December 7 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

PHYSICAL PERFECTION
Ernest Holmes

Thoughts about Food

"Food must be a spiritual idea.  It must be an idea of substance and supply.  Since the food which we take into the system is fundamentally one with the body which receives it, there is no reason in Spirit why our food should harm us.  We cannot expect to overeat or to eat the wrong things and have them agree with us.  But there is an intelligence within us which will guide us into a proper diet.  Since each is an individual, the intaking of food is an individual idea and an individual idea and an individual approach to Reality.  Whatever our individual physical system needs to make it harmonious, Intelligence will guide us to.   But we cannot expect to have our food agree with us if we are constantly condemning it.

"My food agrees with me and I agree with it.  There is not condemnation in me or working through me.  I understand that food is a spiritual idea of Substance and I am now in complete agreement with this idea.  Everything that I eat is perfectly assimilated and perfectly eliminated.  I have no trouble digesting my food, for digestion is also a spiritual idea and works in perfect harmony with all that I take into my system.  My system is spiritual and harmonious with every idea that passes through it.  My food is spiritual and harmonious with my system.  Substance and supply for the physical body are both spiritual and cannot create any inner disturbance whatsoever.""

December 3 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

PHYSICAL PERFECTION
Ernest Holmes

Colds, Influenza and Grippe

"Those who calmly announce that they are "very susceptible to changes in the weather, " have accepted whole-heartedly the mental impression that the weather is a determining factor in whether or not they experience "colds."  The trouble is not with the weather but in their thinking; they have not freed their consciousness from the old training that a "draft may produce pneumonia."  This belief causes one to be afraid and confused.  Mental conflicts also cause confusion, and confusion may cause colds.  So the first step is to erase from the conscious mind all fear of drafts.

Colds have no part in your life, as the very life of God flows freely through you.  Every breath you breathe bespeaks your eternal alliance with Life.  We should be willing to declare our disbelief in colds and help free ourselves and others from the depleting habit of "bad colds."

A conviction that the God within sustains us now and at all times, in perfect health, will bring peace.  And we should eliminate from mind the duration, symptoms, and frequency of colds, thereby removing a pattern which we no longer wish to use.  We should consciously harmonize ourselves with everything and everyone about us - with people, the weather, with God and spiritual perfection.

In colds, congestion, influenza and grippe, the thought to heal is confusion.  There should be a consciousness of poise, a recognition of peace; when this comes into the individual's experience, he will have fewer colds.  More colds result from damp spirits than from wet feet.  When we fear and resist the weather, we chill, not from the winds and rain, but from our own coldness of heart.  We should claim our dominion and power in Spirit.   Spirit is not subject to heat or cold."

November 25 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

PHYSICAL PERFECTION
Ernest Holmes

Treating Kidney, Bladder and Liver Disturbances (Continued)

"Thoughts of greed, selfishness and jealousy cause congestion in various functions of the body, especially the kidneys.  The work of the kidneys is to eliminate the poisons of the body, but when our minds are filled with thoughts of anger, hatred and resentment, we are pouring into our body poisons in the making.  Too much of this makes a burden the kidneys are unable to carry and the upbuilding of body tissues is disturbed.  But degenerative thoughts can be turned into creative, energizing, vitalizing ones.  Anger can be turned into love, and the very power that has been destroying can be made to build up, not only the kidneys, but the entire body.

The liver, the great laboratory of the body, which abstracts certain materials from the blood, and converts them into new substances which can be used by the body for upbuilding, or eliminated when its work is done, functioning as it does with other digestive organs is an important factor in maintaining the orderly balance of the body.

When disturbances arise in the liver, it is important to erase every unpleasant experience from the memory; every hard, tense thought from the mind.  Just as the liver can convert certain substances into building material for the body, so the mind - filled with the knowledge that there is but One Divine, Powerful, Vital Essence - can change inharmonious thoughts into ideas that heal, cleanse and uplift."

November 11 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

THE PRACTICE of SPIRITUAL MIND HEALING
Ernest Holmes

"Unlike the physician who must diagnose the disease and work with it, the metaphysician turns entirely away from the disease in his thought.  Diseases - whether they be mumps, measles, poverty or unhappiness - all are wrong adjustments to life; this is what disease is.  Lack of ease.  The mental and spiritual practitioner must turn completely from the condition, as it is, and MUST CONTEMPLATE IT AS IT OUGHT TO BE...never as it appears to be.

And he has a techniques for this, a method of procedure.  He has a way in which he thinks.  He starts with the premise that God is perfect, the Spiritual System is perfect, man is perfect a part of this Spiritual System, therefore, the spiritual man is perfect.  The practitioner does not deal with the material man; he says the spiritual man is perfect, and that disease cannot attach itself to this spiritual man.   If he were dealing directly with disease, poverty or unhappiness, he would be caught in its mental vibration.  We should seek to disentangle our imagination from the material man and join it with our contemplation of the spiritual man.  THE SPIRITUAL MAN IS PERFECT.  The spiritual man is continuously remolding and remaking the material or physical man.

In the natural processes of evolution, what we call time elapses - one day, one week, one month, one year - but in Spirit there is no time.  The Spirit is Timeless.  Therefore the mental and spiritual practitioner must not deal with time, he must transcend time.  Not only must he transcend time, but he must resolutely turn away from any form of limitation.  God is not limited by any form.  He turns to the Formless, for out of this a new form shall come."

September 15 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

The Power Within Blesses All

The Power within me is blessing all mankind, and is forever healing all with whom I come in contact.

The Power within me is God, and It must bless and help and heal all who come near It.

Silently the work goes on, and silently all are being helped by this Inner Power which is operating through me.

I will give thanks that my Power within is silently blessing and helping every one to whom my thought reaches.

The Life within me blesses all mankind.

August 29 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

No False Habit

There are no vicious nor false habits.

Every desire of my thought and heart is satisfied in the Truth.

I do not long for anything nor feel the lack of anything.

I am not complete within myself; I am perfect within myself; I am happy and satisfied within myself.

I am One with All Life within me.

I am free.

August 24 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

PHYSICAL PERFECTION
Ernest Holmes

Heart Trouble

"The heart is the center of Divine Love and perfect circulation.  Its action is harmonious, vital, adequate and complete.  There is no false action and no wrong action.  The pulsations of life are steady, unceasing and perfect.  "Let not your heart be troubled."  Love is at the center of man's being, and the calm, continuous, pulsations of life are governed by Love.

Solomon is accredited with many words of wisdom, none of which are more appropriate just here than his admonition:  "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life."  (Prov. 4:23)  In the days when we had no knowledge of whether the emotions should be expressed, repressed or suppressed, the reference to the heart was hardly as significant as it is today.  Now, in the light of experience, there is no question but that anything that touches the sympathetic nature of man has within it the power to build up or destroy the physical body of man.  The daily record of fatalities from "heart trouble," bears evidence of this.  Sudden shock, terrific loss - particularly loss of love - FEAR, all kinds of fear, are some of the thoughts which quickly manifest in the body of man as "heart trouble."  The remedy for this is LOVE.  "Perfect love casteth out fear;" and a Divine fearlessness, a singleness of purpose, a determination to think only God-like thoughts, should be used in treating heart trouble.

Almost every case of heart trouble can be traced to thoughts of strain and inharmony; sometimes to disappointment or disagreement with a loved one; or to a feeling of loss from financial reverses.  A belief that we can be in a position from which God absents Himself.  We reiterate, a remedy for all heart trouble is LOVE.  The heart is known as the center of love, which is the healing balm for every inharmonious thought.  As we recognize our Oneness with Infinite Intelligence, we are set free from uncertainty and pain.  As long as we realize that our heart is a living center, through which the Love of God flows to bless eternally, not only our own lives but the lives of all whom we contact - as long as we realize this, our heart cannot be troubled.

Another thought to be handled in treating any kind of heart trouble is the thought of age.  The race-suggestion carries a strong belief about the unpleasant conditions which may present themselves as one "grows old."  Among these is the physical condition termed hardening of the arteries, which hinders the free flow of blood to the brain.  A treatment must be so formulated as to recognize that there is but One Mind, consequently, no thought of depression, fear, or suggestions of imperfection can flow through It.  Man is birthless, deathless, ageless Spirit; and this should be the consciousness of our work.  This leaves nothing to be born, mature, decay and die.  Life cannot grow old.  God - in us, and through us, as us - can only express according to His Own Nature, which is Perfection.  Therefore, the Law of our being is the Law of perfect assimilation, elimination and circulation; and it is the law of obliteration to anything unlike Itself.  A knowledge of our Oneness with the God-Life all about and within us, that this life is governed by Divine Law and Harmony within us, that our only need is to cooperate mentally with this Law of Life, will heal when we recognize Its presence and activity within us.

Some physicians now claim that the action of the heart is a reflex action, and that the dilation and contraction of the heart is controlled by sympathetic nerve centers in the spine; and while they say that will does not control the heartbeat, emotions do affect the heart and sudden and unexpected grief often causes instant death.  Loving thoughts for all will remove tenseness, stimulate the heart into healthy action, and send new life to every part of the body.  "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.""

August 23 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS

By Ernest Holmes

I allow Myself to Dip Deeply into My Divine Nature

This meditation is built from the idea that each one of us has within himself a deeper nature, and, of course, this deeper nature being an eternal unity with God, or with the Living Spirit, is more than man; it is where the being of man, or the nature of man, merges into the Being of God.  So, as we dip deeply into our own Divine Natures, let us realize that entering the Secret Presence of this Tabernacle of God, we will, like the Pilgrims of old, have to shed that which does not belong to the Kingdom of Good.  We have to deliberately drop that which would hurt.  We cannot enter this Gate of Good with a sword in our hands.

So we let go of everything and turn to that Divine Depth within our own nature, wherein the Spirit of God - the Spirit of Love and the Spirit of Peace - dwells with calm serenity.   We withdraw into that place within us which has never been hurt, nor has ever been sick, has always and forever lived in divine and eternal peace...the Kingdom of God, which is Good.  And this Inner Kingdom within is all-peace, all-power and all-perfection.  We drop all hate, all fear, all animosity, all resentment.  We cast out of our consciousness every doubt and every sense of uncertainty.  We know that we are entering into that atmosphere of Wholeness, of happiness and completion where there is no fear, no doubt, no uncertainty, no lack, no want.  Here is wholeness, perfection, peace, power beauty, love, supply and life.  We know that the abundance of this life is showered upon us; that we are guided and guarded into right action, into right decision; daily, hourly, minutely, the Principle of Intelligence directs us, the Presence of Love warms us, the Peace of God covers us.  And we are led into the pathway of this peace, into the knowledge of this perfection.

We are conscious of the Indwelling God, and we are conscious that the Indwelling God is filling (instantly renewing) our bodies, absolutely eliminating from us whatever there is that does not belong; co-ordinating every function, every organ, every action and reaction (the circulation, the assimilation, the elimination), making it perfect.  The Life Principle of every part of our being is perfect and harmonious and now functions perfectly in us.  The whole order of discord is changed into the natural order of harmony and wholeness, and we let that Divine Power be exactly what It is in us.  We are no longer afraid, for love casts out fear.  Our faith destroys all fear.  We awake from the dream of fear to the vision of Reality, where there is no shadow of which to be afraid.  We awake from the dream of lack and want and unhappiness to the knowledge of harmony, of abundance and of peace.

I Allow Myself to Dip Deeply into My Divine Nature

August 18 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes 

One with Perfect Action

I am One with Perfect Action.  Everything that I do, say or think is quickened into action through this right understanding and this correct knowing.

The harmonious action of the Great Whole operates through me now and at all times.

I am carried along b this Right Action and am compelled to do the right thing at the right time.

There is nothing in me that can hinder this action from flowing through me.

The action of God is the only action.

August 16 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS

By Ernest Holmes

God Restores Me to Perfect Health

The Spirit within me is God, that Spirit is perfect.  That Spirit is divine, whole, happy, complete.  Spirit of Infinite Peace is within me, and that Peace - poised in perfect life, complete in perfect happiness - that Spirit within me is God and is Whole.  That Wholeness is perfect now.

God is an immediate Presence and an immediate Experience in my mind and soul, and I am conscious of this Perfect Presence, this Divine Wisdom, this Eternal Wholeness.  Now I recognize that the Principle of Life is in me and around me and operates through me; that It has no want, has no fear, has no doubt, has no limitation.  There is that within me which guides me into opulence, into success, into harmony and love and beauty and friendship, and It does this in peace, in joy and in certainty.  I let that Divine within me - using whatever method It may - restore me to perfect health, perfect happiness and harmony and bring into my experience everything that is good, that is perfect, that is true and successful.

I am not only one with this Spirit, but this Spirit is all that I am.  It is my whole being, and this Divine Wisdom is in my thought, causing me to act and move intelligently, to make right choices and to follow right pursuits.  There are no problems in this Divine Wisdom.  Therefore, the road is made straight before me; every obstacle is removed and I am led - irresistibly led - to the Absolute, certain goal of Good, of accomplishment, of success.

God Restores Me to Perfect Health

August 12 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

PHYSICAL PERFECTION

By Ernest Holmes

Obstetrics

“In a treatment for child-birth, we realize that the great Law of Creation is operative.  We know that no idea of God ever comes too soon or too late, but always at the correct time.  We know that right action prevails.

If you are working for yourself, realize that your part is merely to accept fully the fact that the Creative Law within you knows; and not only knows, but performs every right action at the right time; that It synchronizes all impulses toward the event.  It is Its nature to do so.  It could not do otherwise.  Let your mind dwell on the wonder of this knowing Intelligence, which works out the scheme of a new body, imbuing it with Its own laws of health and action, setting up the perfect working of the various systems of the body; the breathing, the circulation, the elimination, and so on.  Realize that Perfection is at work, forming and projecting into the objective world that upon which Its action has been centered; that there can be no obstruction to right action on any plane of expression.

Your meditation at the moment might be:

“I am unified with Universal Law, creating, delivering, perfecting.  I rest in Mind, rejoicing that I have only to accept the perfect results of this natural law.  I give myself completely to this perfect Law, and am at peace.  I am serene because I know that I am in the care of Perfection in action.””

August 4 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

PHYSICAL PERFECTION
By Ernest Holmes

Nerve Troubles

"As we come to realize that thoughts are things we shall also see that different kinds of thoughts will produce different types of effects.  There is but one final Truth or Reality, but It is always presenting us with varying forms of Itself.  These forms are temporarily misshapen by the creative power of our own thought.  For we must not forget that what we call our thought is really the place where we are using the Creative Mind Itself.  Our thought is creative, not because we will it so, but BECAUSE IT ALREADY IS SO.  WE CANNOT CHANGE THIS NOR ESCAPE FROM ITS EFFECTS IN OUR LIVES.

Consequently we see that certain thoughts would depress while other would exalt.  And all according to the One Law governing our lives.  With this in mind, then, we understand what is meant by saying that certain thoughts should be used in treating certain cases.

Let us consider what kind of thought to use in treating nerve troubles.  We do not deny that people suffer from this or any other cause.  We do, however, affirm that thought may help and has the possibility of completely healing them from the trouble.  The nerves certainly represent the highest form of intelligence running through the flesh.  They really represent mind in the highest form it takes as it controls the human body. 

The general treatment for nerve disorders should incorporate thoughts of peace, poise and power.  There is no strain or struggle in the Universe.  All the actions of Life are harmonious, steady, sure and quiet.  Because the nerves are so responsive to thought, they react immediately to a statement of harmony.  An understanding of the truth that good alone is real and true, gives us the faith essential to an establishment of a firm, unwavering mind, which is necessary if one is to have firm, steady, sensitive, quickly-responding nerves.  Our thought must never waver from the premise of One Power, which is an impersonal, infinite Power for good.

We train our mind to contemplate the good, the enduring, the true.  That which has caused depression, discouragement or indecision, must be neutralized by our refusal to allow it to register.  Realize that the Spirit within you manifests as perfect harmony, and that every cell, atom and organ of your body is functioning according to the Divine Law.  Say: "I am filled with the peace, strength, power and decision of Spirit.  The life forces flow freely, peacefully, and harmoniously through every atom of my body, I am complete and perfect now.  The all-powerful Mind of the Indwelling Christ in me dissolves and dissipates from my mind all belief in indecision, anxiety, depression and discouragement, for I dwell in the realm of peace."

We must heal ourselves form worry.  This tension is relaxed as we gain confidence in good, in truth and in beauty.  Faith must overcome fear, and strong statements of faith should be used to erase the thoughts of doubt and worry that have assailed us.  "I have faith.  I am faith.  I abide in faith.  All doubt and fear have left me.  I understand why it is that I can remain in faith.  I have complete confidence.  I do not waver nor falter in my faith, for I know that God, the Living Spirit, is the only Presence there is or ever can be."

We should also erase the thoughts of yesterday that would rob us of today's happiness.  "There is nothing arising out of the past that can disturb me.   The past, the present and the future are one unbroken stream of Good.  I loose all thoughts that in the past have caused anxiety.  The Spirit knows no past and is not affected by the belief in any.  The past is swallowed up in the victory of a perfect present, which is filled with love and protection."

Equally we must not have fear for the future.  "I see that the future is bright with promise.  It beckons me forward into a more complete realization of my own worth and my rightful place in the Universe.  All my tomorrows will be happy and filled with harmonious occupations.  I look to the future with great and pleasurable anticipation, knowing it will expand my opportunity for radiant self-expression.  I love my past and my future and understand that they are but continuations of the one unbroken chain of life.  There is no future to be afraid of and no past to bring discord into the present."

Such statements will tend to erase any negative stream of causation that may have been set in motion in the past.  Waste no time arguing with anyone over these truths.  This is true and it really works.  We would better spend our time using the Law than arguing over It.  Our position is to be proven by DEMONSTRATION ALONE.  THIS IS THE FINAL TEST OF ALL THEORIES.

We should read, study, think and meditate upon those statements which tend to calm, to give poise and confidence, and erase all thought of fear and tension.  The subjective law can only operate upon that which is given it, so we must be very careful of our patterns of thought.  We live in a sea of Perfect Life and we should take time to understand and sense this in our imagination.  We should think of ourselves as being surrounded by perfect life and poised in an eternal calm.  We are in a sea of untroubled waters of life, from which we may freely drink.  We must do the drinking.  No one else can do this for us.  We should hold out the cup of acceptance until it is filled and overflowing with the manifestations of our desires.  This chalice of the heart is held up that the heavenly flow may fill it with God's abundant life.

The words of peace spoken to the nervous system will remove the tension which produces pain and inflammation of the nerves.  There is neither irritation, agitation nor inflammation in God, in Spirit, in Truth, and man is the Truth.  "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you...Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  "I am pure Spirit.  My entire nervous system is pure Spirit.  I am poised in harmony, in Truth and in complete calm.  My nervous system is in the Spirit within me, governing my physical body with harmony.  There is no need for pain.  My body is pure Spiritual Substance and as such it is perfect and harmonious."

We are poised in a sense of peace, which comes from our complete faith in God as the light, power and inspiration of our life.  There will be no twitching of muscles, no uneasiness or anxiety about any outcome, if we know - whether waking or sleeping - that every step of the way God goes with us."

July 27 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

PHYSICAL PERFECTION
By Ernest Holmes

Vision

"According to the Scriptures, mind and body must be kept pure - must be kept "single" to the good - in order that perfect, abiding sight may be attained.  "The light of the body is the eye; if, therefore, thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness."  (Matt. 6:22, 23)

But the eyes, of themselves, cannot see.  The mind within does the real seeing, the real interpreting of what the eyes look upon.  The eyes can truly be called "the windows of the soul"  They typify the ability of the mind to discern and understand.  As the light of understanding dawns upon us, we have a habit of saying, "I see, I see," meaning that we mentally discern.  The man who clearly realizes his Oneness with all Good should have strong, clear eyesight!

God sees, and His is the only Mind there is.  It is man's Mind, and consequently he sees, whether he knows it or not.  Do not fear to claim this, for it is the truth.  There is no obstruction to vision, no near vision and no far vision; there is no false vision, no weak vision nor blurred vision.  There is One Perfect Seeing, which is now seeing through  you...which is now seeing through me.

When we fail to use any organ, it becomes useless.  As the eyes are the organs of the soul, when we do not use our soul powers, we lose the use of the organs through which they function!  If one does not allow the mind to look out through the eyes, the vision becomes blurred or imperfect.  To regain this, one must use the inner sight.

In cases of defective sight, declare that spiritual vision is clear, and that your faith in spiritual substance is unshaken.  When faith touches a certain point in our consciousness, and the light of spiritual understanding dawns upon us, we glorify the good.  If we have been outwardly blind, our sight is restored.  We should praise our vision.  The clearness of spiritual vision should be reflected through our eyes.

Always one should be conscious of the idea of Wholeness of Life, perfect function at every point.  The practitioner should know that Spiritual Substance was never destroyed at any point, on any plane of expression, and that the vision of his patient is perfect and indestructible right now.  Declare daily:  "Through my eyes, God sees the perfection of His Kingdom.  I, too, see perfection in all creation...the beauty of the Omnipresent God."

Thoughts of dishonesty and suspicion make the eyes shifty.  Thoughts of fear, desolation, and hopelessness make the eyes lusterless.  The eyes brighten with friendliness and good cheer, when animated by the light of love, joy, faith or noble purpose.

We should be grateful for the help, if we find glasses helpful, but we must know within ourselves that we are not dependent upon them.  Hold steadfastly to the thought:  "I will lift up my eyes unto God, from whom comes my perfect sight."  Thus we are recognizing the condition, but not acknowledging it as an entity, and we are giving to Subjective Mind a new pattern (rather than the original pattern) for perfect eyes...perfect vision.  "Through the prism of God's love, I recognize the Oneness of God and man.  I have perfect vision right now.""

June 18 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

PHYSICAL PERFECTION ~ Ernest Holmes

Treating Insanity

"In treating one whose mind appears to be deranged, realize that there is but One Mind, which Mind is God, and is Perfect.  This is the only Mind there is.  It is the Mind of your patient; It is your own Mind.  This Mind being a Complete, Perfect, and Indivisible Whole, cannot labor under a delusion, cannot for one moment lose Its Self-Consciousness.  After you have realized this Truth about Life, know that it is also true about the one whom you are treating.  His thought is perfect.  If one should have a complete realization of this, knowing there is just the One Mind, there would be no doubt or confusion, and the mentality of the patient would cease to be deranged.

The practitioner must never allow himself to think of the patient as having "lost his mind."  If once the consciousness of the practitioner becomes clouded by such a thought, he would be truly "the blind leading the blind."  The practitioner must believe that there is but One Intelligence in the universe, and that this Intelligence is everywhere, flows in unlimited supply through every individual.   Man's mentality is a point in Universal Mind, to which all things are known.  In this Mind all persons are rational and poised."

June 17 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

PHYSICAL PERFECTION
~ Ernest Holmes

Why People Become Fatigued

"Let a person say to himself, "I am overworked," and at once there will come up through his consciousness a belief in weariness.  People who are constantly complaining of being tired are hypnotized into this belief through the law of race suggestion.  An instance of this is the belief that one more than forty years of age is easily fatigued, cannot engage in strenuous exercise of any kind, and must work fewer hours each day.  This race suggestion has hypnotized the entire world.  Only a few people past forty dare to undertake new endeavors and engage in activities with the same enthusiasm they did at twenty-five.  At what we term middle-age, all too many complain of habitual fatigue.  Usually this is attributed to over-exertion, or general dissipation of the reserves, but frequently, when analyzed, the mental cause will be discovered as a deep-seated resistance to conditions which the patient has found himself unable to change.

Suppose someone had been bound by mental confusion, that desires had torn him and conflicts had entered into his life, what would have occurred?  He would have been continually dropping opposing thoughts into his mentality; and as the mental action - the friction - took place, it might produce a very tired body; and if over-chaotic, it might produce what is known as nervous prostration.  It would not, however, be the body that was sick, but a condition brought about through wrong thought.

Now, if subjective thought were a thing apart from us, if we did not have conscious access to it, we could not change it; but being the result of the way thought has worked, we can consciously change it.  If this were not true, mental healing would be impossible.

We can free ourselves from a feeling of approaching fatigue, by knowing that we have within us - always immediately available - an Infinite Strength.  As we allow the thought of this to enter our inner consciousness, we feel strong, vital, and equal to any emergency.  "Know ye not that ye are the temple of the living God?"  This power within you is the same that holds the planets in space.  The power back of your word is perfect law and is fulfilled and returned to you as your perfect strength."

June 16 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

PHYSICAL PERFECTION
Ernest Holmes

Headache

"Confused, worried, anxious, tense thoughts can produce a congestion in the head.  Those who worry over trifles, and think they are subject to the conditions which surround them, often suffer from headaches, but a realization of the vitalizing power of Spirit through the entire body quickly removes tension and brings a sense of relaxation to the body.

Back of nearly every discord or disorder, there is some subjective complex, or mental knot, that needs to be untied; generally, some suppressed emotion, which perhaps is centered around the affections - the likes and dislikes, the loves and passions, and everything which goes with them.  These knots must be untied, and it is the business of the practitioner to untie them.

A treatment for peace, alone, often brings quick results when one is suffering from headache.  If one can stop long enough to realize:  "Infinite Intelligence within me lifts me out of worry, confusion and doubt," many times nothing else is necessary.  And a safe rule for the prevention of headache is thinking correctly.  Think only "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report."  Following is a suggested treatment:

"There is neither congestion nor confusion in Spirit, and this man is spiritual.  There is neither ache nor pain in the Consciousness of god as It flows through man.  All ideas are assimilated, find perfect expression in joy through the life-giving Source which cannot be congested, retarded, nor strained.  Ideas are comprehended fully and completely, their spiritual significance is assimilated, and there is no strain as they pass into self-expression.  The flow of Life-force to the brain centers is always unretarded, sufficient and sustained.""

June 11 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Repeating Treatments ~ Ernest Holmes

"A treatment is a specific thing.  When you are treating to neutralize any particular form of disease, your word should be spoken in such a way as to neutralize a belief in the necessity of the condition.  Each treatment must have in itself everything necessary to cover the case.  When you treat, resolve things into thought -- bodies, people, objects and all things - everything is a thing of thought.  Having resolved everything into thought, know that disease is neither person, place, nor thing.  It has no location, does not belong to anyone, cannot operate through anyone.  Know that it is a false image, with no power, and then you are ready to mentally dissolve it.

Always come to a complete conclusion when giving a treatment.  Always feel that it is done, complete and perfect and give thanks for the answer, as if it were already objectified.  In the interval between treatments, do not carry the thought of the patient around with you.  Tod do so is to doubt, and this mental attitude must be completely overcome.  Each treatment should be a complete statement of the Reality of Being.  The treatment should be repeated daily until a healing takes place.  If it takes five minutes, five hours, five days, or five years, the treatment must be kept up until a healing is accomplished.  This is the only method we know.  It is not enough to say that everything is all right.  This is true in Principle, but in fact and in human experience, it is only as true as we make it.  Treat until you get results.  A healing takes place when the patient is no longer sick, and until such time, mental work should be done."

June 10 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Treating Pain ~ Ernest Holmes

"Use the thought of peace with the realization of a Perfect Presence.  Many times, just the statement:  "Right where pain seems to operate, the Presence of God is," will instantly obliterate the pain.  The perfect realization of this Presence would always do so.  Know that in this Presence there is no tension, no struggle, no fear, there is no sense of conflict.  Know this until there comes to your consciousness a deep, calm sense of peace and ease, and until every thought of pain is eliminated.

Healing takes place to the degree that we send down the right kind of thoughts into subjectivity.  We mean, by thinking consciously and with deep feeling (knowing) we implant the right idea in Mind, and Mind reproduces this idea, as effect, in the body.  We must realize that we are using a Power, compared to which the united intelligence of the human race is as nothing.  The practitioner involves an idea in Mind; it is the Law which creates.  As the practitioner treats his own mentality, which is simply a point in Mind, he reaches the mentality of his patient.  The practitioner can erase the thought of pain from the patient's mentality when he has first neutralized the idea in his own thought."

May 26 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Treating Children ~ Ernest Holmes

"In the case of an infant - who is subjective to the conscious thought of the people around it - it may be necessary to teach the parents how to think about the child, else one might heal the infant and have the parents' thought make it sick again.  Explain to them the result of entertaining fears for the health of their children.  Remember that the thought of the parents influences the child.

We will suppose the mother is constantly saying:  "The poor thing; the poor, little sick thing."  From the human standpoint, this is natural, but it does not help the child, no matter how loving the thought may be.  This is called unconscious, or innocent, malpractice.  It is malpractice because it is the wrong use of thought; innocent because it is not intended to harm; unconscious because the mother does not know the result of such mental action.  In such a case, it is the business of the practitioner to realize that there is no mental influence operating through the child except a belief in perfection.

At first, children are happy, free, spontaneous.  That is why we like them, they live instinctively.  As they grow older and their emotions become more complex, and they hear people talk about death, trouble, divorce, love and marriage and everything else, good, bad and indifferent, they begin to react to these emotions subjectively.  Everything that opposes harmony and spontaneous unity, will prove disastrous to the child's health, sooner or later.  After a certain age, children have to be re-educated, just as do adults, that their subjective mind may not reproduce false impressions."

May 14 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Disease Is Impersonal ~ Ernest Holmes

“The word disease means lack of ease – dis-ease.  Ab-normal, absence of a normal condition.  In order to do his work, it is necessary for the practitioner to know that disease is not an entity, any more than darkness (which is the absence of light) is an entity.  From the standpoint of the mental practitioner, disease is an impersonal thing, attempting to operate and personify itself, a thought force, a misconception, a conviction in the mind of the one who has it, and of course, an actual experience to the one who is suffering from it.

Regardless of its particular source, disease is an experience operating through people, which does not belong to them at all.  Recognize that it is neither person, place nor thing, that there is no spiritual law to support it, that it is discord fleeing before harmony, that there is nothing but the Truth.  You must know that the Power you are using is definite, scientific, dynamic, spiritual, absolute, complete, and that It will work.  Let no fear come into your thought.

The first thing a practitioner does is to separate the belief from the believer.  It is a personal, not a Cosmic problem.  Evil is not a problem to God, it is only a problem to the individual.  Therefore, we separate the belief from the believer, and begin to perceive the individual as a spiritual being, no longer subject to this belief, and even now the embodiment of perfection.  If the practitioner is able to see only perfection, wholeness, he will see health manifested in his patient.  The practitioner, then, recognizing that Mind, or Intelligence, or Spirit – whatever he chooses to call It – is the groundwork of all movement, definitely, specifically and consciously, speaks his word into this creative medium.

Begin to use this principle, no matter how slight you feel your knowledge, and the result will inspire you to perceive new ways and methods of approach, until you gradually grow into deeper assurance.

Man is fundamentally perfect, this is our whole premise – Perfect God, Perfect Man, Perfect Being – this is the whole basis of our argument.  Always mentally separate disease from the one suffering from it.  In mental practice, NEVER LOCATE DISEASE, because thoughts are things.  Separate the belief from the believer, for the spiritual man has no disease, and you are talking only about the spiritual man.”