July 2 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MENTAL EQUIVALENTS
By Ernest Holmes

"Spiritual knowing is correct mental treating.  Love is the impulsion of mental treatment.  A consciousness of the Divine Presence in the one we are seeking to help is necessary, for we must provide different mental equivalents for healing than those which create disease.

If the manifest universe is the outward form of the thought of Spirit; if it is a result of the Self-Knowingness of God, and if we are of like nature to the Supreme Mind, then it follows that in giving mental treatment we are going through a mental process of self-knowing.  Consequently, only that kind of treatment will be effective that knows it will be effective.  This is the true meaning of faith for faith is not a foolish fancy, it is a dynamic fact.

The treatment will find an outward correspondence in the objective world which will exactly equal its inward conviction, when it is given, plus the necessity of its finding mental acceptance by the one for whom it is given.  The more we think this over the more rational it will appear to be.

Faith in God is such a complete conviction that the Spirit will make the gift, that there is no longer any subjective contradiction.  This faith can exist only in such degree as the conviction is in line with Reality.  We cannot believe that any law of the Universe will ever change its own nature because we desire it to do so.  AS WE COME INTO THE SPIRITUAL REALM - which is a perfectly natural and normal realm - WE HAVE TO COME INTO IT IN ITS OWN NATURE.  It is a unity.  There must be nothing vicious in it.  Remember what Jesus said?  "Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift."  Why?  Because we cannot enter into peace while we are in a state of confusion.  It cannot be done.  We cannot manifest love when we have a mental equivalent of hate in our hearts and minds."

June 20 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

FROM THE TEACHING OF JESUS
~ Ernest Holmes

And the Father Saw Him Afar Off

""And he arose, and came to his father.  But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him."

This is the most perfect lesson ever taught by the Great Teacher.  "When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him."  This means that God turns to us as we turn to Him.  A more beautiful thought could not be given than this!  There is always a reciprocal action between the Universal and the individual mind.  As we look at God, God looks at us.  Is it not true that when we look at God, God is looking through us at Himself?   God comes to us as we come to Him.  "It is done unto us as we believe."  "Act as though I am and I will be."

God Does Not Condemn

"And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

"But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.

"And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:  For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.  And they began to be merry."

The great lesson to learn here is that God never reproaches and never condemns.  God did not say to the returning son, "You miserable sinner, you are no more worthy to be called my son."  He did not say, "I will see what I can do about saving your lost soul.  I will spill the blood of my most precious son in hopes that by his atonement your life may be made eternal."  He did not say, "You are a worm of the dust and I will grind you under my feet in order that you may know that I am God and the supreme power of the universe."  No, GOD DID NOT SAY ANY OF THESE ATROCIOUS THINGS!  What the Father did say was, "Bring forth quickly the best robe, and put it on him:  and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet."  Here Jesus is showing that God is Love and knows nothing about hate.

God Knows No Sin

Perhaps the most significant thing in this paragraph is the fact that God did not answer his son when he talked about being a sinner.  The Father talked about something else.   This is one of the most wonderful lessons in the whole story.  God does not know evil and therefore cannot talk about, or conceive it in any form.  God does not even hear us, could not hear us, when we talk about sin or evil.  If He could hear it, He would be conscious of it; if He could be conscious of it, He would not be wholly good.  If God could know evil, then evil would be an eternal reality.  But God is sinless and perfect and nothing can reflect itself in the Divine, save a perfect image.  If God could know sin, He would be a sinner.  It is enough to know that this cannot be.

The Best Robe

Now, the "best robe" was a seamless garment and typifies a state of complete unity, as does the ring.  The robe is seamless and the ring is without beginning or end.  It begins everywhere and ends nowhere.  It is like Eternity and Eternal Reality.  It perfectly describes the Divine Nature.  "The fatted calf" represents the abundance of God's love and providence."

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 17 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

Ernest Holmes

I Behold in Thee His Image

I behold in thee His Image.

In thee, my friend, I see God, and through you I feel His presence.

I see in the hand that gives, His Hand;

And in the voice that speaks of Love, I hear Him speak.

For His lines have gone out into all places,

And from the highest to the lowest, all, all partake of his nature.

"For He is all in all, over all and through all."

I perceive that God is in all people.

I See No Evil

I see no evil; I behold only the good.

I have seen the drunkard lying in the gutter, and the saint kneeling in ecstasy before the high altar of his faith; but I have found no difference.

I have perceived that each, in his own tongue, is seeking to express the One Life.

I will not separate and divide; I cannot condemn nor censure, for I know that there is but One in All.

I know that all came from the One, and all will return to the One.

I know that all are now in the One, and that each is seeking to express the One.

I know and love all.

March 13 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Jesus Forgives a Man and Heals Him  (Matt.9:5,6) ~ Ernest Holmes

"Now some of the scribes who heard Jesus tell the sick man that his sins were forgiven said, he blasphemed God in attempting to forgive sins.  But Jesus - reading their thoughts and knowing what was in their minds - asked them if it were easier to forgive or to heal.  "For whether is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise and walk?"  In order to prove his position, he healed the man, saying:  "Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house."

This incident has to do with a great psychological law.  If one labors under a great burden of past mistakes, he devitalizes his body and if the condemnation is great enough - it might render the body incapable of moving.  Jesus, seeing that the sick man was laboring under a load of condemnation, told him that his sins were forgiven.  This removed the weight from the man's consciousness, making it possible for him to receive the healing word.

Would Jesus have forgiven the man if he had thought that God held anything against him?  Certainly not.  He knew that the Eternal Heart is one of love, and that God forgives from the foundation of the universe.  Indeed, he knew that the Divine Mind is too pure to behold evil and knows nothing about sin.

God Knows No Evil

Why should it disturb anyone to be told that God knows nothing of his sin, nothing of his want, nothing of his lack of any kind?  The tragedy would be if God did know.  If God knew sin, He would be a sinner, for what the Infinite Mind knows must BE!  Sin or mistakes are outside the province of Reality.  Jesus knew this.  He also knew that while man labors under the sense of condemnation, the burden of his thought weighs him to the dust.  Being able to read thought, he knew just what step to take in relieving the burden of this man's mind, before telling him to arise and walk.

We shall do well to remember this lesson.  How often we condemn when we should forgive, how often censure when we might praise!  What untold grief of heart might be relieved by words of cheer and forgiveness.  Especially should this lesson be remembered in the training of children, for they so readily respond to the thought of others.  Remembering that the Spirit holds no evil toward man, and that God is Love, we should emulate this divine lesson and forgive all, that our hearts may be free from the burden of our own condemnation."