One of the first prison coaching (Join in the Miracle!) experiences occured at Milwaukee County Women’s Correctional Center with Thea. She shared that her mother had been angry with her and poured hot boiling water on her when she was young. Her arms were covered with dark scars and the memory of pain played over and over in the mind like a bad movie.
Movies that seem to "true" about “life” (the past) play repeatedly in the confused mind as thoughts and images, along with the associated "painful" feelings that are linked to the images. This is the foundation for fear and suffering in the ego thought of separation from God. The habit of the mind of believing these thoughts as true is what is being used for the ego’s idea of salvation- saving us from God and delivering only the promise of death.
The ego teaches that your function on earth is destruction, and you have no function at all in Heaven. 5 It would thus destroy you here and bury you here, leaving you no inheritance except the dust out of which it thinks you were made. 6 As long as it is reasonably satisfied with you, as its reasoning goes, it offers you oblivion. 7 When it becomes overtly savage, it offers you hell. (T-13.IV.1.4)
Finding Peace through Joining in the Miracle
When feelings and images are believed to be true there is no peace. Hell is believing that these "movies" in the mind are true. This is what blocks the mind from recognizing love. Thankfully feelings can be re-interpreted with the help of the Holy Spirit. Before reading ACIM one of the “methods” that was helpful for learning how easily these images and beliefs of the past can be shown to be false is called “Change personal history”. In the “process”, the movie of the past is reviewed in the presence of love in order to be re-interpreted. "Change personal history” is a form of joining in light – a call together for a speed up miracle; a miracle of two people joining (coming together in shared purpose of serving love) to ask for a change in perception to be free of old perception (interpretation of what has happened in the past) and find peace.
I didn’t know that the method would help (it seemed impossible): there was only trust and follow through.
Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
― Francis of Assisi
Join in the Miracle
I held her hand as we gathered the gifts of the present together. In essence this is a way to focus on love and the light first before bringing darkness to it. Gentle healing comes from focusing on light first and then bringing darkness to the light. Once the confused mind spins deeply into the darkness (fear and suffering) it can seem more difficult harder to remember that Spirit and the power of love has us covered! Plus Spirit wants to save time! Why take the slow, painful route when you can jump in the fast lane? The fast lane is the memory of light that shines away these dark thoughts to show them to be untrue.
She closed her eyes as we brought gifts (thoughts and memories of the light) into focus and then brought the dark images into the gifts of light to rewrite (re-interpret) the old movie in the mind. In the middle of the experience she started yelling, “He raped me, he raped me.” The rape was a complete surprise as she had not mentioned this before. The fear thoughts were bringing in additional images of her step father raping her.
Yet fearful thoughts of the ego that likes to remind of painful experiences can be tricked through distraction; a quick shift in focus. I said, “Just tie his d@!! in a knot.” It may seem strange or shocking, yet this shift in focus is merciful and is a demonstration of true empathy. It quickly re-opens the mind that seems to be spiraling into fear and separation. It is a call back to the light! Distraction of egoic patterns of thought under the guidance of the Spirit is helpful: we both laughed and continued bringing the darkness to the light until there was only peace, a few minutes later. Spirit says that even when darkness seems to be all around “stay on the mission, do not divert. See no error”. That is, see past the "problem" to the solution of love and light so generously offered by Spirit. In openness, faith and trust the Spirit can work quickly!
It’s not about a process. It is about shared purpose of love and the focus on the light together. This is the power of joining together to remember what is true. That is why it is helpful to join with a brother who can remember the light for us and call us to the light in those moments we forget who we are. Any moment spent believing a fear thought is love amnesia.
This is the beginning of trusting in Spirit when the call is made for help. To act in charity and to listen to inspiration and guidance to serve the memory of the light, the blessed purpose of love. With openness the call is answered, and answered quickly. And it can happen NOW.
Thea wrote in a letter:
As a very young adult I was treated very bad. I was burn very bad by my mother with hot water while I was sleeping. At one point I hated my body so much because of the scars. Now I can look in the mirror wear short sleeves and I don’t even see the scars anymore. My abuse in my life at one time was my biggest setback in life. Now I take may abuse and make it my inspiration and the best gift of life.
It is stunning and precious to experience this change in perception together. And Jesus reminds that two brothers can join in prayer together at any time to ask for a change in perception and offer mis-perceptions (false ideas and interpretation) to Spirit a miracle. This “change personal history” just happened to be the form used by Spirit in the “story of Cay” until it is understood that there is no history at all, only the now.
Join in the miracle, again!
Today the idea of “Cay” thought it could be less or harmed in some way “because Deb used the hands joined in light picture from this web site”. There was a moment of tension in the heart and gut, and thus suffering until it was given over to loving Spirit through joining in love with two mighty companions, Sue and Deb. This idea of abuse is an idea, an attack thought as described in ACIM. It seems hard for the mind to understand, and it is hard for an ego to understand that the form of “abuse” does not matter- whatever the ego’s label- physical, emotional, etc. It is only a memory, whether in the story of “Thea” or “Cay”, and no group of thoughts (memories of fear) can define the Son of God now. These are all the same attack thoughts for which joining in light to ask for a miracle with Spirit and His representative – a brother- provides the universal solution.
The "story" of Thea helped "Cay" to believe the miracle is true. Deb is the symbol of love in mind that gave the gift of recognizing where smallness was hiding and the availability of joining in the miracle to see what is true. These are the gifts offered by every brother.
There is no abuse, only the call to awaken to the presence of love in this moment. It is the true self refusing to be denied the heritage of love bestowed by our Creator. Love can never be what has happened to the small self (me), nor the ideas held about what happened. There is only the decision to hide in the depths of consciousness to hold on to the beliefs and deny the truth of what is behind all the denial: Grace.
Thank you sweet, Thea, for this precious reminder of the power of faith and the truth of love’s willingness to answer the call for help. Thank you Sue and Deb for this precious joining in light. Thank you Holy Spirit, for the miracle of peace.
We're all walking out of this prison of the mind together. Miracles! Yea!!
With love and gratitude,
Cay
