Can students of A Course in Miracles be inspired to make the most important decision of their lives by the example of an Alaskan sled dog, or at least by the Disney movie version of a beloved dog's story?
A Course in Miracles asks us to try to imagine what it would be like to live in a totally different world altogether, a world glowing and shining in which everything is seen clearly and brightly, a world grounded in certainty and shimmering with promise.
A hint of such an experience is given to those who have had eye surgery to remove cataracts. They are usually astounded at the world they find themselves living in a day or two after surgery when their new eyesight comes into focus. They find themselves for the first few days constantly saying, "Wow! This is so beautiful! This is so hard to believe! It's a whole new world!"
Multiply such an experience many, many times over and you can begin to imagine what it must be like to really open up spiritually as opposed to merely revisiting over and over again the beginning phases of spirituality. A Course in Miracles is a wonderful tool to prepare students, but what a joyous, glimmering world is missed by students who become so attached to the preparation device that they want to stay in grammar school forever instead of graduating to high school.
There truly is a whole new world waiting to be seen and it's a world your deepest inner being really, really wants you to see. But it's a world that cannot be seen from grammar school. You must be willing to graduate to something higher, something which cannot be reached with books, but can only burst open out of experience.
In the movie version of the true story of Balto, the aspiring sled dog begins in littleness, doing the lessons of his Course in Miracles to be sure, but somewhere inside himself dreaming of something much greater. The lyrics of the song "Reach For The Light" from the soundtrack are like the Holy Spirit's voice speaking not only to Balto but to any student of A Course in Miracles.
Deep in the storm there's a place that's soft and still,
Honesty is the trait of admitting to yourself whether you are truly with all your being reaching for the light or whether you are handing in your homework half undone. Honesty is the willingness to ask yourself the question: "Am I really, really, really, really going for it? Or am I half the time letting ego voices pull my focus and belief back to the world I am accustomed to?"
Reach for the light.
In the movie, Balto could easily have been just another student of A Course in Miracles perhaps attending miracles gatherings, perhaps living a somewhat happier dream. But he knew he was destined for more.
Somewhere in time the truth shines through,
So Balto steps out of his old habit of doing what all the other Course in Miracles students are doing and begins to step into a greater vision being given him, for him personally a vision of relieving the pain of others. He feels the call to go where nobody has ever gone before and accomplish what the world would call impossible.
You can be stronger than anything you know.
Sickness and suffering are threatening all the children of Balto's world. Somehow he knows he is being called to bring healing. He craves to answer the call even though he knows not where the call is to take him and hasn't the slightest idea what the call will lead him to find inside himself.
There's no turning back.
So Balto "jumps off the cliff," so to speak. He volunteers for the impossible. And the impossible turns out to be much more impossible than he ever thought. Like any student of A Course in Miracles who decides to quit spinning around in the same circles and really, really, really go for it, Balto has to become something entirely different from what he ever thought he was. Not only in his thoughts, but in his energy, and even in his whole body, he has to literally give up his old self and become something altogether new. In the movie this transformation happens when he finally reaches for the light as never before.
Reach for the light
The story is well known. Balto impossibly brings healing to Nome, Alaska through a thousand miles of 40 below zero temperatures, hurricane force sled shattering winds, and impassable territory. Today he is honored by a hero's bronze statue in New York's Central Park. But what if the healing of Nome, Alaska had nothing to do with the medicine Balto brought a thousand miles and everything to do with the transformational journey without distance Balto was willing to surrender to totally?
What manner of vision did Balto have after he went through his transformation? Did Balto see a new world with his new sight? What was it like to have spiritual vision and really see?
Perhaps these kinds of questions do not often get asked because they cannot be answered. Perhaps all an enlightened being can say to the world is: "Come unto me. Follow me. Then you will see for yourself."
Only you know the burning desire hidden inside you that will lead to your reaching for the light which will transform you. Maybe for you it will not be a burning desire to bring healing into the world. Perhaps for you it will be an overwhelming desire to see bright beings all around you, or a consuming desire to view heroic accomplishments in your favorite field of endeavor. But if you make the jump, it will be eventually be recognized as much more than a desire to see the world differently. It will finally be recognized as the desire to see an entirely different world.
What is it that you have always really, really, really wanted to see? What is the dream of your deepest inner spirit?
Balto's message to you is one of certainty. There is a different world to be seen, a world of such incredible light and glory that you can't really believe it until you experience it.
And there's only one way to experience it:
Reach for the light as never before.
If you received this message via email and wish to no longer be on our email list, please reply with the word "remove" and your full name or the nickname you gave us when you originally contacted us.
Where the road waits to be taken if you only will.
The voices inside you can lead you so astray.
Believe in what you dream.
Don't turn away. Don't turn away.
You might touch the sky!
Stand on the mountaintop,
And see yourself flying!
And the spirit knows what it has to do.
Somewhere in you is a power with no name.
It can rise to meet the moment,
And burn like a flame.
Hold onto what you see.
Don't let it go. Don't let it go.
Your destiny is calling.
Listen to the thunder roar.
Let your heart break free.
To capture a star.
Come out of the darkness
And find out who you are.
CENTER FOR TOTAL ENLIGHTENMENT