I have just come back from Solihull, near Birmingham, in the heart of the Midlands in England, where I attended A Course in Miracles conference. More than one hundred and twenty like minded people from all over England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, a sprinkling from Europe and even one or two from South Africa and Canada; inspirational speakers including Marianne Williamson and food, glorious food, especially the chocolate cake that had to be had for desert.
How does it get better than this!?
Uplifting, energising and deep connection – that is what makes events like this so special.
The theme of the conference was ‘At the Heart of A Course in Miracles.’ It was a weekend full of miracles.
The course says ‘Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love’.
I had three of my very own:
The Miracle of the Sat-nav: At the end of the first day, I agreed to drop a fellow delegate at Solihull railway station as it was pouring with rain. As I was a bit concerned about getting lost, the talk naturally drifted to Sat-Nav’s and their usefulness. Recently I have been pondering just that and concluded that it would be a good idea to get one. I had even done a little bit of research and decided I’d get a Garmin when I get round to it. Well, what do you know, my passenger said he had a spare one just sitting at home, brand new and used once.
Me: ‘What are you planning to do with it?’
Him: ‘Sell it, I suppose.’
Me: ‘How much would you want for it?’
He told me, I agreed and the next day he brought it in, showed me the basics and viola! Job done – I have a sat-nav!
Err…. did I mention it is a Garmin?
The Miracle of the Lady from Spain: During the morning coffee break on the first day, I joined two women who were talking about Spain. One relocated there from England several years ago and the other one have dreams of living there and can’t see it happening. So there she was surrounded by two women who had relocated to another country, proving she can make it happen. It transpired the lady from Spain and I had another common interest. I know an aspiring social worker and had been wondering how I can help and support him. Who should I meet? Someone who spent her working life as a social worker and was happy to share her wisdom and insights, the kind you don’t find in text books and lecture halls. What treasure!
The Miracle of the Travel Companion: What a luxury! I had driven up on my own – two and a half hours or so including a short break – and whilst good company, it gets a bit monotonous after a while! The radio is broken and driving music is not on my radar, hence no CD’s or mp3 player.
My travel companion and I had a wonderful conversation getting to know each other and having the kind of conversations we rarely allow ourselves to have with another human being, sharing our deeper toughts, showing our vulnerability. Turns out she would like to have that kind of communication with someone close to her, if only it was not so scary. We touched on how she might do that. Eventually the talk got round to what we do for a living and I replied I help people have the kind of conversation we had been talking about and struggle to have.
Well… Wow! Long, silent, pregnant pause while the enormity of that dawned on both of us. Just think of all the things that had to fall into place for the two of us to be together at that moment, she with her specific need – to be able to have deep, meaningful, real conversations with her family and me with my question – what specifically would women want from a workshop where they can learn how to do that?
Wow! Was that a miracle or what?
No matter what you call it, miracles, manifestation, the answer to your prayers, synchronicity, it is amazing how things just fall into place sometimes and the way forward becomes clear, effortlessly. It makes your heart sing with joy and gratitude. That, by the way, is another characteristic of miracles – it inspires gratitude.
Of all the things the course says about miracles, here’s the one I want to leave you with: ‘you are a miracle.’
Yes, YOU. YOU are a MIRACLE. You ARE a miracle.
Test that one out:
Say out loud ‘I AM a miracle’. Repeat it, putting the emphasis on a different word each time. That’s four times, so just for fun, repeat it once more, twice as loud.
Ready to start spotting and totting up your own miracles? You are a miracle spotter, aren’t you?
