September 1 - The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

No Mistakes

There are no mistakes; none have ever been made and none will ever be made.

Nothing ever happened in the past to hinder or hurt.

There is no past, and I know, and can see, that there is no belief in any past to rise against me.

I live in the Now, free from any yesterdays or tomorrows.

Now, I am Happy, Free and Complete.

There are no mistakes.

March 27 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

What of Reward and Punishment? ~ Ernest Holmes

"What of reward and punishment? Shall we be rewarded for our virtues  and punished for our short-comings?  Can we think of reward and punishment from any other viewpoint than that sin is a mistake and punishment a consequence, that virtue and righteousness must find their corresponding effects in our experience?  God neither punishes nor rewards. Such a concept of God would create an anthropomorphic dualism, a house divided against itself.  Such a house cannot stand.  Life is a blessing or a curse, according to the use we make of it.  In the long run, no one judges us but ourselves and no one condemns us but ourselves.  We believe in a law that governs all things and all people.  If we make mistakes, we suffer.  We are our own reward and our own punishment.

Some suffer, some are happy, some unhappy, according to the way they contact life.  No one judges us but ourselves.  No one gives to us but ourselves and no one robs us but ourselves.  We need not fear either God or the devil.  There is no devil, and God is Love.  The problem of good and evil will never enter the mind which is at peace with itself.  When we make mistakes we suffer the consequences.  When by reason of enlightenment and understanding, we correct such mistakes, we no longer suffer from them.  Understanding alone constitutes true salvation, either here or hereafter.

We need fear nothing in the Universe.  We need not be afraid of God.  We may be certain that all will arrive at the final goal, that not one will be missing. Every man is an incarnation of God.  The soul can no more be lost than God could be lost.  We should neither be disturbed by the wailing of prophets, nor the anathemas of theology.  We cannot believe that because we have subscribed to some creed, we have thereby purchased a seat in heaven, nor can we believe in any vindictive or malicious power in the universe, which damns us because we have erred through human ignorance.  We believe in God and that He is Good. What more can life demand of us than that we do the best that we can and try to improve?  If we have done this, we have done well and all will be right with our souls both here and hereafter.  This leaves us free to work out our own salvation - not with fear or even with trembling - but with peace and in quiet confidence."

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."