A Thank You for Teachers and What They Taught!

Thank you, Reverend Janis!

We should never be afraid of change, never fearful of what will come. Instead, we should bring to bear on each new event the influence of the crea:ve nature of our thought—an influence that is founded on an inward calm, a sense of certainty and peace, which will reflect itself in the changing scene of our everyday lives. Ernest Holmes, A New Design for Living, page 55.

When I first walked up to CSL Tucson at the Gregory School, I was early and looking for the meditation gathering. Reverend Janis (then a practitioner) was speaking with Keith Gorley. I interrupted them and Reverend Janis pointed me towards the entrance to backstage, where it was being held that day. After my first exposure to CSLT I felt that I had found my community.

At the time I was blessed to have a place to stay overnight in Tucson and could easily attend evening classes. A friend had moved to Hawaii and let me use his apartment on occasion while he was gone.

I attended all four of the Basics talks given by Reverend Donald Graves on Monday nights at the office. I showed up for Sunday services and took the next offered Foundations class. That was an awesome class of about 14 to 15 individuals, and I experienced a sweet closeness and camaraderie with several of them. Today at CSLT only Pat Masters and I remain as regular attendees.

I appreciated Reverend Donald’s manner of teaching Foundations. I enjoyed his Sunday talks, even some of the jokes. His energy and presentation of practical applications of Science of Mind principles helped this newcomer greatly. For a couple of years Reverend Donald was the face of Science of Mind teachings for me. I was living across the state when Reverend Donald retired.

Last year Keith Gorley made his transition. I participated in several book studies that Keith facilitated. I found him to be a dynamic model of wisdom and honesty and a genius at holding a safe space for participants’ vulnerability. Keith was special.

I have taken Foundations twice yet never got the degree of clarity I now have until being a student of Reverend Janis. Her instructions and practical exercises for Affirmations and Spiritual Mind Treatments have greatly benefited participants in her classes and workshops. She is a skilled teacher and mentor.

I was living part-time across the state for 5 years because in 2014 I became a grandmother. CSL in Lake Havasu City, AZ relied mainly on visiting ministers at the time. One Sunday the visiting minister was Janis Farmer!! I was so happy to see her that I shed tears of joy and took her to lunch where she filled me in on the changes and goings on at CSL Tucson. And now our beloved Reverend Janis is retiring. Personally, I will miss her.

Change sometimes brings sadness. Yet I must ask myself, how can my dominant feeling for these teachers be anything but Gratitude? They introduced me to Ernest Holmes, Science of Mind, and a new design for living. So, I remain open and optimistic about our future at Center for Spiritual Living Tucson. I am trusting the process. Especially I want to be ‘be here now’ and enjoy the journey.

To Reverend Janis I say, Thank you; I wish you peace and many blessings in your upcoming adventures.

 

–Linda Bullock

Thoughts about Being Present in the Practice

I’ve been working with BrainHQ for over 250 days. I haven’t actually worked with it every single day, but I have spent at least 5 minutes playing the ‘brain games’ most days. An interesting thing that I’ve noticed is that I’ve gotten better at some of the games that I was particularly pitifully unskilled at in the early days of playing. I’ve also noticed a couple more things about myself that are more broadly applicable.

Brain HQ is a fairly fast paced game that’s mostly about attention and focus. Every time I let my mind wander, I miss the next puzzle. If I berate myself for missing that puzzle, then I fail at the next several puzzles too, because I’m more focused on being irritated with myself, than I am on staying engaged with the game. This is great feedback, because it tells me that I’ve shifted my focus from something that has potential benefit, to something that doesn’t.

When I was much younger, I remember experiencing this same feeling. When my piano teacher wanted me to perform in public, I was so tense about performing that if/when I made an error (when I would lose my place, or fumble some notes), I would get so flustered, it was all over. My ability to continue was trashed. I didn’t have the external support to help me work my way through my lack of belief in myself as a musician, and I didn’t have the internal support that would allow me to see a way through. I’ve always appreciated musicians and actors who could flub a line and recover. I now have words to describe what they do – they redirect their focus from what went sideways (aka ‘wrong’) to what they wanted to have happen.

This is a basic teaching or practice in what we do, or what anybody wants to do, when they are moving in the direction of our dreams. When we screw up, or lose focus, we pick ourselves up, and begin again. We do this as many times as it takes. Most of us would prefer to reach a state of advancement that we no longer stumble and fall, but I’m not sure how realistic that is. It may be that we reach a state where we simply recover faster, wasting less time on self-irritation.

In sailing: If you are sailing towards a particular place, whether it is a tropical island, or the buoy that marks the turning-around-point of a sailboat race, you are almost never 100% on course. Instead, you are tacking back and forth, working toward that goal. I think the same thing is true in life.

I was reading Robert Greene’s The Daily Laws the other night. (If you have this book, it was the reading for February 11th.) He started by quoting Emerson, “That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do, not that the nature of the thing has changed, but our power to do has increased.” The daily reading was about how we get to an advanced state of practice wherein it is easier to stay focused on our intended target.

He wrote, “… The more we do it (the thing we want to learn), the easier it becomes. Even with skills that are primarily mental, such as computer programming or speaking a foreign language, it remains the case that we learn best through practice and repetition – the natural learning process. We learn a foreign language by actually speaking it as much as possible, not by reading books and absorbing theories. The more we speak and practice, the more fluent we become. [This next section is the key to the puzzle that Greene unlocks.] Once you take this far enough, you enter a cycle of accelerated returns in which the practice becomes easier and more interesting, leading to the ability to practice for longer hours, which increases your skill level, which in turn makes the practice even more interesting. Reaching this cycle is the goal you must set for yourself.”

This is equally true for spiritual practice. We don’t ever reach a level where we can stop practicing. We can reach a level where the practice becomes attractive and enjoyable in its own right. Happy practicing!

A reminder that supports this idea from Ben Hardy

–Rev Janis

A Love Story

Valentine’s Day was yesterday, a holiday celebrating love. I want to relate to you a Love story that is still unfolding even though my friend Bob’s wife Sue made her transition last month.

Bob called me about a month ago to say, “I lost Sue.” He told me that for the past several months she had been suffering more physically and emotionally. Her pain was increasing and her breathing capacity was decreasing. She told John she didn’t like being a burden to him. He replied, “A burden is a weight someone puts on you, a load is something a person picks up himself. You are not a burden, you are “my” load.” Never complaining about the slack he picked up for her, he was always looking for ways to express his love for her and brighten her day.

Having witnessed her mother spend her final days in a hospital, Sue swore she would not endure that herself. They had discussed getting medical support, but Sue refused. She always did have a strong connection to the Divine. Maybe she knew her physical presence on earth was coming to an end. She told Bob she was going to live her life as she was guided and if that meant it would be a shorter life, she was at peace with that. Out of his love for her, John reluctantly said he could live with that. A few days later Bob found Sue’s unconscious body on the floor of their home. He had given her permission to go on her terms and she did.

A few days after that initial phone call, Bob contacted me again. “Remember when I said to you that I had ‘lost’ Sue? I haven’t! She’s not physically beside me, but her Love and Spirit are. As I was sitting in our home, I heard Sue’s voice say ‘I’m not gone. I’ll always be with you.’ I looked around our home and saw her everywhere – in the books she loved, the treasures she brought home from travels, in the wonderful memories we made, in my heart. A sense of peace came over me.”

After that conversation, I found this and passed it on to Bob. “We may reach…inner calm when we become totally in tune with the Infinite, when we come to a place within of knowing that we are at all times at one with the Infinite expression of Love. No matter what we experience at any given moment, we have the freedom of choice to be at peace, serene, calm in Love.” Rev. Dr. Marilyn Louise Leo (Jan 2023 SOM Magazine p.50) This is exactly how I witness Bob carrying on.

As Bob is going through his days now, he continues to talk to and ask for advice from Sue. Now, without her physical limitations, she can accompany him on walks through the desert and other adventures, experiencing through his eyes. When he needs direction, he puts the question out there and remains open. The answer always comes, and he knows it is inspired by Sue, by Love, as she is one with Spirit. He doesn’t know what direction his life is going to take, but he is living it from Inspiration, from his connection to the Infinite expression of eternal Love.

That I call a true, everlasting Love story.

–Janet Salese

GOT LOVE

Since February 14 is Valentine’s Day, my thoughts bring me to want to write about Love.

Wait! Did I just say that? Want to write? Yes, I do want to write. ‘Change my thinking, change my life’ is definitely becoming apparent. But what’s love got to do with it?

Everything!

Love is one of the greatest feelings I receive every moment of my life. My mind and heart overflow with love. Love is everywhere and in everything.

“As for love, when our minds are filled with thoughts of love for others it seems that we are surrounded by people and situations of a loving nature.”
“Today I bestow the essence of love upon everything. Everyone I meet shall be lovely to me. My soul meets the soul of the Universe in everyone. This love is a healing power touching everything into wholeness.”

Ernest Holmes-A New Design for Living pages 80 and 238 (And a whole chapter on Love can be read in this book.)

For me, feeling and being a part of the love is very easy and comes quite naturally when life is going along as I desire. But (there’s always a but) being in the state of love can be quite challenging when life can change in an instant. That instant is usually something someone said or did to me. I know I am overly sensitive (I’ve been told) and my feelings easily get hurt (and that really matters to no one). Knowing this doesn’t ease the pain or change the way I feel in the moment. When that moment hits, I quickly shut down as the lump in my throat starts to grow. (That’s the mind/body connection which I’ll save for another article.) The only way I know to immediately try and ease the pain of the moment is to quietly cry to my self. The tears help to wash the hurt away. With time, everything heals although the experience often isn’t forgotten.

Then I return to love. I always come back to the love.

Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking.
It is not easily angered.
It keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.                                    Love never fails.
-1 Corinthians 13:4

–Madeline Pallanes

A New Design In Living

Starting on Tuesday, February 7 Mariann and I will be co-facilitating a book discussion group on A New Design in Livingby Ernest Holmes. By being a facilitator, instead of one signing up for the class, it shifts my perception of myself, and is starting a new design for my life.

Many people follow their passion. I have been one to follow the voice, wondering “what are you thinking?” and find the passion later. Sometimes, many times, there is resistance on
my part. This time I told Spirit, I want to move forward with strength, power… with love. I am grateful of the reminder of that I can choose Love (curiosity and wonder…)

Love dissolves all fear, casts out all doubt and sets the captive free.
Love, Like the River of Life, flows through me and refreshes me with its eternal blessings. Love cannot be afraid; it is fearless and strong and is mighty in its works.
It can accomplish all things through the Inner Light of that faith in the All Good,
Which fills my very Being with a Powerful Presence.

Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind 522.3

It is interesting, meaning I sense Divine Timing, that CSLT is going through “a new design in living,” when this book discussion group will be happening. With Rev Janis moving on to other adventures, we get to decide how our center will move forward. There will be ways for you to participate in shaping our future.

Join us on Tuesday evenings if you would like to share, play, grow in your life. We intend on sharing the readings and applying what we learned to our life, indeed, A New Design for Living.

–Maria

CHANGE

Change like Time continues because it must. The Multiverse exists because, among other things, Energy is inherently not static.

My belief, since we are conscious manifestations of this Energy sometimes called God, is that we are always at choice:

We can be carried along and mindlessly accept the consequences of the operations of the universe.

We can follow the various states of emotion that have been pre-programmed into our subconscious and act or react from a place of an old story that has made its way into our current state of consciousness.

OR we can use our innate abilities of choice to influence our experience.

Change however it initially presents itself is inherently open for interpretation.

Whenever possible I try to move into the vantage point of excitement and opportunity. My desire to experience the universe with Positivity and Joy appeals to me and is conducive to the life experience I am wanting to have. Sometimes when a situation is presenting in a particularly troubling way, making a statement to myself such as “It is all for my good” or going directly to “Thank you” avoids the possibility of a period of unhappiness.

Sometimes my first reaction to a situation is one of emotion. Not always a good emotion, and I can experience pain around events. I find that identifying what I am feeling helps to process the feeling. If it is a feeling that causes discomfort, recognition is the first step to processing the feeling and changing the interpretation of the event.

A phrase that I identify with is “I am doing better than I am feeling”.

Gratitude even for things that do not fit our dominant view of reality can free our receptivity to re-interpret any event and open us to the next changed state of mind.

Rev Janis leaving CSLT is part of the flow of events. Having her as minister has been a wonderful experience for me. For which I am most grateful, and it also brings to mind these words from Dr. Holmes:

“The Thing simmers Itself down to this. Can we in the midst of negative conditions, accept a greater good”. If we can we shall be complying with the law of Life. We shall be giving Life a chance to work for us.

And so It is.

–Chris Wheeler

What Happens Now?

If you didn’t see my retirement announcement on Sunday, or watch it earlier this week, you can watch it here.




“What happens now?” Centers for Spiritual Living (CSL) has a process in place to follow when a minister leaves. We’ve activated that process. Because we have a healthy, functional center, and the luxury of a local structure that operates in an orderly fashion, we are working through our transition plans. This means I’m handing off the tasks that I have been doing and the relationships that I’ve held, and we’re making sure there are good records and instructions for everything anybody can think of. We’ve worked on them intentionally for 2-3 weeks already, and have 6 weeks to complete them. My last Sunday will be February 26th, and I will turn in my keys shortly after that.

Actually, we’ve been working on a chunk of our procedures and processes for much longer than that. When I took the month of May off in 2022, the Board and some of the extended leaders took over many of my regular responsibilities. Some responsibilities stayed with the leadership then, and will continue as is, for a while yet.

“And Then?” The Board of Trustees will assume the running of the business of the Center entirely. Sharon has accepted the task of scheduling Sunday speakers, and making sure that everyone has the content, and context, they need for Sunday services to be educational and inspirational. She will also, with the Board, be the point of contact for any new classes that want to be scheduled. Mariann will continue to coordinate the weekly newsletter, and has taken over the posting of our monthly activities in Natural Awakenings magazine. She’ll also continue to work with our webmaster to keep the website current, and accurate.

There are a lot of moving parts, many of which I have handled for more than a decade, and so there will be some balls that get dropped. Do your best to be kind, helpful, involved, engaged and supportive.

In the (slightly) longer term, you all will be asked to participate in a ‘Co-Creation Process’ to figure out what the community’s vision for CSL Tucson actually is. Then, and maybe concurrently, a ‘Selection Committee’ will be formed of community leaders, practitioners and members. This group, with help, will create a video or powerpoint presentation that describes what CSLT desires from their next minister, and what CSLT, and the enchanting environment of Tucson, offers to their next minister. The presentation will go to the designated person at Home Office who will share it with ministers who have an interest in becoming pulpit ministers, or moving to a new pulpit. After a period of time, that point of contact will send resumes of ministers who are interested and qualified back to the ‘Selection Committee’. They will recommend to the Board which candidating ministers should be invited to Tucson to speak and give a workshop. You will have the opportunity to hear what they have to say, engage with them, and express your perceptions and observations.

Since we know everything happens in Mind before it happens in the world of form, a group of individuals have already started doing Spiritual Mind Treatments knowing the ‘right and perfect spiritual leader for CSLT’ already exists, and is open and able to join the community here. Since many of you also know how to do this, you are welcome to join them. If your strength is visualization, you can use that technique as well.

“Why?” Why am I leaving? Because it’s time for me to retire from CSLT and do something different. 13+ years is the longest I have ever stayed in any one place. I’m complete here. In the last year (or so), I have not felt that I was effectively inspiring, supporting or encouraging you all to engage with your own spiritual growth opportunities, and to support connection and the experience of belonging in your spiritual community.

Since that was my ‘why’ for being your spiritual leader, it’s time for me to move on to my next adventure.

That’s the bigger ‘why’. Because it is time for this beloved community to become the shining beacon that it is capable of becoming — to grow, and flourish and to empower yourselves and others to live expansive, joyful lives, in community, that you are all worthy of.

–Rev Janis Farmer

SPIRITUAL GROWTH IN THE NEW YEAR

“I used to start diets, too. I hated to mention this to my then therapist. She would say cheerfully, ‘Oh, that’s great, honey. How much weight are you hoping to gain?’ I got rid of her. No one talks to me that way.” Anne Lamott

I’ve never appreciated the practice of New Year’s resolutions. Change involves action. The Twelve Step program has taught me that if you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting. I’ve been chubby at best all my life and have the baby pictures to prove it. Every year in adulthood I have known that I should lose weight but wouldn’t declare weight loss as a goal. I knew I didn’t have the willpower to make the changes that would result in my dropping pounds. Before CSL I knew something of Cause and Effect. I also came to understand that I didn’t love myself enough to develop healthy eating practices. The idea of healthy change is appealing, but the follow-through is often non-existent or short-lived.

I’ve learned that part of the problem is that the word “lose” connotes deprivation and lack. (Woe is me; I’ll never get to have ice cream ever again.) Like so many of the issues of our human incarnation, the solution is a spiritual one, often involving inner, emotional work. In the above quote, Anne Lamott is joking about firing her therapist and goes on to state that over time this therapist “helped lead me back home to myself, to radical self-care, to friendship with my own heart and body…. I hate to say it, but only profound self-love will work…only kindness and grace.”

Kristen Neff, in Fierce Self-Compassion, encourages women to practice self-compassion, to be kind to ourselves, care for and support ourselves even if we fail. She cites Carl Rogers, “The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.”

In The Science of Mind, Ernest Holmes affirms, “I am determined to use my mind consciously and constructively to improve my health and my conditions… I shall dwell only on “what is true, what is worthy, what is right, what is pure, what is amiable, what is kindly, on everything that is excellent or praiseworthy. I believe these attitudes of mind, when persisted in, will bring to me greater peace, happiness and health…”

For me spiritual growth has involved confronting Truth and identifying my doubt and lack of faith. For example, do I really believe it is done unto me as I believe? I know faith can be increased. How do I ‘use my mind consciously and constructively to improve my health and my conditions’? Having daily practices are beneficial to my having and maintaining a positive attitude. These are some resources I can access on a regular basis:

  •  Daily morning practice at 8:30 am, accessed by our second Zoom link in the newsletter.
  • Meditation and Affirmative prayer
  • Reading the Daily Guides in the Science of Mind magazine, Guide for Spiritual Living.
  • CSL Daily Affirmation Mobile App. This is a new daily affirmation app for IOS and Android, available through the Apple store and Google Play store. It is a replacement for Facebook daily affirmations.
  • Attending CSLT services
  • Taking classes and book studies offered through CSLT.

I seek to experience that profound self-love that enhances my spiritual growth.

–Linda Bullock

Gifts

A few years ago, my sister started including books from Dynamic Catholic with my Christmas goodies. (I haven’t asked, but I imagine she gets them from her deacon husband.) The first time I got one I hadn’t looked in the bag until I got home. When I found the book, I rolled my eyes and tossed it aside. I had no interest in Do Something For God, Essential Teachings of Mother Teresa: 365 Daily Reflections. I thought it would be a good regifting for one of my Catholic friends in Florida who I still needed a Christmas gift for. But as I was packaging it to mail off, an idea hit me. If I got another copy for myself, my friend and I could go through the book together and share our thoughts on the readings with each other. So, I did and we did. We communicated more that year than we had in a long time. It turned out to be a great gift after all! The gift was not the book, but the deepening of a friendship.

Last year I got I Heard God Laugh. I loved the title, but it was another Dynamic Catholic book. I tossed it aside once more as I had other spiritual books I was more interested in reading. Recently I ran across the book again, so began to peruse it. I don’t agree with all of it, but the book does have some really good passages and concepts not dissimilar from our teachings: Embrace your best, truest, highest self; Make prayer a daily practice; Find a joy independent of external realities; etc. I went through the book highlighting passages that resonated with me. I intend to bring it with me next time we have lunch and share it with my sister. Again, the gift was not the book, but the conversation it will bring about.

I used to criticize my mother who would find fault with my presents to her before thanking me for them. I realized I was doing the same with these books from my sister. I did not verbalize my dissatisfaction as my mother had, but it was there. But now reflecting upon the real gifts these books have given me, I graciously accept this year’s edition. It will be interesting to discover the true gift Mother Teresa; In My Own Words has in store for me.

Did you receive a present this holiday season you’re not thrilled with? My stepmother taught me that once a gift is given it is yours to do with as you please. You have no obligation to the presenter to keep it if you don’t like it. You could regift, donate or toss it out. Just don’t do so angrily or with dissatisfaction, but with appreciation for the person who thought enough of you to give you a present. And, before disposing of it, see if you can find the real value in it first.

–Janet Salese

Lost in Translation

When I was in New Orleans earlier this month with an old friend from high school, she talked about how much her little town, which used to be a sleepy backwater sort of place, has grown in the last 20+ years. When she and her husband bought their place, it was out in the country. You had to drive for miles and miles to get to any sort of services – even grocery stores or gas stations. Now their little subdivision is surrounded by oodles of other subdivisions, all sorts of commercial buildings and retail areas, and traffic on the two-lane road is horrible. Her husband is a curmudgeonly, often sarcastic, homebody who really, truly hates change of any sort.

One day when he was grumbling about the traffic, the noise, or the increased number of people, she asked whether he wanted to move further out of town. He said, “No, I just want all those people to go away.” And she said, “That’s not going to happen. What do you want to do?” His totally irrational reply, “Nothing. They just need to go away.” Obviously, that conversation had nowhere (useful) to go. She just dropped it.

The Buddha is quoted as saying, “Life is suffering.” I don’t think that’s a good translation of what he actually said. I have a sneaky suspicion what he actually said was something more like, “Life happens. When we want it to be different than it is, that’s when we suffer. It’s our attachment to our expectations that leave us feeling the most dissatisfied, and disappointed, in our lives.”

Somewhere on my trip back from New Orleans, I lost my keyring with all my house, car, mailbox and office keys on it. (I’ve never done that before.) I discovered this when I was waiting for the off-site parking shuttle to take me to my car. I felt a moment of true panic. I’d hoped I’d left it on the dresser in the hotel. Apparently not. I could have thrown myself a pity-party and suffered because I lost my keys somewhere, but then Reason took over and I worked my way through what I needed first. And then next, and next, and next, and next.

When I asked myself where I wanted to grab supper, I got an answer that delighted me. I hadn’t enjoyed a meal at Zinburger since before the pandemic. When I arrived, I told the young man who was seating people about my dilemma, and he asked me if I’d used the ‘Hotel Tonight app’ to find a hotel. When I looked puzzled, he explained that when he used to travel for work, and got delayed overnight at airports around the country, he’d looked up local hotels on this application. He’d always had a good experience, and recommend I look them up. After I placed my dinner order, I pulled up the app for Tucson, and the first hotel that popped up was one pretty close to my house that I’d been curious about, and the available rate was less than the published rate. I also realized, after I had parked myself in that newly-remodeled, and quite comfortable, hotel, that I had been wanting to re-key my house, but had never gotten around to it. When I met the locksmith the next morning, he was an amazing human being. All in all, losing my keys was an okay experience.

From Ernest Holmes, The Art of Life 6.1, “God is life; not some life but all Life. God is Action; not some action, but all Action. God is Power; not some power, but all Power. God is Presence; not some presence but all Presence. God is pure Spirit, filling all space. This pure spirit animates your every act. There is a real you which lives in a real God, and the two are one. To know this is to understand the secret of life. To realize this is to understand your relationship with the Divine Presence. To realize the Law of Good is written in your own mind is to make available to you a power which can meet your every need.”

And from Rev Karin Wilson, author of the daily readings in the Science of Mind magazine for December 2022 (December 24), “Today I give myself kindness, knowing the Universe supports me, even when the sands of time feel rough beneath my feet.”

When we work with the river of life, rather than fight against it, or wish it to be other than it is, we can enjoy the ride. And what an amazing ride it is!

–Rev Janis Farmer

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