Miracles News |
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It was tomato planting time. I like to put my hands in the dirt or stand in the dirt with bare feet to feel the warmth or the coolness. I bought the tomato plants and planted them. The plants had been growing for a while when my mother (with whom I share my childhood home) announced that she was not going to water them. They weren’t producing the way she wanted them to. She was comparing them with the neighbor’s plants which were bigger. I was mortified. I took it personally. After all, those were my tomatoes! She is purposely withdrawing her attention because they are not growing as she thinks they should. I also thought that she may have done the same thing with me when I was a child, by withdrawing her nurturing and caring because I was not appearing in a way that was meeting her standards. This thinking was making me very sad and angry. Then I remembered that everything that I give to Jesus is transformed. So I asked, “Jesus, what is going on with me with these tomatoes and my mother? What is this about, really?” Jesus said, “This is about your mistaken thinking that I would ever judge you, stop loving you or abandon you for any reason. You made up a script of specialness that required you to do or say or appear a certain way to gain love or approval. This of course is all ego’s baloney and you don’t have to fall for it! My loving you has nothing to do with what you do or don’t do in this dream of separation. My love for you is a given. My love is always with you. There is no place where I end and you begin. We are a seamless Light together! Now, you can make up stories and you can even believe them. But that won’t change what is true. We are One. All is One. “The stories, since they are not true, are painful. Then something like planting tomatoes becomes a struggle and not fun at all. Joy has been forgotten and left out of the experience. It is common practice to ‘hurl’ what seems to be hurting you inside your mind, to project it onto someone. It seems to lessen the discomfort to blame another, judge the ‘other’ as the victimizer or ‘bad guy.’ The only problem is that the pain does not go away by putting it ‘out there’ and refusing to take responsibility for the false thinking behind the projection. Pat yourself on the back. You noticed the struggle and you brought it to me for transformation. Now through it all you have a greater awareness of what is true.” The tomatoes did mature to ripeness and juiciness. Mom became interested in harvesting the crop. I thought, “Harrumph! Yeah, now you like the tomatoes!” I noticed the absence of joy again and remembered the lesson from Jesus. It was time to lay down my own judgments. Since Jesus does not have any conditions about loving me, then likewise I need to let go of my conditions on loving and being the love I am. If I do not do this, the conditions will “choke out” my joy like the weeds in a garden will hinder the growth of the “good stuff.” My mind is like a garden. It needs to be weeded daily with the help of Holy Spirit. I still have some ‘weeds’ or false ideas in my mind. There needn’t be any shame, guilt or fear around this. I’ve just been mistaken. I am grateful that every day, in all of its simplicity, the task is still the same: Choose peace. With the help of Holy Spirit, watch the mind for blocks to Love. Give the blocks (ego’s baloney) to Jesus for transformation. Be grateful for the strengthening of the awareness of the Truth, the gift of the process. Then share the joy! Tomatoes are the “gift” of planting and watering seeds. The worldly seeds symbolize the seeds of Truth, which were “planted” in the seeming separate parts of God’s Creations, which would be “us.” Our willingness to remember the Truth about ourselves, that we are Love and nothing else, is of utmost importance. Willingness can be likened to watering plants. Willingness helps those real thoughts to grow and flourish because I give them my attention. I value them and want them to grow, so they do! They start to rise high above the false thoughts (weeds). I begin to more clearly recognize the real from the unreal. Reality becomes much more attractive and desirable. The false thoughts or “weeds” fade away as I do not support them with my beliefs anymore. I stay in my garden all day long, where thoughts of Truth appearing in the form of lovely bouquets are offered to me by the Master Gardener, Jesus. I delight in the Life they bring me and their beauty touches the very depths of my Soul. Precious friends, I invite you to join me in the garden where we can continue to share God’s Light together. Rev. Christine Anderson is a Pathways of Light minister who lives in Chicago, Illinois. |
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Twelve years ago I was living and employed in Florida. My sister-in-law had made a decision to formally join the Catholic church and invited me to be a witness to her ceremony and celebration. For several weeks, I combed gift shops, book stores, craft fairs, searching for something meaningful to give Barbara in honor of her choice. One day I found my way to The Abbey, which is a religious articles shop in downtown Orlando. As I walked into the shop, my eyes were immediately drawn to a print hanging on the wall above the counter. From where I stood, I could not even “see” what was in the print, but it didn’t matter. It was a bit of a distance from where I was standing, so I began looking at articles on the shelves, in the glass cases and on the walls. Nothing seemed to “fit” for Barbara’s occasion (like I know what would “fit” for anything at all....). My eyes kept going to the print on the wall. I forgot to mention that The Abbey was crowded with people. In and out I wove and, finally, came to the counter in front of the picture. It was hung so high that I still could not truly see it. It didn’t matter. I knew it would be exactly what I was looking for. I waited my turn. When it came, I asked the associate behind the counter to please take down that picture for me. She looked at me with a “You gotta be kidding” look, glancing around at the crowd still waiting for service. I gave her one of my best New Jersey smiles, saying “I truly would appreciate an opportunity to see that picture up close.” “Okayyyy.” She went in the back room, got the ladder, climbed up and brought it down to me. I held the 16” x 20” frame in my hands and gazed upon a scene that took my breath away. It shows a long dining table set for a formal dinner. The table stretches out into the sea, as far as my eye can see. There are beautifully carved chairs at each place setting. Gold decorated plates and glasses line the table, with everything in sets of three. The light blue tablecloth has a sun yellow runner down the center. Directly in the center of the scene is a candelabra with three candle holders. Above the end of the table, as it runs into the sea, is a magnificent sunrise, with blues and oranges and pinks. In bold italic lettering under the scene there is: “Come; For all things are now ready.” Luke 14:17. I became aware that I had held my breath for much too long. There were so many feelings and emotions swirling through me. The sales associate came back to me and I bought it immediately. I brought it home and put in on my living room floor, leaning against a hassock. When I was home, I would stare at it for hours. I knew it wasn’t a gift for Barbara, it was a message for me. The night before Barbara’s ceremony, I ran to a local mall and found exactly the right thing for her in moments. I was impressed to write this article today, as I stood looking at that wonderful scene yet again. Holy Spirit leads us to find exactly what we need, exactly when we need it. I will not bore you with the details, but let me assure you “I needed that picture at that moment.” At this moment, I am a truly happy camper here in New Jersey. Pathways of Light held my place in line until I arrived at their portals. I am facilitating students for the ministry. I am administering Spiritual Counseling for clients. I am performing weddings and union ceremonies. You see, ALL THINGS ARE STILL NOW READY. Lorraine Merritt is a Pathways of Light minister living in Toms River, New Jersey. Email: ReverendCookie@cs.com |
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I live in a senior mobile home park, in an area that is filled with senior villages and communities. I was food shopping several weeks ago in our local Shop Rite. I know that from 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM, the store is filled with senior citizens in front of me, senior citizens to the right of me, well you get the picture. If I am not concerned with the amount of time I spend there, I go with it. I was doing my shopping, experiencing the hurrying and scurrying of the senior citizens, which is normal. They seem to be oblivious of the person in front and keep moving their cart forward, cutting people off, a little nudge here and there. I’m cool with that - I come from the New York Metropolitan area... I stopped, looked and listened and continued on my merry way, not really giving any thought to what I described above as normal activity for the senior citizens shopping there. Finally, I arrived at the check out line, which was very long. That’s fine with me, I thought. I was in a very peaceful, pensive state and no thought of time was on my agenda. The front of the store is all glass, so the sky, the landscaping and the parking lot are all quite visible. I was lost in the beauty of the sky, which was a brilliant blue with some white puffy clouds drifting by, thanking Holy Spirit for my many blessings and abundance. My vision drifted downward to the area directly in front of the store, and what caught my eye was the sight of two large yellow buses. These buses had brought the majority of the senior citizens from their villages to the store to do their shopping. I had a catch in my throat when I suddenly realized why they were always hurrying and scurrying. They had to get back to the bus to go home. They were afraid of being left behind. They felt they had no other way to get home unless they were on that particular bus. I was filled with Love for them. I wanted to run up to each one and hug him or her and reassure them they would never, ever be left behind. “That’s not the plan,” I wanted to tell them. I stood in my place, breathing in the Love and Light of Holy Spirit, letting His message resound in my Being: WE ALL GO HOME TOGETHER. There’s a whole new picture at my local Shop Rite for me now. And So It Is. Lorraine Merritt is a Pathways of Light minister living in Toms River, New Jersey. Email: ReverendCookie@cs.com |
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A few synchronistic events happened which brought up an issue that I had forgotten about. I see it as God working again in his wondrous ways. In Illinois, there was a big uproar about a hazing in one of the high schools. I had heard about this but let it go. Then one morning, I turned on TV and there was Oprah, showing the video that was taken of this event. It seems that the older kids hazed the younger kids, and this hazing included having them eat feces, hitting them with hard items, etc. I know of two that went into the hospital, one because of her head being cut open, and another from being sick from what she ate. The older kids were drinking alcohol bought by one of the parents. At work, the next day, I couldn’t get this out of my mind. I asked another co-worker and he explained that he heard that the younger kids were also going to get punished, since they had a CHOICE to go to this event or not go. That sunk in, we all have a choice in everything we do. That brought to mind the movie Dangerous Minds where Michelle Pfeifer told her class, “There are no victims in my classroom” and basically told them that they had a choice to be there or not be there. I was busy feeling sorry for the younger kids, but they then put me into judgment, which I didn’t like. I was trying to find a way to reconcile all of this. So in God’s synchronistic way, I was reading Pathways of Light course 805 to prepare for one of my students. I read “The one who permits misuse of power by other is inviting it to continue. Permitting this misuse of power undermines the self-esteem of both partners.” Now my message was clear. I was still holding on to a “victim” attitude for something that happened years ago. I thought I had resolved the issue, but it only seemed resolved because it didn’t hit me in the face everyday. It was an issue that only showed up when certain family events came up, because I hadn’t addressed it, thinking it was gone. I had a choice in all those years as to what I was doing. I clearly remember making the choice that drove my next few years. If I had I to do all over again, I would make the same choice. The difference is I wouldn’t blame someone else for the things they did wrong, or things they did not do. I made a choice to stay in the “mess,” and I made a choice that impacted how things turned out. It’s a humbling experience when you need to look at yourself and ask yourself, “Why did you agree to what went on?” My parents are from the old country in Europe. Their philosophy while raising us was that the teacher was always right. I remember complaining that a teacher didn’t like me because she gave me straight D’s in conduct one year, just because she caught me talking to someone once or twice during class. And my parents then told me that it was my choice to talk at all, so therefore I better straighten out my act. I thought that was harsh, but the words are true. I was comparing myself to all the other kids in class and, to me, they did worse than me. The image of the high school kids still goes with me, but to me it’s just a stronger message to wake up other folks so that they realize they have a choice in whatever they do. Make sure your choice is one you want to live with, and one you will stand behind. And if you make the wrong choice, it’s your choice again to make another choice that is better. But it’s all up to you. Nancy Schilli is a Pathways of Light minister living in Gurnee, Illinois. Email: nancyschilli@comcast.net |
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We have a daily practice of starting our day by being quiet and receiving insight from Holy Spirit before moving into the rest of our day. The following are two messages that were very helpful for me. You Can Do It You really can have no cares, no worries and be calm all the time. I know right now that you doubt that. But like the child who waves his arm around indiscriminately and doesn’t hold the cup with the discipline he will have after a bit of practice, you, too, can live a life where you are calm all the time and know easily what to do with any fear that may show up. Just like you hold a cup now without even thinking about it, you can have the automatic habit of remembering that you live in God all the time. You can do this. And I am here to remind you of that every time you are willing to listen. Let your safety be with Me because I will remember for you when you forget. Come Home. There all the false ideas, all the nightmarish fears are melted away for you by Me. We are one. When you come to Me, you are coming to your real Self. Will the real You stand up! Let the real You operate in this “life” dream. Let the real You drive the bus. You can do it! I trust in you. I trust that your willingness will be strong enough. Freedom awaits you. A calm mind is not a little thing. It is where your power lies. Your willingness to remember that you live in God brings you and the whole Sonship relief, because Love always extends. You can do it. I know you have heard many times that it just takes a little willingness. But that is really all it takes. And it is not someone else’s willingness for conditions to be just right, it is your willingness, now, in each present moment. You can do it. You can experience the Presence of God, the Presence of Love, the Presence of heavenly peace; the presence of being eternally safe; the presence of indescribable happiness, now and always. Just be willing. Give Me a chance to guide your mind. I know there have been times when you think, “I need to do this first. Let me just get this done first.” I encourage you to let Me be at the top of your mental agenda. Let Me be in forefront of your mind, not delegated to the back room. I am asking for this. We are one. This is how you find your happiness. It will never be found in anything in the world. Receiving a Message on Waking Up The secret to waking up lies in your willingness to question the reality of your worldly experience. As you are able to let go of this firm grip on making this world real, you allow a crack in the wall. This is called forgiveness. The wall is there to keep God out, to keep universal Love out. As you focus on your willingness to let that crack get bigger and bigger, the Light of Truth will ever so gently help you take each step in letting go of this fierce dream of deprivation, lack and death. I am here to encourage you to make this your top priority. The Light of Truth is eager to bring you happiness, safety, abundance, and the joy and peace that comes with your real Identity as part of God. It is slowly coming into your awareness that this whole world is just a big mistake to be recognized and let go of. The Course calls this recognition, or re-knowing, forgiveness, or a miracle. Each day, choose a miracle instead of a lie. Choose oneness instead of separation. Choose happiness instead of conflict. The plate is there right in front of you. It is not far away. It is right in front of you. It’s so easy. You take from ego’s plate every minute with the thoughts you choose to hold in your mind. You keep yourself chained to the dark and dank cave of the ego or you choose to let the chains drop away and walk out into the light with your brother by your side. The truth is God is all there is. God is all that is Real. Any hint of limitation of any kind is a lie. The only thing to do with any false idea is to let it go, drop it. Make the rest of your life a gift to yourself and to the world by releasing the bondage of the false ideas. You will feel the deep fulfillment that comes in joining, blending with the Spirit of wholeness in your mind. As you do this you will do your part on the bridge of return to remembering there is only God, there is only Love. Mary Stoelting is cofounder of Pathways of Light living in Kiel, Wisconsin. Email: office@pathwaysoflight.org |
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