Category: blog

The Contagion of Fear, Or Not

Leave a comment

It occurred to me that for the last 16 months, most of my focus has been on the Pandemic, which appeared to be under control, and now has reared its ugly head again with warnings about possible cardiac side affects from current vaccines for young people, and of course, the new highly contagious, Delta variant that has come front and center.

Thoughts of fear and dread that can easily accompany this information overload have a tendency to overwhelm me. I decided to open up Living the Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes and see what he had to say regarding FEAR. I share some of his quotes from pages 362-363, which gave me great comfort.

First of all, if you are filled with fears, do not harbor them as a great secret in your life, but find some close friend or confidant to whom you may unburden your whole soul. This will release the tension, which your fears have built up in your body. Just to talk with a calm, confident person, who can point out the reason why you need not entertain these fears is a great relief.

For the next thing, you must learn to face your fears. You should not be afraid to analyze them and you should explain to yourself just why you know there is nothing to be afraid of.

And the next thing to do is convince yourself that you would not be here were there not a Power greater than you are that put you here. Never be afraid to say to this Power and this Divine Presence: “I now lay down all my fears, doubts and anxieties. I pass them back into the great and perfect Life of which I know I am a part.”

We all need to resurrect this little child within us, who unfortunately has been so buried in our unhappy experiences that we have almost forgotten she was there. But we have not quite forgotten, have we? We all need to resurrect the confidence in life which we had in our youth.

Faith alone can heal this confusion and drive from our minds all thoughts of fear, and dissipate all anxiety. Love alone can bring harmony into our lives. So, say to yourself:

“I lay all fear aside, and in confidence and complete faith I turn to the one perfect Divine Presence, knowing that the light of Truth shines upon my path even as Divine Love guides me to the Secret Place of the Most High, where I dwell under the shadow of the Almighty.

I know there is nothing to be afraid of in God’s world. Fear cannot operate in me, nor can it go forth from me. At the very center of my being there is a consciousness of the protection of Divine Love, the guidance of Divine Wisdom, and the strength of Divine Power..

And I turn in to the great God, who knows all things and who can do all things, and say: “Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom; lead Thou me on.”

All of the above really enabled me to change my mind and my mood, and I pray that Ernest Holmes wise words help others who may suffer from fear of any kind.

Namaste, Janie

 

 

Experiencing the Father

Leave a comment

Fatherhood often gets a bum rap. We are conditioned, almost from our earliest years, to have a limited or one-dimensional version of this person, this human who participated in our creation, and contributed in one way or another to our growth as an individual. In comedy, the father figure is often the brunt of jokes and in literature, he is frequently portrayed as the absent or distant winner-of-our-daily-bread, or some sort of dark and foreboding taskmaster. He can be the fixer of all things broken or the one who broke them.

One of my best early memories of my dad happened when I was about ten. We were living in southern California at the time, at the edge of chaparral country. All the kids walked to the elementary school that was a couple blocks down the street and most of us walked home for lunch. It was a pretty idyllic time and place. One of my two best friends lived next door on a family farm. I remember the climbing trees, the berry bushes and the chickens in the roost. My other best friend lived across the field behind the elementary school. I remember hurrying home across that field, more than once, so that I would be home by dark (my curfew). My major mode of transportation was my big, sturdy, hand-me-down, bicycle that took me everywhere.

I didn’t have much experience with my dad. He had been overseas a lot on remote duty with the Air Force. I knew him from the daily letters our mom would get in the mail while he was away, and the short visits between foreign tours, and when he would come home for extended holidays. This time he had gotten posted at an air base in southern California where we could be all together as a family. While he was on these remote assignments, he spent a lot of time building things at the Hobby Shop, a place on the base where the airmen could go, hang out, and make stuff. It was the safest and sanest thing that these young men could do when they were away from their homes and their families. And yes, I realize I am making up this story.

In any case, when we were in southern California, he built a large balsa wood glider. It had at least a four-foot wingspan and he worked on it in the evenings for months and months. When it was finally finished, he needed help to fly it. We went out to the cow pasture behind our house and I held it, his masterpiece up over my head. He had glued what looked like drapery hooks under the fuselage. The rope that he used to launch it was draped over these hooks only for launch. He ran, tugging on the rope, pulling the plane out of my grasp. When the plane became airborne the rope fell away and the glider moved freely, untethered. Most of the time it flew. Sometimes it was only a short glide and a hop as it skidded along the grass, sometimes it caught the wind and rode the currents of air, up and up and up. We flew his glider for a number of months, getting a little braver and more adventurous each time. One day we took it to a new place by a road. It lifted brilliantly, caught the drafts and rose and glided just like the buzzards that rode the currents of air. It was breathtaking. Then suddenly as if it had run out of air, it plummeted to the ground, nose first onto the road. We both ran over to it, a pile of splinters and fragments, nothing to salvage. Heartbroken, I asked if he could fix it. He shook his head sadly and said no. Dejectedly, we both walked back to the car. I am sure he mourned the loss of his creation, though I was not aware of it. He put his model building tools away and took up other hobbies. Mostly he did the typical family things with all of us, visiting picnics and playgrounds, playing with frisbees and balls, taking hikes and drives. He didn’t return to building models until our brother was old enough to want his help in building model airplanes or star fighters from pre-cut kits of plastic bits.

So what is the Fathering Principle? According to Fillmore’s Metaphysical Bible Dictionary, it is the “exact and immutable Principle of Being, lying back of all existence as cause, and approachable only along lines of perfect law. It is omnipresent and not subject to change or open to argument.” Holmes calls it the “Assertive Principle of Being; the Self-Conscious, Self-Propelling Power of Spirit; the Projective Principle of Life, impregnating the Universal Soul with its Ideas and concepts; the Self-Assertive Spirit in either God or humanity.”

How does this show up for each of us? We father ourselves, encourage, assert and support our own sense of being and purpose. Is it hard? It seems hard sometimes; sometimes we seem to fail. What then? We gather ourselves together, regroup and get back up. It is worthwhile? You bet. It’s the best game on the planet.

–Rev Janis

Got Fear?

Leave a comment

Most recently, I have noticed more fear conversations inside my head. These fear conversations have probably been going on all along, I just hadn’t noticed them much. Fear is defined as an unpleasant emotion by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.

Fear is part of (almost) everyone’s life experience. Sometimes we use fear to our advantage and sometimes we use it to our disadvantage. Sometimes fear is valid, sometimes it’s not. But it’s there none-the-less. It’s used in all of us in different situations, surfacing one thought at a time. Fear. Fear is an “F” word.

But what about the other “F” word? You know what word I’m talking about. It is in each and every one of us, too. Sometimes we use it to our advantage sometimes we don’t remember to. But it’s there none-the-less. We remember to use, sometimes, in different situations, surfacing one thought at a time. Faith. Faith is an “F” word.

In The Science of Mind glossary (page 591), Faith is defined as ‘“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith is a mental attitude, so inwardly embodied that the mind can no longer deny it. Faith is complete when it is both a conscious and subjective acceptance. Faith may be consciously generated. In spiritual terminology, faith means a belief in the presence of invisible principle and law which directly and specifically responds to us. “Thy faith has made thee whole.”’

Which “F” word is more prevalent in your thoughts? I have consciously generated many fear thoughts throughout my years. Most of these fear thoughts were only a thought. Any thought can be changed. I’m letting go of the thoughts that no longer serve me. I am changing so that my faith is complete with a conscious and subjective acceptance, one thought at a time. I am living a life I love though the teachings, practices and faith of CSLT.

—Madeline Pallanes

It’s OK to Feel OK!

Leave a comment

It is okay to feel okay! In fact, it is even okay to be happy! My 89-year-old mother says that we feel guilty feeling happy when so many people are sad and when there are so many problems in the world. It is like a survivor’s guilt. If I am happy, does it mean that I do not care about global warming? Does it mean that I do not think it is important if the school kidnappings in Africa have included children as young as 4? Do I not express my concern through my feelings of distress?

I still struggle with this ingrained belief, but continue to focus on living in the belief of “All As Spirit” helps me feel some relief. I work hard at feeling good. The decision to feel good that does not always translate into the emotion. However, I also decide to act in ways that promote happiness.

During a recent “Roots of the Science of Mind” class, Rev. Janis began the session with a video in which there was a regular recitation of Neville Goddard’s meditation, “Isn’t it wonderful?” The goal was to experience a feeling of wonder and joy. In Resilient, the book we’re using in the June book study, there are short experiential exercises on grabbing hold of a happy feeling and basking in it. With both of those examples, I was not able to translate the feeling into a happy feeling or even a pleasant experience. It is like I tamp down those feelings.

Two weeks ago, I talked to my therapist about those experiences. I practice EMDR with her which is a treatment modality designed to free one of stuck emotional reactions by processing traumatic experiences that, in effect, get stuck in our psyche. I have found the process extremely helpful. My therapist talked to me about asking the Universe for help in feeling good and being willing to surrender fear. I wrote that on the back of the index card that I have by my PC with Emma Curtis Hopkins’ quote from page 96 of Scientific Christian Mental Practice, “I do believe that my God now works with, through, by and as me, to make me omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. I have faith in God. I have the faith of God.”

Daily, I have been asking the Divine for a sense of connection. This is also where I allow myself to recognize myself as the Divine and then surrender fear. What surrendering fear looks like to me is to relax and spend money that I used to hoard. We tithe on our personal income, and I pay the handful of medical bills that accumulate every few months. I allow myself to take money from an account where I have stashed it. My fear is often around financial lack which I imagine and then pull into me. For the last two weeks, I have been happier and have relaxed more. I repeat to myself when challenges arise that it is okay to feel okay. It is even okay to feel happy. I plan on reading the book and attending Rev. Janis’s class on resilience. Perhaps I will have a different experience this time.

–Marya Wheeler

The Magic of Words

Leave a comment

Love casts out all fear, removes all doubt and sets the captive free.

Ernest Holmes

These words are found in many places in the writings of Dr. Holmes. Words do have a magical power of words, like casting a spell. Words that I believe, take to heart, do affect my behavior, most of the time unconsciously. It takes a conscious effort to look at my thoughts to see where the thought obstacles are keeping me stuck.

In a recent Sunday reminder, Rev. Janis read from Frederick Bailes book Hidden Power for Human Problems.

Therefore, I now declare that it is a vestige of my former destructive thinking. I emphatically state that it is completely out of line with the Infinite Thinker’s thoughts, which are trying to manifest perfectly through me. It is a squatter living on territory where it has no rights of any sort. I call in the Law to evict, dissolve it, and negate it right now. I wash my hands of it. I don’t have to fight it, worry about it, or pay any attention to it. It is nothing trying to be something. It is no more real than the bogeyman that scared me as a boy. I turn every last thread of my thought to the contemplation of God in me, through every single cell of my body…

Bailes did a spiritual mind treatment (a reverse spell) on beliefs he had held to be true about his diabetes. I too can reverse my beliefs that are stuck in my memory, no longer to be relived, but relieved by casting a new spell, making a new claim. I choose these words joyously, by finding a wand, and playfully touching my shoulders and claim, “I now am free from all doubt, I open myself to my Divine Inheritance of a life filled with joy, wonder, love and light.” And so it is.

–Maria

America, An Incompletely-Actualized Ideal

Leave a comment

America is an incompletely-actualized ideal. It will only qualify as a fully-actualized ideal when “selfish gain no longer stain, the banner of the free!” (Taken from the original 1893 poem by Katharine Lee Bates.)

Yes. The United States of America is the present ideal of the idea, though flawed, “of freedom beating across the wilderness.” As freedom beat across the land, indigenous people were displaced and slaughtered. In 1893, its successes were not all noble, nor its gains divine. The indigenous population as well as imported Africans and women were excluded from sharing in the gains.

True, the grace of God or the One in Whom We Live, Move and Have Our Being has shined on the idea of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all, the vision. It will only become a reality as Martin Luther King Jr has stated, when this nation rises up and lives out the true meaning of its creed that all men, women, and children are created equal.

Since the idea has not yet materialized, the full expression of our good, which is brotherhood, has not yet been crowned.

So, I ask that we not let our emotional reactions to the song “America, The Beautiful” override the facts.

–Keith Gorley

Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes

Leave a comment

Bev Holland (RScP, with the CSL in Tacoma WA) led the morning meditation practice today, and I got to join because my 4-month (zoom) class in Spiral Dynamics ended last Tuesday. It was a treat for me to just hang out as a participant for a change, instead of lead.

The reading that Bev chose for this morning was from Ernest Holmes’ 365 Science of Mind. As always there were certain phrases that jumped out for different people. Some of the big ideas presented in this reading:

“spiritual laws execute themselves, just as do other laws of nature”

“my word penetrates every unbelief in my mind, casts out all fear, removes all doubt, clears away every obstacle, and permits that which is enduring, perfect
and true to be perceived by my mind.”

“all the statements I make … will be carried out as I have spoken.”

We get to remember the power that lives as us delivers on our commands every time. This is wonderful, and sometimes horrible news, because it means we have built-in accountability. It’s not ever punishment, but simply a recognition that our words, and the thoughts behind them, already have the power to create our experience, whether we are conscious of this fact, or not.

We also get to remember that we seldom understand the whole picture of our experience until well after the fact. It was Danish philosopher and theologian Soren Kierkegaard who said, “Life can only be understood backwards; but must be lived forward.”

And from the movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – “Everything will be alright in the end. If it’s not alright, then it’s not yet the end.”

We have lived through an ‘unprecedented, and historic’ (not really, but it sure feels like it) challenging 15-months. For some the individuals and groups, difficult and confronting times continue. None of these experiences are the truth of our being, they are just experiences we have had, and some continue to have.

One way to improve your ability to deal with life as it presents itself is to have a spiritual practice. If you don’t already have a daily morning practice of stopping for spiritual nourishment, I truly encourage you to start. If you don’t know what to do: read some spiritually uplifting writings or bask in some uplifting music or just simply lift your eyes to appreciate the beauty of where you live, followed by spending a few moments considering the wonder and beauty of whatever you’d stopped to notice, and then express gratitude to yourself, and to the greater whole, however you experience it. That’s a great place to start building a spiritual practice.

Further, each one of us can strengthen our resilience muscles, which increase our ability to engage with life and not lose our spiritual center. Get the book (Rick Hanson’s Resilient), read and consider the ideas, join the exploration on Sundays, and/or Tuesdays 5:30-7:30pm, and practice being more of that divine being that I know you already are.

–Rev Janis

Welcoming The Divine Feminine

Leave a comment

The Valley Spirit never dies.
It is the woman, primal Mother,
Her gateway is the root of Heaven and Earth.
It is like a veil, barely seen,
Use it, it will never fail.
— Lao Tzu

I have been participating in a 21-day Meditation practice with Alicia Keys & Deepak Chopra that has made me aware of the Divine Feminine, which is a part of every being, and has often been pushed aside by a more Patriarchal view of many religions.

The Divine Feminine is grounded in spirituality and represents the connection to that part of our consciousness that is responsible for nurturing, intuition and empathy, regardless of our gender.

It is the aspect of ourselves that is associated with creation, community, and sensuality (in a experiential or felt sense rather than in a thinking sense) and collaboration.

The Sacred Feminine is the aspect of the Divine that brings the spark into being through the currents of love that reveal an ocean of Oneness into the multiplicity of all creation.

Through honoring the Sacred Feminine we can find a natural access to spiritual qualities like receptivity, patience, the ability to enter and to care for all of life.

I need to tap into this Divine aspect of my own being and am studying how to do it.

Isn’t it something that we all need to tap into in order to become more balanced and centered in this ongoing Pandemic?

I don’t know about you, but I need all of the above.

–Namaste, Janie

 

A Real Need

Leave a comment

Hexagram 49

In the ancient Chinese text, The I-Ching, hexagram 49 is about transformation, metamorphosis, or intentional change. According to this hexagram, there are five considerations for effective change: “A Real Need, Right Timing, The Necessary Support, Unselfish Motives, Avoiding Excesses.” We’ve lived in a period of great change for the past 15+ months. I would be mistaken, and naive, to claim that these were intentional changes for most of us. I would also be naive to assume that most people are consciously choosing to see, or use, these changes as transformational, or an opportunity for personal metamorphosis.

Watching what is going on in our physical experiences, and processing it through the lens of our philosophy, I continue to be reminded that capital-R Reality is not contingent on what is happening in the world ‘in front of my eyes’, but is entirely dependent on my interior awareness. This is not the thinking held by most individuals. It remains a core principle in the teachings of the Science of Mind. It is also not unique to us. Most New Thought teachings look a lot like ours in this way, and mystics of many faiths (Christian, Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu) also recognize that what’s on the inside of each one of us determines how we each experience what’s on the outside of us, in our 3-dimensional world.

In last Friday’s daily reading from 365 Science of Mind, Ernest Holmes wrote, I now withdraw my thoughts from the world of confusion and realize that in the One Universal Mind, which is the Mind of God, there is quietude, peace & order. This is Reality…

I come to this great Fountain of Supply at the very center of my being, to absorb that for which I have need, mentally and physically, and I am filled with a joyous sense of the Reality of that which I desire. As I am filled with Reality, I permit It to flow into my world of thought and action, knowing that It brings peace, harmony and order all around me. It flows out into the lives I touch. Where I am, there is peace, order, joy, & harmony for I am One with Reality.

Christian (Jesuit) mystic Pierre Teilhard de Chardin wrote, Joy is the most infallible sign of the Presence of God.

As we move into this next stage of our collective physical existence, we get to contemplate what it means to each of us to re-gather in person, and what it means for/to us to begin to re-engage in an in-person social life in our world. We get to remember where our Reality lies, attend to our own sense of what is ‘right and true’ for us, as well as notice, and manage, our own judgments about others who may feel differently than we do, whether we understand, or agree with, their reasoning, or not.

As more in-person opportunities arise for our congregants and their friends, we’ve seen an unsurprising dip in participation in many of our online activities. We continue talking with our point-of-contact at the school about when they will again allow renters, like us, to use their facilities. Their current tentative open date (always) subject to change, is an in-person return in early September.

The online pop-up book study on Troward’s Dore Lectures has been well attended, with good engagement. Participation in the daily morning practice, which has been *live* for over 400 days straight, continues to drop off. We’re considering reducing the number of days/week the daily practice room is open.

We also progress with acquiring technology (cameras, etc) and the ability to live-stream and broadcast from the auditorium, so that our out-of-town participants, and those who prefer to participate from home, can continue to engage with us.

We get to practice being alive, awake and aware, and conscious of our real needs, our right timing, what necessary support looks like, why we choose to engage as we do and what it means to avoid excesses.

What a joyful opportunity we have to practice and live as our enlightened, enlivened selves!

–Rev Janis

Gardening with Ernest

Leave a comment

Guard well this garden of your mind. It is God’s garden of your soul. It is your Garden of Eden wherein may grow your fondest desires and hopes, blossoming into fulfillment.
— Ernest Holmes, This Thing Called You Chapter V

When I go out into the yard to plant flowers or pull weeds Ernest Holmes is with me. I think of his using the metaphor of planting ideas like seeds into the fertile soil of the Creative Medium. Seeds are put into the ground, the claim is made, and things grow in “thy time not my time” as Elizabeth Kubler-Ross used to say. Each type of seed has their own germination time. Sunflowers germinate in a week or so, and other plants may take many weeks to germinate.

Sometimes I buy plants from the nursery and when I remove them from the container, and they are root bound. This causes the plant to have stunted growth and it is time to put them in a larger container or in the ground. This is true with human life as well, roots need to spread to become stronger and healthier.

It may be necessary to cultivate your garden, to uproot the weeds and straighten out the rows, planting new seeds – new ideas, broader visions and deeper realizations of life. New aspirations must be bedded here, fertilized with the fervor hope, the conviction of faith, the beauty of wholeness and quietness of peace. Watch your garden carefully, guarded patiently, waiting for a new harvest –
for you shall reap what you have sown.
— Ernest Holmes, This Thing Called You Chapter V

When I pull weeds, my mother joins Ernest and me. She would say, “You have to pull out all the quackies,” which meant all of the roots needed to be pulled out. I get my weed digger and loosen the soil around the roots and gently pull. Most roots are surprising long. It makes me think of my doubts and fears, how they seem to resurface even though I thought I had dealt with them. By nurturing my connection with God, and tending to my thoughts, the doubts and fears seem to pop up less and less.

Go often, into your garden. Sitting under the tree of life in cool, quiet communion, you will find fresh inspiration. God will go forth anew too into creation through you.
— Ernest Holmes, This Thing Called You Chapter V

I have planted the front yard with sunflowers, hollyhocks and snapdragons. They bring me much joy. And I see my neighbors stop and look at the flowers, which also brings me great joy.

Watch carefully, then, this garden of your soul. Plant there only seeds of happiness, of joy, of peace and of — Ernest Holmes, This Thing Called You Chapter V

–Maria

1 … 14 15 16 17 18 … 36