Together, We Light the Way

My Story

Don?t you love running into someone else who is studying A Course in Miracles? I think that just the fact I found the Course is a wonderful miracle, so I am always interested in everyone?s story. I was attending a Unity center in Lake Charles, La. when I heard that Marge Cass, minister for The Church of the Open Road, was going to a neighboring town to try to get a Course group started. A group from our center planned to be there in support of her effort. I didn?t have an interest in A Course in Miracles, but I did like Marge very much so I wanted to be there. Since I was between jobs, I had plenty of free time.

I can?t tell you what Marge said that grabbed my attention so completely, but when I left there that night I knew I had to have that book. I didn?t know exactly how I would get it, because being unemployed also meant being broke, but I never questioned my decision. Once I got the Course, I started attending a discussion group at the Unity center. Back then, I guess this was around 1982, not many people had even heard of A Course in Miracles, at least not in Lake Charles.

Occasionally as I was reading and studying, I would feel just overwhelmed with my good luck at having found this extraordinary book, and then sometimes I would wonder why on earth I even believed it; it was such a different take on spirituality. But, I knew on a deeper level that this was exactly what I was supposed to be doing.

I was married to a man working construction and we moved around a lot for awhile, so I went long periods at a time with no contact with other Course students. I was pretty isolated in my study and I was also pretty erratic in it. I thought that in the periods when I wasn?t doing the lessons or reading the book that I was not doing anything. However, when I look back on it, I was always learning and growing. When I wasn?t consciously choosing to do it with the Holy Spirit?s help, I was making the job harder and more painful, but I was still growing spiritually.

In these years I raised my children and played out the script of my life. When my last child was getting ready to go away to school, I realized that I was about to experience a big hole in my life. What would I do without motherhood to fulfill me? I knew I had to have something important to take its place. I had been working with the Course sporadically all these years, so I decided it was time to get serious about it.

At the same time I got my first computer. I had heard about the internet, of course, and decided to see what it was all about. I was trying to decide what to look for when I went on line, and decided to see if there was anything about A Course in Miracles. (I told you I was isolated in my study!) Boy, was there ever stuff about the Course! I started checking out some of the forums because I found I was hungry for contact with other people who were of like mind. I tried some different forums, but when I found Pathways of Light, I knew I had found my home.

I soon discovered that they had a structured study program based on Course principles and I started taking them. I knew that I was serious now and I wanted something that would help me develop self discipline as well as deepen my understanding of the Course, and this study program was perfect for what I needed. I had only taken one of the courses when I knew that I would complete their ministerial program. I felt elated at the thought because I knew that this was what I was supposed to do, but I also felt frightened at the thought because it seemed impossibly arrogant of me to think I could be a minister of God. After all, I didn?t have all that good a track record in the past. I had the Course for years and I didn?t think I had made all that much progress. I think the only reason I was able to overcome my own fear was that it took me so long to complete the courses that I was able to lose sight of the fact that someday I would finish them.

Well, I did complete the courses and now I am an ordained minister with Pathways of Light. Now the Course is not something I do. It is what I am. My path to God is no longer a satisfying way to fill my empty nest; it is the purpose of my life. I keep my eyes firmly fixed on that purpose by continuing my spiritual education through Pathways and by studying the Course daily. I give a sermon at a local church every three weeks, have a study group in my home, and facilitate other ministerial students. What a wonderful life I have now!

This is my story. I would love to hear yours.

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