Transformation and Evolution

Bhaksar & Sudha: Oneness Blessing Trainers 

Our theme for the month of April is "Spiritual Living Through Evolution and Transformation."
"We do deep inner personal work of self-discovery and healing to reveal the greater truth of our divinity, wholeness and freedom."

Coincidentally, I was approached by a woman last week to see if we would be interested in hosting a Oneness Blessing. Since I was introduced to the Oneness Blessing years ago, I was happy to give up my normal Sunday morning 20 minutes meditation time for them.

The Oneness Meditation is designed to give participants a deep experience of the Divine. The meditation originated in India but does not belong to any religion, faith or doctrine.

When I Googled Oneness Blessing the first article I acme to was on the website of Deborah Lindeman, a hypnotist from Fort Collins, Colorado.

"The Oneness Blessing is a process by which we are re-connected with this quiet, intelligent center of ourselves."

That sounded great to me and exactly the theme of our focus for the month of April.

Later in my research, I found some very negative articles about the founders and their character and motives. However, when you Google "Centers for Spiritual Living" the second item that comes up is "Centers for Spiritual Living Cult."

From my experience we are less like a cult than anything. We help people understand how their thinking has a direct influence on their lives. I leave it to the individual what it is they want to think.

If you intend to come to receive the Oneness Blessing on April 9th at 10 AM, please come a little early so you can be seated by 10 AM.

Here is another coincidence. This week in our history of the Science of Mind class, we are studying Ernest Holmes' book The Holmes Papers: The Philosophy of Ernest Holmes. 
On page 4, Dr. Holmes writes:

"In looking over these generations of teachings of India, we find a very great concept of unity of all life.  They believed in one god and only One; they didn't call it God; they called it the Absolute, or Brahma, but it doesn't matter what you call it. They believed in one Presence and one Power, and only One in the Universe. They believed (which later came out as a theosophical teaching) in the mind that sleeps in the mineral, waves in the grass, wakes to simple consciousness in the animal, to self-consciousness in the human and to cosmic consciousness in what they call the upper hierarchies, or ascending scale of evolution, ad infinitum."

I am very curious if my own experience will be different than it was the first one. Since I know that one cannot step in the same river twice I know it will be different, I am curious about how it will be.

By the way, I do not believe in coincidences! Everything is always perfectly unfolding as it should.

Prayer for My Country by Ernest Holmes

MY PRAYER FOR MY COUNTRY
by
Dr. Ernest Holmes, 1887 – 1960

Believing in the Divine destiny of the United States of America and in the preservation of liberty, security, and self-expression, I offer this, my prayer for my country:

I know that Divine Intelligence governs the destiny of the United States of America, directing the thought and the activity of all who guide its affairs.

I know that success, prosperity, and happiness are the gifts of freedom, and are the Divine heritage of everyone in this country.

I know that success, prosperity, and happiness are now operating in the affairs of every individual in this country.

I know that Divine guidance enlightens the collective mind of the people of this country, causing it to know that economic security may come to all without the loss of either personal freedom or individual self-expression.

I know that no one can believe or be led to believe that freedom must be surrendered in order to insure economic security for all.

The All-Knowing Mind of God contains the answer to every problem which confronts this country.

I know that every leader in this country is now directed to this All-Knowing Mind and has the knowledge of a complete solution to every problem, and each is compelled to act upon this knowledge to the end that abundance, security, and peace shall come to all.

And I know that this spiritual democracy shall endure, guaranteeing to everyone in this country personal liberty, happiness, and self-expression.

And so it is. Amen.

Connecting With Source

"I Was Told to Live
By some inner mystic Presence,
I was told to live, and to love, to laugh and be glad.
I was told to be still and know of the One Almighty Power, in and through all.
I was told to let that Power work through and for me.
I believed that voice and I received my Good.
I am healed -- The joy of Life"
                                                            The Science of Mind, P. 521

This is one of the beautiful meditations in the back of the textbook. We are encouraged to contemplate its meaning as we sit in stillness. This is not my usual meditation. I usually silently chant a mantra. It is usually very satisfying to me.

With the passing of my mother some of my usual practices didn't work very well. Meditation was one of them. I felt scattered and unfocused. I was sad because when I needed God's support and comfort the most, I felt like I wasn't getting it. Of course, the Divine Presence has never deserted me and I knew that intellectually but I desperately wanted to feel it.

Having a personal relationship with God has always been my strength. It is what pulled me into the Science of Mind, into taking classes and into ministry. So I asked the practitioners to pray for me. I was "hoping" that my next meditation would be satisfying, but they were not.

What did happen as a result of those prayers from our practitioner team was you.
What brings the feeling of connection with God is people. You. Your hugs, notes, texts and cards bring a feeling of deep appreciation and love. Your kindness sends ripples of good out into the Universe. It not only blesses the receiver but also it lifts up the whole community. I am deeply grateful. You are the wind beneath my wings.

Juli Isola Photography

The Law is a Mirror Reflecting your Beliefs

This month we will be using Ernest Holmes book, This Thing Called You, as our inspiration for the messages. Dr. Holmes uses Chapter One to establish the greatness and the infinite possibilities there are in you

 He writes' "You are one with the Creative Genius back of a wide array of ceaseless motion, this original flow of life. You are as much a part of it as the sun, the earth, and the air. There is something in you telling you this -- a like a voice echoing from some mountain top of inward vision,like a light whose origin no man has seen, like an impulse welling up from an invisible source. Your soul belongs to the Universe. Your mind is an outlet through which the Creative Intelligence of the universe seeks fulfillment."
Imagine how blessed human beings are! We sound like super-heroes. Indeed we are!

But then Holmes  begins Chapter 2 with the question, "Why, then, if these things are true, is the world still impoverished, mentally and physically ill, and unable to become unified? "

I am certain that many people have had the same question, or one similar to it. If I am so gifted, talented and connected, why am I not fabulously wealthy, enjoying my life with the  person of my dreams and doing work that is satisfying?

We know the answer, don't we? We know that it is done unto us as we believe. We know that life is created from the inside out; if we want different experiences we will need to embrace a new idea about ourselves and our lives.

I think that we don't really give our new ideas enough time and energy to truly believe them. It is possible that in the busy lives we lead, we don't take enough time to think about what we DO want. Most of us are really good at passionately thinking about what we do not want! 

As many of you know, as part of my daily spiritual practice, I read the current Science of Mind magazine in addition to a 1950's version of it. Robert Bitzer wrote the daily guides for December, 1951.  He gave the readers the tip that they should read the guide, "every hour on the hour" to fully embrace the ideas. Wow! Now that would be planting a new idea with great intention that it become manifest. 

I have also been reading Dr. Joseph Murphy's Power of Your Subconscious Mind, in which he emphasizes that it takes diligent, three-times daily, five full minutes to change your mind and begin to manifest a new idea. 

I have heard people say that they tried Spiritual Mind Treatment once or twice but it doesn't work so they quit. 

Ernest writes: "Jesus summed up the whole proposition when he said, 'It is done unto you as you believe.' In interpreting this saying, however, you must pause after the word as.Think about the meaning and you will discover that he is saying that life not only responds to your belief, it responds after the manner of your believing, as you believe. It is like a mirror  reflecting the image of your belief."

If you do not like what is being reflected, change your mind. 

Know Yourself! (You Are More Than You Think)

We appear to be four-dimensional beings passing through a three-dimensional experience. One metaphysician has said that the fourth dimension is the first — the first being pure Spirit or absolute intelligence, from which the three-dimensional world proceeds. We are cosmic beings temporarily caught, as it were, in a finite net. Undoubtedly we have come up through endless eons of evolution, through the instinctive intelligence of the animal to the self-consciousness of the human, and are apparently ready to take the next step which is a greater consciousness of the cosmos and of our unity with the whole. 

Know Yourself! You Are More Than You Think

Back of our evolution there appears to be a cosmic impulse compelling progress, pushing us forward. There also appear subjective memories, emotions and cravings, and the world of experience, not all of which are altruistic or salutary, but which pull us forward. We are pushed and pulled at the same time, whether it be within or without drawing us onward. This mind is expanding. We continuously slough off the old ideas and take on new and generally better ones. We have come to the point in our evolution where we are asking ourselves: What am I? Where am I going? What it is all about? There seems to be something in us which demands an answer. … As we make a survey of the enlightened thought of the ages, we come to the conclusion that a cosmic necessity is impelling our progress.

From “Know Yourself! You Are More Than You Think”  - Ernest Holmes (1970 , compiled and edited by Willis Kinnear)

The One Creative Intelligence

It’s a Philosophy, a Teaching, and a Science

Many of us have questions about how we can live a full and wonderful life.  One of those ways is to affirm out Truth!   Each week at our Sunday service we repeat:

Declaration of Principles
I believe in God, the one Creative Intelligence operating through the Universe and operating throughout my entire being now and always.  I believe this perfect Creative Intelligence can be used by me and by every other person, to produce health, abundance and love, in mind,  body and total life experience.  I use it now, and I rejoice in it.  And so it is!

This Wednesday at the mid week service we will discuss how to use this ‘creative Intelligence’ in the creative process and how it operates.

The creative process starts with the Ideal, the Divine thought, so to speak.  It moves through us as intuition which becomes our idea.  This idea of something we chose to create, has a journey through imagination, inspiration, action, and creates our experience in the physical world.  After the demonstration of our intention or idea, we travel to reaction, feeling, cognition, knowledge, recognition, and finally WISDOM, which is truly the ultimate goal.

So what exactly is Science of Mind?

It’s a Philosophy, a Teaching, and a Science

• A philosophy, in that it explains the way the universe works and our place in it
• A teaching as it shows us how to regain our personal power
• A science because we are taught how to use the universal principles to demonstrate success in our daily lives.  This is called the creative process!

Science of Mind is based on principles (the creative process) that support our spiritual growth.

“There is a Power for good in the universe, greater than you are – and you can use it!”  
— Ernest Holmes

Everyone has ideas. But what where do they come from? And what ensures they keep coming? How do you sort the genius ideas from the useless ones? Why invest all this hope and energy into making things in the first place?  Creative thinkers across a variety of disciplines find common methods, habits, mindsets and neuroses that help bring breakthrough ideas into being. This is a thoughtful and intimate look at the creative process.

Blessings,
Judee A. Chapman,
Assistant Minister
CSLCV

God please help me, or God and I are One.

The Love of God encompasses all of our life. 

The Centers of Spiritual Living, are based on teachings of Ernest Holmes, following lessons from the Science of Mind text.  One of the most powerful parts of this text is the teachings of the Spiritual Mind treatment, or Affirmative prayer.  This is a prayer with a process.  In a Spiritual Mind treatment, one is to become completely immersed in the Oneness of All Life.  Words and feelings align to transform thought from a place of separate to a union of Thought in the field of the Collective.  In this prayer, the spoken word is used as catalyst of remembrance, that in all life, the speaker of the prayer and God are One.  This is not a place where we beg God to change a situation. This is a place where we become One in God, to know the situation we are treating about is clearly revealed to us as being the Perfect path in our life.  This can be a very difficult concept to grasp.  For trusting that our life is on the most Perfect path, including this or that which looks to be "not good," is a place that can be hard to digest.  Also knowing we create our own reality can be a very difficult pill to swallow.  Because we know that God is Good, we come to the realization that everything is All Good.  It is All Good because It is All God.

I know right here in this moment, in this very breath of life, God Is. I know that God is everywhere Present, no where left out. 

I know that God and I are One. I know that God moves through me, speaks as me, Is my life. 

In this moment of life I know that (insert what treating for) God is right here. I know that whatever it may look like, the Love and Power of the Universe is unfolding in the most Perfect manner. Diving Right Action is taking place. Any feelings of fear, doubt, or worry can fall away and replaced with the Knowingness that this Life reveals Itself in the Goodness of God. 

I am so Grateful for Knowing this Truth. I am so Thankful for my life. I rest in the Gratitude, I bask in the Gratitude, I completly immerse my entire Being in the Gratitude of God. 

I release this Word in the Law of the Universe. I Let Go and I Let God. And So It Is. Amen.

Namaste

Please see Darin McClure's blog post for the breakdown of the 5 step prayer treatment
http://cslcv.blogspot.com/2012/05/prayer-treatment-5-steps.html

Could Ernest, would Ernest dance and sing?

Ernest Holmes reminds us to honor the
Divine spark of creativity that is found within each of us.

I'm in class again. Currently taking "The Essential Ernest" with Pattie Mercado and a group of seriously fantastic individuals. We read, we write, we think and then we get together on Monday nights to discuss it.

I've come to appreciate the teachings of Ernest Holmes on a whole new level. This philosophy he is associated with was not initially intending to be "a religion" but rather to supplement and support the teachings of your chosen faith.

I now view Ernest as a master curator of religious thought, drawing out and articulating the truth and principles of the ages and sages. I like to reflect on the unity found in all religious and the unity and principles I see represented in different faiths astounds me and gives me even more to appreciate in the unity of creative diversity found in this world.

And while we share thoughts and principles of truth with many many paths to God I have started to consider also the songs, the dances, the rituals, the artwork, the symbols and the dreams.

My comfort zone tends to be in the reading, writing, and discussion of ideas. Experiencing spirit from the neck up, it's a very cerebral experience. Looking ahead at our calendar of events I am thrilled to see some fantastic musicians and opportunities to play and dance on our Wednesday Wisdom schedule.

This Wednesday we are going to be very blessed to experience the transformational healing music of Anton Mizerak and Laura Berryhill. Read more about these fantastic musicians who will be sharing their gift of music at the Wednesday Wisdom service from 7-8.

The following Wednesday is our monthly potluck starting at 5:45. Bring a dish to share and enjoy fellowship before our "Community Hootenanny" from 7:00-8:00. This will be a great evening for the whole family. Bring an acoustic instrument or percussion instrument. (Kate, my three year old, will be so excited to share her drumming with you all.)

Life is Like a Box of Crayons

Enter into the joy of creating.

Do you remember the excitement and joy of a brand new box of crayons?

Whether it was the box of 8 or the mongo 64 count with the sharpener in the back of the box, I sure remember the thrill.

The thrill came from the infinite promise, the possibilities, oh the possibilities.

Now sometimes that thrill was dampened by the fear of making a mistake or worry that your perfect box would no longer be perfect after you used them. Maybe you had a hard time deciding what you would create or that your creation would pale in comparison to what the kid next to you was doing.

I actually remember gettting an F on a drawing project because I colored a snowman light blue and pink. And no I am not scarred from that experience as the parental uproar was both swift and furious (thank you Mom and Dad.)

Now I am in that happy place where I just love the act of coloring (or painting or drawing or whatever). It's a treat for me. I find joy in just watching the pigment meet the paper and I know that participating in the act is pleasure enough.

Maybe that's all we need to do in life.

"We must all become artists in living. 

To live by inspiration means to sense the divine touch in everything; 

to enter into the joy of living."

 ~ Ernest Holmes

And don't underestimate the "lowly crayon."

Now check out the work of Don Marco, Master Crayola Crayons Artist. Enjoy

Forgiveness Walking the Walk

Today I forgive everyone and accept forgiveness by everyone. I know the eternal Spirit harbors no malice toward me or anyone else. Forgiving and being forgiven, I have an inward sense of peace and tranquillity. There is no anxiety, no sense of guilt, no fear of judgment. All mistakes of the past are now wiped out in my consciousness and I no longer carry any burden from them. I look forward to the future with joy, in peace and gladness, and live in the present day with an inner assurance of being one with all life. - Ernest Holmes

Put your hand over your heart and repeat after me, I am a modern day mystic, I sense the divine in me, I sense the divine in others. I practice the radical act of forgiveness. It is mystical, it fills me with light. It is good. And So It Is! - Rev. Dr. Heather Clark

The Mystical Ernest Holmes

The Freedom of a Private Thought

The inherent nature of man is ever seeking to express itself in terms of freedom, because freedom is the birthright of every living soul. ~ Ernest Holmes 

A free society should not have private laws. Most of all we need a space to think a private thought, today that space has moved to the internet, with email, texts and blogs like this one. It is only in this space of freedom that we can come to know the Creator in our own private way. Please join me in contacting congress and asking them to support the freedom of thought, and the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Click here for more on todays action plan https://thedaywefightback.org/

https://thedaywefightback.org

Valentines for the Fullerton Police Department?

Can you find the love?

I was all excited for our Living in Love project this month. I chose to create Valentines and to add spiritual messages of truth on them. The kind of things that people need to be reminded of.

I started to really listen and write them down. "This is gonna be great. Spirit is going to guide these messages to just the right people at the right time." Some will go into "blessing bags" to be handed out to the homeless, some I will stick in random books in the library, I'll sneak some into unlikely places so that some anonymous person will find them.

Talking to Kate about my project I even started to get a little choked up myself. "Sometimes people forget who they really are and they need to be reminded." I reflected on all the people out there hurting.

Kelly Thomas, I couldn't stop thinking about Kelly Thomas. His last moments were not filled with love and acceptance. Kelly Thomas was lying on the ground being brutally beaten by a group of Fullerton policemen as he screamed for mercy from those hired and trained to "serve and protect."

And I started to get really mad ... and all those peaceful, loving little messages that we post on Facebook and retweet on Twitter and share ad naesum started to come back to taunt me.

I know they are truth but the enormous chasm to leap to the side of unconditional love seemed so very vast.

Do you want to transform the world? 

Do you believe in the transformative power of unconditional love? 

Can you forgive the small stings as well as the epic violations? 

Sometimes it's the person who gossiped behind your back or criticized you for a very real failing that is the hardest to forgive. Sometimes it's even the one who has been the most generous to you.

Human beings have done some horrible, horrible things thoughout the history of mankind. People have poisoned the earth, beat a homeless man, raped and killed children, committed genocide.

Can our hearts open large enough to truly forgive? To find love where we once wanted to only seek revenge, to demand justice, to make them pay for the damage they have done?

"From selfish reasons alone, if from no loftier reason, we cannot afford to find fault, to hate, or even to hold in mind anything against any living soul! The God of love cannot hear the prayer of the one who fails to love. In our meditation for friendship, let us make our unity with all people with all life"

~Ernest Holmes 

A Christmas Letter from Dr Ernest Holmes

Christmas is for remembrance. The love manifesting through our gifts to each other typifies the offering of Life, the giving-ness of Spirit to its creation. The hands of the Eternal are outstretched through our hands, and the heart of the Infinite beats in the human breast. But the giver must give of himself, for "The gift without the giver is bare".

It is not, then, in lavish gifts that we find true giving but in the sweet simplicity of remembrance, in the kindly thought, the tolerant mind and the gentle act. Love alone can give love, sympathy alone can sympathize and only goodness can really do or be good.

The one who gives for reward does not give at all; he seeks to bargain; to trade for spiritual gifts, hence he senses loss on his own giving and finds no completion through the act. But he who gives half his meat to the hungry, feels justified and is warmed by a real sense of comradeship. He has established an actual unity between himself and other offspring of creation.

Great causes succeed when there is a giving of humanity. With the check must come the one who wrote it, his interest, his enthusiasm, his love. The check must be a symbol of his desire to impart himself ~ then shall it multiply its benefits and do good. Charity is cold but love is warm. When heart speaks to heart a divine conversation has taken place, a heavenly discourse.

Each of us has something to give. Let each see that he gives of his best. If we are bringing out gifts to the altar of love, nothing less than the best will be acceptable, nothing less than all is enough.

May the real spirit of Christmas ~ the giving of self to life enter and abide in you now and through all time.

And So It Is!

Dr Ernest Holmes

What if EVERYTHING already was Perfect?

If you look closely, you'll know Perfection.

Carefully crafted bows, mud wars, an argument, and a sunset are all Perfect. 

When we hear the word perfect, do we think of things unfolding in a manner exactly according to our plan? Do we have an expectation of others to do exactly what we want them to do, in exactly the time they should do them, and in the order we think they should do them in? Do we set unreasonably high standards for ourselves and for those around us? When those standards are not met, do we become unglued, have a melt-down or become unruly?

In a high-end retail environment, we expect perfection. An item chosen for gifting, placed inside a blue box, surrounded by a carefully crafted bow "should" be perfect. What if something goes "wrong" in this scenario? Well, guess what? Though it may not have turned out perfect, it still was Perfect.  Here is where the understanding of perfect vs. Perfection comes in. 

Most every evening in Southern California we are witness to a spectacular display of awe, by way of the sunset. The golden, pink, sometimes purple hues painted across a strategically placed, clouded, sky is a sight of Perfection. Knowing that this moment will never be the same again, is a time to stop and reflect on its Perfection without judgment. Yes, it is easy to see Perfection in this sunset, what about the rest of life? 

"When Jesus said, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect," he was telling us there is a Perfection at the center of all things, which, recognized, will spring into being. We must learn to identify ourselves with this Perfection to so accept it that it is real to us and to so live that it may be expressed through us. Every organ, action and function of our physical body is rooted in Spiritual Perfection, from which it draws life." -Ernest Holmes-

Seeing a child play in mud can cause cringe-worthy responses from moms. For in that moment, the mom may be predicting the future repercussions of this muddy moment. For the mom, this may be a far from perfect way to engage in social play. It, however, is Perfection in action when recognizing the benefits this type of play is providing to a child. Mud can actually lift one's mood because it increases the levels of serotonin in our brains. When moms recognize the Perfection, they may even want to join. 

http://www.letthechildrenplay.net/2011/08/10-reasons-why-we-should-let-children.html

Can there be a Perfect argument? When a child is diagnosed with autism, they sometimes are non-verbal, have limited speech or speech-delayed. Hoping, wishing, and praying for a breakthrough in verbal skills are heard around the world from parents of non-verbal children. How fortunate it is to hear a child argue with their sibling over anything. Though the high volume can be less that "perfect," the Spiritual Perfection of this communication can bring joy to a parent's ears. 

One does not have to look very far for Perfection, just look everywhere.  Even if it is not "perfect," according to our human standards, we must remember to look beyond our expectations to see the Spiritual Perfection of life. Just because something didn't come out "perfect" doesn't mean it isn't Perfection. It just means our limited beliefs are keeping us from seeing what true Perfection really is. Next time a less than perfect circumstance occurs, look deeper for the Perfection. 

Practice Living From Cause and Not Reacting to Effects

This month we are exploring theme of Meditation: The Inner Journey. On Sundays I have shared some techniques and some thoughts about it. As I was contemplating my talk for this Sunday, KGOD, Tuning in to the Infinite, it occurred to me to see what our founder, Ernest Holmes, had to say about meditation.

Dr. Holmes explained how to use the short meditations he wrote which are found in the back of the Science of Mind text. He said, "First, decide which meditation you wish to use; then become quiet and composed. Then carefully read the meditation several times. phrase by phrase, endeavoring to realize the meaning of the words and trying to enter into the atmosphere of the thought. After having done this, meditate upon the words, following that meditation until you feel a sense of realization."

One of the greatest enemies of faith is doubt. I have noticed that when life gets really challenging, some times we doubt the Principle Itself. One of the great early ministers in the Science of Mind movement, Dr. Robert Bitzer, said, "Never abandon Principle, even on a special occasion!" What this means to me, is even when life feels disappointing, disheartening, or disastrous use your mental faculty of will to stay the course. Practice knowing that the Universe is Good and Good only. Practice living from Cause and not reacting to effects.

I would like to share one of Ernest Holmes' meditations.

"Cast Aside All Doubt

Cast aside all doubt, O Soul of mins, and be unafraid, for Thy power is from On High.

He Who sitteth in the heavens shall be Thy champion.

Thou need not fear; Come forth, O Spirit, from within and express Thyself through me and let not my doubts hinder Thy approach. 

My faith shall go forth to meet Thee, and my confidence shall embrace Thee.

My waiting thought shall bid Thee welcome to my house of Love,

And Joy shall accompany us through the ages yet to come.

I lay aside all fear and doubt."

And So It Is

My Prayer for My Country Ernest Holmes

My Prayer for My Country Ernest Holmes

Believing in the Divine destiny of the United States of America
and in the preservation of liberty, security, and self-expression,
I offer this, my prayer for my country;

I know that Divine Intelligence governs the destiny of the United States of America, directing the thought and the activity of all who guide its affairs.

I know that success, prosperity, and happiness are the gifts of freedom,
and are the Divine heritage of everyone in this country.

I know that success, prosperity, and happiness are now operating
in the affairs of every individual in this country.

I know that Divine guidance enlightens the collective mind of the people of this country, causing it to know that economic security may come to all without the loss of either personal freedom or individual self-expression.

I know that no one can believe or be led to believe that freedom
must be surrendered in order to insure economic security for all.

The All-Knowing Mind of God contains the answer
to every problem which confronts this country.

I know that every leader in this country is now directed to
this All-Knowing Mind and has the knowledge
of a complete solution to every problem,
and each is compelled to act upon this knowledge to the end
that abundance, security, and peace shall come to all.

And I know that this spiritual democracy shall endure,
guaranteeing to everyone in this country
personal liberty, happiness, and self-expression.

And so it is. Amen.

Instantly Answered Prayers are Possible!

Raise your hand if you believe in instantly answered prayers. Is your hand in the air? Mine is! To be honest, I didn't exactly believe it in my heart-of-hearts until this week. Let me clarify. I have enjoyed answered prayers often, but up until this week, I had not experienced an instant, right-in-the-moment-the prayer-is-spoken manifestation.

I pray daily, usually multiple times a day; little prayers and big prayers, but, occasionally, I'm so wrapped up in my doubts or justifications or negative beliefs, that I can't truly embody the truth for myself and I need to see a practitioner. A practitioner is someone so clear in his or her communion with Spirit that he or she can know the truth for you even when you can't know it for yourself.

So, back to my instant manifestation.

This past Sunday I walked into the Center with some anxiety about a photography session scheduled that day. I told the practitioner about the anxiety and the whole story as to why I was feeling anxious. I also told her that I knew I wanted to be confident, calm and peaceful during my photo shoot. Smiling, she said, "Ok."  I expected her to say more but she just listened and each time I said what I wanted she just said, "Ok." When I was done, we closed our eyes and my practitioner prayed out loud.

As she spoke, the feeling in my body changed. Instantly, I felt more grounded and centered. I didn't just think "confident" any more, I embodied confidence. My breathing became deep and smooth. When she was done, I knew it was done. My request instantly set in motion.

I felt wonderful all day. When I got to my photo session, the beach was crowded and parking was full, but I stayed calm and confident. Anytime a challenge came up, I responded easily with wisdom. When I got home, I uploaded my photos and was overwhelmed by the abundance of beautiful, well-focused, nicely composed, perfectly lit photos.

My request demonstrated and my life changed forever!

One thing I love about this teaching is that Ernest Holmes basically said (and I'm paraphrasing here) try it, test it, see it for yourself. We can study all about principle and prayer, but the real way to know it's power is to experience it for yourself.

Do you want to instantly release whatever is holding you back? Do you want to live your dream now? Come visit us at the Center and see a practitioner! Or visit our website (www.cslcv.org) for a list of practitioners and email one today!

Marriage Equality is a Basic Human Right

Rev. Dr. Kenn Gordon

"Everyone is equal in the eyes of God"

Marriage equality is a basic human right,  says Dr. Kenn Gordon, spiritual leader to more than 250,000 adherents worldwide of the New Thought philosophy known as Religious Science.

"This is a spiritual question, not a political one. Today's U.S. Supreme Court decisions are important steps toward the ultimate goal of full marriage equality. It is inane for us to put laws  forward in our social contract like marriage and say it is OK for some but not for everyone. Everyone is equal in the eyes of God. We believe that love is the foundation of all major religious philosophies, and therefore we support the expression of love in same-sex couples and the right of same-sex couples to marry."

"Religious Science endeavors to get to the spiritual truth of the matter and through that lens we see that marriage equality is about human and civil rights.  It is not up to a court to deny basic human rights to anyone."

Begun in 1924 by Dr. Ernest Holmes, Religious Science, also known as Science of Mind,  was founded on the belief that all individuals deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.  Gordon notes that from the beginning, a large percentage of adherents and ministers within the Centers have identified as LGBT and that continues today.



ABOUT CENTERS FOR SPIRITUAL LIVING: Founded in 1924 by Dr. Ernest Holmes, there are now more than 250,000 adherents in over 400 centers and communities worldwide. Centers for Spiritual Living's vision is to awaken humanity to its spiritual magnificence and create a world that works for everyone.  www.CSL.org

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Are You Borrowing Your Light or Shining Yours Brightly?

BELIEVE IT OR NOT

Just the other day, Rev. Pattie Mercado and I were having a conversation about Thomas Troward, who was one of the key influences on Dr. Ernest Holmes and the teachings of the Science of Mind, and it reminded me of one of my favorite quotes of his:

"You never get what you want just because you want it.  But you always get what you believe whether you want it or not."  

This is such a statement of freedom for me.  Why?   Have you ever prayed or pleaded for something like winning the lottery, getting the perfect, well-paying job, or finding the perfect mate even though you didn't feel deserving of it?  When you really go within yourself and examine those pleads or prayers, did you really believe that you were going to attain them or was it just hopeful (doubtful) thinking?  The freedom for me is knowing that believing is seeing, rather than seeing is believing. When everything in your heart and soul is telling you yes, that is believing.  When your head is messing with you, telling you why you should or why you shouldn't believe something or move forward with it, that is simply the ego or fear trying to make sense of whatever your dream is.

One of my all-time favorite movies is "Field of Dreams," not only because it involves baseball, but because of the profound leap of faith and belief Ray (played by Kevin Cosner) took to allow his dream to unfold at the risk of losing all of his and his family's material wealth.  Listen and watch the argument between his intuition and his ego...

"People will come."  BELIEVE in your dream, and watch it manifest!