Letters from Wenda

Letter from Wenda - How to be Creative

2009-09-22T22:35:00.000-07:00

A business man has an idea, he thinks up a way of doing things. He is using the creative Law just as much as an artist who paints a picture. We speak of creative arts and creative people, but we fail to realise that all life deals with creativity.

There is no big or little, no important or unimportant. To the creative Law there is no difference between a child making mud cakes or an engineer building a bridge.

We do not create in the sense that we make something out of nothing, but only in the sense that we make something out of something. And we create a new form because we are equipped with a mind to think, to feel, to will and to imagine. So everyone who makes a demand on Spiritual Law will cause the Law to respond in the only way It can – in the terms of the demand made.

There is a creative Intelligence in the universe that acts exactly like the soil does physically, but It is a spiritual thing. It is a universal Mind-Principle responding to us as Law, operating upon our thoughts the way we think them. We do not know how or why It reacts to us, but we do know that It does; we have to accept It.

Whoever thinks about something will draw into consciousness the elements that thing about which he thinks. Whoever, as he thinks, believes this will happen, will hasten the process and clarify and amplify it by, and through, his consent, consciously given no matter what it is.

Every one of us personally has back of us the potential of the Universe. There is an irresistible potential pressing against everyone for self-expression. If we listen we shall hear it, not as a voice, but as a feeling, as a Divine urge to express. If we believe in it, it shall manifest through us, and if we keep our consciousness active and alive to it, the volume that flows through us by our consent will necessarily increase. But we have to believe that it will.

Friday Meditation - I Work With God's Law

2009-09-22T22:32:00.000-07:00

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up. Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil…….
1 Corinthians 13:4-5

Here is the formula for personal poise; holding emotions in full control. Then we find patience and kindness at work in one’s affairs. Love is never jealous, grudging, spiteful, never assumes the many forms of envy, or of self-praise, boasting, or hypersensitivity. Love is well proportioned, well fashioned, adding to ordinary decency the positive spirit of graciousness.

Love transforms all negative emotions into positive, creative powers. A creative religion is creative throughout all of a person’s relationships. It is never an ivory-tower affair. In the midst of the turmoil and tribulation of ordinary human existence, Love is a power that overcomes all things.

It is universal Spirit in action through the individual, refining, restoring, and redirecting existence into fulfilling experience.

The self is encompassed by the over-self, finiteness is included in Infiniteness, the selfish will is tempered by Divine Grace, and the result is an experience of Divine Love.

Friday Meditation with Wenda - Mental Atmosphere

2009-09-03T04:58:00.000-07:00

Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and healthy to the bones – Proverbs 16:24

Many life rafts carry containers of dye which one can open and dump into the ocean. The dye (red, orange, or yellow) spreads and colours the water.

You are a “thinker” floating on the raft of life, and you choose, by your thoughts and feelings, what colour of dye, or mental atmosphere, shall surround you in the ocean of mind. Are you immersed in a sea of self-pity blue, angry red, jealous green or sunshine yellow? All the good from Universal Mind is yours, but what you receive depends upon the level of your own perception. Even a rose, when dragged through mud and murk, appears to be less than beautiful.

The clear, sparkling water of the ocean will eventually dissolve and overcome the coloured dye, just as the Life-essence, that is God within, will eventually dissolve any mental atmosphere that is false to Truth. However, you do not have to wait. The Kingdom of Heaven is now. By your own choice you can change the colour of your mental atmosphere.

Sunshine thoughts will brighten the self-pity blue; warm thoughts of love will turn the harsh anger red to a rosy hue; generous, kind, and forgiving thoughts turn the dark green of jealousy into a vital green.

Your point of perception is now a perfect conductor immersed in an ocean of joy, and All-Good awaits your acceptance.

The Supreme Fact of the Universe

2009-09-03T04:55:00.000-07:00

The Supreme Fact of the Universe

The great central fact of the universe is that the Spirit of Infinite life is the Power that is behind all, that animates all, that manifests itself in and through all; that self-existing principle of life from which all has come, and not only from which all has come, but from which all is continually coming.

If there is an individual life, there must of necessity be an infinite source of life from which it comes. If there is a quality or a force of love, there must of necessity be an infinite source of love whence it comes. If there is wisdom, there must be the all-wise source behind it from which it springs. The same is true in regard to peace, the same in regard to power, the same in regard to what we call material things.

There is then this Spirit of Infinite Life and Power behind all, which is the source of all. This Infinite Power is creating, working, ruling through the agency of great immutable laws and forces that run through all the universe that surrounds us on every side. Every act of our everyday lives is governed by these same great laws and forces. Every flower that blooms by the wayside, springs up, grows, fades, according to certain great immutable laws. Every snowflake that plays between earth and heaven, forms, falls, melts, according to certain great unchangeable laws.

In a sense there is nothing in all the great universe but law. If this is true there must of necessity be a force behind it all, that is the maker of these laws, and a force greater than the laws that are made. This Spirit of Infinite Life and Power that is behind all, is what we call God.

God is the Infinite Spirit which fills all the universe with Himself alone, so that all is from Him and in Him, and there is nothing that is outside. In Him we live and move and have our being. He is the Life of our life, our very life itself. We have received; we are continually receiving our life from Him. We are partakers of the life of God; and though we differ from Him in that we are individualised spirits, of which He is the Spirit including us, as well as all else beside, yet in essence the life of God and the life of man are identically the same, and so are one. They differ not in essence or in quality, they differ in degree.

There have been, and are, highly illumined souls who believe we receive our life from God after the manner of a divine inflow. And again, there have been, and are, those who believe that our life is one with the life of God, and so that God and man are one. Which is right? Both are right; both right when rightly understood.

In regard to the first; if God is the Infinite Spirit of Life behind all, whence all comes, then clearly our life as individualised spirits is continually coming from this infinite Source by means of this divine inflow. In the second place, if our lives, as individualised spirits, are directly from this Infinite, our lives must be identical in quality with that Source - just as a drop of water from the ocean is in nature, in characteristics, identical with the ocean. And how could it be otherwise? The liability to misunderstanding in this latter case, however, is this: the life of God so far transcends the life of individual man that it includes all else beside. In other words, so far as the quality of life is concerned, in essence they are the same. So far as the degree of life is concerned, they are vastly different.

In this light is it not then evident that both conceptions are true, and, more, that they are one and the same? Both conceptions may be typified by one and the same illustration.

There is a reservoir in a valley which receives its supply from an inexhaustible reservoir on the mountain side. It is then true that the reservoir in the valley receives its supply by virtue of the in-flow of the waters from the larger reservoir on the mountain side. It is also true that the water in this smaller reservoir is in nature, in quality, in characteristics, identically the same as that in the larger reservoir which is its source. The difference, however, is this; the reservoir in the valley can supply an innumerable number of like reservoirs and still be unexhausted. And so in the life of man.

There is Infinite Spirit of Life behind all, the life of all, and so that from which All comes then, is the life of individual man. Your life and mine, must come by a divine in-flow from this Infinite Source, and if this is true then the life that comes by this in-flow to man is necessarily the same in essence as is this Infinite Spirit of Life. There is a difference. It is not a difference in essence. It is a difference in degree.

Then, doesn’t it follow that in the degree that man opens himself to this divine in-flow does he approach God? If so, it then necessarily follows that in the degree that he makes this approach, does he take on the God-powers. And if the God-powers are without limit, does it not then follow that the only limitations are the limitations man sets for himself, by virtue of not knowing himself?

Source: In Tune With The Infinite – Ralph Waldo Trine

Friday Meditation with Wenda - Your Goal is Possible

2009-07-28T06:30:00.000-07:00

And I say unto you, Ask and it shall be given you... – Luke 11:9

To accomplish a specific objective in life we need a goal. We all have an overall goal. The individual objectives are what we strive for along the way.

These objectives might be in the field of education where we desire to excel in some profession. Or it could be in determining what is necessary to achieve the proficiency needed in our area of competence.

Once understood, we enroll in the best school to improve our skills. In this way we proceed step by step to arrive at our goals.

This can be applied to any kind of a job or desired objective. It works in all experiences of life or areas in which we may make choices.

What do we want to do? What do we want from life? What is our most cherished desire? First we must set our goal.

As we mentally perceive the world we want and work toward it, we can achieve the successful consummation of our goals joyously!

Face to Face With God

2009-07-28T06:23:00.000-07:00

Thy Spirit strengthens both my soul and my body, and I rest in the peace of wholeness and health. Every anxious thought is stilled. Thy mighty confidence and Thy peace infold me. Omnipresent Spirit substance fills my mind, and abundance is everywhere manifest

Many of those who are familiar with the idea of the omnipresence of God address Him in terms that imply His absence. Instead of talking directly to God, who is always right in our midst, we talk about Him. We are apt to say, “God strengthens both my soul and my body” instead of “Thy Spirit strengthens both my soul and my body.”

Our words betray our dominant state of mind, although the logic of Truth may belie this. We see logical that there cannot be any separation in spirit between the Creator and the Created, but the created has the power to think of itself as separate from its source, and this thought makes a mental vacuum in which there is a total absence of spiritual attributes.

The human family on this planet has set up this sort of a mental void, and unless we train our mind to think the truth, we find ourselves talking to God as if He were in the next room or in some faraway heaven in the skies.

No one save Jesus has fully bridged this gulf of separation, and we are excusable if we at times lapse into old consciousness of absence from the
Father. Jesus gives us the right cue when He affirms, “It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life.”

“For as the Father hath life in himself, even so gave He to the Son also to have life in himself.’’

We find that we must train our minds in trust, look persistently and continuously to
God for all things, and rest in the assurance that what we ask and affirm in Spirit will surely come to pass. Jesus had such supreme confidence and faith in the Father as the source of health and prosperity that His name has become synonym and open door for the manifestation of those things.

He said that whatever we ask of the Father in His name would be granted. Many persons get a very definite mental uplift and consciousness of Spirit by repeating audibly and silently the name of Jesus Christ. But the name does not represent the real character of the person unless it is known to us through our acquaintance with the person himself. Unless you have read about Jesus and tried to realise His love, wisdom, and supermind power, you have no conception of the meaning of His name. Paul urged that we let Christ be formed in us. That means that through the study of the life of Jesus and the discipline he gave His mind we shall put into our mind the same ideas that He had. These ideas will form in our mind a new kind of man, which is God’s man.

When you turn your attention to Spirit your mind makes contact with a realm of ideas very much above the level of your common thinking; and when you strike this mental stratosphere you are tremendously lifted up. Then you make your statements of Truth and whatever you decree comes to pass. Job’s friend Eliphaz said to him:

“Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace; Thereby good shall come unto thee…
Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee; And light shall shine upon thy ways”

Teach us to pray; Face to Face with God, by Charles Fillmore, (1941);

The Invisible Essence

2009-07-17T02:06:00.001-07:00

Spiritual Power is defined as the dynamic quality of that invisible essence of life, intelligence, and Law which we call God or First Cause. The conscious use of this Power comes from the recognition that It actually exists, really responds to us; that we can directly contact It and definitely use It.

That there is such an invisible essence of life is evident throughout all of nature, the visible side of which but proclaims this invisible essence. Objective nature, our own bodies included, is a phenomenon of the invisible Cause which we call Spirit.

Man is an incarnation of this invisible Cause, not by choice, but rather by the Law of Life. As man touches his own thought, he touches It. He touches It with power, not because he wills this power to be, for this power is. This is the nature of the Universe. The Universe consists of will and representation. This Will is intelligent knowingness; its representation is creation.
The Will of Spirit, or the universal Will, must be goodness, truth and beauty. As we imbibe Its nature, we come into Its harmony. The Divine doesn’t come to us bringing an olive branch of peace with which to allay our confusion. The Divine knows no confusion. It persists in remaining true to its own nature.

The Will of God is peace. Only the finite is confused; the Infinite remains certain of Itself.
As we enter the atmosphere of peace, our confusion vanishes. This is not done through objective power, not by might, but through a realisation and an embodiment of that Presence which transcends confusion.

The Spiritual Presence in the universe is real and dynamic. It surrenders Itself to us in such degree as we comply with Its nature. Our consciousness is so at one with the universal Law of Cause and Effect, that when we know confusion we become confused; when we know peace we become peaceful.

Friday Meditation with Wenda - In God I Trust

2009-07-17T01:35:00.000-07:00

A complete trust in God, an acceptance that God is the only Reality and the only Power, is the way my self-discovery can be complete. No matter what the appearance may be, I know that within me, around me and about me is the Love and Law of the Infinite – One Presence and One Law, which we call God.

Our personal recognition of the One Life makes it possible for Its Power and Perfection to flow through us more fully and become our daily experience. No matter how far I may have missed the mark, or how long I have persisted in the ignorance of our true relationship with God, today I begin to trust It.

I place my faith so completely and so absolutely in the belief that there is no power opposed to God that I shall know this truth today. God’s nature is always, for the good of His creation.

So it is and so it will be

Friday Meditation with Wenda - Health is mine, here and now

2009-07-11T23:54:00.000-07:00

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits; Who forgiveth all thine inequities; who healeth all thy diseases…. – Psalm 103: 2-3

You can be healed! You can be lifted up and out of your present circumstances! It can happen to you! There is a tremendous Power available to you right here and right now.

This is the Power of God which is always present, always available, and forever waiting to be expressed.

What is the key to this Power? The key is in your choice to make a change in your thinking – and that change can be made right now!

Are things not going well? Are things in your life not working in your best interest?

Why do you think these “things” are happening to you? Can you accept the possibility that the healing of all manner of situations both physical and mental, rests in the realm of Mind? You are surrounded by Infinite Mind… and it is ready to work for you, through you, right now!

How Creative Thinking Works

2009-07-11T23:52:00.000-07:00

The great exploration which the mind makes into the realm of spiritual healing is as fascinating an experience as anyone will ever have. We must be careful, however, to differentiate between this form of thinking and mere daydreaming. In daydreaming one sits around longing for things, and picturing oneself as having them, but in the very same moment being certain it could never be, letting one’s imagination run wild, soaring into realms of fancy.

Some people have done this and upon being told that they had not proceeded properly, have exclaimed: “But we understood that we could have anything we wished.”

In spiritual mind practice a person does not just “wish’ for things. He consciously uses his thought to set creative Power in motion and then accepts with expectancy the result. He is, in a certain sense, experimenting not with Mind Itself, but with his own thought, in seeing what use he can make of the creative Power of Mind.

This Creativeness we do not inject into Mind; it is already there, a natural Law in the universe.

In spiritual treatment the person thinks of himself as he would like to be. He should do this without contradicting the good of others, without seeking to coerce others. And he should do this in as absolute sense as is possible; that is, he should withdraw from any contemplation of the relative facts in the case and think only of the desired outcome as being established in Mind.

He takes the proposition which his mind can encompass – such as realising that he is surrounded by abundance and by right opportunity – and compels his mind to accept this idea as now being a fact in his everyday experience.

Consequently, his work is intensely practical, and even though he is an idealist, he is scientific in his application of this universal Principle of Mind to the problems of his daily living.

From it’s Up To You! By Ernest Holmes

The Power of Thought

2009-06-30T00:47:00.000-07:00

The inspired thought of all nations and men agrees that God was always existent as pure Being. The loftiest thought of all the great religions of antiquity conceives of Him as living in Self contemplation, until, seeking to manifest more and more the joy of living He, by the power of His thought, presses life out into visibility, into external shapes. Thought is creative. To think constructively is to create, for the thought ever seeks to manifest itself in shape.

If we consider God first as Pure Being and then as the Creator of the Universe to manifest in Substance the Divine Thought by the spoken word, we can best apprehend God as Principle, since every created thing is an emanation from God and is informed with His life and power. Thus we speak of God as Life, Love, Wisdom, Substance, Omnipresence, Omnipotence and Omniscience.

In this light we can understand the character of the power of healing and recreating that Jesus possessed and which he promised to his followers who believed in him and had faith even as a grain of mustard seed, and it points to us the way to obtain healing and to order our affairs so as to express ourselves, in all things, in concord with the Divine harmony. It illumines the darkness that has clouded the mystery of our own consciousness. By it we can apprehend the true meaning of the declaration that we are made in the image and likeness of God.

We possess in thought the creative power inherent in thought and we can use that creative power upon ourselves through the manipulation of our own consciousness and the expression of the word. Understanding that life is health, and that as Principle, God’s creations are perfect, obeying the operation of law in every particular way, we can see that any interference with, any abridgement, impairment or extinction of, disease is due to human error and can be corrected by the application of the creative powers in us that are inherent in the Divine.

What, therefore, avails it to understand the mechanisms and operation of the subconscious mind if we do not apply correctives in consciousness in co-operation with the Divine Mind? Must we not, when contemplating the wonderful power within ourselves, realise also how immensely it is reinforced by the application of the Divine power within us? Must we not feel that his is another wonder revealed to us in order that we should “seek God”? There is but one answer to these questions and that is that if we ever needed anything to convince us of God’s tender love for us this revelation should surely bring that conviction.

For God is healing. When all is said and done about the power of the subjective mind we are yet to know that the supreme power of healing is in God, and that however much we may be able to do for ourselves the very powers we exert are God’s powers seeking manifestation through us.

Knowing God as Principle it is our business to seek the science of the operation of His laws. We use the word “science” in this connection not only as the equivalent of knowledge but as the equivalent of knowledge correctly applied. For spiritual healing is a science. It is the power of reforming and recreating applied through the knowledge of Divine causation.

God manifests Himself to the individual in His own way. And one experience of the individual with God as a directive, illuminating and sustaining influence is worth more by way of interior conviction than all the essays on the Divine ever written or sermons ever preached. “The Spirit witnesseth to our spirit that we are the children of God.”

Now this explanation of God’s nature and attributes is made necessary in order to clarify what we in Divine Science believes God to be. It has been well said that the surest way to lose God is to attempt to define Him. To those who wish to know God we say that this knowledge is not to be had from books or teachers, or sermons or pictures. The best way, the only way, to know God is to seek Him by “feeling after” Him. We must seek after Him in the very centre of our own being. All those dim gropings for expression of the divinity within us must be recognised as efforts of the Spirit to impress itself on our consciousness and must be waited on, attended upon and developed.

Friday Meditation with Wenda - Live in Peace

2009-06-30T00:39:00.000-07:00

"Live in peace, boldly and with tranquillity". Abbey de Tourville

It is our duty not to be continually fighting a civil war within us. Yet, inner peace does not come by living in an ivory tower as an escape from conflict and tumult. Nor is it the absence of these disturbances; rather, it is the strong control of them. This is why Tourville used the two words, ‘boldly’ and “tranquillity” – to live in peace with a courage that is steady and stable!

It means the right discipline of our thought and emotion which cools resentments, calms all anxiety, extends forgiveness, and cultivates love.

We are kept in peace even in the midst of turmoil as our thought is stayed on God. But peace, like love, cannot be stored for ourselves alone as a private possession. It must describe our actions with others.

For peace is not some kind of passive mood; but a moving attribute of our Divine nature. It is a power very much alive in each of us, creative and healing. As we learn to use the magnamity of Spirit toward ourselves, we can express Its generosity and forgiveness toward others, and live in peace.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you…. – John 14:27

Friday Meditation - I Bless Everything

2009-06-08T03:32:00.000-07:00

But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. – James 1:25

It, (God) was not created in the past, nor is it to be annihilated in the future; it is eternal, permanent, absolute, and from all eternity it sufficiently embraces in its essence all possible merits. – buddhism

James tells us that we should look to the perfect law of liberty, and by following its precepts we shall be blessed in our deeds.

This means to keep the eye single or centred on the Spirit, which is eternal and embraces all good. We often wonder why we are so limited, and too frequently project the blame for our limitations upon the Will of God.

This is a psychological trick which we play in ignorance of the true facts. Limitation is not imposed upon us by God, but through our own ignorance of the great freedom that
God has bestowed upon man. We are privileged by our Creator to become cocreators in our personal affairs. No greater freedom could be given than the freedom each has in experiencing his true nature in increasing measure.

Daily we should open our consciousness to the Divine Influx, expecting greater wisdom and guidance and complete self-expression by blessing everything and knowing that the good multiplies in our experience, and lift up our consciousness to receive it.

We should turn our thought God-ward and accept the wholeness and the abundance and the joy of the eternal Spirit.

The Mind at Work

2009-06-08T03:30:00.000-07:00

Our thought, our imagination, our words, are creative. We did not hang the stars in space nor set the lofty peaks overlooking the sea, but we do experience an outward manifestation of our inward convictions. The greatest discovery ever made is the discovery of the power of thought. Thought is an Energy of which only this may be said: It is.

Our thought operates independently of conditions and has the possibility of transcending circumstances as they now are and causing new ones to be created. However, we should bear in mind that the creative Power is only set in motion by our thought. The Power Itself belongs to the Universe, and no man made It. All that we can do is to accept it, believe and use It.

But while we continuously remould our thought according to the pattern of ancient ideas, we remain bound to previous opinion, bias, and prejudice. We must do something to break down limiting experience and to expand our inner vision. Here our imagination comes into play, enabling us to conceive greater good.

Neither the will nor the intellect are creative, they simply decide that to which the thought, the emotion, and the imagination shall respond. He who would rise above previous conditions, transcend limitations, and create a better situation for himself, must deliberately turn, in his imagination and thought, from the old order; and with a calm, but flexible, determination endeavour to contemplate only the good, the beautiful, and the true.

He should refuse to admit into his consciousness any controversy or argument, but should compel himself to know and to accept that through the genius of his thought he is moulding an individualised destiny out of That from which all form emanates.

Sin and Judgment

2009-06-04T06:58:00.000-07:00

“Sin means, literally, mistake or “missing the mark”. It means our failure to be true to the innate spirit of Good: it means a false system of thinking, the control of the body of the senses rather than by the soul.

Sin is the most subtle illusion that arises from the organs of fancy, which inhabit the soul. It is a supposition that a phenomenon of sense is a verity of Being. Sin is fear, doubt, lust, and all the other myths and goblins that lurk in the shadows that add perspective to the panorama of existence. It is a vista of the senses, unreal and therefore non-existent. Evil lurks in that mind which the great Milton has stigmatised as “mortal mind”, the mind which is not.

There is a law back of sin. You cannot sin without suffering. The only destruction of sin there can be is the reformation of the sinner himself.

To be effectual our repentance must be in proportion to our sin, and the only atonement for evil is the overcoming of the temptation to sin; this is accomplished by persistency in wielding. The sinner alone can atone for his sin. If we realise the fact that we are spiritual beings and not material, that we are now the children of God, gradually we are brought into at-one-ment in consciousness, and we become consciously at-one-ment with the All-Good, the Perfect, the Permanent.

We do not have to reconcile the sun to an object in a dark alley; all we have to do is to move the object, and place it in the sun’s beneficent rays.

Man is spiritual. God is not man, even as the sun is not a ray, but man in his spiritual completion is the outward expression of which God is the indwelling substance. When the lesson of Love is learned, and man rises to the law of Love, existence is transmuted into life, and he becomes a luminary of the Spirit in whom is no darkness at all; neither is there shadow of turning toward the reign of sense.

The predestination of man is that he shall forever repose in the great central heart of God.

Friday Meditation - Faith in What?

2009-06-04T06:56:00.000-07:00

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. – Hebrews 11:1

We all believe in something, but too often it is negative. We believe in bad luck and misfortune far more than “the beneficence of God.” Until we have faith in His Power in us, our affairs are no better than the ideas which give them existence. Yet, the good is ours “in the invisible supply.” To put our faith unequivocably in It is to create It in our experience.

We cannot be separated from the Wholeness, Wisdom, and Love of God. No circumstance or situation can contradict the omnipresence of Divinity. Our affairs, no matter what they may be, can be handled according to our faith in this integrity. Nothing is insurmountable to God in us, acting through us, in all our affairs at all times.

There is one Life, that Life is God’s Life, and that Life is our life now. We should cease judging by appearances and align our faith to the Divinity within us and within all whom we contact. We should deeply sense the motivation of God’s Love moving in and through all we do, bringing every relationship into the peace and harmony that blesses each other.

Aware that infinite Wisdom doesn’t label events trivial or great, we should rely on Its guidance continually. Our faith should be complete trust in this Power to restore and make right.

In this absolute knowing, we should understand that God’s all-surrounding Presence is ever with us. Spiritual Substance waits to be formed through our faith, and that we should accept our good right here, right now.

Why Spiritual Treatment Works

2009-05-26T23:39:00.000-07:00

There is a great simplicity to spiritual mind treatment. It involves an atmosphere of feeling, followed by words definitely formulated with a conviction that they are acted upon and fulfilled by Law for the person or purpose with which they are identified, and that what is implied in the words will transpire in the experience of the person or situation being treated.

We need to keep in mind the fact that in a spiritual mind treatment we do not send out any thought nor indulge in concentration. If we believe we are living in a spiritual Universe everything is everywhere present at all times, so there would be no place to send anything or to concentrate. This is a position similar to that which physics has taken, stating that the universe is a unity and there are no fragments. The laws of the universe are present and instantly available wherever one is. This would mean that there would always be an action of Law on what one thinks.

All the great thinkers of the ages have known this. Another way of stating the idea is that God is everywhere, and all of God is wherever God is. What God knows, God knows everywhere. It is for this reason that we can say we do not need to send out any thoughts, or concentrate anything. Who can concentrate the principles of harmony or beauty? They can only be used.

Spiritual mind treatment needs to start out with the premise, and belief, that there is but One Life, that Life is God, and that Life is perfect and is the life of the person being treated. We need to recognise that there is a Divine pattern of the person’s being behind him, or he would not be here at all. None of us make ourselves; we can only experience our being as an expression of that invisible Source of all being. So the person is in reality a spiritual being and there is a pattern of Perfection for his existence. Regardless of any outward appearance, within him nestles the seed of perfection.

Source: Ernest Holmes (Science of Mind Magazine - Feb 1989)

The Power of Concentration

2009-05-14T01:07:00.000-07:00

It has been said that the development of true personality depends largely, if not altogether, on concentration. By this is meant that the focusing of thought on a specific subject or object is the one thing needed to the understanding of the subject or the acquiring of the object.

The creative capacity in man is like the creative capacity in God, for it is and must be the result of unwavering direction. “If thine eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light, “said the Master, and James declares that, “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

A man’s eye is not single when his attention is easily drawn away from the thing he desires to be, or do. Hence the innumerable failures in the world.

Nothing successfully interferes with true and constructive concentration as the common tendency to judge after appearances. Appearances may indicate that conditions are greater than man’s capacity to overcome them, and so long as man believes they are, they will be so to him. The believer will be conquered by his own beliefs.

When a man thinks or believes that negative conditions or limitation are larger than his power to overcome them, he is concentrating on a falsity.

Concentration is the art and the science of discrimination. It is the capacity to separate the wheat of the real from the chaff of the apparent, for it is only as we are able to do this that error can be overcome by Truth.

The tendency of an idea or mental picture is to externalise itself, unless it is inhibited by negative thinking. Those who think in the negative bring into their lives negative conditions such as sickness and failure, those who are a mixture of negative and positive thinking, swing between success and failure. Those who have discovered the wisdom of dwelling” In the secret place of the Most High” which is the art of concentrating on the real, makes it appear.

Jesus had formed the habit of concentrating on the Real or the things that are made of God, and by so doing it was easy for Him to see through appearances.

Man in ignorance regard the abnormal as real and as normal, and then wonders why man is persistently tormented by the abnormal and the unnatural. So long as man continues in this state of mind, man shall speak of the awful uncertainty of things. The awful uncertainty is not in things but in man, and it will ever continue to be so until Truth is known, and the Truth is that, only, that which is real, of which God is the Author.

“All things were made by God, and with Him was not anything made that was made”

We shall know what are the things that were made by God, when we know that God is not the author of confusion but of peace. When we can discern that whatever is confusing (i.e. sickness, anxiety and poverty) is not of God, no matter how real these seem to be, we shall have arrived at the place in our spiritual development where we can say none of these things (appearances) moves us. Then we shall know the meaning of the words, to them gave He dominion.

Concentrating on the things that are, the appearances which seem to be, will be eliminated, and being eliminated from consciousness they will cease to have power over us, for it is in consciousness that man suffers or not suffer at all.

To fill consciousness, therefore, with the things of God, is to render it empty of all else, and when consciousness is empty of all else , then God manifests Himself as Health, and Wholeness, for it is only as such He can be manifested. Just as the sun can manifest itself only in that which is of its own nature, such as light and heat, so God can manifest Himself only in that which reflects Beauty and Harmony, Perfection and Purity.

Whatever, then, we desire, only that which is good on the principle that only the good endures, we should keep on thinking it with greatest persistency, for by so doing we shall bring good into our experiences according to the eternal law of attraction.

Do we desire health, think it, and let us never allow ourselves to be diverted from thinking it.

It is because health is in us that we are able to through thinking health to bring it into manifestation. We must externalise it through the intelligent direction of the only power with which God has equipped us for this pleasant and profitable duty. This power is the power of mind, for as James Allen says,

‘Man is mind, and evermore
He takes the tool of thought
And, shaping what he wills,
Brings forth a thousand ills,
He thinks in secret and it comes to pass,
Environment is but his looking glass”

Source: W John Murray (Mental Medicine 1923)

Friday Meditation - Release the Healing Christ

2009-05-14T01:05:00.000-07:00

TODAY I RELEASE THE HEALING CHRIST WITHIN ME

Jesus looked out from the Mind of God as his very own mind. He saw as God sees, understood as God understands, and loved as God loves. Infinitely, compassionately, healingly, without a single dissonant thought, the Master released the mighty, compassionate, healing Christ in himself and all men. Wave after wave of this radiant Light went out to the hearts and minds of men, restoring balance, poise natural rhythm of mind and body. Wave after wave of the awakend Christ-consciousness of men responded to the illimitable, all pervasive oneness of Love’s radiant energy. As rain covers the whole earth, as air fills all space, so the Master’s release of Universal Mind-power embraced and cleansed all things, people and conditions. Always he realised that it was the Father within him that did the works.

Realisation

In the vast reaches of my Cosmic Consciousness of Mind and Its illimitable Power, I see, know, love and bless all things, people and races with Love’s immortal peace, harmony, blessedness and joy. There is no place or space where this Word shall not be felt. Every idea in Universal Consciousness feels the impact and impartation of this Truth and responds with joy, liberation, spiritual substance. The Supreme Being in every living creature is illuminated, glorified and the Morning Stars sing Soul’s Immortal Symphony.

Today I decide that all mankind shall be healed and blessed and that I shall be a living example of the boundless Infinite One. My Soul doth magnify the Lord and the Lord doth magnify me with All-grace, All-wisdom and Christly Healing Power.

Meditation: Right Action is taking place now in all the areas of my life

2009-05-08T00:43:00.001-07:00

God rests in tireless, all-harmonious right action and so do I. The same Power that holds the planets in rhythm, order and orbit, is the same Power that operates tirelessly in me. The whole Universe expresses the Cosmic Right Action of Universal Mind.

God is Right and right action is taking place here and now in every detail of my affairs, home, business. This right action is spiritual and perfect and because it is spiritual and perfect is it divinely lawful, legal, just, wise, certain and sure. It blesses all concerned, with wisdom, justice, intelligent right action. What God has not ordained, no man can maintain! Right action is continuous, constant and steadfast. It can never be intermittent, spasmodic or erratic. God’s action is definite, positive, certain.

Realisation

Right Action is Truth in action, Mind in action, Life in action. This right action is taking place here and now in every detail of this situation for freedom, liberty, right adjustment. This right action is dynamic, powerful, certain and definite. It gets things finished, settled and done. In the Mind of God, this right action is already established. This treatment opens the way for it to reveal itself, heal itself, demonstrate the Certainty of Mind. I am grateful that all things are working together for God’s right action to take place now – legally, morally, financially, spiritually and physically. Now I release all this unto the Mind of the Eternal and let God work. So it is.

Faith

2009-05-05T22:50:00.000-07:00

It would be easy to be a student of Truth if we could always foretell our future and the type of challenges that were going to be presented to us. This would mean that we wouldn’t require any faith at all.

When presented with challenges, we wonder why would this happen to us, that one day we are filled with happiness, peace and have a secure position, and the next there’s nothing.

What we should be concerned about is not how insurmountable the problem appears to be, but how we react to a particular condition should be our concern, for this is what will determine the next step in one’s spiritual unfoldment.

If you haven’t accepted the condition as a reality, and really feel in your heart that you are worthy of better things, then you have nothing to fear. But you have a great deal to fear if you become bitter, resentful, and filled with a consciousness of lack.

Realise at all times that you have Life, or God, in the hollow of your hands, and no human being, or group of human beings, can possibly deprive you of your substance, of your supply, or of whatever good that appears to be slipping away from you.

So long as you have spiritual mastery, when mentally and emotionally you have learned to react constructively, nothing can harm you. In the seeming condition of lack you will find a tremendous amount of good, not only spiritual, but also material. The theme to work on is “In Thee O Lord do I put my trust, let me never be ashamed’.

All we have to do is constantly affirm, believe and know, that we shall not be ashamed for the faith that we have exercised in God.

God never falls short. When afraid, it is not in respect of God, nor His Knowledge or Power, but it’s regarding our own capacity of faith. Are we strong enough to weather the storm? Can we absolutely be sure of ourselves that we shall not let God down through our lack of faith?

In whatever condition, God is still there, and He is inviting us to come up higher, by and through whatever condition faces us and which is, nevertheless, none of His creating. Our souls have chosen this particular experience for their own growth.

The challenge being experienced, will give us an expanded consciousness of the presence and power, knowledge and love of God. It is an exercise in faith. It is only by, and through, this exercise that we can develop a greater degree of faith.

Think to yourself, “I’m now going to expand. There is no reason for me to panic. There is no question of failure or opposition. This unhappy condition is there to cultivate my own quality of faith, to help me grow and, as a result of that growth, to bring a higher quality of goodness, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and materially into my life”.

It doesn’t matter what the lesson is about, there is only one Presence, God, and HE is Good. Therefore, we cannot possibly lack any good quality of His. We know that we live in this very Presence of God, Who is the substance of our own faith. Experience therefore teaches us that there is a time to prepare, a time for us to sow like the farmer who prepares his ground, cultivates it, fertilises it, and then puts in his seed, after which he waters it, and then there is nothing more that he can do. He cannot make the seed grow, neither can he do one single thing more to bring it about.

We always know our own minds and hearts, how we’ve been thinking, feeling, and living. The question to ask ourselves is, which have we built up, a greater faith in God, or a greater fear of conditions? Have we so cultivated the garden of our minds that we know that we have beautiful flowers and not weeds?

Should the ground not be well prepared and coming up as weeds, we do not have to stand by, nor leave the weeds there. It can only stay there when we allow it, if we do not wish it to remain, we can plough it up and start afresh.

God gives us the power to plough over the apparent conditions of lack, sickness, unhappiness that suddenly present themselves in our minds, bodies and affairs.

It is in our reaction, our physical, mental and emotional reaction, to the conditions that will either retain them in our consciousness or eliminate them, and allow the pure Spirit of God to flood through us with His perfection.

Faith is power in action. By negative faith, which is fear, we separate ourselves from the Good.

Realise we cannot escape our good, light, love, health, harmony or supply. We can’t get away from God because we are the manifestation of that very substance that HE Is. So, according to our faith, we can fill this present condition with as much good as we desire, and any sudden bolt from the blue will mean absolutely nothing, if we react constructively through knowing that God is All there is.

What we should know is, health is within, happiness is within, success is within, and supply is within. Our complete freedom is within. That is the Truth we have to learn, the Truth that, according to our faith over days, weeks, months and years, it is now being done unto us, by ourselves, and not by any other human being.

“Christ says according to your faith it shall be done unto you”

Meditation

I affirm that sweetness comes in the place of bitterness, that abundance fills the condition of lack, that peace replaces discord, that health takes the place of dis-ease, then it so, for the faith I have, is the Faith Which is God. God is All Knowledge and All Power, expressing His fullness in this apparent void, pressing Himself into my consciousness.

Nicol C. Campbell: Good-Bad News, 2^nd ed, 1954

Scientific Prayer

2009-04-22T01:08:00.001-07:00

What It Is – How You Can Use It

Our faith is based upon the conviction that the infinite Mind has all Intelligence, all Ability, all Power, all Wisdom, and knows how to create anything. We can think of the most difficult thing it is possible for finite minds to imagine, and can rest in the assurance that Mind knows how to solve the problem or to create the new conditions.

Our faith is likewise based upon the fact that the Universe is a system of Law and Order, and the Law of Mind always responds according to the nature of our thought. The Law never reasons with us, saying, “You know, I don’t think that would be a good thing for you to have.” We have faith in the undeviating neutrality of the Law. It has no preferences. It never draws backs and says, “That goes against the grain with me.” It is absolutely neutral. If It could talk to us if would say, “You go ahead and name it, and I’ll make it. “It does not like to make one kind of things more than another. It is willing to create whatever we dictate through out pattern of thought. The Law is an intangible principle of Mind that operates in this unswerving, obedient way because Its nature is to do so.

We are able to consciously avail ourselves to the action of the Law when we recognise its nature. When we understand that the mind in man is an individualisation of the Mind of God, Spirit, then we know when we speak our word of Good that it is the word of Spirit which is being spoken, which is the Law of its own fulfilment. We rise far above the idea of man standing erect and calling upon the great Creative Mind to do his bidding.

For when man speaks his word, being the expression of God, that word becomes the word of God and is manifest.

When we pray, we have a definite intention in our thought and the prayer is being given for a specific purpose. We become quiet within our thought and reassure ourselves of the reality of the infinite Power with which we are dealing, erecting an altar of faith and conviction in the sanctuary of our consciousness.

Next we make a series of statements, which should flow from our conviction, since there’s no magic in the words themselves. The statements used should flow spontaneously from our awareness of the Perfection of God now manifesting.

We are convincing ourselves

If we wish to pray for an increased activity in our affairs, our statement must be so formulated as to convince ourselves of that activity. Our whole endeavour is to convince ourselves and assure ourselves that there is a Divine activity in our affairs, that this activity is functioning in everything we do. It is surrounding us with love and friendship; it goes before us and prepares our way; it opens the doorway of opportunity for us and compels us to make right judgements, to act intelligently; it inspires both our thoughts and our actions. Spirit enlightens our minds and gives enthusiastic buoyancy to our acts.

We also can state that our word removes all doubt, fear and uncertainty.

When a prayer is released, it is a completed thing. It is then in the hands of the Law and will be carried forward into manifestation, just as it is.

The person who speaks his word, releases it, but is filled with doubt and misgiving as to whether it will ever be fulfilled, has his answer right then. That prayer will be answered, but in reverse.

All prayers are answered, although not always in the way we would like. But they are answered according to the individual's pattern of thinking and conviction at that time.

If our prayers are released, as Jesus’ were, with the fullest confidence that the Law can do nothing else but answer them, our demonstrations will come thick and fast. If they are released with only partial acceptance, then they will be only partially answered. If they are released with little or no inward conviction, then the answers will be of a like nature. There is no escape from this, and no exception. Remember, we are dealing with inexorable Law, which never deviates and never varies. It knows only to obey.

The Law of Mind is impersonal, like the law of electricity, which will move into action for anyone who observes the principles governing its flow. Anyone may press the button, the electricity doesn’t care who it is, for its nature is to flow at the touch of that button.

The Law of Mind will always flow in the direction of constructive, creative, activity when we understand and apply the principles by which It works. We have the mightiest force in all the world to command. We can step out of a prison of ignorance and fear, and into the light of a constructive expectancy that will remake our world for us.

The Value of Giving Thanks

In releasing our word to the action of the Law we do so with a glad and thankful heart. Giving thanks is a further indication that we have fully released our word. It means that we are sure of the completion of the creative process; that there are no lingering doubts.

When one has done his work thoroughly and well, he can turn his back upon the prayer, give thanks for its certainty, and rejoice in its fulfillment, even though he has not seen it outwardly fulfilled as yet.

At some time or another we have to become quiet and in the solitude of our own thought, discover for ourselves what we actually believe, and then proceed to put that faith into creative action and, through patterns of thinking, build around that faith.

Theories are fine but meaningless except for idle speculation unless we practically apply them to any and all problems and situations which may confront us. It is wonderful to say we believe in prayer, but what can it mean to us unless we pray?

There comes a time in the process of our own growth and development when we have learned enough and we must start using what we have learned. Otherwise we can find ourselves spending a lifetime gathering together ideas which will be just be a mass of interesting information of no practical value.

Regardless of how little, or how much, we may feel we have learned about the Science of Mind, the only time to start to make use of it is now. We have to start using today whatever we may know or we shall find that the time never comes when we feel we know enough.

The real secret to the practical application lies not in how much we know, but in the application of what we do know. And the application means only that we have to apply it, not just think about applying it.

The results, large or small, much or little, depend entirely on the degree of conscientious endeavour, enthusiasm and joy, conviction and faith we can bring to bear on any particular situation.

No one else can do any of this for us. We alone must do the applying, for the Science of Mind is to be a practical dynamic factor in everyday living. It’s up to us.

Source: Ernest Holmes (Science of Mind Magazine- July 1987

Meditation: Sucessful Living

2009-04-22T01:03:00.001-07:00

Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Galatians 6:7

The Law of Mind is constantly working for us by working through us. The manner in which It works is of our choosing. If we deny our convictions and principles, if we go contrary to the principles of right action, the Law reflects back to us limitation, hardship, and privation.

When we are ready to keep our attention on successful living and upon ways of integrity, diligence, patience, cooperation and interest in the needs of others, then come the manifestations that are natural issues of these qualities.

Thoughts are things. The thoughts that we entertain about ourselves or others become living realities in our lives.

If success is our desire, every self-contemplation must be open to this end result. Every thought and idea we contemplate should reflect the achievements we seek, the abilities we would develop, and the happiness we desire. These come when we give the Law the right ideas to fulfil as our experience.

Meditation - I Am Born Anew

2009-04-10T23:51:00.000-07:00

I relinquish all my my old and limited concepts and am born anew.

God created me out of His own Life-Force and Energy. Each hour, each day, the new ME is being reborn according to the newness of my thoughts. I let old memories and all old, limited concepts go.

Infinite Life within me, infinite Love within me, fills me with Its holy strength and vitality here and now. I am filled with new courage; new faith and all old fears and doubts are dissolved thoroughly. My body is the embodiment of immortal Life, Power, Joy and Vitality.

I am strong with the strength of Universal Life and Its vitalising energy. Perfect Life within me, perfect Love within, coordinates all my functions, organs, secretions into perfect harmony and health.

There is no retention of hate-stuff, age-stuff and waste-stuff. I let the radiant Reality of Life flow through me and refresh me completely. I relax. I let God work. I am born anew, for God is the Life of my being, the Truth of my being and the Substance of my being here and NOW.

God’s will for me is endless life, boundless strength and natural harmony. I am transformed by the complete transformation of my mind.

Conscious Cooperation

2009-04-06T23:42:00.000-07:00

It is when simple consciousness becomes self-consciousness, and apprehension becomes comprehension, that man, unlike the young child begins to perceive the relation which one thing bears to another, whether it be in the world of art or literature, mathematics or metaphysics, all of which sciences are.

The assertion that it is as necessary for the soul to rise above the plane of sense in order to “know God,” as it is for the intellect to rise above the general, in order to understand the particular, is based on the truth that the child must, through education, gradually learn that a house is a thing composed of many other things, all of which must bear harmonious relation to every other thing, before that one thing which he calls a house can become the thing it is.

Man must now rise as a spiritual being to the perception of his relation to the Great First Cause. It is at this point of the perception of his relation to First Cause that man becomes religious in a true sense of the word, for it is at this point that he realises that an evolution which has gone on until this moment by Cosmic or subconscious processes must, from now on, continue through conscious co-operation. He has arrived where the responsibility of working out his salvation on a more elevated plane presents itself, and with such knowledge he springs to his task, as one who knows that all things are now within his reach and only awaiting the taking and the enjoying.

Equipped with the consciousness of his Divinity, man must commence at once to lift up his thoughts to the hills of Spirit from whence cometh his help. The ordinary man becomes an extraordinary man in the sense that he accomplishes now by the aid of his new concept of himself, what he never could have accomplished so long as he rested under the belief of himself as a material individual, subject to material laws.

Apparently living in a world of chance and change, he learns that he is really living in a Universe of immutable harmony, where “All things do really work together for good'.

Working for Good always on the plane of the Universal, the Law will work for Good for the individual on the plane of the particular, only as he works consciously with it. The perfect way of working with the Law is through understanding, and inviting the blessings of right thinking.

We are learning that the kingdom to which Jesus refers is not something afar-off and outside oneself and one’s present experiences, but that it is something near, very near, and inside of oneself, as that state of content which is based on the knowledge that,” In the universe that is filled with the presence of God there is no room for evil."

This brings us to the understanding of the one-ness of Jesus with the Source of all-Being. That it is the one-ness of all with the Source of Being, for unless the all is one with the Source it is bereft of reality. The one-ness of each individual with the Universal is a Truth which can never be offset, but the individual must know this Truth, otherwise he will never be free from the belief that he is separate, or separated from God.

It is this belief that we are separated from God, which is the cause of all our problems; therefore the conviction that “Nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus," is the one which is to bring about our emancipation from all that is contrary to health, happiness and holiness.

When man learns to govern his life according to Principle, rather than by personal opinion, he will not be swayed by externals. Realising that he lives and move and has his being in that Eternal order where Harmony is the only state of consciousness, he will understand what Jesus meant when He said, “Nothing shall by any means hurt you,” for he will know that no thing which has proceeded from Principle, can be in any wise injurious, and he will acknowledge nothing that does not proceed from It.

It is the restoration of man to his divine rights that is the crowning glory of the mission of the Master, and this restoration can never be brought about save as it is brought about by man’s intelligent co-operation with Divine Law. There can be no co-operation without understanding or true knowledge of man’s divine rights; and this is what Truth is intended to convey.

One accepts the fact that Great First Cause is Spirit or Mind, and we must admit that Man, as Great First Effect, is spiritual or mental and that what seems to be material in connection with man, is nothing more nor less than man’s material concepts of himself at a certain period of his mental unfoldment.

It is these material concepts that Truth has come to destroy, so that we may enter into the enjoyment of those things which God has prepared for us from before the foundation of the world.

We should realise that there are no material laws, but that All laws are mental, for through this admission, it will enable us to avail ourselves of those mental laws, and thus rise above our accepted limitations by a purely mental process - the process of Thought, for “Thoughts are things”, the most real things in the universe.

The difference between God’s universe and man’s world, is the difference between law and order, and chaos and confusion. The only way for man to conform his world to God’s universe, is to learn to form mental pictures of the Ideal, that is, to think of things as they are in contradistinction to things as they appear to be to his disorderly senses.

The law of Mind has no limits. We are limited in our application of the law by our belief that it has limits. We are not merely affected and influenced by our thoughts, but we are what we are, in actuality and in manifestation, that which our thoughts have made us. All that we are, is the result of what we have thought.

Whether we ascend the loftiest heights or descend to the lowest depth, we shall never go out of out mental realm; it will always be our own thought that we shall perceive.

Man is free to direct his attention, which is his concentrated thought, as he chooses, but he must choose in accordance with law and order if he would have law and order prevail in his affairs,

Friday Meditation: The Spirit Within

2009-04-03T07:26:00.000-07:00

…there is a spirit in man; and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding – Job 32:8

Spirit within us, our conscious intelligence, is not separated from Universal Conscious Intelligence, but is an individualized expression of It. The power of our intelligence has a far greater potential than that of our bodies and that of the world of form about us. As we become more conscious of our unity with Spirit, we grow in our ability to express who we really are.

Growth, as we observe in nature, is a steady unfolding of the hidden potential of the seed. The growth of a plant can be nourished and cultivated, but it cannot express its full potential all at once. The rosebud must be allowed to unfold into a full blown rose.

In like manner, our conscious intelligence, which is Spirit, unfolds within us as we grow in understanding. We can prepare for the unfolding, or spiritual growth, by recognising our oneness with God. We can choose to express more of our innate spiritual potential.

God does not force growth upon us, though it does often seem to be accelerated by adversity. At such times, God is not compelling us, but we are awakening to the Truth, the Truth that our choices are acted upon by the creative Law of Life, or God.

Letter from Wenda - Thoughts to Build Upon

2009-03-30T04:26:00.001-07:00

Man is formed for purposes of high resolve and great accomplishment. Man should seek by all means at his command to work out what he believes to be his destiny.

Knowing, as the wise man always knows, that his destiny is to attain to God-likeness, not merely in terms of moral goodness but in terms of spiritual power, not only will he work by all the means at his command, but he will command the means, for man has resources of which, until he arrives at a true appreciation of himself, he is not conscious.

Therefore the only excuse for any form of instruction is to make man aware of those inner potentialities so that he may no longer make excuses for himself. Neither birth nor our environments are sufficient in themselves to justify failure or mediocrity, for these are based more upon ignorance than upon prenatal conditions and limiting surroundings.

Not knowing our divine privilege, we are slaves of conditions which we presently overcome as soon as we discover our true being.

The man who has found himself, no longer whines over conditions, for he knows that these are not insurmountable. On understanding, strongest wings, he soars above untoward conditions.

Formed for greater things, and knowing he is formed for great things, he no longer grovels on the refuse heap of his fears, neither does he shrink at imaginary impending calamities, for past, present and future contain nothing for him but the harmonious working of that immutable law which can never work contrary to its own nature.

When truth becomes apparent to man, he will enter at once into the enjoyment, not of things which have not always belonged to him, but of things of which ignorance has deprived him.

The cry of every soul is for better conditions individually and collectively, and because of this we infer that this instinctive longing is based upon the conviction that there is something better in store for man than man is at present experiencing.

We look upon a world filled with fruitless work and we ask if God has forgotten it. To our disturbed mentalities the eternal Christ is ever saying, “Peace, be still,” but our inner ears are stopped so that we can hear nothing save through the outer ear of sense; hence all our fears and doubts. For the outer has nothing else that it can convey, since it bears no message from the Highest Truth.

Truth bids us, “Be not afraid,” while error seeks to terrify, and will continue to terrify so long as we believe error to be Truth.

The cure for all the miseries in the world of sense is to turn at once to that Eternal Order which underlies all reality.

When the enlightened soul perceives the Eternal Order to be the governing force of all things, visible and invisible, it loses its fear through the conviction of negative’s nothingness, for Truth realised, furnishes man with the strong cord which binds all error with consuming fire.

The Kingdom of God will come upon earth, as Jesus prayed it should, when man, instructed in Truth, shall co-operate with that Truth in the working out of all his problems, and not to solve those problems, as he does at present, by resorting to error’s ways.

As God, Divine Mind, is the same, yesterday, today and forever, He knows neither love nor hate, approval nor disapproval, favouritism nor prejudice. He regards all things with most impartial eyes, for all He knows is that for which He Himself is responsible, and this He has pronounced “very good.” It is for this reason that we read in the Scriptures that His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts.

Spiritual understanding is the Saviour, the Redeemer. When God the Holy Spirit, removes the inner cataracts from the eyes of the soul, the soul sees the ‘new heaven and the new earth,’ and the old concept of earth and heaven passes away with the ignorance which begat it. In this hour a great revelation takes place. Every place becomes sacred. The worship is no longer confined to what is called the ‘sacred precincts of the church.’ There also are no times, nor seasons, for prayer to the man who has glimpsed the Whole which contains all its parts, for to such a man, religion becomes something infinitely more than the adoration of something abstract.

Religion dominates such a man’s whole being, so that he intakes and out-breathes the Divine that is in him, as it was in Jesus.

The events which, prior to this revelation of the Son of God in him and the torments which came from that belief, all fade from memory so that nothing can ever again give reality to that which Truth annuls. Space, matter, time and thought become the servants of him who knows that only God rules.

All things are being re-created for him who sees beyond the merely visible, but it requires keenness of perception to note the gradual renovation. It is when men ask questions of their inner monitors concerning their thoughts and acts, that questions get answered in no uncertain tone.

Illumination comes to the soul which has prepared for it, just as light shines through a lamp which has been cleaned and filled with oil, and the wick properly inserted and lighted.

The sun shines always for everyone, but only those who come out of the shadows enjoy its warmth. Divine Love is the same for all, but man must enter into the spirit of It if he would taste the blessings It bestows.

Source: W John Murray (Mental Medicine 1923)

Friday Meditation with Wenda - Fine Tuning

2009-03-26T23:41:00.001-07:00

The Bible tells us; the fear on man bringeth a snare: but whoso puttest his trust in the Lord shall be safe. Proverbs 29:25

There are many demands made on us continually: paying our bills, achieving success in our jobs, finding the ideal mate, overcoming a health problem. And all of these things occupy our minds from time to time.

So perhaps we need to take a look at the thoughts we are allowing ourselves to entertain.

Do we spend too much time thinking of the demands on us, worrying about the things we feel we lack? If so, we need to focus our awareness on the truth that all we need is supplied to us, recognising that worry is not productive. Possibly we may also benefit from a bit of “fine tuning” to rid ourselves of the feeling of being separated from our good, to begin to see ourselves as a perfect expression of harmony and balance, living in the midst of abundance and fulfilment.

Here’s what we can do:

1. Turn completely away from the old experience of lack.
2. Declare positively the way we want our life to be.
3. See ourselves living in a state of perfect harmony and fulfillment.

The Principle of Being

2009-03-23T23:03:00.000-07:00

Truth teaches us that God is Good, all Life, the only Reality there is. That God is not a person, but that God is the “Absolute,” nothing being comparable to God.

We read: God created man in His own image, God is Spirit and that God is Mind. Spirit:- an intelligence conceived apart from any physical organism or embodiment; the intelligent, immaterial part of man. Mind:- the entire spiritual nature, that which thinks, feels, wills and desires; From Spirit: we deduce that God (Mind) is the Creator; man is that which is created. Man is an expression of thought generated in Mind (God). Therefore man, the true creation, is God-likeness . Grasping this idea man reasons truly that there can be but one conclusion at which to arrive, that he is the son of the Creator.

As a son of God, man has as his rightful inheritance all the attributes of the God-head. To know man as made in the “image and likeness of God, is to him as expressing all of God’s Divine Qualities, Love, Life, Health, Wisdom. However, unless man accepts the gifts bestowed upon him and uses the privileges given him; unless he manifests his divine mission, thereby living as the heir, man will remain in ignorance of the Truth regarding God.

The Spirit in man is like unto its source, perfect, true, illimitable. This consciousness of Truth inspires him to a higher and nobler life.

Man has withheld from himself his rightful position as heir and son of God. To whom all things are possible. Whilst believing the words of Christ as true, man failed in that he did not do the works. Jesus tells us that we should be doers of the word.

The thing that stands between man and God is the personal self, and only by putting it under control of the Divine self can man hope to stand in God-likeness. As we look on the bodily manifestation of man, he is personal; but in his spiritual being he is an individual. The personal is not the real man; the real man is the spirit which is in the Image and Likeness of God. To overcome personality does not mean losing individuality. God (Good) radiates life to the individual; again the individual should radiate Good to those about him, and this he will do when he understands his oneness with the Creative Power.

Therefore in accepting the teachings of Jesus we must put them into practice which is doing the works. Man must rid himself of the idea that he is of the earth, earthy. Christ in saying: “I am from above, acknowledged his own divinity. He proclaimed the divinity of all mankind when he said, “I am in my Father, and ye in me and I in you.”

Let us express in our body the power we have within ourselves by claiming for it Purity, Love, Health, Strength, and all good. Man must cease to look upon himself as other than the Son of God, made in His Image and Likeness. Man must know that he is complete in God, then will he grow into God-Likeness.

To unfold spiritually, man must separate himself in thought from the “I am not.” The unreal, and know only the good. So long as man allows the material self to deny the Christ, or true Self, just so long will he be kept out of his inheritance. Now is the time to assert our self and be what God knows us to be.

Man is the Son of the Intelligence, therefore intelligent. He loves, or is capable of loving because the Essence of his being is Love;

To advance along the line of truth we must get thorough understanding of the Principe of Being; we must know the true Self (the “I am,” ”Spirit of Christ,” “Son of God.”) is in the “Image and Likeness of God,” the highest good, which is Divine.

Truth

I and my Father are one. I am a child of God created in His Image and Likeness. The Spirit is the same in me as it was in Jesus. I claim my divinity. I know only the good.

Source of material: Isidora H. Minard (Prove Me Now “Ten Lessons in Truth” 1926)

Friday Meditation 1: Divine Law undergirds me

2009-03-20T00:54:00.001-07:00

One of the first things we discover about ourselves is that everything that becomes a part of our experience is governed by law, just as definitely as are the experiments in a scientific laboratory. Therefore, we should determine that at all our waking lives we will make an honest effort to remember that love attracts love, thoughts of success attract success.

Thoughts which dwell frequently upon God’s nature in us are certain to find fruition in more perfect daily living.

The principle behind our thinking may seem more abstract than the principle involved, say, in adding two and two you don’t expect the sum to be five one time or seven another. In our daily life we find a law acting on our ideas creating an experience which corresponds to them.

The thoughts we dwell upon and nurture emotionally are immersed in an intelligent creative medium that manifests their equivalent just as surely as two and two always make four.

Man’s mind is some part of the infinite Mind of God, and is subject to the Law of God, which is the Mind of God in action.

The Laws of Mind

2009-03-16T23:25:00.000-07:00

Every one who takes up the study of the laws of mind will find that many of his life long views and ideas must give place to the truths we find in the new dispensation.

A willingness to give up the false way is in the highest degree essential to one who takes up the study with honest, sincere desire to grasp an understanding of Spiritual principles.

To read with honesty, openness and a sincere desire for truth regardless of what the world may say or think, will open one’s mind to what otherwise would not appeal to one’s judgement at all.

It is universally admitted that former ways of thinking, believing and doing, have always been more or less disappointing, and have not brought the comfort and happiness man has always hungered for.

Each year of a man’s life is an experiment, and every new scheme has its doubtful side. Men go on in life full of fear and uncertainty, enough to weaken their efforts to a great extent, all because true principles are not understood and brought to bear upon their undertakings.

Harmony is the law of the universe, and it should be the aim of every man, woman and child to seek a knowledge of the Spiritual laws.

Man was created upright with dominion over all things. As long as man maintains a consciousness of his divine nature, he will think and act in line with that divine harmony which gives dominion; otherwise that which is mortal gains supremacy and he loses his dominion, meaning when he allows the carnal mind to rule, he is out of harmony with Divine Law.

We prove by demonstration that knowledge of Spiritual principles will bring harmony out of discord, and give health for sickness and strength for weakness.

By the knowledge and faithful practice of Spiritual principles, life may be made one continual blessing to oneself and every one about us, because the very nature of the law is harmony.

To gain practical knowledge of the principles, one has to be willing to begin at the very beginning of truth based on man’s son-ship to God as Mind, Spirit, First Cause, which are all names of God. Man is the offspring of Divine Mind, and the image and likeness of the same; therefore we want to reason all the way in harmony with that statement.

We must consider with deliberation what constitutes mind in the perfection we ascribe to God. We are forced to the conclusion that mind is the underlying substance from which emanates every attribute of Divinity, Life, Truth, Love, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Purity; all of which fill the universe and tend continually to the good of the children of man.

As man, in his essential nature, is designed to be and to act perfectly as the image and likeness of God, all imperfect action and being are contrary to God’s design and contrary to God’s will.
We are not to gauge our course of action, nor our beliefs by what we see others do and think, nor depend upon what some one else knows or believes, but we must aim to know what is true for ourselves, and thus educate the judgement to see clearly how principles work in our lives.

Every one should understand and develop their own powers of mind, which powers are the gift of God to his children, to whom he gave dominion over all the earth.

Without knowledge of this divine power we are in bondage to ignorance; with it we are made free, and we then have the mind that was in Christ, and can do the works he did.

Truth is a great working principle, without which there can be no harmony, and we find an understanding of its working qualities essential in using it, else Christ would never have made the knowledge of truth necessary to freedom.

The lack of faith in what truth will do for us has always stood like an impenetrable cloud of darkness between the conscious mind of man, and the good things he desires.

We are not required to exercise blind faith in what we can not understand, but our faith should be based in philosophical reasoning, based upon the premise that God is the Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent Spirit. As God is Mind and man is the image and likeness of God, man is also mind in his essential nature, and he possesses the attributes of God consciously in proportion as he recognises and acknowledges them and lives in harmony with Divine law. To understand, is to be able to give a reason for the hope within us.

Man was given dominion over all flesh in the beginning, and still retains it, provided he lives in accord with the principles of truth.

Harmony is the law of the universe. Harmony in the earth-life is Divine law manifest. When true principles are understood and acted upon, perfect harmony of mind and body is the result.

Affirmation

There is one Creator, one God, one Presence. I acknowledge my oneness with It. I cannot be separated from my good, which is ever expanding within the limitless Presence. I let go of the old, and embrace the new. Life is transformed for me by fresh ideas, new activities, greater breadth of vision, and a wider scope of accomplishment. I perceive Reality now. I am serenely confident in the good that Life offers me. I am thankful for my changed outlook. I let go of the past completely in this acceptance of abundant, joyous, creative living, now and always.

Sources of material: Jane W Yarnall (Practical Healing for Mind and Body: 1891) and Ernest Holmes (Science of Mind Magazine Mar 1973).

The Starting Point

2009-03-09T04:15:00.000-07:00

The Starting Point:

We learn from the Bible that, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” Whatever power there is in God’s Word, the same power is also in our own words. There is no avoiding the fact that the Bible claims for us the same power in our own life and our own world that it claims for God. In the lives of the majority, many do not realise that the Word is in their own mouths.

Do we who are endeavouring to realise the greater truths of life always govern our words? If any word has power, it follows then all words have power. At the same time it is not in the few moments of spiritual meditation that we demonstrate, but we bring out the possibilities of the hidden word when we are allowing our thoughts to run in any direction, in those long hours stretching themselves into days, months and years we are always using the word, that is what we demonstrate in our lives.

An hour a day spent in silent meditation will not save us from the confusion of life; the fifty one percent of a persons thinking is what counts.

We thus find that the process of creation is always an inner thought process. We should keep in mind, that, the Spirit makes all things out of Itself, that the Word, which is the inner activity of thought comes first in the creative series and all else comes from the effect or the Word operating upon a universal substance.

The Creative energy of the Universal Mind may be safely trusted to work through the specialising influence of our own thought. The more we bring our thought into harmony with the Life, Love and Beauty which the Spirit is, the less negative conditions will obtain.

We must if we wish to prove the power of the Spirit in our lives, look not to outside things or effects, but to the Spirit alone.

When we realise that man is like God, (and he could not be otherwise, being made out of God), we will realise that man’s word also has power. If there is but One Mind, then it follows that our word, our thought is the activity of that One Mind in our consciousness. Man’s life is identical with that of the Spirit, not something sent forth to wander away by itself, but something included in and forming part of Greater Life.

We who wish to practice metaphysics must first, last and all the time, realise that we are centers of the divine activity; we must know that whatever God is in the Universal, God is in the world in which we live.

We must discover for ourselves that we stand in the midst of an eternal creative power which presses itself around our own thoughts, and that It casts back to us glorified all that we think. If it awakens within our consciousness the realization that the mind of the Universe (which is the only mind there is), is our own mind, that the creative power of this mind is ours also, that the manifestation of this mind is our own individuality; that the love and power and peace of this mind is within ourselves, then we would have come to the light and some deeper mysteries and meaning of life for then we’ll live in harmony of this Power.

Let us compose ourselves for the meditation

Meditation:

My life is God in action! I give my attention today to this living Presence animating my body and expressing in my affairs. I realise how my own belief in God can limit or enlarge His action through me because of the creative nature of my own thoughts. The choice of ideas is mine, but the action upon them by the Law of Mind is automatic. I discover that as my thoughts embrace God’s nature I find His Intelligence, Love, Peace and Harmony reflected in every aspect of my life.

Response to Carmen... Work till I drop

2009-03-09T04:05:00.000-07:00

I have lived with poverty all my life. How would you visualise yourself out of this situation. For instance at my advanced age 60 yrs to be able to own my own home and to be able to retire comfortably now instead of working until I drop?

Kind regards

Carmen"

Dear Carmen

Your courage to stand up and honestly open up for guidance is the most important step you could take.

I trust what I’ll share below will assist in shedding some light in understanding some fundamental Principle which I hope will help in your application of truth.

Where to begin

The first thing in any investigation is to have some idea of what you are looking for – to have at least some notion of the general direction in which to go. It’s clear that the general direction in which we all want to go is that of getting more out of Life than we have ever got out of it. We want to be more alive in ourselves and to get all sorts of improved conditions in our environment.

This means what we are looking for is something personal, and that it is to be obtained by producing conditions which do not yet exist; in other words it’s nothing less than the exercise of a certain creative power in the sphere of our particular world. So what we want is to introduce our own personal factor into the realm of unseen causes, to discover how to arrange things in such an order as to set in motion a train of causation that will harmonise our own conditions. This will be by some sequence of cause and effect, which is our object to discover.

Realise that all our affairs are controlled by thought working through the avenue of the One Mind. By changing our thoughts we could re-mould our affairs, and by right thinking we could bring into our life new conditions.

I’ll endeavour to illustrate what assists me in applying Truth Principles, for I needed deeper understanding of how everything connects with the All. This kind of order was crucial for me as it helped give meaning to that which I practice.

Understanding the subconscious mind

Since man has a self-conscious mind, a subconscious mind and a body, meaning he is threefold in nature. First, he is conscious mind or spirit; then, he is subconscious mind or mental law, and then, he is body. The conscious mind controls the subconscious mind, and in its turn, the subconscious controls the body.

The subjective obeys the objective. In the subjective Mind of man we find a law obeying his word. Suggestions have proved that the subconscious mind acts upon our thought without question or doubt. It is the mental law and the creative factor within us. It is working out the will and purposes of our conscious thoughts.

Man’s thought; falling into his subjective mind merges with the Universal Mind and becomes the law of his life through the One great Law of All Life. There is one subjective mind. Each individual maintains his identity in Law through his personal use of It, and each is drawing from Life what He thinks into It.

To learn how to think is to learn how to live, for our thoughts go into a Medium that is Infinite in Its ability to do and to be.

Man, by thinking can bring into his experience whatsoever he desires only if he thinks correctly, and becomes a living embodiment of his thoughts. Realise that, this is not done by holding thoughts, but by Knowing and living the Truth.

Belief in the Law and how to use It

Each one of us must work out the law of our being as it is within the power of each one of us to completely change our environment. This depends upon our conviction and determination. Spirit attends to us and is always ready to serve us. All we need to do is to follow the Law, comply with Its nature, and consistently apply our self to right thinking and living, then we’ll prove to our self that life holds all and more than we ever had imagined.

Element of Age

The starting point is not in time or locality, but in the mode of thought. There is no reason to doubt or postpone the application of Truth as the best place and time to begin are Here and Now.

Contemplation

Spirit creates by Self-contemplation; therefore, what it contemplates itself as being, that it becomes. You are an individualised Spirit; therefore, what you contemplate as the Law of your being becomes the Law of your being. i.e. Contemplate a Law of poverty arising out of the forces of the material reacting against the Power of the Spirit and overcoming it, then you impress this mode of self-recognition upon Spirit in yourself, and you cause it to work under negative conditions and thus make it produce negative results so far as you yourself are concerned.

But reverse the process and contemplate a Law of Life as inherent in the very Being of Spirit, and therefore as inherent Spirit in yourself; and contemplate the forces of the material (appearance of poverty) as practically non-existent in the Creative Process, because they are products of it and not causes. Look at things in this way and you will impress a corresponding conception upon the Spirit which, by the Law of reciprocity; thus enters into Self-contemplation on these lines from the standpoint of your own individuality; and then by the nature of the Creative Process a corresponding externalization is bound to take place.

Realise in the degree to which you specialise it, you shall find the Creative Principle at work within you building up a healthier and happier personality in mind, body, and circumstances.

We need to learn to distinguish the vehicles of Spirit from Spirit itself, for the distinction has very important bearings. What distinguishes the vehicles from the Spirit of Law of Growth is that the Spirit is the Formless Principle of Life, and the vehicle is a Form in which this principle functions. Now the vehicle is a projection by the Spirit of substance coordinate with the natural order of the plane on which the vehicle functions, and therefore requires to be build up conformably to that order.

This building up is what we speak of as Growth; and since the principle which causes growth is the individualised Spirit, the rate at which the growth will go on will depend on the amount of vitalizing energy the Spirit puts into it, and the amount of vitalising energy will depend on the degree in which the individualised Spirit appreciates its own livingness, and finally the degree of this appreciation will depend on the quality of the individual’s perception of the Great All-originating Spirit as reflecting itself in him and thus making his contemplation of It nothing else than the Creative Self-contemplation of the Spirit proceeding from an individual and personal center.

We must not allow ourselves to be discouraged, but must hold our knowing that Spirit is doing its creative work, and that the corresponding growth is but surely taking place, thus following the Divine Precept that men ought always to pray and not faint.

There’s a few articles by Nicol Campbell which are wonderfully laid titled “What do you want” and “Without reservations, without limitations,” I suggest you read them as they’ll be an aid in unfolding the truth of your being, at the same I suggest you revisit Andre’s article on visualisation as it contains the knowledge you can apply in your journey of self discovery.

With God’s Love

Wenda