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This
I repeat every new year: "One
of the great difficulties in the new order of thought is that we are
likely to indulge in too much theory and too little practice. As a
matter of fact, we only know as much as we can prove by actual
demonstration. That which we cannot prove may, or may not, be true
but that which we can prove certainly must be, and is, the truth."
"The practice of the Science of Mind calls for a positive
understanding of the Spirit of Truth; a willingness to let this inner
Spirit guide us, with the conscious knowledge that "The Law of the
Lord is perfect." (Psalms 19:7) And we must believe this to
be a fact. In so far as our thought is in accord with this perfect
Law, it will accomplish and nothing can hinder it. "Heaven
and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away."
(Matthew 24:35) said the beautiful Jesus, as he strove to teach his
disciples the immutability of the Law of Righteousness
(right-thinking)." –
Dr. Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind, Introductory Chapter 4
When we use our thoughts to think towards something definitely
and for specific purposes, we align our mind with the Law of
Intelligence that rules the Universe, and It responds accordingly.
But, it is up to us to direct our thoughts and develop our consciousness
to the level of awareness that takes us from wishful thinking to
self-mastery of our thoughts and the ideas that they reflect. It
is always best to use our faith in the most simple and direct way
possible for us. Simply said, we should ask ourselves "what
do I want?" and "do I believe I can have it?" ... and we
must be willing to direct or convince our mind through a positive faith,
that we can through this use of the Law of Mind.
"When that which is
perfect comes, that which is imperfect comes to an end" ...
we can read in the ancient scripture, and so we must not let the
"process" discourage us or distract us from what we know is
the truth unfolding into our experience. We must take the time
daily to meditate, sit in the silence of our mind, and also to pray
affirmatively and with gratitude, that the Law is unfolding that which
is perfect and keep our mind from dwelling on the imperfect which may be
presenting itself.
"Learning to trust will make us
happy," we can read in the science of mind. We must
trust in the process and maintain confidence in knowing that we each
receive what we can accept for ourselves at any given time ... but, we
are ever-expanding our level of acceptance as we continue to use our
spiritual practices to open our mind to a greater level of awareness and
achievement. We develop our consciousness of acceptance by
consciously convincing ourselves that we "do have" the thing
desired, and when the subjective or subconscious is in agreement with
the conscious mind, we make the demonstration. Now, Dr. Holmes
revealed the practice of spiritual mind treatment in an era before cable
television and the Internet. We now have so much information
coming to us each day that contradicts the Power within us, that we must
shut some of it out in order to reach the point of conviction in our
mind. This is what the Master Mind Jesus was referring to when he
stated; "be in the world, but not of the
world." If we allow our minds to be filled with
thoughts and ideas of disease, wars, acrimony, divisiveness,
competition, blame and shame ... our mind cannot be clearly directed to
the good that we seek to experience. The more "not
of this world" that we can effect in our
consciousness, the more dynamic and powerful will be our spiritual
treatments. Keep in mind, that worry and doubt in the subjective
mind can distract us from powerful thinking. We can clear our
subjective mind of worry and doubt by daily sitting in the silence of
our mind being receptive to the Divine influx of harmony, peace and joy.
When we think we know it, oftentimes we blow
it, because we have not taken into consideration that our prayers and
spiritual treatments cannot be mechanical ... they must be filled with
feeling; expectation, hope, conviction ... in order to do their perfect
work. As the Master Mind Jesus discovered: "Truly,
I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never
enter the kingdom of heaven." ... in other words, we
must re-discover our "child-like faith." I believe this
is why Jesus called G-d, "Father" ... not because he believed
in the "Big-Guy-In-The-Sky-God" ... but, it was a way of
positing his mind into a "child-like faith." In our
prayers, we must be expectant and positively affirm our good, just as a
child would expect its father to give it the good that he/she needs or
desires. This is the simplicity of spiritual affirmative prayer.
From the Gospel of Luke, "...
and to whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required."
Dr. Holmes writes in the science of mind that we should be receptive to
the will of the universe and expect results and should be willing to
give up anything and everything that would hinder the demonstration of
the good that we seek. As Dr. Holmes states so clearly,
"perfect belief is the beginning and the end of all good mental
work." As a practical example, if we want to be rich, we must
stop seeing "other people" as rich and begin to get an image
and a feeling of being rich. We must give up our small-ness, for
the greater.
And some final words from Dr. Holmes: "True
thought deals directly with First Cause; and this Science is the study
of First Cause, Spirit, or the Truth, that Invisible Essence, that
Ultimate Stuff and Intelligence from which everything comes - the Power
back of creation - The Thing Itself."
AND
SO IT IS!
Keep
the faith!
Rev.
Dr. Henry Lee Bates
Visit Rev. Bates BLOG: Living
the Science of Mind
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