by Sandy Newell
May 18, 2026
Yesterday I broke a ceramic dish in my kitchen. I placed this dish on my glass top stove not realizing I forgot to turn the burner off. It was hot and after a time, the dish blew up into pieces, big and small. The broken pieces were very hot. They were all over the kitchen floor and I bent down to pick one up and forgot that I needed an oven mitt to do so. Result: Burnt skin on the tip of the left thumb. I felt the sting of the burn and thought I should get the thumb under cold water. I was thinking this really sucks! I’m going to have to deal with this for a couple of weeks until it heals.
Immediately I went to find the vacuum cleaner, while my husband found the broom. We have two cats and there was broken glass all over the floor and we were fearful the creatures would injure themselves walking into the kitchen. As I started walking toward the vacuum cleaner, the thought came to PAUSE and remember what this seeming body’s mind truly IS. THE LOVE OF GOD. The Holy Spirit reMinded the ego self that it is not the body that needs healing, it is the mind. The mind that sometimes needs to be reMinded of what it truly is. There is no body and it is the mind that needs healing.
I left the idea of grabbing the vacuum and went to the sink and turned on the cold water. As I held the thumb under the cold water, the Holy Spirit spoke again, “PAUSE, remember this is NOT God’s Will. You ARE God’s Will. And this is not it. It is impossible to have a burnt thumb. It is impossible to suffer. And I remembered thinking, “and I RECEIVE the thought that I am God’s Will.” This is the first time in my practice that I noticed this thought of RECEIVING! It is so important. I accept and RECEIVE the truth of what I truly AM! In this moment, I was accepting the Atonement and did not even realize that is what was happening!
I said the forgiveness prayer, “Holy Spirit please help me to forgive myself for believing that I am a body and that I can be hurt and that I can suffer. Please help me to forgive myself for using these false thoughts to attack myself and separate me from the Love that I AM.” Within seconds of this self-talk, I felt the sting of the burn leave the thumb. It was gone. There was no burn. There was no indication on the skin that it had been burned. It was gone. It vanished!
Words are not sufficient to express the gratitude to Jesus for A Course in Miracles and for the Holy Spirit’s help in reminding the ego self to PAUSE, and then to help it change its thinking from “ouch, this sucks!” to “there is absolutely nothing wrong here.” That first step, the PAUSE, is the most critical. Because when the ego self forgets to PAUSE and it succumbs to the pain the body feels, it doesn’t make time to ask Holy Spirit to help it change its perception of the situation. The opportunity for the miracle in that moment is lost.
From Jesus in A Course in Miracles: T-1.I.37.FIP A miracle is a correction introduced into false thinking by me (Jesus). It acts as a catalyst, breaking up erroneous perception and reorganizing it properly. This places you under the Atonement principle, where perception is healed. Until this has occurred, knowledge of the Divine Order is impossible.
The next time our little selves are faced with adversity in any form, we must remember to PAUSE and reMind ourselves of what we truly ARE, THE LOVE OF GOD.
Rick, my husband, swept up the large pieces and I vacuumed the kitchen for the small pieces. We put the broom and vacuum away and all was well. It was as if it never happened.
Awesome, practical application of the Course! Thank you for sharing! 🩵
Thank You, Sandy for this reMinder of the importance of the Pause. Your share reMinded me of a similar experience I had with my granddaughter! Thank You!
Thank you, Nouk.
I feel you . I feel this .
As I forgot to pause this weekend . I’m willing to brush and vacuum rhe illusions away .. as it never happened ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you so much for this was yet a synchronous, powerful reminder to me and what I have been ‘putting’ myself through in the last 5 days
What a blessed Holy Instant as you Received the miracle!
Our daily practicing together in the workbook lessons sustain and enable us to Remember!
Thank you for extending by sharing it with us.
So happy for you Sandy…
So many things happening in that complete undoing of ego’s thought system and your deciding for God and for the Eternal Love and Innocence we have and ARE..
Thank you for sharing… ❤️🙏🏻 🌷 ❤️
I love this Sandy! Thank you for the reminder to pause. God knows we can never suffer! Much love 💕 🙏🏼
Beautiful Sandy! Thank you for pausing, listening and sharing your practical application of Jesus’ teachings!
What a beautiful, powerful choice you made.
You are an inspiration and reMinder!
Thank you, Sandy. Beautiful.
Love, Irene Bentsen
Sister thank you so much .
I needed to hear this . I’am starting to also pause more .
We get the miracle when we pause and realize there is nothing to react to .
Thank YOU, Sandy for the reminder of the invitation to pause and breathe into WHO I AM whenever I notice I am not in a state of Peace.
What a wonderful testimony! Thank you, Sandy, for sharing!
Dear Sandy, Holy God’s Daughter,
Merci MERCI for The GORGEOUS Miracle you shared…
WHAT a 🎁🌝
I’m still very Very moved about with… grateful moisture in my eyes 💫🌟
Be Thanked & Blessed 🙏
Much LOVE 💕