Joann “Jo” Sjolander

Jo grew up in a small town in northern Minnesota. Her mother was active in the Lutheran church, often quoting the Bible. Her father was a Freemason and Shriner who often spoke of reincarnation. Being exposed to her parents’ belief systems was very valuable as Jo was strongly influenced by their seeking ‘something greater’ than the world around her.

After graduating from high school, Jo married her best friend’s cousin, moved to Minneapolis, attended college, and became an elementary school teacher. After several years of teaching on the east coast, Jo and her family moved to Denver where she continued her career in education. When the father of one of her students asked Jo if she might be interested in meeting his spiritual teacher, she felt compelled to say yes. After meeting the man, a Sufi master, and feeling a profound connection with him, Jo became part of a newly formed Denver community of Sufis. She had no idea what a Sufi was, but that group was where she met Margie. Meera joined later, and they all became friends. After eight years, Margie was guided to leave the group, which shocked Jo at the time. This was the impetus for Jo to question her own life, and after deep soul-searching, she chose to leave that path as well. Meera also left, and Jo had no idea what was to come.

As Jo was nearing retirement, her school custodian gave her a copy of The Disappearance of the Universe, by Gary Renard. Jo knew that Margie and Meera had to read it too, and before long, the three of them were discussing the book’s radical insights and quotes from A Course in Miracles. This sparked the three friends to begin their own in-depth study of the Course, which Margie had actually read years before.

A Course in Miracles says we must forget/unlearn everything we’ve ever believed, come with an open heart, and henceforth hear only the Voice for God—the Holy Spirit. Jo had not yet come to the understanding of how she could hear this Voice because she was still seeing the world through the eyes of judgment and separation; projecting her thoughts of guilt and fear onto everyone else. She could not yet own that they were really what she believed about herself. It was with this realization that The Work of Byron Katie found her, and she began to question all her stressful thoughts and beliefs.

When Margie began to hear the Voice of the Holy Spirit, she immediately insisted that Jo and Meera ask Him about every little thing. After months of reading His daily messages and speaking with Him, Jo had a dream in which she was asked to be an editor. She accepted. Margie had received the very same information—that Jo was to start editing the book that Margie had been scribing. It wasn’t until much later, however, after reading with an editor’s eye, that Jo realized her role wasn’t about finding commas or deciding to capitalize. She soon found that the process of slowing down and reading each word out loud brought her into a deeper realization of the message "beyond the words and between the lines." This experience has further developed her connection with the Holy Spirit, Who she knows is her true Self.

Whenever Jo needed assistance with technical problems, her husband, a physicist, patiently supported the work with his computer expertise. Because of their joint effort, and her hearing the Voice, their relationship has become stronger and more enjoyable than ever. The OWG "team" of Margie, Jo, and Meera keeps increasing as needed. It is no accident that everyone who is to be involved in the awakening process through the One With God books shows up right on schedule.

Jo knows that her life’s purpose is to share the joy of hearing the Voice of the Holy Spirit. She asks Him throughout the day for His instruction and to help her to awaken fully from this dream world, especially when she forgets that it is her dream. Through increasing trust, she is able to live most often in a peaceful state of neutrality, seeing that the differences she observes in the world make no real difference at all.