The Miracles Information Line

The Miracles Information Line is a computerized voice mail system recently implemented by the Joe Janis Foundation to provide timely information to the local A Course in Miracles community. The heart of the system is a $300 circuit board that is inserted in an IBM XT clone. Larry Taylor is providing a temporary home for the system.

While Larry was in Boston this past fall, he discovered a similar system managed by Jim Yost who lives in South Boston and is very active in Miracles study in eastern Massachusetts. For several years Jim has distributed a list of Course study groups in the Boston area. This list was very useful, but even though it was updated regularly, Jim wanted a way to provide up-to-date information to ACIM students without extensive mailings or advertisements.

The voice mail system seems to be the perfect solution. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, anyone can dial the system's phone number and be greeted by Jim's voice enumerating the various options his system provides. The study group mailbox, for example, breaks up Massachusetts into several regions and allows the caller to hear the time, location and contact for every known study group in that area. Another voice mail box provides information about upcoming events. And, if an event is cancelled or postponed, that information can be immediately added to the message. People in Boston have gotten into the habit of calling first instead of taking a needless trip.

A very similar system is now available in North Carolina. In addition to the study group listings and events calendar, the Miracles Information Line provides a reading of the daily workbook lesson or Lab Manual experiment, a descriptive summary of A Course in Miracles and the Joe Janis Foundation, and a place for callers to leave messages such as address changes or book orders.

To access the system, simply dial 544-8213. You will be welcomed to the Information Line and told that by pressing 12 you will be shifted to a menu of the following options:

30) A message center where you can leave your mailing address, request for literature, comments, etc.;

40) A list of A Course in Miracles study groups in North Carolina. Presently only the Triangle area groups are listed;

50) A reading of today's workbook lesson;

55) A reading of today's Lab Manual experiment;

60) A list of upcoming events;

70) Information about A Course in Miracles;

80) Information about the Joe Janis Foundation.

It is important that callers do not wait until the end of the greeting or menu to make their selection, or else the system will disconnect them. This is one instance where interrupting a speaker is a good thing.

Another capability of the Miracles Information Line is its ability to make outgoing calls. This was recently used to call people in Durham to inform them about Saul Steinberg's workshop. The fact that Saul could stop in Durham on his way back from a series of talks in Virginia was known only a week before. While a flyer was mailed with the January calendar, most people would receive it only a day before the lecture. So a list of ACIM students in Durham was compiled and the Miracles Information Line dialed them all one Sunday afternoon with an announcement of Saul's workshop.

The system also is able to send and receive facsimiles. Enter 22 during any greeting or menu and send your FAX when you hear the carrier tone. The Joe Janis Foundation is currently reviewing what documents it will make available to those of you who would want to poll the system to receive a FAX of information in return.

The Miracles Information Line has much room for expansion in the future. The Foundation is open to suggestions as to how the system could be expanded with additional options. Just call 544-8213 and press 30 to leave your suggestion in the message center.

JJF Supplied Materials

The Joe Janis Foundation will provide selected A Course in Miracles materials to groups and individuals. These materials are made available as a grant, but carry with them a card requesting a donation of that will help us cover our cost. The easiest way to obtain these materials is through your weekly study group. The coordinators of the group (the person listed as a contact for the group in the Miracles Connection Calendar) should have a supply on hand of most of these materials. If not, they or you can place an order with the Foundation. The available publications are described below.

 A Course in Miracles - soft cover, all three original volumes in one.

 Introduction to A Course in Miracles - soft cover pamphlet. Covers the Course from how it came about to the basics of its theory.

 Absence from Felicity - soft cover, by Ken Wapnick. An excellent account of the origins of A Course in Miracles including Helen's true experience of God and Jesus. This book is a chronicle of the unusually ambivalent relationship that Helen had with them. As Ken says "in chronicling the development of this personal conflict and its ultimate resolution, I thus am writing everyone's story."

 Song of Prayer - soft cover pamphlet. Helen asked Jesus for comments on prayer and he responded with a wonderful 20 page booklet on prayer, forgiveness, and healing.

 Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice - softcover pamphlet.

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The Miracles Connection Calendar

Over the last few years, many have voiced the need for a monthly publication dedicated to announcing events of interest to the A Course in Miracles community in central Carolina. A single sheet containing a listing of local study groups and a calendar of events scheduled for that month became a reality in September, 1991.

The Miracles Connection Calendar, edited by Larry Taylor, is being supported by the Joe Janis Foundation as part of it continuing commitment to nurturing local ACIM study. Produced on a PC clone, using First Publisher software, the MCC is printed with the help of Ruth Hamilton's PostScript laser printer.

Larry edited the Miracles Extension newsletter between 1980 and 1985 and knows from that experience that the most difficult parts of the newsletter are gathering each months news and distributing the finished product. Luckily the Joe Janis Foundation has been very good about helping with the folding, stamping and addressing of the more than 100 calendars that go out each month.

The gathering of the news is still a struggle. With the arrival of the Miracles Information line, ACIM students will be able to leave information for the calendar at menu selection 30. Of course you can always contact Larry at 544-0784 and tell him about the upcoming event. So far there is not an established deadline for submission of material for the calendar, but we try to get the MCC mailed before the 10th of the month. Getting your news to Larry before the first day of the month would be very helpful.

A formal policy governing the type of event advertised in the MCC has not been adopted, but the general rule is that the event should be of interest to some significant minority of the Miracles students in the area. Examples of includable events not strictly related to A Course in Miracles might be an upcoming workshop with Ram Dass, or the recent chanting at Gaines Steer's meditation gazebo. Their inclusion would depend upon the space available in that issue.

Southern Dharma Retreat

This fall will mark the fifth year of retreats at the Southern Dharma Retreat Center in Hot Springs, NC. The first Miracles retreat was held there on October 23-25, 1987. After the Miracles retreat held at the Avila Center in Durham, August of that year, several people suggested to Larry Taylor that a similar experience in the mountains would be nice. Using Kelly Love's audio recording of the first fifty Workbook lessons, the purpose of the first retreat was, according to the announcement flyer, "a practical experience in choosing to see things differently."

The first Dharma retreat continued the tradition, begun at Avila, of not charging tuition so that the cost would not be a major impediment to anyone. Five years ago, Southern Dharma only charged $23/day for room and board which was quite a bargain for their wonderful vegan meals and comfortable accommodations.

There have been seven retreats since 1987. In 1988 and 1990 retreats were held in the spring as well as the fall. The theme of the first retreat was perception and largely consisted of listening to the first fifty Workbook lessons while meditating in the Center's beautiful meditation hall. Since that time, additional themes have been explored and the content of the retreats has changed considerably. The retreats have focused on perception, forgiveness, identity, guidance, special relationships, the special function, and the body. The ways in which we have experienced these themes have evolved through the years and become more varied in the process.

The emphasis has always been on experience rather than teaching through lecture. One activity that has become a tradition is the hike to the high meadow where we usually have some sort of ceremony that highlights the theme of the retreat. Music and dance have been increasingly used to set the tone for the weekend. The retreat this past fall had more movement than meditation, or what may better be described as meditation in motion.

After the fall retreat in 1989, Gerard Robinson wrote a note describing his experience, parts of which could be applied to all the retreats.

"The setting was superb, the path there just harrowing enough to convince me to stay put for the time being, and the buildings warm and inviting. The agenda which Larry proposed was one that I was looking forward to practicing. It was fun, I had a good time, and I learned a great deal."

"My enjoyment was increased and reinforced by many things. To begin with, the trip from Durham to the Center was made with good friends, and with the luxury of extra time. The volunteer and permanent staff at the Center made us feel most welcome. ... This retreat, for me, was filled with the manifestations of the Spirit, from my own encounter with deep feeling on the mountain top, to some of the meals that we shared."

The next Southern Dharma Miracles retreat will be held November 6-8, 1992 on a yet to be determined theme and will be sponsored by the Joe Janis Foundation. The past year we actually exceeded the Center's capacity of approximately 25 participants and had to limit enrollment. Costs have increased to $40 for room and board, but the tuition continues to be free. Each retreat has veterans of previous retreats, so we -- with the Holy Spirit's help -- must be doing something right.

The Firm Foundation is a quarterly publication of: The Joe Janis Foundation, Inc., P. O. Box 12620, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709; 919/544-5451.

This issue's editors are Ashby Pamplin and Gerard Robinson. Editorial contributions were made by Ashby Pamplin, Lileh Poncé, Gerard Robinson, Larry Taylor and Cathy Toohill. Logo design and production consultation provided by Diana Kowal, Kowal Visual Design.