A REVISED VERSION OF:
Miracles. What Are Miracles? Have You Experienced Any? Tell Us Your Experiences With Them.

From dictionary.com

noun,
1. an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause.
2. such an effect or event manifesting or considered as a work of God.
3. a wonder; marvel.
4. a wonderful or surpassing example of some quality: a miracle of modern acoustics.
5. miracle play.
Origin:
1125–75; ME miracle, miracul (< OF miracle) < L m&#299;r&#257;culum, equiv. to m&#299;r&#257;(r&#299;) to wonder at + -culum

Word Origin & History

miracle, noun,

1137, from O.Fr. miracle, from L. miraculum "object of wonder"

First record of miraculous is from 1502.

====================

A COURSE IN MIRACLES (ACIM)

====================

Yes, there is a web site for ACIM. It is http://www.acim.org/

You will also find a good summary of ACIM at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Course_in_Miracles.

My copy of the book--that is, the combined volume of A COURSE IN MIRACLES--is dated April, 1986. That winter and spring, a group of us spent Sunday evening going through the book with a teacher, a Bill Naseby.

What I learned from this course was not unlike what I already learned from reading SCIENCE OF MIND and the others writing of Ernest Holmes. All seem to say: There is only one reality G0D and we have a choice: to reject or affirm this oneness and reality. Rejection is the way of pain and suffering; acceptance is the way to miraculous living.

IT WAS ON A FRIDAY EVENING THAT THE FOLLOWING "MIRACLE" HAPPENED
==========================
It was a Friday evening about 5 PM., when the phone rang. I was in the process of getting ready to take the family out to dinner--barring emergencies, a weekly habit.

The voice on the other end of the line was that of a young teenager who seemed very upset. When I said, hello, I could sense the desperation in her voice.

When she told me who she was, I recognized her as a church member who came fairly regularly, and had also taken the lectures on pneumatology, which I gave as a regular part of my teaching ministry. Her mother came, once in awhile, with the daughter's two-year old brother. The father never came. The family lived in a rented house. Obviously not well off, they lived near, if not below, the poverty line.


"Rev. King, I am calling from a pay phone, not far from where we have lived, 'till now." she said, "Dad has been without work for the last while and we got so far behind in our rent we have been evicted. We have no money, and I have no idea even where we will stay tonight. Can you help us? I feel so ashamed ... having to ask this."


In response, I told her: "Let me pause for a moment to gather my thoughts ... "

Then I went on: "I have a solution in mind, but before I tell you what it is, may I ask if you remember what we talked about in the pneumatology classes--about finding answers to the problems life often throws at us?"

"Yes!" she said, "You told us that God, is Spirit, not a he, or a human-like being. And I think you said that by connecting with, or tuning into Spirit we are led to the source of all wisdom and power. When we take action and do thiswe can find solutions to all life problems; we can open ourselves to receive the answers we need, and if we actively pursued matters, not just by asking, but by using our imaginations we can visualize the answers coming to us, somehow--sometimes through others, maybe. The answers needed are there for us to find..." She paused for a moment and, obviously in tears, added: "This is why I called you. Will you speak to mother and dad?"


After she told me that she was more than willing to use her imagination to get things started I asked. "Is your mother nearby?" When she responded "yes!" I said, "let me speak to her now for a minute or two. I want get her in on the whole process."


My chat with the youth's mothers was also a very positive one and she also agreed to use her imagination in the same way agreed on by her daughter. Then I asked: "What about your husband? ... May I talk with him? There more involved, the better."


The mother apologized and said: "He is not at all religious. He is very cynical about churches and he may not even want to speak with a minister, for fear you will preach to him. They are just businesses, he says, and only interested in people with money."

"Perhaps, he is right. Some churches are nothing more than clubs, museums for self-righteous saints--so heavenly minded that they are little earthly good. He may have had a bad experience with one. Never the less, let me have a word with him." I said.

It took a minute or so, but they were able to get him to come to the phone.

"Hello! This Jack" He did not sound all that happy. "I just finished putting the last few items we own on the truck I have....which I may have to sell" he said.

Briefly, and doing my best not to preach at him, I went over the conversation I had had with his wife and daughter. I asked him to tell me what he thought of religion. He was very open about his attitude and was a bit embarrassed that his daughter had called me. Then I asked him if he was willing to join in the meditative process with his daughter and wife.

He responded: "I would feel like a hypocrite praying only now that I am in trouble ..."

I said, "That's understandable. But I am not asking you to pray to, or beg from, a god ..." I said, I am asking you to use your reason and your imagination." I sensed that he was surprised and relieved by this comment. He became more open.

Then it came to me to use the following approach. I asked him: "Now that you need work and a place to stay, how do you feel about using tools like telephones, radios, computers and the like to help people find jobs, places to live, etc. , all the tools available to modern media? "

"Of course! I believe in using ones common sense" he said.

I continued, "For example, right now, your daughter used the phone to phone me, right? And she was not afraid to say what was needed..."

When he acknowledged the rationale of this approach I asked him if, on his truck, he had mattresses, bedding and blankets and enough of other things to make do for the week-end--I explained that social services are closed until Monday--He responded,

"Yes, we do ..."

I said, "Good! Be at the church parking lot--it is not far from you--in about 30 or 40 minutes from now. Here is my plan: I will let you into the church building. Another denomination, Seventh Adventists, rents the sanctuary and offices on Saturday, but upstairs, out of the way, there is a comfortable room, or two, and there is a kitchen where you can prepare food.

"Get a good night's rest and I will talk to you and your family tomorrow and Sunday. Then we will make plans as to what we need to say to social services on Monday about their shelter program.

Then I said: "Jack, you say you do not believe in a god up there who hears and answers prayers as a kind of celestial Santa Claus, but you do believe in computers which, if we know how to search, gives us information, agreed?"

"Yes!" he said.

"OK then" I said, "meanwhile, here is what I want you to do: Take five minutes and think of what I call G0D. I do not use the proper noun God."

Then I gave him my usual mini talk on G0D as all that is good, orderly and desirable--as being like a very powerful computer with a search engine program with which one can have a wireless connection via the mind and imagination. The I asked, "If that computer has all the information needed for us to find, would it not be foolish for us not to use it?"

He agreed.

I told him, "Now visualize, and imagine, that you are using this search engine to find a job and an affordable place to rent--no pleading with, or begging from, a god out there, OK? Then leave it at that and I'll see you shortly, as arranged."

AFTER THIS THINGS CAME INTO PLACE SO FAST THAT EVEN I WAS AMAZED.
============================================
About one half hour later, just as I was getting my keys to the car and go to the church, the phone ran.

"Rev, King, Jack here. Am I glad I got you before you left your house. I joined my wife and daughter and we did as you suggested. That imaginary computer/search-engine exercise did the trick. I was amazed with the results. And so fast! You do not need to come to the church tonight.

"Shortly after I stopped the exercise in imagination, which took less than a minute, I remembered a fellow truck driver who I had met, more than once, at a truck stop west of here, near London, Ontario, over a year ago. That was over a year ago. Several times I wondered if he had changed jobs. Then I opened my wallet and found the note. On it was his name, his phone number and the short message: I am planning to go into my own trucking business. If you ever need a job, give me a call.


"I had no idea where he was when I called tonight, but I answered the phone. He sounded really glad to hear from me. Then, with an apology, I explained to him what led me to make the call. I told him the whole story of what was going on with me and my family..


"His response really amazed me." He said:

"Since we met last I have struck it real lucky. I now own three trucks. You called me at precisely the right time. One of my drivers is retiring from the business and I need a driver. Come on out. The wife and I have no children, yet. We live in an old farm house which we just renovated, and which is about an hour and twenty minutes north west of Toronto.

"There is plenty of room for you, your wife and two children. Thank that daughter of yours. Her call to that church has brought us both together in a time of mutual need. If your as good a man as I think you are, Jack, maybe, the good Lord willing, we can make this business grow.

Anyway, we'll soon find out. Come and let's talk things over."

"Rev, thanks for the help. I think I have enough gas to make the trip."

BTW, take a look at the work of MIT professor of physics Dr. Seth Lloyd. His popular book PROGRAMMING THE UNIVERSE
http://www.randomhouse.com/kvpa/lloyd/
Compare it what I was advocating above, in the 1970's.
========

There are numerous such miracle-like stories out there. I have others that I plan to tell. Feel free to share any which you may have.


G~O~D--Now & ForeverIS:Nature, Nurture & PNEUMA-ture, Thanks to Warren Farr&ME AT www.unitheist.org