Pathways of Light Miracles News, 7/00 p. 2

Miracles News Summer 2000

In the Blink of an Eye • All I Need to Know • Borrow a Dog
Inviting Love's Presence into My Heart • More Summer 2000 Articles
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In the Blink of an Eye -- by Rev. Lorraine Merritt

In 1977, after years of struggling during which we lost both our home and business, my husband, two sons and I moved to a farm in New York State. The struggle not only continued, it increased. There were no jobs available for us. We moved in October, the beginning of the snow, sleet and ice. The weather often prevented us from driving to town to shop.

During the years prior to our move, my faith never wavered. I was confident the situations we experienced were learning lessons to enable us to continue on our spiritual path. My glass was half full. I accepted all that was occurring. It was as simple as putting each new problem under my arm with all the old ones, and just keep going on.

After moving, the little money we had dwindled to nothing. Neither of us was employed. I prayed and meditated and meditated and prayed. I practiced every ritual I knew and created new ones. There was no going back. I felt as if my veneer was beginning to crack. I could not imagine why God wasn't doing something to help us.

During a visit to the local high school, one of the secretaries invited us to join her for service in the First Congregation Church on Sunday. We attended service and stayed afterward for the wonderful fellowship. We met the minister after the service and spoke with him for about ten minutes. The congregation was very friendly and welcoming. I felt comforted and at peace for the first time in months.

In the mail the very next day came notices that both our telephone and electricity would be disconnected if not paid in full within seven days. The desperation of our life settled over me like a cloak. I could not believe this was happening. I had prayed. I had meditated. I practiced my rituals. I kept a positive attitude. I was learning my lessons on the path. I was kind. I was loving and sharing. Just what was the deal here? Just what did God expect from me? I was becoming physically ill.

I began to pace back and forth through the rooms talking nonstop. I was getting louder and louder. I came to a halt in the kitchen, yelling at the top of my lungs. I was yelling, "You know what the problem is here, God. You know. You have never sent anyone to bless this house. If you would only send someone here to bless this house, everything would turn around for us. We would get jobs and we would be able to survive. You're the one who has to get this started for us, God."

I only stopped yelling because my throat was raw and I was out of breath. The second I stopped yelling, there was a knock at the front porch door. No one ever came to visit us. Who on earth could that be? I wasn't certain I wanted to answer the knock, I was so upset.

Well, I opened the door to find Rev. Tony Lister, the minister from the First Congregational Church standing there smiling at me. I asked him, "What took you so long to get here, Tony Lister?" He answered, "I only met you yesterday, Lorraine. I came as quickly as I could." I inquired if he had heard me screaming to God while standing out there. He said he hadn't and asked what I was screaming to God about. I told him the entire dialogue (it was burned into my brain).

He walked right past me into my house, took off his coat, took my hand and said, "Well then, Lorraine, let's get busy with blessing your home." We did just that. My house finally felt like a home to me. Afterward we had a cup of coffee and quite a conversation, Tony Lister and I.

Within one hour of his leaving, Tony returned with a check to cover our phone and electric bills, and food for our family. He assured me, should we need anything else, he would do his very best to help us.

That week in the local newspaper which was published only on Wednesday (just two short days later) there was a job opportunity for each of us. We applied and were each hired on the spot. At long last I felt the yoke lifting from my shoulders.

The lesson I learned here is that it is important to have faith and keep it. It is important to keep a positive attitude and project that attitude outward. It is important to be loving and sharing with everyone. It is important to be explicit, even to God. But, the first thing I should have done was turn the entire problem over to God. Because when I did, "IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE," our lives did indeed turn around.

Click here if you want to email Lorraine.

All I Need to Know -- by Rev. Christine Anderson

All I need to know today is that everything is OK. In fact, everything is very, very well!
All I need to know today is that I am loved beyond belief, because I KNOW I am loved by God, my Father.

All I need to know today is that I do not know anything. I am teachable and willing to learn. I willingly let go of the meaning of everything I thought I knew about anything to do with this world -- this dream screen, the screen upon which I projected my mistaken thoughts of separation -- to open to the perspective of Holy Spirit in my right mind.

All I need to know today is that wherever I go, God goes with me. Love, my true Identity is everywhere present. When I imagine that I am traveling in the worldly sense, I remember that wherever I am, God is. I know that it is a good idea to ask for guidance as to where I should go to be most truly helpful. Following that wise counsel will prevent the "wild goose chases" that the ego would have me pursue, keeping me mindless and unaware of the real purpose of my mind. My purpose is to be an instrument of peace, helpfulness and love in the undoing of the separation of God and His Son (which never really happened at all).

All I need to know today is that I am innocent. I offer this truth to all of my brothers and sisters as I look through the eyes of Love from within the Mind I share with God, my Father. With Christly Vision I always behold Love within me. I stay within and embrace every living thing with the countenance of Love. Every moment I stay within the Holy Place of God Mind, the idea of an "outer" world or "other" mind falls away. I stay Home in Love, where peace is the heavenly atmosphere, joy is my friend and holy laughter gently melts away the false world that I thought I made up on the dream screen of my projected vision.

All I need to know today is that I am being bathed in Light from a Heavenly Place right within the Holy Mind, the place of shared oneness. It is a community bathing in Light: The community of One: all inclusive, including every One in God's Kingdom; Love and the extensions of Love; All giving to All. All bathed in Light.

I know in my heart of hearts today, that All is One and One is for All. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit… All One. Amen

Click here if you want to email Christine.

Borrow a Dog -- by Rev. Georgeann Medved

Our neighbor's chocolate Labrador Retriever, Cody, is a great clown and a wonderful borrowed companion. He comes to the front door and barks almost every single day. I let him in and he runs to the kitchen and sits beside the refrigerator. Then I open the refrigerator door and extract a package of nonfat hot dogs. He is allowed one hot dog most days and two if I'm in a really good mood. He can't eat a lot of fat due to having pancreatitis as a pup so the nonfat hot dogs are a great snack for him. Usually he has his hot dog, a drink of water from his own water dish and then comes to me to be petted and told how beautiful he is.

He also has his own hair brush and gets brushed regularly. After his petting and grooming he most often lays down in front of the sliding glass door wall or under the table to take a nap. Then I get my A Course in Miracles book, Holy Bible or other inspirational material out and sit down in the living room and read my message for the day and have my very own quiet time. After his nap he barks for me and we usually go out into the yard for a walk or to the mail box to get the mail and then he lays down on our lawn and barks at any noises that he doesn't like. After a while he gets up and heads for a long trail through our woods that connects our property to his. If I'm still outside I tell him, "Be good, Cody," and he acts like he knows what I'm saying. His visits relax and rejuvenate me tremendously and I need that.

Whenever his people go out of town, Cody gets very lonesome even though their daughter stays at the house with him. On these occasions he comes two or three times a day and sticks to me like glue. I have actually had to take him home in my car when I had to leave to go to an appointment somewhere and he insisted on being in the car with me.

Cody also is wise enough to come over to our house when their grandchildren are visiting them and he gets tired of being pushed, pulled along by the collar, and sat upon. He comes in the house and lays under the table and then barks to get out every half hour or so and stands on our patio and cocks his head, ears up and listens. When he hears them he turns around and comes back to the door, comes back in and stretches out underneath the table again. When he no longer hears their voices through the woods, he knows they have left or gone into the house and he goes home. A few times he has come right back over when he discovered that they're still visiting but have only gone into the house.

Sometimes when I come home after being on the go all day Cody is laying in our yard waiting for me. He can't wait to see me. When I let him inside and collapse on the floor too tired to move, he licks my face and ears and rejuvenates me. There is no use in complaining and trying to push him away because he sees this healing gesture as his job and takes it very seriously. Once revived I am ready to follow our usual pleasant daily routine.

Last fall his owner, Jerry, had to come and get him about 8:30 p.m. on Sunday night. They were blowing leaves all day and Cody hates the noise from the leaf blowers so he comes to our house. He repeated his in and out routine through the day to listen for the noise from the machines and it never stopped. We went out to eat and he insisted on getting in the car and going with us instead of going home. Once back at our house he heard the noise from their yard and stayed with us. Jerry came over to our house to get Cody immediately when they turned the machines off for the night and Cody was so miffed about the noise that lasted all day that we couldn't get him to go to Jerry. He had to be coaxed out of our house and into their car. The clown actually snubbed his very favorite person.

I have spent many happy hours enjoying what I refer to as my "borrow-a-dog" and I am thankful that our neighbors have been generous enough to share this big clown with us. I feel myself relax and my batteries recharge every time he comes to visit and I am thankful that he reminds me to study and pray and take a break from the daily grind. Cody is a God-given blessing.

Click here to email Georgeann.

Inviting Love's Presence into My Heart -- by Rev. Wenona Thomas

Sometimes the love of God seems to just leak through into my consciousness without my awareness. It must just sit there waiting for an opportunity. And when I begin to show even the slightest amount of willingness, It makes Itself known to me. It does not force Itself upon me. It is patient and quiet. It is sure and confident. It has the end in sight. It never doubts Itself or Its ability to carry through with God's Plan. It has the time to wait for me if I am not ready, for It knows that I am eternally safe. It does however want to share It's knowledge with me. It wills that I be happy and It knows what will bring me the happiness I crave. So It gratefully accepts even the most delicate invitation.

And whether aware of it or not, I must have invited Love's Presence into my heart today. Even without that formal prayer, Love touched me, and I gave myself the gift of feeling It's grace. It was through gratitude that the Presence of Love was able to be welcomed into my mind. As I sat and contemplated my life, I looked out through eyes that had been momentarily transformed. I realized in that instant that life was perfect. These eyes, whose purpose at one time had been to report findings of separation, lack, disease, suffering and starvation of a spiritual nature so profound it was overwhelming, these same eyes were now able to see a world of softness and light. A world of perfection with sweet graces, astounding gentleness, and wholeness, with a kind of harmonic order that was beyond my conception. A reflection of holiness.

Everything in my world suddenly mirrored God. Everything was brushed lightly with a peace that glowed of a Divine Nature. My life was perfect. Everything was OK. I am where I am supposed to be. I am doing what I am supposed to be doing. I am walking the path Holy Spirit has placed my feet on. I am following His Plan. I was seeing "my" world through His eyes. So it is no wonder that everything became perfect. It is no spectacular event to see a world of Love and joy rather than separation and sadness. It is natural. The world I saw today is the world we were all meant to live in. It is a world that reflects Heaven. The invitation to see this world need not be great. It only takes the tiniest bit of willingness.

Seeing through the eyes of Love is not something "I" do. It is something I accept. By deciding against illusion I adopt God's Plan as my own. So it is no wonder that I see the world differently when I give up "my" plan. The world I saw today was the only world where I can live in peace, because it is the world that was given me by God, not the one I made for myself. How could I ever make a world that would satisfy me, when I have forgotten Who it is I am? I do not know what it is I want, because I don't know Who I really am. I accept that my Creator knows me fully, and therefore knows what will bring me the happiness I desire. If I allow Love into my heart, I will see the world through His eyes, and because of what Love is, I will see only joy.

Click here if you want to email Wenona.

In the Blink of an Eye • All I Need to Know • Borrow a Dog
Inviting Love's Presence into My Heart • More Summer 2000 Articles