When the student is ready, the teacher appears.

Good Morning and Happy New Year!

When the student is ready, the teacher appears.

My father made his transition in March 2003, losing a so-called battle to prostrate cancer. My dad was a dynamic Unity Minister, a teacher of A Course in Miracles, a strong believer that "dis-ease" was an outward manifestation of an inner need for healing. Though his body was manifesting significant signs of illness and he spent his last days in bed, to the end he was looking forward to "learning the lesson in this one." Several hours before his passing, he was singing hyms and spirituals with us.

Yet, his passing brought questions of my own mortality to the forefront and I found myself needing to better understand this death and dying thing from a spiritual perspective. By the start of 2004, my questions had gotten even more focused: Why am I here? What am I supposed to being doing here? What is this thing called "life" all about? While I had been a student and a facilitator of A Course in Miracles many years before, I was needing clearer answers.

When the student is ready, the teacher appears.

When my mother introduced me to The Disappearance of the Universe in February 2004, I was immediately and significantly impacted by the clarity of the message, the depth of the explanations, the no-holds-barred questioning of widely-held beliefs and assumptions, and the incredible consistency with A Course in Miracles. As someone has said, if A Course in Miracles is the can, then The Disappearance of the Universe is the can-opener. Though the message is not for the close-minded, I found that my head, my heart, and my spirit resonated strongly to the message and that my questions were answered with crystal clarity.

And then when I learned that Gary Renard, the author of The Disappearance of the Universe, would be speaking in several months at the church I had just started attending, it was clear that the Holy Spirit, our great comforter and teacher, was at work. I knew that Gary's visit would likely be a significant turning point in my life.

During the question and answer period following his workshop, I asked a question similar to: "Forgiveness is clearly the center piece of The Disappearance of the Universe. Are there groups that have formed around helping people to learn how to practice forgiveness on a daily basis? What do this groups do when they come together? What format do they use for their meetings?" His response was that he didn't know of any such groups and that I should do it and let him know.

When the student is ready, the teacher appears.

Since February 2005, a group has been meeting weekly on Thursdays at Unity Christ Center to learn from each other's experiences in practicing forgiveness daily. My many "teachers" - the participants in the group - have been amazingly open in sharing their successes and "opportunities for success" in practicing forgiveness. Walking in forgiveness is indeed a lot more fulfilling and a lot more fun! And perhaps more than anything else, this regular sharing of forgiveness experiences has served to keep forgiveness in the forefront of my thinking as I continue to remove blame, judgment - and complaining Rev. Allison! - from my life.
Attached is a copy of the forgiveness primer and the small group norms we use in our practicing forgiveness group. Please feel free to pass them on. My affirmation is that throughout this year, the rewards of practicing forgiveness on a regular basis will continue to strengthen in you and me our desire to live and love as Jesus/Jeshua did.

In Joy,

Michael