Honoring the Students

I love teaching the principles of the Science of Mind. This week we completed ten weeks of study on a course entitled, "The Essential Ernest." This class is one of my favorites because it invites students to explore the ideas that excited and intrigued Ernest Holmes. It is based on a book compiled by Rev. Dr. Jesse Jennings of the same name. Dr. Jennings organizes the material into logical pieces and organizes it all around our Statement of Principles. I love seeing students have personal insights through committing to spiritual practices and awakening to being the directors of their own lives.Today I am going to share some of the amazing creativity that sprang from that class. Our class ranged from a college student to retired  people.

One of the assignments was to create a one-page paper on the distinction between a diagnosis and  a prognosis from both a medical and a metaphysical viewpoint, and how and why you would explain this to a friend suffering from an unwanted condition -- or otherwise communicate your sense through a musical, visual or poetic representation. We received some lovely answers including from Robert Welch:

"Medical works with appearance in the world; metaphysical works with spiritual world.

Medically a diagnosis is the art of identifying a disease from its signs, e.g. finding arthritis. A prognosis is a forecast of what will happen. Looking again at a person's arthritis, medically the prognosis is the forecast is going to be on the illness. This is the world of appearance. 

Ernest Holmes, (Page 134 of The Essential Ernest) relates diagnosis to facts or present situation. This is relating to the appearance of the condition arthritis.Now there is a great distinction between medical and metaphysical. Prognosis metaphysically means seeing the truth or anticipated reality coming from a field of external reality. 

The condition of arthritis can be explained to another person as a condition that does not have to be accepted but can be seen beyond the present. There instead is wholeness, wellness and love which are greater. The worlds of medicine and metaphysics work together to create wholeness and wellness. This is for a better vision of life."

College student, Kay Allen wrote this beautiful poem about her friend, Pamela. You will see by Kay's words that she paints a picture of wholeness and beauty, always the spiritual Truth.

"I picture your rosy smile when I hear the name Pamela. I see your tiny body wrapped in sepia braids and love awards. It is not the bandanna covering your forehead, or the hospital gown, or the Hodgkin's Lymphoma. It is simply the high, pink cheekbones, squinty blue eyes, and that wide smile that I see. I only wish you could see the golden dust on your fingers, the electricity pumping your blood, instead of the anger. Your diagnosis carries no gun. And, you are in no danger. Instead, you are branching out, growing leaves, reaching with your roots, and allowing yourself to be. With a prognosis in development, you are out there, lighting the fires for the stars to see, and dancing with the embers."

A person who decided to write a song to answer this question is the amazing Rick Dale, RScP. Rick demonstrates both his musical skill and his skillful use of language to encourage the person who is afraid of dying. "All Things Right," is a tender ballad  about fear, disease, God's love, and the power of faith.


For our last project, students were asked to write about what they thought Ernest's  Cosmic Illumination experience was about. We had a wide range of answers. Two people wrote about having a felt  sense of Presence. Both examples were about the Peace that accompanied the confirmation that life is eternal.Both about their own parents who had made their transitions. It was very sacred as they both revisited a special time in their lives. Three people wrote stories which were accompanied by their own photography. Toni Sparks made a beautiful key to consciousness, based on Holmes' idea that the whole key to consciousness is "It is done unto you as you believe." Kathy Storey shared the dramatic effects from the question, "Am I Seeing Rightly?" Kathy showed us a large poster board that seemed to be blank except for a large pair of glasses. When illumined with black light we saw all the qualities of the Divine. Her point was simply, when we see with the heart we see rightly.

Dena Hart Van Slyke wrote a long narrative poem titled "Cosmic Illumination"  It follows:

While on a recent mountain vacation/ I took some time for relaxation
And sat in silent meditation/ Observing creek side animation.
Sometimes I kept a gaze fixation, / Then watched as bubbles in formation
Created foam in swift flotation/ Which slid to the next elevation.

I sat in deepest contemplation/ Of all the breadth of God's creation.
I sensed a head to toe vibration. / Then came a bright illumination!
My heart and body felt elation/ While hearing my heart's palpitation -
I felt a cosmic inspiration.

I don't recall the time duration/ But, when it came to culmination
I had a really strange sensation/ Of shelter and emancipation.
And thought I heard, a congregation/Of all the souls in Syncopation
The sang a song of sweet flirtation...Was All this just hallucination?

I prayed in full anticipation/ While standing on my God's foundation
I said, "Right now, here in our nation,? We see an increased circulation,
We end all hunger and starvation, / No victims of discrimination." 

Then just as if taking dictation, / I channeled cosmic conversation/
(I swear this is no fabrication.)/ Or was it my imagination?
InSpired by that Holmes' quotation/ About his cosmic revelation? 

So then, fluid fascination, / I wrote, "God, should we seek salvation?"
Before I reach my destination/ What is my real motivation? 

God answered with this declaration,/ There's no such thing as termination.
When you let go of 'separation' / You are assured a transformation.
You'll be reborn at full gestation. 

I asked "Can we have visitation/ Is death our final limitation?
Or is there life's reincarnation?".../ My hand wrote without hestitation,
"Though some may have the inclination/ Upon further examination
You'll find, it's mostly simulation / or, just a good impersonation. 

Well, I was filled with exaltation!/ Then after further rumination,
The writing seemed an ordination:/ "There's no such thing like pre-destination.
Your life comes from your orchestration,/(with focus and determination)
and your assertive integration/ Of your thinking's cogitation
With your loving heart's pulsation. 

Then I asked for an explanation/ "Are we equipped for transmigration?"
Or multiple space incarnation?" / Or is that future speculation?
The answer came without flirtation/ "I'll give you this one confirmation
there's no such thing as your damnation/ Or burning in hell and conflagration
Or even 'death as termination. / I'll make this simple proclamation:
"Reliable as gravitation,/ Just one thing's sure, -- and that's Taxation." 

So class, I offer this summation, / and say, without humiliation
This is my final class's obligation. I thank you for your concentration.
And take my bow at your ovation. 

Kay Allen wrote an experimental prose piece titled "THE POWER OF I IN A LAND CALLED HOME." Until she read it to us, I had never heard of an experimental prose piece. It reminds me of the genius of Jason Silva's "Shots of Awe."Enjoy:

"There's a globe around my head, spinning on a fixed axis of generous proportion. I drift with the seasons, alive with the warm breeze, a recluse in the snow. I memorize the ebb and tidal splay of my inner volume and reel in nets full of both useful and dull thoughts carrying silver moon water and flashing eels. This planet of a head, still showered in whispers of passersby, hotdog stand vendors, or crying infants, can still manage to hear the ballad of Pluto, ringing Saturn, and swiveling comets slicing up the dark blue. Inside my head, there's boiling magma which churns and folds, neon and flamboyant. It circles around like koi in a pond, rippling outwards a magnetic field and setting off lights in my atmosphere. The glory in my world is something I wish to share, with cousins, godfathers, professors, and ministers. And as I make my revolution around the home star, I see the faces of other globes, other hemispheres and continents of intricate blueprint, glowing cloud-forests, glittering leaves, and a chameleon river.Each, uniquely designed by the individual globe. And, I see there are more constellations still to discover with all of them, a one-on-one show-and-tell of each thriving and radiating light. Still, I sometimes envy the moon, for its gray quietness, the lack of voices murmuring about kitchen appliances and Machiavelli's The Prince. But, I find that my breath slows when I see my northern lights, and know that the gravity of my spinning is the same force which makes those other globes spin. It is a force of nature which allows stars to implode and sprouts to surface, and it is a force that I nor anyone has ever parted with."

I feel honored, privileged and blessed by every person who studies these principles.

Seeing the Light in Others

"People are like stained glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within."  ~ Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

I agree with Dr. Kubler-Ross's statement in part. The truth is the light within us is always there; sometimes we forget that it is there. I just returned from our annual Lake Arrowhead retreat and am filled with awareness, not only of my own light, but also the light that resides in everyone else. I enjoyed the workshops done by Rev. Mike McMorrow from the Granada Hills Center for Spiritual Living. Rev. Mike had recently read Brenee Brown's work, which is all about vulnerability and authenticity. It was great to see him practice these principles and in his own words not become a "girlie man." It is great to be living in a both-and world rather than an either-or one. In a both-and world men and women can be powerful and tender, vulnerable and strong, resilient and pliable all at the same time. It was easy to see Rev. Mike's light; he let it shine. Doing do, he set the consciousness for the rest of the retreat.

During the weekend, each pastor was scheduled to give a brief welcome, teach a lesson and facilitate a class. Dr. Moira, who is in charge of the program, introduced us both Friday night and Saturday morning, in such a way as to bring out our real selves -- not a rehearsed, ego-driven self. This gave room to let the real light emerge.

My class was scheduled right after lunch on Sunday. We had been in meetings nonstop since Friday night. Sunday was a glorious sunny, summery day in Lake Arrowhead. I had prepared a workshop on Affirmative Prayer and was ready for whomever showed up. Honestly, I had doubts about having much attendance but had made enough copies of my worksheets for everyone who had registered. Much to my surprise, the room was filled. The workshop was great. Later a woman from Redondo Beach told me that I shouldn't have been surprised that people chose to come to my workshop; she said I was a legend and people wanted to hear me speak! Wow! A legend!

I have been teaching something since I was a kid. i love it and it tends to be easy for me. Often it is harder for us to see our own light than it is for us to see someone else's. Some people have a tendency to take their own skills for granted.

During the retreat, i noticed times of their great vulnerability and authenticity in most people! I also saw people playing small, even ones with a great big light!

Marianne Williamson reminded us of that tendency in A Return to Love:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” ~ Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles"

If you are one of those people, now is the time to break the habit. Practice giving thanks for the good that is already yours, the skills you have and the talents with which you have been gifted.

Let your inner light shine so that the world can see your true beauty.

You Can't Fully Prosper With Beliefs Like That!

My Potted Azalea Last Year

Several years ago, at the top of the housing market, I succumbed to the lure of buying a condo that I didn't love or even like. Real estate prices were rising so fast I fell into the urgency of that market, thinking this would eventually become my savings for my future. 

People were pleased for me. Many people poured their love on me -- they helped make the home brighter and lighter by painting, cleaning, papering the cupboards, installing screens and doors.I felt so loved by the members of my community who wanted the best for me. I was very grateful but at the end of the day, my heart sang with gratitude for the people in my life but not for my home.

The home was still dark, damp and cold. Although there was a small patio, there was no place where the sun reached. I knew inside that I had compromised.I was not being true to myself. I was not living my dream. One of the turning points was to look at my patio to see a couple of potted plants that had only weeks previously been full of healthy blooms, now looking bedraggled and forlorn. I believe they were reflecting my consciousness.

Two years ago I started listening to my heart's desires to live somewhere beautiful! After three floods and a crash of the housing market, I finally woke up to the fact that this condo would never provide me with good, because I didn't love it. I tried to love it. Sometimes I got close. 

The Church of my Childhood

Perhaps you can relate. I believe it is very important to be living your dream. That means to pay attention to what you really love and do it. It is really loving yourself. No matter how much love is poured on you by others, you will never bloom fully until you are fully loving yourself: loving without restrictions or conditions; telling the truth to yourself; saying yes to the voice of the great I AM. 

There is an old gospel song that we sang in the church choir when I was a kid, "There is sunshine in my soul today." I loved that song then. (It no longer fits my musical taste or beliefs but the feeling of being filled with joy is still important.) It is really the sunshine of your soul that makes everything flourish! 

For some people shade is pleasant and soothing. I am not one of those people. I like living in  the light. Spiritual living is living in the light.

I finally realized that no matter how painful it was to give up, to quit trying to make something work, it was even more painful to stay where I felt imprisoned. I decided to put the condo on the market even though the market price was much lower than what i owed on it. It was scary and it was worth it. Last year I moved to a large condo that is filled with light. My patio is filled with beauty. The potted plants not only survived the move, they thrived from the move.

Nature does not withhold our good from us. We do it to ourselves when we  are living from the world of effects. Looking back I see that I was originally motivated by fear and greed. Fear of never being a home owner again and greed to cash in on the inflationary market. Of course, I could never fully prosper with those beliefs as my initiating causation. I had to let go and tell myself the truth. When I did, the entire Universe conspired to make my dreams come true. 

Nature is a big show off. My potted plants and I love our new location. My heart is filled with sunshine and my home reflects the beauty and sunshine of my soul.

Get into the Rhythm with Everything is Sound!

I discovered that family tensions seemed to run higher in the late afternoon during dinner preparations and homework.

At this month's Parent Forum, Rev. Pattie brought up the topic of creating a daily family  rhythm. Initially, I was resistant to the idea confusing rhythm with forcing a family of individuals into a set and rigid schedule. The last thing I needed was another hassle or argument trying to get the whole family to do something that wasn't necessarily required. 

But the more I sat with the idea, the more I realized what she actually meant by rhythm and really it only required me to cooperate. You see, I needed to find a daily rhythm. And when I set my own pace, swaying and moving with each little bump and bobble, I'm more at peace and centered. And, when I'm more at peace and centered, everyone around me feels it and acts accordingly. It reminds me of that saying, "If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." I realized that living to my own beat creates internal contentment which then manifests in the external world. 

And the beautiful thing about setting your own rhythm, it doesn't require any great, earth-shattering changes. I found my rhythm in a song.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed with life, then played a great song in the car or house and within seconds everything looked better, more manageable? 

Listening to Jason Mraz's music from the Love is a Four Letter Word CD provides me with a vacation from the daily ups and downs, resets my thinking and raises my vibration to joy! I found that one song in particular,  "Everything is Sound," refreshes my mind like a beautiful California spring day when you roll down the car windows, drive along the coast with music blasting and sing like no one is watching. 

In contemplating our family's need for rhythm, I discovered that tensions seem to run highest in the late afternoon and early evening when the kids are hungry waiting for dinner, stressed out over homework and overtired from a busy day. To counter the tension, I decided to put Love is a Four Letter Word on the CD player in the kitchen while I make dinner. It makes me happy. I sing, dance a little, and smile. I feel more relaxed and guess what!?! The whole atmosphere changes. Joy returns to the home. Yes, there is still homework questions and requests for a snack, but I handle them with more grace and ease. I am more present in the family dynamic and there is a whole lot less yelling. 

In the lyrics of "Everything is Sound," Mraz sings, "You don't need a vacation, when there is nothing to escape from." Isn't that so true? When we find our own rhythm and live at that tempo every moment is a song! Hallelujah!

Experience "Everything is Sound" for yourself. The lyrics are in the video so you can sing along then let me know by commenting if you feel lighter and refreshed. 

Let's All Sing...

Submerged in Light

Submerged in Light

   Every morning(on the way to school), I listen to music. It calms me. It doesn't have to be spiritual or meditative music and usually isn't, but something I feel peaceful listening to. And, I usually do this whilst staring out the window, observing the landscape whizzing past me in a blur of dull, gray road, the occasional garden, and a flash of golden, morning light bursting through silver clouds. It is truly my relaxing way to spend the twenty to twenty-five minute drive to school. As you can see, above there is a picture of a double rainbow. The picture above was taken on one damp, cold October morning on my phone while I sat in the front seat of the car, rocking out to some tunes. I remember the morning vaguely, but I can recall the exact song I was listening to while this photo was captured. The song was Vanilla Twilight, written by none other than Owl City, and in that moment when the song came on, I watched as this beautiful manifestation shot out before me in a beam of brilliance.   

"When violet eyes get brighter/

And heavy wings grow lighter/

I'll taste the sky and feel alive again/

And I'll forget the world that I knew/

But I swear I won't forget you."

 There are many days and occasions when I remind myself that the light is always there, and Spirit is always expressing as me and in the beauty I experience or encounter. But, sometimes it really takes that extra unf to truly see it for myself. And those moments, when you realize you are supported by the Universe, or loved unconditionally, or in my case that the Light is always there, are so important. Those moments express the Universe reacting to your thoughts and needs. And in that moment of pure bliss when you relax into the realization and know that you are encompassed by the Universe's gifts, as when the sky's magnificence exploded around me and the music was in perfect alignment that day, it can leave you in awe(it raised the hairs on the nape of my neck) and leave a positive impression on you as does a hand print in the sand. 

   Every morning when being driven to school(during this season), the sun is hidden behind the thick, wet fog, and it leaves me wondering when the sun will come out. It drops me into a state of cloudy thoughts and a misty, negative mind set. But, when the sun peaks through the clouds, I remember that no matter how thick the fog is, the sun is always there just behind it waiting to shine its light upon me. That is a comforting thought. So, while writing an entry in my journal the other day, I wrote this down and thought it matched perfectly with what this week has consisted of: reminding myself-that the light is always there, and love is ever-expanding. 

"Even though our doubts and fears fill our throats with silence and a throbbing starts in our chests, the fog will always lift up. It seems like basic knowledge when you’re done experiencing it, but while you stare up into the endless hidden sky, it seems as if you know nothing but the lingering cloud mass engulfing the world around you. And, once the sun shines through and relief catches your breath, you realize in the end that no matter how thick or dark it may seem, the fog will always find a reason to leave." 

Light and Life: A lesson in Abundance

Even a little light is more than enough to make a beautiful photograph

I have a confession to make. My reoccurring life lessons, up until most recently, involved prosperity and abundance. Over and over, I would experience times of financial struggle followed by prosperity followed by more struggle. "I'm done with this," I would tell myself when the dollars in my bank account dwindled.

But, we bring about what we think about, right? And my reoccurring self talk centered on "we can't afford this" or "we don't have enough money for that." And my thinking focused on the core belief that the material things I had weren't really good enough. Flipping through magazines, I saw beautiful creative interiors that looked spacious and tidy. As I scanned my own home, all I saw was mess, mismatched furniture and dated appliances. Then I got a surprising lesson on abundance from an unexpected place.

I signed up for a photography class about light and life.

In the first lesson, the instructor asked us to look for light around our homes, not outside, at all different times of the day and in all the rooms of the house. She encouraged us to trust that even a small sliver of light was enough to make a beautiful photograph. 

Notice the light. Focus on the light. The light inside.

When I put my attention on the light, I began to see beautiful and abundant light throughout my home. At some time during the day, each room had enough light. And I found that less light, highlights in just the right places, was even more beautiful.

What you put your attention on grows.

Toys and laundry still littered the floor. I still found dirty dishes in the sink. But, my perspective changed. Instead of thinking about what wasn't there, I noticed what was...abundant light.

The second part of the lesson encouraged us to view a photo documentary by Darcy Padilla called The Julie Project, a 17-year story of an HIV positive, drug addicted woman. Our instructor encouraged us to look at the creative use of light and how it was used to make the viewer feel deep emotions. I clicked on the link and was changed forever.

Look for the light. There is always enough light.

It was so difficult to look at the images yet I couldn't stop myself. It was sad, hopeful then heart wrenching. Things got bad, better, then worse. But throughout the entire project, there was light, even in the darkest places.

As a whole, the lesson offered me perspective, a balance to the shiny and perfect life portrayed daily in the media. Every ounce of entitlement drained out of me. I felt nothing but gratitude for everything around me and I mean everything. I honestly felt to the core of my being that I had everything I needed and I was beyond blessed.

I am abundant and wealthy, so very, very wealthy. 

My thinking changed. Now I give thanks often throughout the day for my car that works and the food in my fridge. I say thank you God for a computer and a high speed Internet connection! I mean seriously, if that's not rich what is? I have a home with people I love and who love me. I've got it good and now I can see it more clearly than ever before. And from that clarity, I experience great peace and simply enjoy the light.

If you are feeling brave today, ready for a life-changing moment or just want to see how even a little light is enough, experience The Julie Project for yourself and then come back and share your thoughts with me!

The Julie Project

The Light / Alan Watts

You Yourself are the eternal energy 

which appears as this universe. 

You didn't come into this world, you came out of it, 

like a wave from the ocean. 

~ Alan Watts

And So It Is!