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From The President

The new year, which began in August for the Joe Janis Foundation, is off to a running start! First of all, we have an expanded Board of Directors. I am pleased to announce the election of our new Directors:

Ginny Dudek

Penelope Moore

Chris Sanford

Kay Stewart

Caroline Wood

Welcome and thank you! Your input and energy has already been a blessing to your brothers and sisters in the Course. Along with myself, Lileh Ponc, as President, Larry Taylor as Vice President, Gerard Robinson as Secretary, and Cathy Kielar as Treasurer and Executive Director, our new Directors will further the purpose of JJF, which is " to nurture and support students of A Course in Miracles."

The first few months of our new year produced a flurry of activity:

* The second meeting of the Advisory Council was held, and a number of valuable suggestions were offered for ways we can better serve our brothers and sisters.

* Our first introductory lecture of the new year was attended by fourteen people!

* There were forty people present at Mary Whittier's beautiful house for our annual Miracles Family Reunion Day.

* Twenty-three happy learners just returned from a true mountain-top experience at the Southern Dharma retreat center.

* New Director Ginny Dudek designed a beautiful teal blue T-shirt for us that proclaims "It is impossible to overestimate your brother's value. T., 405" (If you are interested in having one of your very own, at a suggested donation of $12, with all proceeds going to the Joe Janis Foundation, call Cathy Kielar at 919-544-5451.)

Plans for the July 1993 retreat at Avila will begin shortly. We will have a kick-off meeting sometime in February or March. Please give us a call if you know you are interested in participating.

Many of you have responded with donations, and for that we are most grateful. Remember that all donations, past and future, are tax-deductible under our recently-granted 501(c)(3) status.

I regret that Ashby Pamplin will no longer be serving on the Board of Directors. Ashby's participation in the activities of our first year helped make it the success it was. He has offered to help out when he can, and so continue to be a part of JJF in that way. Ashby, brother, thank you for your work, your humor, and your love. May your path be filled with blessings.

I look forward to serving you and sharing with you in our second year of operation, as we are all blessed with the miracles that are born from our joining.

Making the Rockies Ring!

By Kellie Love

The 4th regular, semi-annual Miracles Comminity Conference convened around All Saints Day 1992 at the foot of the Rocky Mountains at YMCA of the Rockies, Estes Park, CO, and was a blessed success. The 18+ presenters presented, the singers sang, the healers healed, the shaman shamaned, and a joyful noise filled the hills.

Ken Keyes, Serge King, Alan Cohen, Robert Perry, Jon Mundy, Swami Beyondananda, Diane Brook Gusic, the list runs on into the night. So many loving helpful presences, so many offers of light and understanding - it would be truly difficult to escape without transformation.

Both audio and video tapes of all sessions were professionally recorded and are available from BackCountry Productions, 1117 6th Ave., Longmont, CO 80501. (303)772-8358.

The Miracles Community Network, a non-profit organization to link ACIM students worldwide has been organized. For details, raffle tickets, or an elegant T-shirt, write to PO Box 418, Santa Fe, NM 87504.

A young French physician, Christian Almayrac, "Dr. Happiness" presented one of the most compact recipes for personal happiness ever offered. Three simple statements comprise everything necessary for a life filled with health, prosperity, success and love. The chief resistance to his system is that it is so simple! A million questions arise, but Dr. Happiness answers them all with aplomb. I have become such a believer in this elegant, simple path to happiness that I have arranged for Dr. Happiness himself to present this system Tuesday evening Dec. 1 at Unity of the Triangle, 2308 Wake Forest Rd., Raleigh, 7:30PM. I urge you to hear him and come away singing.

Southern Dharma Retreat

By Holly Hayes

"My Brother is My Savior", was the theme of the fall retreat at Southern Dharma held November 6-8th. Twenty-four people from Charlotte, Durham, Chapel Hill and Raleigh gathered at the cozy, mountain retreat center. The weekend, led by Larry Taylor, included Sufi dancing, group exercises, guided meditations, hiking, a night of silence and for some -- a steamy sauna.

On Sunday, each participant described their own special weekend highlight. Mine was the trek up the mountain to the High Meadow on Saturday afternoon. After bundling up in borrowed scarves, socks and gloves, Larry asked half of the group to draw the name of a partner from a hat. One person was invited to perform the role of "savior" on the walk up, with the roles reversed coming down.

Crunching through the fallen leaves; breathing chilly, mountain air, I opened my heart and mind and asked Holy Spirit to help me play the role of savior. The quality of conversation was indeed enhanced with this in mind. As we neared the High Meadow, icy frost covered the shrubs, grass and finally the pine and oak trees -- it was a real winter wonderland. After munching chocolate chip cookies, we held hands and wound into a tight, circle hug. While the wind whistled around us, we giggled and finally found a moment of pure, clear silence. The walk down with my savior toward hot tea, a wood-burning stove and dinner was equally fulfilling.

In another exercise, on Sunday, each person was given a paper plate mask and asked to write in and draw all the disappointments we have felt in our brother over the years. This seemed easy until Larry directed each person to place their mask on a partner's face. Looking through the peep holes of my partner's mask at my handwriting helped me understand the reasons I often feel separated from my brother. We were then directed to remove our mask, wad it up and burn it in the stove. Having a weekend to practice seeing and loving my brother as my savior in the beautiful setting of Southern Dharma has given me the gift of remembering this lesson in daily life.

Berke and Mundy in Raleigh

By Chris Sanford

Its been a couple of months now, but still worth the telling. On the evening of September 1st, the publishers of On Course Magazine, Jon Mundy and Diane Berke, gave a talk -- panel discussion actually -- to an audience of forty Miracles students. Penelope Moore, learning of their plans for a tour through the Midwest and South, had invited them to add Raleigh to their itinerary. So here they were.

As far as Penelope and I are concerned, the story actually started at the Miracle Conference in Harrisonburg, VA, in May. There we had sat in on a session conducted by Diane and Jon, and were very impressed by both their understanding of the Course and their ability to present and explain it. I don't recall if we had seen On Course before that, but afterward we became regular readers and got a group-subscription for our study group.

When they inquired about a place to stay, we invited them to stay with us, partly to save them expense, but much more so that we could have more time with them. We had a chance to talk with them over dinner before the talk, again that evening after the talk, and for several hours over a leisurely breakfast. Jon had been a Methodist minister for fifteen years until the bishop decided that Jon's heavy use of Miracles concepts in teaching and pastoring was at odds with Methodist thinking. And Diane, of Jewish upbringing, is a practicing psychotherapist. The melding of these diverse backgrounds gives a wonderful breadth of perspective to the writing of both.

They shared with the group the story of the Interfaith Fellowship, the community of worship that grew out of those same diverse backgrounds. The worship services began just four years ago and has already outgrown three meeting places. (The Interfaith Fellowship provided the Sunday morning service at the Miracles Conference last May. It was a deeply moving experience to be part of a community of 300 Miracles students in a service of worship and celebration. It was this service that inspired Penelope to enroll in the New Seminary program -- the Interfaith Seminary.)

We had failed to tell Jon and Diane that part of the audience might be seekers with little prior Miracles exposure. These newcomers may have found themselves a little disoriented in the confusing welter of dropped names -- "Helen", "Ken", "Judy", etc. But for the most part, the presentation was lucid and helpful. When Jim Fauver asked about the image which portrays perception being projected on the outside world as a movie is projected on a screen, Diane qualified that by pointing out that the "outside world" is not just that world outside our body, but includes our body as well ... our bodies are part of the illusion of the world.

If you have the opportunity to be in New York City, be sure to look up these two wonderful teachers, either at one of their study groups (three, I think) or at the Sunday morning service at the Interfaith Fellowship. Their awareness of the Holy Spirit's presence is clear and endearing. You will then know what the Course means by the term "Teacher of God".

Saint Bubba and the Brothers

By Penelope Moore

It was Friday afternoon about 5:00. The Labor Day weekend was about to begin.

In line at the Revco, my face soap and greeting card in hand, I waited my turn. There were five or six people ahead of me. Immediately in front of me were two muscular, young black men. They exchanged a few comments quietly between themselves about their purchases -- cigarettes, candy, a razor, etc.

I looked at their clothes -- probably construction workers. I looked down at the dusty, steel-toed boots, the kind my son Jack had worn when he worked heavy construction installing elevators. They wore hard hats.

The line moved slowly. The clerk was a young man in his mid-twenties. Based upon his accent, his fair skin and hair, and his general demeanor, he was probably from one of North Carolina's many small towns or rural areas. But when it came to dealing with people, he showed no signs of being what we think of as redneck.

I watched from the back of the line as each customer approached. He greeted them with friendly small talk: "How're you today? What else can we get ya?" The usual words -- but the enthusiasm with which he extended himself made me begin to smile just watching him.

Conscious of racial tensions, as most of us were this Rodney King summer, I began to wonder how he would respond to the two "brothers" in line in front of me. I watch anxiously as their turn approached.

The clerk looked the first man in the eyes and smiled. "How y'all doin' today?" No reply. "This be all?" A nod. "Ready for a big weekend?" "Yeah." "I hear that. What ya gonna do -- go to the beach?" All the while, he was ringing up the sale and bagging the items, but his real business was about connecting.

I felt the tension. I wanted him to reach them, but I wasn't sure that they would let him. He persisted. "Have a good one."

The next brother moved to the counter. "This be all?" "Pack of Kools." "Four thirty-nine. You got big plans for the weekend?" With a slight shake of his head the man mumbled, "Not me. Just catch up on some sleep."

"That sounds good -- just being off work's enough." "You know that's right!", the worker responded with a hint of a laugh. And the clerk responded, "I'll sure be glad when nine comes. Seventy-one cents is your change. Have a good one now." "Yeah, you too, man" the brother called out, turning and lifting his hand.

By the time the sales were rung up, the real transaction was complete. The clerk had been determined to reach the men across the counter from him. He knew, in some simple, instinctive way, what the Course teaches -- that "It only takes one to make a Holy relationship."

He understood that as long as he did not see his brother as separate, he was not separate. He also knew that any behavior that is not expressing love (like not responding) is a call for love. He heard the call.

The lack of trust between the races works both ways. As teachers of the Course, we have a responsibility to see the fear and extend beyond it.

Every day is full of opportunities to witness miracles, to participate in them and to celebrate them. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for showing the face of Christ in this one.

The title arose when I told this story at our Miracles study group and Kellie Love dubbed the clerk "Saint Bubba".

A Christmas Wish

By Gerard Robinson

With every log you light this season, be reminded of how the tiny spark of Christ in each of us can be fed and fanned into a larger flame, providing warmth and light to yourself and many others. Understand how just the littlest of willingness to see that flame grow can be all that's necessary to produce a wonderful, warm and comforting glow. Remind yourself once again, that despite the seeming frustrations of getting it started, it is the glow and warmth you remember and appreciate. And appreciate perhaps all the more for the struggle of it all.

May you experience all the warmth and happiness that this season can hold, and remember how easy it can be to increase it. A Merry Christmas to you all!

Reunion was Great Fun!!

By Cathy Kielar

Yes folks, the 2nd Annual Miracles Family Reunion was definitely reuniting and lots of fun. Forty or more of the family folks gathered at Mary Whittier's fantastic and fun house in Chapel Hill on Saturday, October 10th. Everyone rejoiced in their usual hugs, sharing, laughs, cries, good food and drink, and even soaking in Mary's wonderful hot tub or swimming in her indoor pool. And, the reunion premiered a new and fun "Who's that Baby" contest. Twelve Miracles students (twelve is a good number, folks), sent in their cute baby photos, and contestants had to guess what Miracles adult matched that photo. Believe it or not, this was not so easy, but it was definitely fun. Ashby Pamplin, Deb Taylor and Caroline Wood tied with ten correct matches each. They each received a prize of a JJF Miracles T-shirt (see page 4 for a look at this great shirt design), stationary or books provided by Ginny and Joselyn Dudek. JJF even provided books and T-shirts on a donation basis. So everyone got a chance to laugh, hug, share, swim, soak, eat, drink, compete and spend money. We had fun!!

Mary, thanks a million for the use of your terrific home and the sharing of your warmth and love.

.

The Firm Foundation

"And then begin to learn the joyous lessons that come quickly on the firm foundation that truth is true" ACIM , Text, 254

Volume 1, No. 4 Winter 1992

The Firm Foundation is published quarterly by the Joe Janis Foundation, P.O. Box 12620, RTP, NC 27709. This issue's editor is Gerard Robinson. The officers of the Foundation are: Cathy Kielar, Executive Director/Treasurer; Lileh Ponc, President; Larry Taylor, Vice-President; Gerard Robinson, Secretary. Printed on 100% recycled paper.

Copyright 1992, Joe Janis Foundation, Inc

What's Inside!

Rocky Mountain Miracles Conference (report by Kellie Love, page 2).

Southern Dharma Retreat (report by Holly Hayes, page 3).

Holiday Gift Ideas ... Miracles Style (suggestions by Lileh Ponc, page 4).

Burke and Mundy in Raleigh (report by Chris Sanford, page 6).

Saint Bubba and the Brothers (story by Penelope Moore,

page 7).

Miracles Family Reunion (report by Cathy Kielar, page 8).

Christmas Wish (from the editor, page 8)

Did You Know ...

... that this newsletter cost over a dollar to produce and mail, and that your contributions to help defray these and other costs are completely tax deductible under our 501(c)(3), non-profit organization status?

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Wondering what to get that favorite Miracles brother or sister? Or perhaps you deserve a treat yourself! Here are some suggestions.

From the Joe Janis Foundation, Durham, NC, 919-544-8213.

Prices are suggested donations.

* Miracles T-Shirt, in teal blue, with design and saying, $12.

It is impossible to overestimate your brother's value

A Course in Miracles, T. 405

* A Course in Miracles, new 3-volumes- in-1 hardcover. $27.

* A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson, in hardcover. $20.

* "Selected Sayings from A Course in Miracles", the famous "dessert" cards. $10.

* Love is Letting Go of Fear, Dr. Gerald Jampolsky, $7.

From the California Miracles Center, San Francisco, CA, 415-621-2556.

* Lilies of Forgiveness, imported from England, 216 sayings from the Course printed on blue cards. $12.

* A Course in Marigolds, a take-off from the Course on the subject of gardening. ("I am not a victim of the snails I see.") $5.95

* Camille's Cards, a set of eight with art designs and Course quotes. $10.

* Rose Cards, a set of six with pictures of roses and inscriptions from the Course. $7.50

* The Miracles Game, a sturdy board game based on the Course in which everyone wins! $35

From the Miracles Distribution Center, Fullerton, CA, 1-800-359-ACIM.

* "Sayings" Card Holder, a hardwood box to hold and display the "dessert" cards. $19.95

* Workbook Lesson Card Holder, an adjustable wood holder for the Workbook Lesson cards. $19.95

* Workbook Lesson Cards, all 365 lessons reproduced on heavy-duty cards. $21.

* Readings from A Course in Miracles, read by Bill Thetford on audiocassette. $10.

* Love is Letting Go of Fear Board Game, based on the transformational ideas found in Gerald Jampolsky's book. $24.95

* Collections of quotations from the Course on audiocassette read by actor Richard Thomas. All versions, $9.95

Accept This Gift - The Gift of Peace - The Gift of Healing

* A Book of Games by Hugh Prather, meditational games based on A Course in Miracles. $7.95

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