Friday, August 20, 2010

What is “The Science of Mind?”

I often refer to “The Science of Mind” and the teachings of Ernest Holmes. Since many of my readers are not familiar with these concepts I thought I’d offer some further explanation. The Science of Mind philosophy works in every area of our life and basically helps us create a life worth living.

We might be afraid to ask God for what we want – whether that desire is peace of mind, connection with all other beings or some “thing” we think we need. Perhaps we believe some desires are too trivial or that we are being selfish. Maybe we think what we want isn’t spiritual enough for God – that's a favorite one of many people. What causes this?

An inaccurate belief about God is one reason. What is your relationship with God? That is difficult for some people to think about. Why? Because there’s lot of "stuff" attached to God, caused very little by God and quite often by organized religions that seek to use God, Jesus or some other figure to control us. Some churches don't use "God" and replace that title with other terms, e.g., Divine Love, Universal Intelligence, Higher Power, etc. I use “God” much of the time because I have a deep faith in Intelligence far greater than I, even though I often substitute other terms as well. Using replacement terms helps to establish God as a presence, rather than an individual with a changeable personality. In this way we can replace the anthropomorphic image of an old, judgmental man in long white robes throwing lightning bolts and punishments from above.

A healthy relationship with God (or however you see that power greater than you in your life) allows us to ask for things, situations and help that we might not ask of the judgmental God of the Old Testament. In Truth, there is nothing for which we can't ask, with the possible guideline that it should be for the highest good of all concerned and in line with the forward movement of our evolutionary process, i.e., no death wishes, harm to others, coveting, etc.

I wrote recently about how we repeatedly do things that are not in our best interests. I suggested that there is a deeper reason beyond a lack of self-esteem or a lack of planning on our part. I think it's about settling.

Some people act as if there is something wrong with them if everything's right. They don't want to arrive at the office on Monday morning without a suitable "story" to share. It could also be the little rebel in us: Because I have to do this, I can't do that, so I'm going to let everyone know about it. Or, it might just be we're plain lazy. Or, maybe we just love the attention we garner from everyone when our lives look like a badly-written soap opera. Can we say, “Drama Queen”?

Must we continue to our lives this way? Well you can if you want. In fact I’d venture to say you can think of a few people in your own life that have made a smashing career out of being miserable (just don’t let them take you along for the ride!). We can change, if we want. It’s easy to cop out with, "That's just the way I am. I've always been late. Why I was even overdue when I was born and mother was in labor with me for 14 days." Guess what? If you are willing to settle for being less than you can be, then this is the wrong blog for you and my ministry is not what you’re looking for.

People who attend New Thought churches and other organizations that use metaphysical principles to have a life worth living don’t go there to complain about how bad life is. We recognize the situation and take time for the story, for compassion and love. But we aren’t not interested in dwelling on the negative, the "Ain't it awful", the "poor, poor me". We come together to remind ourselves and each other of our divinity – our awesomeness – our immortality – our abundant nature.

Success in life is not a destination, it is a journey. Along this journey we call life are hills and valleys, straight-aways and rocky, curvy paths. Sometimes we have to take the rocky roads for various reasons, but when given a choice, why choose the hard way? Do you still believe you have to work hard physically to get everything? It's the American ethic, it's what people do, but it's not the only way. Using the principles of the Science of Mind and metaphysics we learn how to work smarter, not necessarily physically harder. However, the other side of that coin is that the work that we are required to do is often the difficult inner work we strive to avoid.

I invite you to journey with me in the coming four weeks, but I do so with the same warning and promise that was given to me over 25 years ago when I began this life path: You’re life will never be the same. The warning is that you will no longer be able to blame the government, the Devil, God or your parents. The promise is that you will discover a life that you never before even dreamed could be possible for you.

Consider until next time what one challenge you would like to overcome in your life. It is my intent that you begin to see more possibilities in your life, ones that in the past you thought were impossible or unsolvable problems with which you just had to suffer. I'm here to tell you that you are the beloved of the Most High. That you can be all you want to be. You've suffered long enough, are you ready to try something else?

Next time I’ll be talking more about how to understand those ancient principles to create a better life now and a brighter future. The next blog will be part one of a four-part mini-course on the basic principles of the Science of Mind. I hope you’ll join me!

In Spirit, Truth and Playfulness,

Dr. Terry

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