinking by me. It acts as a catalyst, breaking up erroneous perception and reorganizing it properly. This places you under the Atonement principle, where perception is healed. Until this has occurred, knowledge of the Divine Order is impossible.

I have a picture in my mind of this happening. I have become anxious about something happening at work and become absorbed in all the things that could go wrong because of this one thing that happened.  All sorts of angry, fearful thoughts whirl around in my mind, but amid all of those thoughts is a true thought. This true thought is a call for help. I give it my attention, if only briefly, but in that moment the call becomes focused and heartfelt, and I know I mean it.

A burst of light hurtles into all those thoughts breaking them up and they begin to reorganize. They start to make sense as I see them differently. I see the incident is just something that happened and not a harbinger of disaster. I start to see solutions instead of calamities. Slowly I remember that I am in no real danger. I am safe at Home with my Creator. This is not reality but a dream story, a game I am playing and I want to laugh in relief. Without the upsetting fear thoughts distracting me, I become interested in the game again.

I ask for guidance to play the game with compassion, love, and joy, and most of all gratitude. It may be only a dream, but it has become a dream that is helping me to wake up. I am grateful to the point of tears as I realize that I have help gaining a new perspective, and seeing it differently changes everything and changes it on every level. What a miracle this is!

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of the Text 10-2-12

10-2-12
36 Miracles are examples of right thinking, aligning your perceptions with truth as God created it.

When my thinking is always in alignment with the truth I will be peaceful at all times and in every circumstance. I know this is true because most of the time my thinking is in alignment with truth and I am peaceful. When something happens to alter this, when I become confused and start thinking with the ego, I lose my peace. The contrast has taught me that true perception, is miraculous. When I think with God, everything changes.

I had been out of alignment with the truth since Sunday night and I felt it acutely. My two daughters are in a rare disagreement and I have allowed myself to get in the middle of it. I thought I was going to mediate and bring everyone back into peace, but that is not what happened. There is not going to be a compromise in this situation and at the moment there is no peace or interest in peace.

Where my thinking went wrong is that I thought this shouldn’t be happening. I thought they should make peace their goal rather than being right. I thought they should listen to me because I am right. I thought I could be happy only if they were happy and at peace. I thought the burden of making everything ok was on me. I was totally confused.

It’s so funny because I didn’t see any of this while it was happening. I guess that’s why I refer to it as confusion. I just kept trying to fix things and digging myself in deeper and deeper. Finally, last night I said, “Holy Spirit, I need help.” And that was when I realized I had been trying to do this through the ego. I had not invited Holy Spirit in. I didn’t ask for guidance as to the best way to handle things. I didn’t ask for His words when I spoke to my daughters. Which meant I must have been listening to ego because there are only the two voices. No wonder I lost my peace.

Even as I sit here writing, I feel a stab of fear when I think of surrendering my “control” of the situation, and believe me, I recognize the irony when I use the word control. I have no control to lose. The ego mind thinks it knows what needs to happen and it thinks that to surrender is to lose. It argues the stakes are too high to take that chance. This thinking is so far from truth.

I want to be truly helpful, and I know the only way this will happen is to turn from the ego and allow my mind to be healed. From a healed perspective I will know what to say. I will know if I should say anything at all. Right now I am seeing all of us as separate and each with our own separate goals. That is not a true perspective. That is not in alignment with the truth as God created it. And so that is not helpful at all. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I am certain that I want a miracle now.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of the Text 10-1-12

10-1-12
35 Miracles are expressions of love, but they may not always have observable effects.

This principle is very clear. Not every miracle is going to show up in the story of your life as something you can see. It does not mean the miracle failed or that you failed. The way this principle has affected me is that I stopped looking for proof, and rested in my faith. I accept that every expression of love is a miracle and has results whether I can see them or not.

If I, or someone I know, were very sick, perhaps dying, and I remembered the truth this would be a miracle. I knew they could not be sick because sickness is not of God. I remembered they could not die because there is no death. This is an expression of love and thus a miracle. What if the body in question remained sick or died? Would this mean the miracle did not occur?

Jesus tells us that sometimes we may not be able to observe the miracle so it does not mean anything that the body remains sick or dies. I can imagine that the illness was put into place and must play itself out. I can imagine that the illness or death is a freely chosen classroom to help me learn a particular lesson or heal a particular belief in the mind.

I may not ever know why it happened as it did, but I know that when I forgive, when I express love, a miracle occurs whether I can perceive it or not. The body and all other forms of the world are illusions that may or may not change as a result of the miracle. The miracle is a healed mind and that always occurs.

Expressions of love are sometimes words or behavior and sometimes simply thoughts. Expressions of love are from the Holy Spirit; they pass through me to my brothers and sisters. Every circumstance is an opportunity for a miracle. There is no situation that stands outside this. If someone is angry with me and speaks harshly, I have the opportunity to respond in kind, or to recognize their words as a call for love and ask Holy Spirit how best to respond with love.

If someone murdered my child, I would have the same opportunity. I can see their action as despicable and unforgivable, or I can see it as a call for love and respond with love. In each case the miracle is the same. It only appears to be bigger or harder in the second case because I believe it is, because I place more value on some illusions than on others.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of the Text 9-28-12

9-28-12
34 Miracles restore the mind to its fullness. By atoning for lack they establish perfect protection. The spirit’s strength leaves no room for intrusions. 

As we perform miracles our mind is returned to its natural state. It knows no lack and knows no fear. It is strong and invulnerable and nothing from the ego thought system of separation can distract or confuse it. This is the purpose of miracles, to bring us to our right mind. This is inevitable for each and every one of us. Nothing can prevent this from happening.

I see that I made a mistake in the past when I discounted miracles that I experienced because they didn’t seem big and showy. I did not yet understand the nature of miracles. I didn’t even recognize the miracle when it happened through me, but it didn’t matter. The miracle still did its job and my mind continued to heal.

Once when I was working a man came in and started looking around. When I offered to help he began telling me the story of his troubled life. I had no idea what to say. I did not at that time have much of a spiritual practice, had not yet found A Course in Miracles, but I instinctively asked within for help. I opened my mouth and said just the right thing. I was amazed and never forgot that even though I did not understand the significance of what had happened.

In responding to the desire to be helpful I joined with my brother in a shared purpose, and a holy instant occurred. I willingly stepped back and allowed an intelligence greater than mine to move through me. I was truly helpful. I didn’t know how to do any of this or even that it was possible. I didn’t know what it meant to do this. And yet, it was done because I responded to a deeply buried, but strong impulse toward miracles. It was done simply because I allowed it.

That encounter was a miracle whether I acknowledged it as such or not.  The miracle requires so little of us. In fact, when I was so strongly identified with the personality self I am sure I would have been dismayed to discover how very little was required of me. ~smile~ Now I am very happy to know that my job is to desire miracles, and when guided to do so, to allow them to be done through me.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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