August 19 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

FROM the TEACHING of JESUS
Ernest Holmes

The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth (Matt. 5:5)

""The meek shall inherit the earth."  This is a teaching of non-resistance.  War lords and plunderers of human possessions have come and gone.  Kingdoms have risen only to crumble in dust and become numbered with past events.  Passion and lust for power have strewn the earth with destruction.  It would seem as though the meek had lost out in the titanic struggle for temporal supremacy.

In the midst of this drama of human existence, Jesus declared that the meek shall inherit the earth.  Let us inquire if his teaching is a true one.  Do we teach our children to follow the steps of a Caesar and a Napoleon? Or do we tell them the story of Jesus or Buddha?  The cross is mightier than the crown and we teach our children that LOVE MASTERS EVERYTHING!  The meek shall inherit the earth.  To whom have our artists turned for inspiration and that quickening power which enables them to depict the idea?  Not to the war lords, nor even the captains of industry, but to the meek.

What characteristics are set before us as being worthy?  Have not faith and belief in the divine Goodness been the theme of our greatest singers?  Who could write a beautiful story about hell?  But heaven and love have inspired thousands to the uplifting of humanity.  Jesus was right when he said that the meek shall inherit the earth.  They have done so and will continue to do so!

They That Hunger Shall Be Fed (Matt. 5:6)

They who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled.  Is there anyone who does not have a soul hunger?  Does not the spirit of man thirst after knowledge and understanding, yearn for Truth and Reality, as blind men yearn for light?  And his hunger can only be satisfied with spiritual food, as manna from heaven.

Let us inquire into this teaching and see if it be an illusion.  Turn to the history of those who have been spiritually-minded, and the question is answered.  They have not received a stone when they asked for bread.  All who have been hungry have been fed; their hunger has been blessed, in that it has led them to that only food - that heavenly manna - which has sustained, strengthened and upheld them, while the rest of the world (with thirst unsatisfied and appetite unappeased) has eagerly inquired from what store they bought their goods.  They who hunger and thirst after Reality are always fed, and directly by the hand of God Himself.

The Merciful Shall Obtain Mercy (Matt. 5:7)

"Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy."  Again we are confronted with an apparent contradiction.  Do the merciful always obtain mercy?  From casual observation, it would seem otherwise.  But are not many of our observations based on a finite outlook, from a limited concept?  Can we estimate life from the range of one human experience?  If life begins with the cradle and ends with the grave, then are all of our hopes, not only forlorn, but useless.  It is only with the "eye views the world as one vast plain, one boundless reach of sky," that it sees truly.

The perspective of reality is lost when we view life from the range of a short experience.  Jesus saw beyond the veil and estimated life from the great perspective - the long run of the adventure of the soul.  He knew that the law of cause and effect takes care of all, and that the "Mills of God" will grind the chaff of unreality from the wheat of the Spirit. What matter if these mills do not do all of their grinding while we are clothed in flesh! Did not Jesus know another life which to him was as real as this one?  Can we expect, in this world, to receive full compensation for all our work?  Of course not.  We are building on an eternal foundation, one that time cannot alter nor experience destroy.

A true estimate of real values cannot be built on the shifting sands of time alone.  In the long run, the merciful will obtain mercy!  In the long run, we shall reap as we have sown!"

May 23 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

As Little Children (Matt. 18:3) ~ Ernest Holmes

"We must become as little children.  How we long for a return of that simple trust in life which children have; in their minds there are no doubts - they have not yet been told that they are sinners, destitute of divine guidance and spiritual life.  The life of the child is lived in natural goodness.  God is natural goodness.  The prison walls of false experience soon build themselves into barriers, shutting out the light, and the child grows into a man, often losing his sense of that inner Guide, leading his footsteps aright.

We must return the way we came.  As little children, who know that life is good and to be trusted, we are to approach our problems as though they were not.  Approaching them in this manner, they will vanish.

Let not the materialist deny us this right, nor the unbelieving cast any reflection of his blindness before our eyes.  There is a wisdom and power not of the flesh, which spring perennially from the inner life - all-powerful and all-wise.

Whatsoever Ye Shall Bind on Earth (Matt. 18:18)

Next we come to a passage difficult to understand and one which has caused confusion in many minds.  "Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

A superficial reading of this passage might lead one to suppose that this earth provides the last chance for the salvation of the soul.  But this is not the meaning of the text which implies that the experience of death cannot change all.  As a man has lived on earth, so he will continue to live after death.  If he has been pure, he will continue to be pure.  If he has been otherwise, he will continue to be otherwise.

False experience will continue until the lesson is learned, until the soul turns from that which hurts to its greater good.  The spirit of man is of like nature to the Spirit of God, and it is impossible for the Spirit of God to remain in darkness.  The next life is a logical continuation of this one and could not be otherwise.

Divine Forgiveness (Matt. 18:21, 22)

In the next passage, Jesus clearly explains the meaning of divine forgiveness.  He says that we should forgive until seventy times seven.  This is but another way of saying that forgiveness is eternal and ever available.  What a load is dropped from the shoulders of personal responsibility, when we realize that the Eternal Mind hold naught against anyone!  But, to those who feel that this is unfair, it will be a hard saying.  "What," says one, "are not my virtues to be rewarded above those who have none?"  O, foolish one and blind, what do you know about virtue?  Has your life always been beyond reproach?  Have you never fallen short of the divine calling?  Who are you to point the finger of scorn at your brother?  The man who feels self-righteousness rise from his petty virtues, lives a life of self-delusion.

Know this:  Virtue does not know that it is virtuous, and could it know, it would immediately become vicious.  Virtue is sweet as the morning dew, soft as the evening star, and brilliant as the noonday sun.  Could the dew tell why it is sweet, the star say why its light is soft, or the sun say why it shines?  When we learn to put away our petty virtues with our petty vices, then shall we see clearly - not what either virtue or vice is - but what Truth is!

The mind which condemns, understands not the truth of being, and the heart which would shut the door of its bosom to one who is mistaken, strangles its own life, closing its eyes to a greater vision.  The biggest life is the one which includes the most.

Not that we foster vice or place a premium upon wrong-doing, but that we understand the frailties of human nature and learn to overlook much.  To him who loves much, much is forgiven."

May 2 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

The Seeing Eye (Matt. 13:16) ~ Ernest Holmes

""Blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear."  What is it the eye should see and the ear hear?  Do not all people's eyes see and their ears hear?  No.  But few, indeed, when looking, see, or listening, hear.

We are to see that Spirit creates all things by the power of Its own word, and that we are spiritual beings.  We are to hear that inner voice of Truth, which is ever proclaiming the freedom of all life, the eternal unity of God with man.  It is useless for those who have never experienced this inner seeing or hearing to deny its reality.  A man might as well say there is no meadow because he has never seen one.  The world needs spiritual experience, as it needs bread and butter.  Men need spiritual convictions as they need meat and drink.  And with spiritual convictions come all else.  To those who have, shall be given.

The Kingdom and the Mustard Seed (Matt. 13:31, 32)

"The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed."  From a knowledge of mental action, we know that a constructive idea, planted or buried in the subjective mind, tends to grow into a real condition.  Jesus could not have chosen a more comprehensive way to illustrate this point.

The Kingdom is Like Leaven (Matt.13:33)

"The kingdom of heaven is like leaven."  We know that thoughts planted in mind have the power to chemicalize opposing ideas, and leaven the whole lump of subjectivity.  In this way, ideas gradually permeate the mind and influence all thought and action.  If the idea is of heaven, it will certainly bring about a heavenly state."

April 4 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Nothing Can Be Hidden (Luke 12:2) ~ Ernest Holmes

"In saying, "there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known," Jesus was referring to the Mind that knows; to the all-seeing eye, from which nothing is concealed.  The cosmic Ear hears everything, the Eternal Mind knows all things, and the Law of cause and effect brings everything to pass in due time.

A Man's Foes (Matt. 10:36)

"And a man's foes shall be they of his own household."  There are no enemies external to our own mind.  This is one of the most difficult problems to understand, and - simple as it sounds - it penetrates the depths of creative causation.  Nothing can happen to us unless it happens through us.  That which we refuse to accept, to us cannot be, and that which to us is, cannot help becoming a reality in our lives.  But someone will say, "I did not conceive of this evil which came upon me; it was not in my mind."  The question then arises, "Can any particular evil be real to one, if he refuses to entertain it in his thought?"  The answer must forever be, it cannot.  This is one of those "hard sayings" which it is difficult to understand, but the principle involved is plain.

If we can divorce our lives from the thought of evil - from receptivity to it - if we can bring our mentality to a place where it no longer conceives evil, then evil cannot exist for us.  The proof of this doctrine remains for individual conviction, through experience, but it is well worth trying.

The Reward of True Visioning (Matt.  10:41)

"He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man, in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man's reward."  There comes to each the logical and exact result of his own receptivity.  To each, life brings the reward of his own visioning; to the pure, all is pure.  To the righteous, all is righteous, and to the good, all is good. The reward of merit is an objective outcome of merit itself and not a thing superimposed by any Divine Mandate.  Each man is rewarded not for virtue but through virtue.

Wisdom Is Justified of her Children (Matt. 11:18, 19)

"Wisdom is justified of her children."  Jesus had been questioning his hearers about John the Baptist.  "For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say He hath a devil.  The Son of a man came eating and drinking, and they say, "Behold a man gluttonous, and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners.  But, wisdom is justified of her children."

This shows that the world ever finds some flaw in human character.  If a man fasts, he is possessed of peculiar ideas; and if he feasts, he is a materialist and a glutton.  But Jesus would have us understand that virtue consists neither in eating nor drinking, nor yet in abstaining from eating and drinking.  "Wisdom is justified of her children."  A man may desire to fast and be wise, or he may desire to feast and still be wise.  VIRTUE IS INDEPENDENT OF ANY MATERIAL FORM WHICH IT MAY TAKE.  The children of wisdom look to the inner, and not to the outer, for justification.  Wisdom knows neither publican nor sinner, but is conscious only of herself, though she may dress in many garments.

If one believes that virtue consists in fasting, then virtue appears to him through fasting; but to him who finds no virtue in fasting, feasting may appear to be a greater virtue.  We are over-concerned with non-essentials, straining at gnats, while swallowing mountains of superstition."