Only Love Is

From Melanie ~ Feb 19, 2012

 

 

“We don't spend a lot of time reading and we are not at all methodical... we follow the Teaching as it is revealed in the moment.”

~ Jewel re: our friday morning ACIM group



"I have been blessed with many wonderful teachers during the course of this lifetime. Although everyone I meet shows me something, there are a few who truly stand out from the crowd.  For me, Jewel stands shining among these wondrous beings.

 

Like many awakening souls, I have spent time learning within a number of spiritual traditions.  The Arcane school and Buddhism have featured strongly and I have a deep respect for the master teachers of India, Tibet and China.

 

Aside from established spiritual teachers, I have also learned a great deal from participating in body-centred psychotherapy trainings such as Hakomi and Narrative Therapy.  Sometimes the body and our felt sense is the strongest guide to where the healing lies.

 

Having been raised among a community of Christian Anglicans and Methodist Baptists, I became estranged from the teachings of Jesus.  I was never able to reconcile the notion of an angry, punishing God, or his fearful adversary, the devil.  For many years,  I wandered away from Jesus and images of blood and torture.  It never sat well with me and I couldn’t see how this teaching had anything to offer.  My sense was that Jesus was a great guy who had been sorely misrepresented over time by the power brokers of the day.  What exactly was he trying to say?

 

As a student in University, I spent a great deal of time learning how patriarchy and the notion of an angry father lay at the root of many social ills.  Adopting feminism as an ideology did little to ease my pain and frustration.         I turned to Buddhism and found the same patriarchal and hierarchical systems had been in place for even longer than Christianity! Clearly, I needed a specific path that included absolute equality for all participants and a straightforward path home.

 

In 2008 my life changed forever after being diagnosed with a chronic illness.  My medical advisors offered no hope and I was told to expect spending the rest of my life ‘progressing’ as a severely disabled person. Despite the terror and upheaval that followed, I intuitively knew that this was a blessing in disguise and before I knew it, I found myself on Jewel’s doorstep.

 

Meeting Jewel marked a turning point in my life and healing journey.  I immediately felt as though she understood me and that my lonely journey of seeking for truth was over.  It was such a relief!  Since then, she has introduced me to many wonderful teachers such as: Tomas Vieira, Nouk Sanchez, Gary Renard and Stacy Sully.

 

 

The crowning experience has been to participate regularly in Jewel’s Friday meditation group.  Working with such a committed and wonderful group of students has been such a joy.  Using A Course in Miracles as our guide,  Jewel has lead us fearlessly toward love using the practice of forgiveness as our guiding principle.

 

Several years of joining with this group led to the creation of The Light Tree, in which some of us meet regularly with the goal of, “Healing our minds”.  We practice being in the moment and drawing on Loving Presence to guide our time together.  You can read more about this on our website at www.lighttree.ca www.lighttree.ca

 

This inner journey has lead to many wonderful transformational experiences.  My illness has shown itself to be a guide toward healing my mind of all its subconscious guilt and self hatred.  I am still forgiving my deeply instilled fear of Christianity, but am being guided in the moment to release and forgive silly ideas of patriarchy, ego’s symbol of separation.

 

I have chosen to take every opportunity to practice extending love and forgiving illusions of fear.  Most importantly, I am learning to be guided in the moment.  All teachings from the seeming past show me the Oneness that is eternal.  Best of all, I laugh more!  What else is there to do?  Taking anything this world offers too seriously is such a waste of time.

 

Do I still get angry and seduced by the world? Of course!  Whenever I perceive that I have been attacked and feel victimized, I remember the immortal words of Gary Renard, “Kick him in the balls, you can forgive him later.”         It's never too late to recognize an error and choose differently.

~ Melanie ~