Herein Lies The Peace of God

Photo credit:  Jonathan Meyer The holidays are stressful for many people, because they have preconceived ideas of how everything should be joyous, and often their expectations do not match their reality. I had the bright idea to go skiing this year and leave all that behind. My husband and I took our 3 teenagers on a week-long ski trip to New England as their Christmas gift. We didn't decorate for the holidays, buy and wrap gifts, or mail out cards. We didn't even put up a Christmas tree for the first time in 20 years! It felt so freeing to break with convention and do what I really liked, instead of what I was "supposed to" do. We had lots of fun, and I thought I had outsmarted my ego. Silly me!  When we returned to our home in Virginia, my parents - who had been house and dog-sitting for us - were still at the house, and stayed to visit through the New Year's weekend. This is when my ego got it's revenge for being ignored. It seemed my mom could not open her

  Photo credit: Andrew Buchanan I read a book this year by Jeffrey Kagel, a "white Jewish kid from Long Island" and a founding member of the band that became  Blue Oyster Cult . The author was an aspiring rock musician who had a lot of personal problems and decided to travel to India with some friends in 1970. There he become a devotee of the Hindu guru Neem Karoli Baba (Maharaj-ji), who gave him the name Krishna Das. His guru exuded such unconditional love that Krishna Das spent all day just longing for an hour in his presence. The rest of the time he spent learning Indian devotional music, which is called kirtan. In his book,  Chants of a Lifetime , Krishna Das gave this account of what happened as he was about to return to the United States: I blurted out in anguish, 'Maharaj-ji! How can I serve you in America?' He looked at me with mock disgust and said, 'What is this? If you ask how you should serve, then it is no longer service. Do what you want.' I coul

Photo credit: Edu Lauton Today I was thinking about how much time and energy I used to spend on making others wrong.  I used to read articles on the Internet looking for things to correct in the comments.    I used find things wrong with the grammar, spelling, pronunciation, and opinions of others.  I honestly thought that I was somehow being helpful by pointing out their inadequacies!  I didn't realize it at the time, but I thought that my salvation lay in being right about things.  It was very important to me to get things right - more important than anything else! I used to live in fear of making mistakes, getting things wrong, screwing up. When I did make a mistake - because after all I was only human - I would beat myself up inside, even if no one else thought the mistake was a big deal. I would recall how I screwed up and make myself feel crummy for not having done a better job. And because I was so hard on myself, I felt justified in being hard on everyone else too.  Ye

Photo credit: Ant Rozetsky It was Halloween and I was trying to decide what to do.   My son was away at college, my husband had gone deer hunting for the weekend, and my oldest daughter had plans to go to a party with her boyfriend. My youngest daughter was marching in a Halloween parade with her high school band and color guard in another town. I was invited to a Halloween party, but it was far away and I didn't want to go alone. I just wasn't feeling the Halloween spirit - I had no costume, no decorations, and no candy to pass out to trick-or-treaters. I really just wanted to stay in and read about A Course in Miracles , but my daughter asked me to come watch her in the parade, which she said started at 7:00. I left home at 6:00 thinking that I had plenty of time to get to the venue, park, and get a good spot on the sidewalk to see her. However, when I arrived in town, I could find no place to park. I circled the block several times until I finally found a spot, and I could h

Photo credit:  Theresa McGallicher An indoor aquatic center recently opened in my neighborhood and I signed up for a twice weekly "Water Workout" class there. I love the fact that I can exercise without getting all sweaty. It almost doesn't seem like a workout at all. A lot of the exercises involve using a noodle or kick board to float on, so it is both fun and seemingly effortless. This morning I went to class reciting m Workbook Lesson from A Course in Miracles for the day - #256:  God is the only goal I have today.   As I jogged through the pool, using the life preserver on the wall as a focal point and saying my lesson in my head, I thought about how  A Course in Miracles  has been like a life preserver for me, tossed to me by the Holy Spirit so that I no longer have to thrash around in life, struggling to keep my head above water.  I have never been a strong swimmer and I have never been able to float. Last month I floated for the first time ever in the pool

Photo credit: Brooke Cagle As I spend more time focused on my mission as a Teacher of God and listening for guidance from the Holy Spirit, more and more opportunities for healing make themselves apparent to me. People who have never asked me for advice have been calling me and texting me and telling me their problems. This is so funny to me, because when the ego ruled my world, all I wanted to do was "fix" everyone else. I thought I was smarter than others and had unique insights that would benefit them, but no one ever asked to hear them. As I have let go of the ego and allowed the Holy Spirit to use me, I no longer see anyone else as "in need of fixing". Everyone is a projection of my own mind and my holy partner in the Sonship. All of my contacts and relationships are just healing opportunities.  This miracle concerns my relationship with my only sister. We are just 11 months apart and, according to my mom, we were best friends and always played tog

Photo Credit: Mathieu Turle While I was at the summer retreat in Maine sponsored by the  Teachers of God Foundation  I met Calico Hickey - a self proclaimed "blogger for God". We were talking about tithing and she mentioned how she had been giving her tithe more and more to individuals that inspire her, rather than organizations. I was so inspired by her, that when I got home I decided to send my next tithe to her.  I learned during the  40 Day Transformation Program  that a tithe is a way of showing gratitude for what you have received by putting gifts back into the “system”. It should not be an obligation, a giving-in-hopes-to-get, or a donation to charity, but a way of staying in the flow. You acknowledge the positive energies that encourage you by supporting them with a portion of your blessings. That propels them to keep going and inspire others!  Here is the way that I tithe:  I wait until I have a nice chunk of money in my Paypal account from my eBay sales. I l

Photo credit: Rae Karen Hauck This miracle isn't really the sixth one to happen to me in chronological order, but the first. However, I was thinking about it today and wanted to document it. It was the first time that I saw a glimmer of hope, and then had that feeling confirmed for me by the Holy Spirit.  I found A Course in Miracles in 1988 and tried to read it but it seemed like gobbledy-gook. By 1989 I was 28 years old, single and in a bad relationship that wasn't working out the way I had hoped. I was living alone in a condo in Greenbelt, Maryland and very lonesome, so I decided to fill some of my free time by volunteering as a tutor at the public library. Once evening I was coming home from a tutoring session with a boy who had Down's Syndrome named Jimmy. I parked in front of my place and got out of the car. The sun was setting and the sky was all pink and the temperature was perfect and it was a glorious evening. I looked up at the sky and drank it in a

Photo Credit: Theresa McGallicher I had just returned from a one week retreat with the  Teachers of God Foundation  on a spiritual high. Seven days at the beach in Saco, Maine surrounded by like-minded people with joyful music, fascinating speakers, and amazing workshops. After a day to regroup here in Virginia, I met my husband and a friend for lunch at a restaurant. As I drove back home I noticed a sheriff following me, so I checked my speedometer to make sure I was going the speed limit. I decided to put the car on "cruise control" for the remainder of the drive, just to make sure that I did not go over. He followed me for half an hour and finally turned off as I neared my neighborhood.  Throughout the drive I was listening to A Course in Miracles on CD.   The narrator read from Chapter 27, explaining that the outside world is an illusion which we have created with our guilt, and that when we heal the mind by realizing there is no separation, then the illusion app

Photo Credit: Nathan Dumlao In Chapter 30 of A Course in Miracles we are given  7 Rules for Decision . These rules basically say that we should decide to have a happy, conflict-free day and then stop and remind ourselves of this goal whenever that is not happening. Here are the rules spelled out: 1 .   Today I will make no decisions by myself. 2.   If I make no decisions by myself, this is the day that will be given me. 3.   I have no question. I forgot what to decide. 4.   At least I can decide I do not like what I feel now. 5.   And so I hope I have been wrong. 6.   I want another way to look at this. 7.   Perhaps there is another way to look at this. What can I lose by asking? Yesterday I sold a bag of coffee in my eBay store. I could not find it anywhere. It was a small purchase, only a few dollars profit for me after shipping and fees. I looked high and low and began to feel frustrated that my morning was lost on this endeavor. I wanted to spend my morning at the