Reviews for Forgiveness is the Home of Miracles
FOREWORD to Forgiveness is the Home of Miracles - By Lisa Natoli
The Power of Decision to Choose Love Instead of Grievances
There is tremendous power in commitment when it is combined with a little willingness to have your life transformed by deliberate acts of forgiveness. In every situation, no matter how difficult, you can choose Love. You can decide to be happy instead of angry. You can choose joy instead of depression. You can allow every encounter to be a new opportunity to know yourself as God created you: all light.
It is a great privilege for me to write the forward to Robyn Busfield's beautiful book, "Forgiveness is the Home of Miracles." I love this book for several reasons but mostly because I am reminded of the time when I first began practicing A Course in Miracles back in 1992, and my deepest desire was to meet people (spiritual companions) who were walking the same path as me and who could, by their own demonstration, show me how to incorporate the lessons of forgiveness and faith into my own daily life.
Robyn Busfield is such a companion.
"Forgiveness is the Home of Miracles" is Robyn's personal experience through the 365 workbook lessons of "A Course in Miracles."
I remember my own initial reaction when I first heard of A Course in Miracles from Marianne Williamson: sheer excitement. I was thrilled by the possibility of miracles occurring in my life. Then I had a different reaction when I stood in the Barnes & Noble bookstore on Astor Place in Manhattan, flipping through the pages of A Course in Miracles, contemplating whether or not to pay $35 for a book: confusion and a feeling of being completely overwhelmed. I tried to read a few paragraphs and not a single sentence made any sense to me. What does it mean, "There is no world" and that "God's Will for me is perfect happiness?"
These were completely foreign ideas in my life of failed relationships, addiction, and constant worrying. I couldn't conceive of an experience of consistent joy and peace which is exactly what Jesus, the author of A Course in Miracles, promises. And yet, there was something else that stirred within me. There was a feeling that this book was the answer to all my prayers. So I bought it, took it home, and promptly put it on my bookshelf where it sat collecting dust for the next five years.
Occasionally when I was in really deep fear or needed a miracle, I would drag the blue book off the shelf and flip through the pages trying to find a solution. I treated it like a book of magic and alchemy.
What happened next can only be described as Divine Grace: I started meeting people who studied and practiced A Course in Miracles. These people were "practicing the workbook lessons" and not just picking up the book when they were in despair. These people had made a commitment to go through all 365 workbook lessons in an effort to see their lives transformed. It was through watching them on their daily path that gave me the courage to begin applying the principles of A Course in Miracles in my own life.
The result: I started feeling really happy. My relationships improved. I noticed I no longer got sick. Fear disappeared and was replaced with a renewed joy for living.
I am grateful to Robyn for letting us take a peek inside her life while she took this journey through the workbook lessons, which can often appear messy and chaotic. She allows us to see her in vulnerable moments, in fear, in uncertainty, in confusion, and just as quickly, she shows us the miracle of healing that occurs as she applies the workbook lessons to the situations and "problems" in her life.
The thing that struck me most as I was reading through Robyn's thoughts and questions, as she applied the workbook lessons in her life, was THE SPEED by which she was able to get herself right back on track to thinking with God. To me, this is more important than always saying the right thing or always trying to be good and holy.
Robyn allows us to see her stumble and fall as she moves back and forth between the illusion and Heaven, but she is always herself: lovable, adorable, authentic and sincere. I think it's valuable to have a teacher who is figuring things out, showing her mistakes, and one who wonders aloud "what is the point of all this?"-in essence, someone who is just like us!
This book you are holding in your hands is an inside glimpse into one woman's mind who had the courage to use her own life as a demonstration of the healing power of "forgiveness." This book gives many great practical examples that no matter how difficult it gets in any situation, you can choose another way of thinking, and choose Love instead of grievances.
You'll be delighted to find how easy it is to choose Love.
Love, Lisa
Forward by Lisa Natoli, Author of Gorgeous for God. For more information on Lisa Natoli and her work please visit: www.gorgeousforgod.com
A Journey of Courage and Faith - by Pauline Edward
I had been savouring one of my favorite lessons from the Course, "I will step back and let Him lead the way" when I picked up Forgiveness is the Home of Miracles to prepare for this review. I chuckled as I read in the first chapter how the author had come to the realization that it was time to hand over the direction of her life to the guidance of the Inner Voice that would now be leading her on her new journey. Coincidences ... Wise to the ways of inner guidance, Robyn acquiesced, and with deep trust, handed over "the wheel" to Higher Knowing.
. This was the second time I was reading Robyn Busfield's wonderful story, and I was looking forward to, once more, sharing her journey through the Workbook Lessons. I must admit that I'm not a big reader; at least, I don't read just for the sake of reading. I'm a doer. In fact, I read only for the purpose of learning what I need to do those things I want to do. Which ends up being a fair amount of reading because I'm constantly "doing" something. However, ever since I was a child, I have been fascinated by the stories of personal spiritual quests. After that fIrst reading of Forgiveness is the Home of Miracles, I felt as though I had made a new Course in Miracles friend. As one might imagine, I fully expected that working on this review would be a treat, as I looked forward to spending time with my new friend. And it was.
Rohyn approached the Workbook lessons of A Course in Miracles with ready mind and heart, all that a worthy student needs when embarking on this most challenging of spiritual paths. Her mind was ready because she was accustomed to looking! searching and asking questions, which is very much what Jesus asks of his students in the Course. She openly and honestly examined her thoughts, her responses, her reactions and her perceptions, again, all of which is most helpful, in fact, essential, for the serious student of the Course.
Her heart was ready because she had a deep desire to know the Truth from direct, personal experience. She was willing to accept that perhaps she did not really know what was best and she was therefore ready to accept guidance from the Teacher of the Course. In her heart, she knew there was much to be uncovered on the journey to truth. Rohyn had everything she needed to embark on this journey and so was in the best possible frame of mind, and heart to reap the rewards awaiting those who are ready and willing to remove the obstacles to the experience of the Truth.
Readers will no doubt sympathize with Robyn, as I very much did, when she began to appreciate the full extent of the message of A Course in Miracles, and when she understood its radical message and its unique metaphysics. What serious student of this spirituality has not wondered where to turn for help and support while on this journey. However, clearly motivated by the Voice of Love that called from deep inside, she persisted with the process.
Carried by the strength that comes from glimpses of the Truth, encouraged by a deep sense of our natural wholeness as God created us, she pursued her quest with dedication and purpose. Readers will be drawn by the simple faith-a strength of steel-that supports her as she struggles with the more challenging concepts of the Course's teachings and while she questions every value that she has held throughout her life. In her quest for Truth, Robyn addresses concepts such as the illusory nature of the world--including her beloved earthly paradise of Hawaii, the power of the mind to choose and to create the world we see, our difficulty in seeing ourselves as we truly are, and the biggest classroom of all, the special relationship.
Throughout the book, she adeptly weaves threads of the Course's teachings from the lessons and the text, adding depth and clarity to the narrative. Her faith in the process allows her to gather guidance in the form of clear insights as to how to deal with the situations in her life. She makes of her everyday life a true classroom for her journey Home to God. I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to share the journey with Robyn, and I am certain that she will make many friends of all her readers.
Review by Pauline Edward, Author of Making Peace with God and Leaving the Desert. Formore information on Pauline Edward and her work please visit: www.paulineedward.com
A Courageous and Inspiring Journey through ACIM's Workbook - by Susan Dugan
A long-time seeker, Robyn Busfield had studied the law of attraction for many years and manifested a very enjoyable life for herself. And yet soon after picking up the profound spiritual psychology A Course in Miracles a strong inner guidance nudged her to exchange "fixing up the dream" for a new kind of forgiveness that helps us awaken from the ego's illusion of separate interests to the all-inclusive wholeness of our true nature.
As Robyn begins earnestly working her way through the Course's 365 workbook lessons, her willingness to again and again admit she does not know and "resign as her own teacher" as the Course urges us to do slowly transforms all she believes about the world and what she really wants. With courage and grace, she learns as we all eventually must that she cannot hold any person or situation seemingly outside the one mind responsible for her inner peace.
Along the way she is challenged to recognize that even the earthly "paradise" of her dreams and a deepening romantic relationship can never ultimately satisfy that universal longing for an all-inclusive Love beyond the special relationships of this world. It also gradually dawns on her as it does on all of us committed to this path that our journey through the workbook is, as its author puts it, "a beginning, not an end." Within the dream undoing our belief in the ego's story of separation realized takes time, a deep desire to learn, and increasing motivation born of experience with the peace forgiveness brings that we do not perceive our own best interests, but can learn to rely on an always available part of our mind that does. Serious Course students will see themselves in Robyn's growing trust in this inner process of healing our minds about our relationships and find renewed inspiration and encouragement in their journey home.
Review by Susan Dugan - Author of Extraordinary Ordinary Forgiveness. And Speaker/Teacher on ACIM, the movie. For more information on Susan Dugan and her work please visit: www.foraysinforgiveness.com
