Miracles News

Tweet

January-March, 2017

What I Call Practice

by Rev. Larry Glenz, O.M.C.

One of the many things I love about A Course in Miracles is that there are so many ways to practice. It is practicing that helps us to take the concepts deeper into our Right Mind and be guided by Holy Spirit.

Practicing ACIM has been a spiritual force that has guided me for many years. I started with the Workbook lessons over 20 years ago I still read a lesson every morning and try to remind myself of it throughout the day. I close my day with it before I close my eyes at night.

This is not a “chore” for me anymore but perhaps it was in the beginning. When I started the Workbook in 1994, I heard the comparison that doing the lessons is like lifting weights. I didn’t have to enjoy them or believe them. However, I was taught that if I was willing to do the lessons every day, throughout the day, I would get spiritually stronger.

That sounded really good to me. What did I have to lose? I worked at doing lessons despite often having resistance to what I was being taught. I was going through my divorce and had moved out of my home. Learning about forgiveness, sinlessness, and guiltlessness was certainly challenging while my life turned upside down.

It took me two years to get through the Workbook in the first years but there was vigilance to my efforts. I would also occasionally read the Text by myself at night a little bit at a time. I remember thinking, “I have no idea what this means” as I read the Text. But I kept coming back to it.

Without understanding it, I had the strong feeling that what this book was saying is the Truth. It would take time to seriously consider that my “life” was not the Truth. It would take practice to recognize forgiveness opportunities and to embrace them as such. Learning that I am God’s perfect Son takes practice.

I practiced primarily on my own. Well not really on my own — just my book, Holy Spirit, and me. I was reluctant to talk about it. And even with those I love most, I avoided discussion of my spiritual path out of fear of their possible criticism or disapproval. After all, these concepts are radical to the world’s view, as I perceived it.

I started to read what others were saying about the Course. The Internet provided me with ACIM communities that were studying the Course together. I was hesitant at first to join any of these groups. I had read books by Course authors like Marianne Williamson, Ken Wapnick, and Jon Mundy.

I was somehow drawn to Pathways of Light. I started their Ministerial Training courses with really no overt desire to be an ordained minister. Now I was practicing ACIM principles with a facilitator — a spiritual partner with whom to share my deepest fears and thoughts. I started using these spiritual concepts in my history classroom, in my athletic coaching, my parenting, and even into my little gig as a bartender.

Once I finished the ministerial courses and became a Pathways of Light minister, I served as a facilitator for others taking the courses. I also started taking the ACIM Practitioner courses that are specifically designed to help us take the Course principles even deeper. Then I started facilitating these courses as a Mind Healing Partner for others. This is what I call practicing.

Upon my retirement from teaching high school history classes, I started to search for study groups in my area on Long Island. After attending several different ones, I settled on one with which I was most comfortable. I joined with groups online as well.

I felt guided to start my own study group on Tuesday nights at my home in Long Beach. That has continued now for 8 years with a steady attendance of 5-10 people. I keep finding new ways to practice.

Practicing is not effortless for me but I certainly do not see it as a chore. I am drawn to it. The more I practice, the easier it becomes for me to accept the Atonement for myself. If I didn’t feel this stirring in my heart when I practice, I am sure I would have stopped long ago.

The more I practice ACIM, the more love I seem to accept into my life. The hard times are not as difficult. The good times appear more numerous and powerful. It is this experience that encourages me to keep connecting to Spirit.

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for being here now. I continue to feel Your strength within me. And I’ll keep practicing.

Rev. Larry Glenz, O.M.C., is a Pathways of Light minister living in Long Beach, New York. Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

© 2016, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this copyright notice and website address are included.

Tell a Friend

Printable Page

---

Tweet

January-March, 2017

God’s Promise

by Rev. Tammy Roupp, O.M.C.

What have I promised you, do you know?

I know what I did not.

I never promised you the sun, the moon,
the stars, the heaven or earth.

I never promised to provide for you a house,

a car or money to buy what you wish.

I never promised to keep you safe
from how you chose to live.

I never promised to rescue you
from what you chose to do with your life.

What I did was not a promise,
it was a Gift.

The Gift is the extension of Who I am.

I created you in Love — The Love
that I am, the living part of Me.

This Love, It is Who I am,
It is Who you are.

It is a flow so peaceful, so gentle you
do not even know that it is there.

But it is always there, always filling you.

This part of Me that lives within you.

Love never wavers, it never falters.

Love flows from Me to you,
from you to Me.

All who stand in My grace of being can
feel this Love,
It calls to them to awaken.

No matter how lost you may
think you have become,
the flow of Love is always there,
calling you to awaken to your Heart.

I am not a promise;
I am the beingness of Love…
living within you.

I have never left you,
for I am part of you.

I am that part of you
that you gain strength from.

That part of you that creates joy,

laughter, compassion and love.

My Love calls you now,
to awaken to My Gift.

Love is Joy

Joy is Peace

Peace is Love

It is time to live
in the Joy of Peace
through the Love of God
that you are.

Rev. Tammy Roupp is a Pathways of Light minister living in Logan Station, Pennsylvania. 
  .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

© 2016, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this copyright notice and website address are included.

Tell a Friend

Printable Page

---

Tweet

January-March, 2017

A Letter to God

by Rev. Vickie Rostant, O.M.C.

Dear God,

Please take me back. I left and now I am miserable. I was beguiled by the idea of “doing my own thing.” I wanted power. I wanted to be in control. I wanted to be the boss. So, I rebelled against You and left home. Now I suffer regret and want to come back. You try to tell me that I never left; that I only think I left; that I am still safely at home, dreaming that I left. You send Teachers to bring me that message over and over. While I don’t totally get it, all I know right now is that I long to return home.

There is a story that you threw me out because I was bad. I believed that for a while, forgetting that it was my choice to leave in the first place. However, I found that I did not hate my children or abandon them when they did something I did not like. I defended them with all I had when someone tried to hurt them. So, somewhere along the way, it occurred to me that maybe you didn’t want me gone — that maybe leaving really was my decision because I did not want to listen to You. I wanted to be the one in charge.

Now, all I know is that I am not happy with anything I have created, and I want to come back to You. There is nothing in the hell in which I now find myself that brings me any comfort. I went off and did my thing: I travelled all the lands of my own making; I lived in the world I wanted, and enjoyed all its pleasures. It was so much fun in the early days when I thought I was all that! Why did everyone seem to be totally unaware of how brilliant I was? My judgments were always immediate and precise; my authority was total, and I was completely in charge. Why didn’t they seem to get that I had all the answers!

Then how could it be that, in the midst of a successful career and a full life, I found myself at the edge of a precipice with emptiness, despair and darkness yawning before me? Why was my way not making me happy? A “Thelma and Louise” dive into the abyss was a vague possibility, however, there was just enough hope in me from Your messages over time to keep me going.

As I got older, I noticed a pattern in the events of my life that revealed something that I did not appreciate at each event, as I was too busy making other plans. I saw your footprints carrying me through what I thought I wanted my life to be. It was your Love that kept me safe along the way, gently steering my path to this point, where I long to return home. I can recall numerous situations where I was obviously protected from harm, or kept out of scenarios that would have led to a completely different path.

One example: in my youth, I wanted to become a radio announcer. I took the course, diligently did all the work and was quite excited when it was time for the final exam, which was to write and record a broadcast in the studio. I was brilliant! However, after I wrapped up, I discovered that I had not turned on the tape to record my show! I failed the course, and life went on.

Another example, many years later, was when my job decided to divorce me in the early days of “downsizing.” Because of my level in the organisation, I was allowed to take time to find myself another position, or leave with a package. After a lot of searching, I chose to stay on — after all, what else would I do, having been there for over 22 years? I felt enormous relief in finally having made a decision. However, every day after that, as I walked down the corridor to my office, a wave of nausea washed over me. I had done enough internal work by then to recognize that something was telling me something. After I left, a series of incredible events unfolded that led to a different career and life. Of course I railed against each of these misfortunes, and numerous others. But now I see in them the light of your Guide gently directing me to people, places, and teachings to bring me here. Thank You for Your Patience.

Twelve years ago, at the edge of the cliff, I cried to You for help. That was something I had never done before. Remember, I had all the answers; I was strong and independent, totally capable and self-reliant. I could do it all myself. That cry for help from that dark place brought ACIM into my life, via Pathways of Light. There was an immediate recognition that this was what I was looking for to relieve the pain and emptiness I was feeling. I knew instinctively that it had the answers for me to find that other way — one that would provide a new perspective and release me from the prison I had so securely built around myself.

I realized that I had been hitting “delete” automatically, not wanting to hear what You had to say, because I did not want to hear that my way was not working and I would have to change a few things. I could change my thoughts and choose differently.

Over time, with sporadic and intermittent application of the teachings, I started to get a sense that I could not know what peace and happiness are until I applied the same time and energy towards my salvation, as I had so strongly employed in maintaining my separate state. In order to change my mind I needed to practice Your message of Love. A serious, mostly daily, study session for the past three years, beginning with Pathways of Light’s Listen & Receive 30-day home-study program, taken with a healthy dose of patience, applying the perspective of forgiveness, and loving and accepting my brothers, has brought me to this place, where, with gratitude and joy, I ask to return.

Please take us back.

Yours. Truly.

Rev. Vicki Rostant, O.M.C. is a Pathways of Light minister living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

© 2016, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this copyright notice and website address are included.

Tell a Friend

Printable Page

---

Tweet

January-March, 2017

My Breath Is the Holy Spirit

by Rev. Judy Calvin, O.M.C.

The Holy Spirit lives through me as my breath. When I allow that truth to permeate my awareness and raise my consciousness, my life — indeed, my universe — becomes miraculous. Knowing that the Holy Spirit is present with me in such an intimate way, has moved me from a life saturated with enormous guilt, sadness and anxiety to one full of innocence, joy and peace.

I am discovering there is no limit to the ways I can use my Holy Spirit breath to heal my mind and heart. Following are, perhaps, my three favorite ways that the Holy Spirit and I collaborate using the breath to bring me into that space where miracles occur.

First, I use my breath to bring me back into the present moment, back into the presence of God. When I realize, as I go about my day, that I am not present, I focus on my breath and the awareness that the Holy Spirit is with me. As a result, I am filled with the attributes of God from which I have unconsciously disconnected. For instance, if I have been lost in the fear of lack, my breath connects me to abundance. If I have been consumed with guilty thoughts, my breath connects me to innocence. If feelings of sadness have obscured the joy of God, my breath brings me back into alignment with peace and contentment.

Second, I have developed a spiritual practice of consciously using my breath to bring any fears that are still in need of healing into my awareness. Yeshua discusses a process in The Way of Mastery that helps me heal these obstructions to love and make peace with the past. I use his guidance by, first, becoming aware of my breathing and allowing my breath to calm my mind. Sometimes it takes 5 minutes and sometimes 10. Then I ask the Holy Spirit to bring into my awareness what needs to be healed. As I sit in silence, focusing on my breath, I observe what arises into the field of my mind. Sometimes it is a picture, sometimes a memory, sometimes a feeling, and sometimes a thought or a sensation in the body. As the message arises, I forgive the judgment I have placed upon this object of my creation. I embrace the creation and then release it. In this way, I bless and heal the past. Usually, I can immediately feel the painful remembrance dissolve.

Third, I use my breath to remind me that I am not alone. During my early years, I felt abandoned by God and cast adrift on a sea of fear. The resulting outrage within me dominated my life, and led me down the path of addiction and self-abuse. Imagine my delighted surprise when I discovered that God was with me all along and the proof is that the Holy Spirit lives within me as my breath. I breathe in the wonder and joy of peace, inclusion, and creativity and breathe out the pain of abandonment and the fear of helplessness, unworthiness, and confusion. I realize my breath is holy, and through its wholeness, I rest in peace.

Rev. Judy Calvin is an Ordained Minister living in Thousand Oaks, California. Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Web: http://www.innerpathbridges.org Get Judy’s fantastic new book: Living a Spiritualized Life: Transformational Bridges to Our Inner Universe, found on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. Learn how to transcend negative habits, addictions and other discordant behaviors.

© 2016, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this copyright notice and website address are included.

Tell a Friend

Printable Page

---

Back to main page of Miracles News.

Has this page been helpful to you?
Your contribution to support this site is greatly appreciated. To make a tax deductible contribution with a credit/debit card, click here.
Click here to donate from your PayPal account.
Or send a check to Pathways of Light, 12530 Lions Chase Court, Huntley, IL 60142.