by Beverly McNeff
The Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP), the original publishers of A Course in Miracles, turns 50 years old this year. As part of their recent online video celebration, I recorded a message for them, reminiscing about my journey with the Course over 48 years of studying it and Miracle Distribution Center’s (MDC) 47 years of existence.
I honestly didn’t know what to share, because how do you encapsulate a 48-year history in a few minutes? When I asked the Holy Spirit to be my words to express my message, I was guided to this passage from the Course’s Manual for Teachers…
“Remember that no one is where he is by accident, and chance plays no part in God’s plan.” (M-9.1)
When I think back about my journey with the Course, I can see that everything was gently planned by One Whose only purpose was my good. The spiritually nurturing family I was born into was not by accident; my brother, who led the way in finding the Course, was not an accident; our close relationship with Judy Skutch Whitson, Bob Skutch, Bill Thetford, Ken Wapnick, Jerry Jampolsky, and Bill Whitson, to name just a few, was not by accident. It was just so apparent that there were no accidents, and everything just fell into place. We were willing to follow His plan because no one had ever done what any of us were doing before, so we had no preconceived ideas or plans.
Those who joined us back then are still with us, even if some of them may no longer be in a physical form. The path of my spiritual journey and that of MDC is so entwined with A Course in Miracles, those early figures, and many of you have been joining us since the beginning.
In considering how to share the magnitude of the journey we all experienced, the only way would be through pictures. Fortunately, Judy, the founder of FIP, along with her then-husband Bob Skutch, was as obsessed with taking photos as I was. We often shared printed copies of pictures back and forth, years before there was email or text, to make it easy to share photos and videos. Remember those old days? So I compiled a few images from the early days, starting around 1978 forward, to share in the video.
As I tried to reduce the hundreds, if not thousands, of photos down to just a handful so as to keep my thoughts within the time frame that was requested of five minutes, I was amazed to actually realize how many opportunities we here at MDC had to share those original players in the Course’s history with so many students of the Course. Needless to say, five minutes turned into nearly 15 minutes, but I hope it gave those who watched it a sense of what it was like in those early years. And I am including the full video here (above) since the FIP celebration was unable to share the entire thing because I talked too long!
Those early years of were so electric with excitement! We were learning, or rather unlearning and relearning, a better way to live in this world by healing each relationship that stood before us in form or thought. We saw how each healing became a doorway to transform our world.
We at the Center were grateful to be part of many firsts in the life of the Course: screening the first showing of the movie, The Story of A Course in Miracles, premiering the first symphony composed for A Course in Miracles, presenting the first International Conference on the Course, and introducing many of the key players involved with the Course’s life to eager students. For all of us at the time, the goal was to be truly helpful and to help seeking students understand the power and inspiration of the Course from those who started it all.
I hope you will take a few minutes to watch the video to explore the history of the Course and the Center, and how this powerful material and those original players have become our spiritual path and family. We at the MDC had no idea what we were doing or what we were to do, but we were willing to follow the path laid out before us. As we did, doors miraculously opened the way for so many holy encounters. Towards the end of the video, I became a little teary-eyed as I felt the enormity of how we had been led and how Judy Whitson fulfilled her part in God’s plan, which led and continues to guide us in our ongoing work.
The Course is a powerful tool for our understanding and awakening. With all that is going on in our lives and world right now, we ALL need A Course in Miracles. Its gentle message is here to help us navigate this world that is not our home, so we may recognize our unity with each other and then allow God to take the final step as we awaken to the home we never left. As the Course so beautifully says…
“For we have reached where all of us are one, and we are home, where You would have us be.” (T-31.VIII.12)
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