Dear Miracle Workers,
If you started the lessons at the 1st of the year then you’re well into the second half of the Workbook. For whatever reason, I am less vigilant with these later lessons. Finally admitting that to myself, I clearly got the message to start them over. I mention this because I didn’t chastise myself for not being vigilant nor did I feel compelled to finish the lessons like they’re a homework assignment. I was just being completely honest. I let go of my concern and obligation to finish the lessons and remembered that "There are no small upsets. They are all equally disturbing to my peace of mind." (OrEd.WkBk.5.6)
I have happily started over. I seem to need the early clear cut ideas to remind me that getting guidance is easy all the time. I sometimes forget that. The goal is to ask and then to accept the guidance. The goal is not to finish the lessons.
“I am not worried about [ finishing the lessons ] for the reason I think.” (OrEd.WkBk.5.11) I am willing to see things differently. In that willingness I am free.
Of course we are supposed to use all the lessons all the time in order to free our minds, but I’ve had a lot going on lately with caring for my elderly father, renovating my house, and the sudden seeming death of a friend. So, getting clear guidance came as a relief.
“There is another way of looking at this.” (OrEd.WkBk.33.4) "My happiness and my function are one." (OrEd.WkBk.66) "Only God's plan for salvation will work." (OrEd.WkBk.71)
These ideas relieve my mind from all effort and remind me to keep it simple. I want to be happy, and I recognize that I’ve been miserable. Thank God for the lessons. They have brought me back to my one function.
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(originally appeared in Miracles Weekly #309, Oct. 19 2021)
Dear Miracle Workers,
Retraining the mind to conceptualize ourselves as unlimited in power is not as difficult as people think. That’s because it is actually how we are. We are just opening up to the truth. It is not something we have to learn, or manifest. It is simply something we have to remember.
Lesson #38 is a quick restorative. It states clearly, "There is nothing my holiness cannot do." (OrEd.WkBk.38) I love this lesson and will frequently open to it and read the first two paragraphs anytime I want to feel my power. It is great having a spiritual discipline that reminds us how absolutely powerful we are. "Your holiness reverses all the laws of the world. It is beyond every restriction of time, space, distance, and limits of any kind." (OrEd.WkBk.38.1) We can heal anything and everything.
Remember that nuclear holocaust that wiped out all human life on the planet in the 1970s? “No?” Oh right – that’s because we healed it. I told you it was easy!
Being able to heal everything comes from the dawning realization that everything is you! There is nothing outside you. This is clearly stated. "There is nothing outside you. That is what you must ultimately learn, for it is [in that] realization that the Kingdom of Heaven is restored to you." (OrEd.Tx.18.49) I've learned it! I affirm this every Sunday Gathering when I lead the meditation. I expand our awareness to fill the entire universe and declare, "There is no place where we are not. There is no time when we are not. We are everywhere and every when." When we claim that energy and identity, "Your holiness, then, can remove all pain, can end all sorrow, and can solve all problems. It can do so in connection with yourself and with anyone else." (OrEd.Tx.38.2)
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(originally appeared in Miracles Weekly #308, Oct. 12 2021)
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Thinking of the world as a school is a common New Age idea. The idea has a lot of merit. However ACIM takes this idea and gives it a twist. Our proper role in this metaphor is not that of the perpetual student. Our proper role is that of the teacher. “Yes” we do go through a student training, but that training in ACIM is conceptualized as being only a year. After that we are supposed to consider that we are now "Teachers of God,” and we should be assuming our role as living demonstrations of the Divinely realized. Are we doing that? Let’s not get stuck in the role of the perpetual student. 24 min. SUBSCRIBE & SHARE
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Dear Miracle Workers,
Sometimes I feel like my life becomes a list of things to get done. One deadline after another puts me in an ego state of mind. I don’t like it -- it breeds guilt and anxiety. Despite our clear discomfort in this state of mind the ego counsels more busyness or compulsions that keep us a prisoner of it’s illusions. The Course says this about the ego:
"The fact that truth and illusion cannot be reconciled, no matter how you try, what means you use and where you see the problem, must be accepted if you would be saved. ²Until you have accepted this, you will attempt an endless list of goals you cannot reach; a senseless series of expenditures of time and effort, hopefulness and doubt, each one as futile as the one before, and failing as the next one surely will." (FIP.WkBk.96.2:1-2)
When we get caught up in the ego’s muck, it's time to remember Truth. Recall that we are climbing the ladder away from the ego's despondent thought system. All we are asked to do is to make the choice for another teacher. Turn to Jesus or the Holy Spirit (or whatever symbol of God that works for you) and ask for a miracle. For me, this usually includes the decision to STOP my thinking with the ego. I have to be emphatic. I am now ready to forgive and receive a miracle in collaboration with Jesus or the Holy Spirit. Sometimes it’s easier than others, but it always works with our persistence and faith. Choose again beloved spirits, and return to the peace of God!
(originally appeared in Miracles Weekly #307, Oct. 5 2021)
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"A magician is practiced in the art of sensory deception. They prey upon the limitations of our perception and cause us to think we see or perceive realities that are not there. The Ego thought system is like the magician. It has created a massive cult following around the religion of judgment. Judgment is a fixed belief about the world we perceive and holding onto to these beliefs despite the psychological and societal devastation they may cause. We know that our individual human experience often shows us this. We condemn instead of forgive the other or the human systems. The healing teaching of A Course in Miracles provides us with a way out of the prison of judgment and condemnation. My talk will focus on A Course in Miracles principles that can free us return us to the peace and joy of God's Love." 26 min. SUBSCRIBE & SHARE
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Dear Miracle Workers,
Want to be a channel or a remote viewer? I never thought I’d be able to do that, until someone taught me. I was shocked to find I could see and describe people I'd never met. But, as cool as it is, that ability is like the children's toys Jesus talks about. An even greater power is available to us; the power He is trying to teach us to access.
When we play children's games, we might say, “Holy Spirit, find me a parking place.” Or, as Helen did, ask to find the perfect winter coat. Jesus called it the “Higher Shopping Service.” (CE.Tx.1.25:6) But what if you want to mend a broken heart? Or fix an argument? What if you want to have peace instead of turmoil in your life? You can. “There is a place in you where the strength of God abides.” (OrEd.WkBk.47.8)
That place is called the Holy Spirit; that part of you that remains connected to God. It’s the true You. But, because it IS You, it knows all that is in your mind. And while you may say you want one thing, if you still have attachment to something else, well…nothing will happen. Your desires will cancel each other out. But if you can give up your attachment to what you think should happen and become quiet and go within; if you can give the situation to One who is deeply connected to much more than you will ever know, something supernatural will happen - things you were never expecting, things you never thought possible. Weird things, spooky things. Opportunities open up that never before existed. People do things you never could have expected.
Yes, you really can tap into that power and set it in motion. Step right up! Amaze yourself! Amaze your friends! Amaze your family! And heal the world.
(originally appeared in Miracles Weekly #306, Sep. 28 2021)
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For love to reign, to rule – we have to be that love. We will never be love if we live in fear. We think defenses protect us but they only make the fear worse and and harder to uncover. "Defense is frightening. ... You think it offers safety. Yet it speaks of fear made real and terror justified. " (OrEd.WkBk.135.4) The true defense is to be in love. The true defense is to rain love over everyone and everything in your life and then be witness to the reign of love being firmly established in the world. Many are challenged by seeming dangers in their world. To them I say “Let my love rain on you, and usher in the true reign of love in the world." 21 min. SUBSCRIBE & SHARE
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Dear Miracle Workers,
I see now that everything in my life was always on purpose. It is so clear to me now. I took part in a civil disobedience movement in my high school called “Student Activists for Reform” which was protesting a strict dress code rule. Thank you Canastota High School for the training. In college I participated in anti-war demonstrations and camped outside on a cold sidewalk in front of a building take over to lend support to those inside. We were protesting Cornell University’s numerous defense contracts and funding. It was the era of the Viet Nam war.
I’ve spoken against laws that discriminated against single people by giving huge financial breaks and tax incentives to those who are legally married. I have always been happily “single” and don’t think it is right that I should be discriminated against for my life-style choices. I have stood for LGBTQ rights because I am actively bisexual and knew that being ostracized because of one's sexual orientation was wrong.
While some of my ACIM friends have challenged me for being too involved with the world, I stand by my choices to side with freedom whenever it is being limited. I find great support in ACIM with this quotation: "You have heard many arguments on behalf of 'the freedoms,' which would indeed have been freedom if man had not chosen to fight for them. That is why they perceive 'the freedoms' as many instead of as one. Yet the argument that underlies the defense of freedom is perfectly valid. Because it is true, it should not be fought for, but it should be sided with." (OrEd.Tx.7.11) Freedom is one.
Whenever freedom is being challenged I will probably be guided to side with it. It is my special function and – I’m pretty good at it. (lol)
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(originally appeared in Miracles Weekly #305, Sep. 21 2021)
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One of the things I’ve always liked about ACIM is the strong emphasis it has on just being happy. It tells us twice in the Text not to miss opportunities to simply “gladden yourselves" and that this easy technique to achieve happiness is an important key to healing! "To heal is to make happy. I have told you before to think how many opportunities you have to gladden yourselves and how many you have refused. This is exactly the same as telling you that you have refused to heal yourselves." (OrEd.Tx.5.1) Think of our current medical industry. Do you see any focus on happiness and joy? Mostly we see health as a very “serious” and somber business, when it should be light hearted and full of joy and laughter. No wonder we’re so sick as a society. I (Rev. Tony) recently received the guidance to carve out some personal happiness for myself, and perhaps the guidance is for you all as well. Would you like to accept more opportunities to gladden yourself? Then join me and dedicate yourself to stop refusing them. Now is the time to be glad, be happy, and to heal! 23 Min. SUBSCRIBE & SHARE
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Dear Miracle Workers,
Wrap your mind around this. No matter what you think, no matter what you believe - I am on your side. I am here only to be truly helpful. I am telling you – just like A Course of Love (ACOL) is telling us - that we really are sharing one consciousness in unity. “The self-centeredness of the final stage of learning is over.” (ACOL.T4:12.20) So here! Hear this! Our condition as beings sharing the Embrace of Christ-consciousness is only known through our joining. “Realize that it is a truly new state, a state that cannot be learned, a state the awareness of which can only be revealed to you through unity and relationship....This is akin to being stranded in a foreign land with none of the ways you learned how to adapt in the past being of service to you." (ACOL.T4.12.26)
“Let me remember what my purpose is." (OrEd.Wkbk.257) My purpose does not change. My purpose is not to make sure you sit up and take nourishment. My purpose is not to please anybody. My purpose is not to make you happy. My purpose is to extend the good, the holy, and the beautiful in all affairs and in all relationships.
As Dr. Rev. Gwen Evans reminded us during the CMC Labor Day Community Voices Gathering, “What could be more holy than to use each moment of relationship in the recognition that only God’s children can truly relate one to another, and that the purpose of their relationship is to heal illusion, that the holy might be extended? and what could be more beautiful than to join together - you and we — in this moment to recognize that what is truly beautiful is the recognition that I and my father are one?” (The Way of Mastery, p.229) Our purpose is to extend the good, the beautiful and the holy as we embrace our shared unity which is limitless and all inclusive.
“Little Child, return! I am with you still. Let us create together the good, the holy and the beautiful.“ (The Way of Mastery, p.229)
(originally appeared in Miracles Weekly #304, Sep. 14 2021)
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I had already been a dedicated ACIM student for 20 years when 9/11 happened. On that day, twenty years ago, Rev. Larry, my partner in the CMC, called me up early in the morning and told me to turn on the television. I did – just in time to see North Tower collapse 7:28 a.m. Pacific. My ACIM training kicked in and I quickly remembered the quote, "God did not create that airplane crash, and so it is not real." (OrEd.WkBk.14.5) I was watching an hallucination from the collective mind. The 9/11 event put our country and maybe the world into a heightened fear state that has yet to abate. The current pandemic and our reaction to it has been a recent manifestation. The continual admonitions to “Be safe” are another symptom. On this anniversary I am asking myself what I have learned in the past 20 years while living in the shadow of this event and the fear that still pervades our society. "The only thing that is required for a healing is a lack of fear. The fearful are not healed and cannot heal." (OrEd.Tx.27.45) Join me. 32 min. SUBSCRIBE & SHARE
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Dear Miracle Workers,
This week we will have the 20 year anniversary of 9/11. There is an entire new generation that grew up after 9/11 now. They grew up in the shadow of it, in the climate of fear that was manifested after it. Remember the terror threat levels continually broadcast at airports? It was always orange (high) or yellow (caution). It never was green (safe). Just what I wanted, projections of fear every time I was getting ready to fly. I just got back from flying across the country and back. Now we are all masked and shielded. Everyone you look at brings reminders of the fear most people live in constantly.
We ACIM students bring a different message, but can we live the fearless message we are learning? "The only thing that is required for a healing is a lack of fear. The fearful are not healed and cannot heal." (OrEd.Tx.27.45) How are you living fearlessly today? That is the same as asking how are you a miracle worker today?
Unless you have been in media isolation (actually probably a good place to be) you know that Afghanistan is now back in the hands of the Taliban. What was that all for? $2,261,000,000,000 (2.261 trillion) was spent on the war in Afghanistan. We could have ended world hunger for that. Without world hunger there would be no political extremists, no “terrorists”, no hijacked planes.
For those ACIM purists who will think this missive too worldly focused please remember that ACIM tells us that we must look at the suffering if we are going to heal it. The suffering of the world is our suffering. The world is not separate from us. The world is us. "Look about the world, and see the suffering there. Is not your heart willing to bring your weary brothers rest?" (OrEd.WkBk.191.12)
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(originally appeared in Miracles Weekly #303, Sep. 9 2021)
Dear Miracle Workers,
It’s always been important to me to maintain a state of healthy vibrance and vigor, that sense of wellness inside and out. Even now as society considers me a member of the senior community, I haven’t changed that belief. What has recently changed is a test result showing a decrease in bone density. Being young at heart and never feeling my age, not believing in physical limitations (until, of course, something hurts). I continue to believe that we are as young as we feel, however, I’m letting go of the boxing class for now. I continue lifting weights, cycling, walking, swimming, yoga, golf, and dancing. All of which bring me joy and a physically fit body.
I have learned that wellness ultimately derives from attitude. Outer forms and inner shifts can work together to accommodate this. A physical workout builds a sense of self-satisfaction, as well as getting the blood pumping and the endorphins "dorphing." An inner workout, like blessing one’s body with gratitude, helps us to feel integrated and whole.
Knowing there’s no one right way for our bodies to be, my body vehicle that gets me around the earth plane responds well to appreciation, Love and respect. This inner practice supports an optimal state of wellness at the level of form. At the level of Spirit within we are and remain only well and whole.
The Course reminds us that:
"I am as God created me.
I will remain forever as I was,
Created by the Changeless like Himself.
And I am one with Him, and He with me."
(OrEd.Wkbk.112.3)
and
"A mind that recoils from a hurt body is in great need of rehabilitation itself. All symptoms of hurt need true helpfulness, and whenever they are met with this, the mind that so meets them heals itself." (OrEd.Tx.4.105)
(originally appeared in Miracles Weekly #302, Sep. 2 2021)
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Occasionally when I walk around and look at my sisters, brothers, and others in the world I am acutely aware of how tired and weary many are. I could look away and towards the more pleasant images, but occasionally I am guided to take a moment and feel the pain of the world. I believe Jesus did that, and this is why so many connected with him. He was compassionate. I believe Jesus’ tendency to do that is reflected in what he instructs us to do in ACIM, "Look about the world, and see the suffering there. Is not your heart willing to bring your weary brothers rest?" (OrEd.WkBk.191.12) “Yes" it does move my heart. “Yes” I want to bring them rest. The next line after the above quotation tells us exactly what we must do to alleviate the suffering we witness. "They must await your own release. They stay in chains till you are free." (OrEd.WkBk.191.13) So it comes back to our freedom, to our choices. Confronted with some very hard personal choices for freedom lately, I am grateful to my many brothers for giving me so may signposts along the way. 25 min. SUBSCRIBE & SHARE
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Rev. Tony Ponticello
Rev. Peter Graham
Deb Canja
Rev. Joanie Schaeffer-Goss
Rev. Paula Carpe
Rev. Kim Wilson
