“Storytelling is the most powerful way to put new ideas into the world.”—Robert McKee
It’s a hot Thursday afternoon here in Lawrence, Kansas so I decided to sit down at my trusty computer and send out a couple stories, all of which inspired me. Hope they bring cheer to you, as well.
1. First story is about Helen Schucman, one of two scribes of the Course in Miracles. In 1965, when she unexpectedly joined Bill Thetford in the idea that “there has GOT to be a better way,” she noticed a psychic switch within her flipping on. For example, when Bill was traveling in the Virgin Islands, she sent him a mental message to bring her back a Florentine gold pin, which he actually did.
Another time, when they traveled to the Mayo Clinic, she saw a clear mental image of a nearby Lutheran Church. She even asked the taxi driver to drive around Rochester trying to locate it–to no avail. Soon thereafter, Bill found a picture of the very Lutheran Church she’d seen that had ironically been torn down to build the Mayo Clinic.
She’d get messages that say, a friend was thinking of suicide. She’d stop in the middle of working on a research paper and instruct Bill, “Quick! We must send (the friend) a message that the answer is life, not death.” And sure enough that friend had been depressed and had picked up a gun.
Another time, at an airport, she felt “waves of misery” from a woman named Charlotte who was terrified of flying. She and Bill ended up sitting with her on the plane, even holding her hand.
The point is, when you finally tire of the sad, lonely story dispensed by the world and sincerely ask for the “other way,” a power switch opens up within you. A power switch you can use to help the world.
2. Congressman John Lewis calls it a pilot light. This beautiful man has been involved in the Black Lives Matter movement (although differently named) since he was 23. He’s now 80 and, even though his skull was fractured during the Selma to Montgomery March, even though he has seen eight decades of racial injustice, he still believes in the reality of Martin Luther King’s beloved community.
In an interview with Krista Tippett, he said he still holds “this sense of faith that what you’re moving toward is already done. If you visualize it, if you can have faith that it’s there, it is already there.”
He said that weeks of training in non-violence enable him to see the spark of the divine in every human being, even those who beat him. He called it one of the highest forms of love.
“You can beat me, arrest me, take me to jail, but in spite of that I’m going to still love you. It’s a very demanding notion,” he admitted, “Not just having faith in yourself or faith in your movement, but faith in your enemies. In spite of the darkness of the hour, you have to believe, and you can never, ever give up on any possibility.
“If you’re a pilot light, you’re going to be around. If you’re a firecracker, you just go off. You’re here one moment, and gone in the next moment.
He called it revolutionary love, a fundamental shift inside our souls. It’s the “other way” advocated by A Course in Miracles.
3. The last story comes from a big-hearted reader named Naren Desai. He is currently coordinating a growing collection of photographers who not only share beauty with the world, but donate half of all proceeds to support charity. Hope you will consider supporting his Pictures for Progress that recently entered into a partnership with Trader Joe’s.
Here’s what he sent to my inbox:
“I am also starting a new Covid-19 “Spread the Love” campaign that has roots in some of the things I learned from you. In short, randomly handing out images to neighbors reminding them of the beauty in the world. Just wanted to say thank you and let you know you are thanked nightly in my gratitude sessions with the universe or FP.”
Maybe that’s why so many cool 222 stories keep coming my way. I just learned Adam Levine has a 222 tattoo and the below song (which makes me cry) was produced by his 222 Records.
So those are my stories for today, kids. Have a great evening, a great weekend and keep being the pilot light.
Pam Grout is the author of 20 books including E-Squared, E-Cubed, Thank & Grow Rich and her latest book, The Course in Miracles Experiment: A Starter Kit for Rewiring Your Mind (And Therefore Your World).
32 Responses
Love the song!
Beautiful song from the heart
It definitely speaks to my heart.
It’s my new fav.
Thank you Pam, just what I needed to hear and read. Loved the song.
I love when that happens.
Ever since reading your books E squared and E cubed, the number 222 has come up for me at special times in special places over the last five years. So comforting.
I was curious, and found this about the song: “The band’s lead singer, Adam Levine explained: “This song is for anyone who has ever experienced loss. In other words, this song is for all of us.” It is about the loss of the band’s manager and Levine’s friend, Jordan Feldstein who died on December 22, 2017, from pulmonary embolism.” If you look at the date Jordan passed, it’s 12/22/17. Right in the middle of that date is a 222. One more for you. <3
Oh wow! I knew the song was for Jordie, but I hadn’t noticed the date. Synchronicities abound.
Dear Pam
The hardest part of life right now is not being judgmental about someone who chooses not to wear a mask or/and social distant.’
As a 20 year student of ACIM, i am tested daily to keep my mouth shut.
I repeat silently, love is all that is real, all else is an illusion.
As a 70 year old woman, i do take this very seriously.
Thank-you for your constant uplifting emails.
Marianne
Thanks, Mariane. I hear you. I’ve found ho’oponopono helps me in such instances. I also hope to channel Congressman Lewis and his embodiment of loving even those who hurt me.
Hi, Pam
May I tell you that I also see 222 at odd times?
Thank you so much for your work, and for who you are as a mother.
I am married but separated, my husband lives far, far away, and my daughter and I have a bond you will understand.
Check out “Bardcore,” particularly “Hildegard von Bingen” if you want to know what cool nerdy pre-teens are starting to get into.
*
My father has just died.
We live in different cities. The moment he died, I figured out, I was fully immersing myself in our powerful local river.
*
My father had seven kids, mostly not talking to one another, but all, as my kid points out, so into the same things, and good at them, that in a different family we would be close and inseparable.
My Dad left two ex wives, a wife younger than my big sister, and two important mistresses as women who have, in my view, a real need to be respected as widows in their loss of him.
My sister hissed like a goose at the very idea of respecting them all.
*
Here is how I am seeing things, less than a full week into his death.
He is stardust.
I am thinking of my favourite times with this difficult man. My “pick your top ten.”
I am remembering how loved I was, how deeply connected and joyful we were.
Then I am seeing that as his original intention for the love he wanted to express in his relationship with me.
I am locking into that vibe, and I am letting the rest go.
If asked for a true story of his terribleness, I could tell it, to affirm the real pain of anyone he hurt as real, to affirm them as they stand in their truth. I won’t whitewash or lie about him.
But it is actually easier to forgive a person from that place of honesty than from a place of idolatry.
And remembering that peak love, and knowing the truth of it, the beauty of my srardust father, lets me embrace a ghost or an energy that is 100% present and on my side, my Dad, now and forever.
I know your own grief is deep and real, and your daughter was, in life, a much more obviously positive human being than my stardust father was, but I hope that loving words from anyone speaking about loss or grief, and the redemptive magic of accepting eternal love as, like, a thing, can give you something useful for your own journey.
It’s OK, and it is going to be OK.
Thanks for all you do,
Sasha
Beautiful words, Sasha. Love the idea of being stardust, redemptive magic and eternal love.
Pam I know exactly why that song brings tears – it does to me too. I lost my beautiful youngest son 4 years ago to a massive heart attack and this song always makes tears. Heres to mothers everywhere who gave lost children.
Dear Rae Frear–I am so sorry about your beautiful son. Losing a child is a monstrous wound.
You donât know me, but I do love you, Pam Grout. You put such light into the world. I am grateful to have your books to share with my daughters – I never know how to express these things to them, but what you publish is just perfect.
I have to share a miracle I experienced because of you. In E2, youâd shared a scavenger hunt-type activity. I had just started reading A Course in Miracles and really getting into your book.
I took a trip with my daughters to Puerto Vallarta, and I thought it would be fun to do the scavenger hunt activity youâd outlined. So much fun! I was pretty intent on finding a billboard that spoke to me. (The others were fun, but easy, and I knew the universe would have something profound to share in a billboard. At least I hoped so!)
We ended up stranded at a gas station waiting for a bus that didnât come. I told my girls to hang on, no big deal, have fun and be patient. And I looked up to see a billboard that said. âLOS MILAGROS SON COMUNES.â I donât speak Spanish and I didn’t know what it said. I laughed out loud after I translated it via google: âMIRACLES ARE COMMON.â
WHAT?!! Who puts that on a billboard?!
A lovely man gave us pesos to buy some gum, and the bus came shortly afterward to take us to our destination.
I will never, ever forget that. I go back to it even now as I continue my ACIM journey. It reminds me about how powerful and I am. How powerful we all are. And that miracles are, indeed, common.
THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.
Lea
That is so awesome! I love that your billboard was in Spanish.
Thank you so very much Pam for all the beautiful and hope-filled words you write on this blog. I look forward to every post!
Thanks for your Posts and all the love yhou spreat. Love Adam Levine’s Pic.. LOVE Him.
He’s the bomb and so are you.
Love that song so much! And love you!!! 222 rocks!
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Love this!! Love you!! I see 222 everywhere…. 😉 excellent stories to start off my morning!
Hi Pam: My name is Jennifer Reynolds from Toronto and I wanted you to know you have been a tremendous inspiration in my life over the past 5 years. You've impact in my life has been significant and certainly motivated me to rewiring my brain, try your experiments(E2 and E3) and this week I'm hugging trees – ones that have 2 trunks – all thanks to you! Pam I'm writing to you for a miracle. For the past 48 hours I've been searching the internet for your audio version of a Course in Miracles. The only options I have is through a Kindle (which I don't have) or through Audible.ca (owned by Amazon) where I will need to pay a monthly fee if I want to continue have your audio for life (which I do). I'm happy to pay you directly or if you could point me in another direction I'd certainly appreciate your help. I would like to down-load to my Ipad or Hp so I can start to incorporate your teachings/thoughts/voice into my daily gratitude rituals. Pam – you are an amazing women and inspiration to me. I'm so grateful a very dear friend recommended you to me and hope at some point to have the opportunity to meet you. Thank you for your time and sending you positive Canadian healthy and safe energy. Thank you for your kindness – Stay well and Stay safe! Jennifer 905-818-2887
Hey Pam – thank you for your books and all your beautiful words. Could you please, if you feel so inspired, speak to the Course lesson, “I need do nothing”? I am feeling powerfully drawn to this message, and I would love to hear your thoughts on it. Thanks again for everything. Much love to you!
One of your best Pam. I wish you the very best. Cheers to all the proletariat lights out there.
I meant to say, “Cheers to all the pilot lights”. Somehow it came out incorrectly spelled.
Beautiful….thank you for keeping them coming! Love, Love, Love
Love you so much!!❤❤❤
Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
HELLO EVERYONE IM BACK!
a little bit late to the party… but you know what they say. I discovered Pam way back and with her first book E2 found it simple yet one of the most powerful mind changing books that I’d read to date 2013-14 and that was alot by then! Id found my self at the bottom, yet again, of a very deep pit. I grabbed Pams breathing book for weight loss started breathing and BAM throughout that year my life started changeing in big ways! I I’d lived a very hard life. And Now 5 years later I’m actually living a 30 year dream! Not living without challenges/opportunities to grow and learn. LOL But now I get to create beautiful works of Wearable ART. The angels of ART flow thru me because I opened up to miracles! It’s taken me 65 years to get here! More later Juuelzz by CJ helps fund animal rescue efforts! Cuz every little bit makes alot of bits! THANK YOU and THE UNIVERSE for Pam Grout your my sweetpea and my soul sister!
Well, you’ve given us much to ponder. Good stuff.
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