Never surrender consciousness to circumstances.

When Wendy Craig-Purcell, author of "Ask Yourself This: Questions to Open the Heart, Expand the Mind and Awaken the Soul," used this statement as her status line on FaceBook one day, it caught my mind and wouldn’t let go!

It reminded me of a story from my time in Hawai’i.  I had a wonderful dog named Hobbs.  He traveled with me from Los Angeles and went through quarantine.  I had heard Hawai’i had a terrible flea problem so Hobbs and I made an agreement.  He would not get fleas!!

I lived for awhile with a friend who was going to university to be an organic chemist.  He used to sit with Hobbs every night and examine his fur.  I finally asked him what he was looking for – and he said “Fleas.”  I told him about my agreement with Hobbs and he laughed at me. “All dogs have fleas!” he said “you can’t stop that, especially in Hawai’i!” and went back to examining his fur.  

I got nervous since I knew that what you look for you will find, so after class one night, I told my teacher, Rev. Helen Street, what was happening and what I was afraid of.  She hugged me and said “Don’t worry honey, the trained mind is the dominant mind,” and walked away. 

I was in Science of Mind 300, studying to be a practitioner, and knew I was going to be a minister, so I figured I had a trained mind.  I went home, reminded Hobbs (and myself) of our agreement, told my friend he could look all he wanted, but he would never find anything.  Sure enough, Hobbs never did have any fleas.  Even my Vet had a hard time believing it!! 

What does this story have to do with us today?  Many of us are experiencing the effects of circumstances in the world.  We have surrendered our consciousness to facts not Truth. We have surrendered our consciousness to fear. 

Ernest Holmes writes: “Begin to act from your dominion.  Declare the Truth by telling yourself there is nothing to be afraid of, that you no longer entertain any images of fear.”

Our Truth is God is all there is.  God is both Love and Law.  The Law will attract to us whatever we focus on.  Let’s stop focusing on fear and focus on Love. 

SPIRITUAL MIND TREATMENT

There is only One Mind – God’s.  This is the mind I am using.  In this mind is everything I need to live the One Life – God’s Life.

Knowing this One Mind works through Law, I now declare that I let go of the world’s facts, and remember I am co-creating this life.  No longer do I need to conform to the world ways of thinking.  I have no need to surrender my consciousness to circumstances.  I am no longer afraid. 

I choose to experience a good life.  I know Divine Mind is Infinitely Intelligent and knows what this means to me, and therefore attracts to me all that is necessary for the fulfillment of my good.  I stand open hearted, open minded, and with open arms, ready to receive.  I surrender to my highest good and greatest joy!

With a grateful heart I release these words, knowing they are embodied deeply in my subjective mind.  I experience the All Good with grace.  And so it is.

I was listening to a college professor being interviewed on the radio and as he told of a time when he brought up the idea of solitude to his students, he said one of them asked “Why would anyone want to do that?”  It made me sad. 

I equate solitude with silence, and this made me remember a bus ride years ago in Honolulu, where I watched one person after the other get on plugged into their Walkmans.  I felt sad then too, because it felt like they were isolating themselves and because I felt they couldn’t be without noise.   (Of course we can never be without noise, we can only choose the noise we want to listen to.)  Now we have Twitter, FaceBook, My Space and numerous other social media sites.  We can be alone in our homes yet not be alone at all. 

Solitude has its benefits.  Though its meaning is akin to loneliness, I think it’s the state of being alone without being lonely.  It is being at one with yourself, providing time that can be used for reflection, meditation, creativity or enjoyment.  Think about this for a moment, everything we do, even those things we do with others, we actually do by ourselves, so solitude isn’t something to be wary of! 

Moments spent in solitude give me a rich, fulfilling peacefulness.  I enjoy the quiet or creative moments, coming away with a feeling of satisfaction.  I love walking in a wooded area, feeling the energies of the trees, listening to the birds, smelling the rich loam.  I love writing at my desk, with only the sounds of nature and my pets around me.  I love relaxing in a bubble bath, reflecting on my good, or sitting in my prayer chair, experiencing a deep meditation.   

In our busy worlds, solitude is something we have to cultivate.  It sooths our nervous systems, clears our minds, empties and then fills our hearts. It replenishes our soul. This is the most important benefit of solitude – replenishing our soul!    

Ernest Holmes writes in the Science of  Mind:  “We are on the path of experience, just waking to the real fact of our true being;  as we awake we find we are surrounded by many false conditions, but there is something within which remembers the real state.  If we will sit in quiet contemplation of good, as an inner experience, we will experience the good which we contemplate.” 

In moments of quiet solitude, we remember who we are – Spirit having an experience we’re calling being human.  

Be still and know that I am God.

SPIRITUAL MIND TREATMENT

As I go into the silence, I breathe deeply and can feel the presence of the Source of all there is.  I spend time here, remembering that all that I understand Spirit to be, I am.  Spirit is not only within me, It is all around me, and even more than that.  It is everything, manifest and unmanifest.  It is Life Itself.

My soul yearns for me to consciously acknowledge it with spiritual nourishment.  This silence is nourishment. As I move into the silent spaces between each breath, I let all thoughts be on God, the Beloved of my soul.   I breathe deeply again, allowing peace to permeate every atom of my being.  My body is refreshed and renewed.  My mind is clear and my heart is pure. 

I declare that I enjoy spaces of solitude in my life, and I cultivate more of them each day.  These spaces replenish my energy levels and I am able to do what is mine to do with grace. 

I am so grateful for the awareness of the beauty and benefits of solitude.  I am grateful to be able to be in constant communion with Spirit.   I release these words into the Law of Mind and know that they are done.    And so it is.

I do a lot more walking now that I have a puppy.  Morning, noon and night.  Each time is so different.  In the morning, everything looks and smells fresh and green and fills me with a sense of a newness.  At noon, things have been hot and dry and yellow seems to be the predominant colour.  At night there is no colour ... just shades of black and grey .. even the street lights fade out the colours.

I used to be afraid of the nighttime when I was a child - perhaps it was because of this - no colour. Colour helps us define things.  Our interpretation of colour gives meaning to Life. We judge things by colour and have given a positive and negative meaning to each colour. For instance, to me, green is growth or jealousy, yellow is creative energy or illness, blue is peaceful beauty or loneliness, red is life or anger.  Black and its various shades, are power, or death. (and makes you look thinner - LOL)   Black symbolizes the unknown… and here is might be why I was afraid of the dark.  Everything looks different, and feels unknown. 

As adults, we’re not comfortable with the unknown, either.  We sometimes stay in our uncomfortableness because at least we know what it’s like.

With Debby Ford’s new film “The Shadow Effect” there’s a lot of talk about the unknown within us – the beliefs and feelings we’ve hidden away because we couldn’t deal with them at the time.  I believe this is what is going on in the collective consciousness as well.  We are beginning to realize that things aren’t always as they appear – and that in Truth, we’ve judged a lot of people and things on appearances only.   That we don’t really know anyone or anything, until we know our Selves.

This is why I love our teaching.  A deep study of Science of Mind Principles helps us to uncover the “shadows” that are still active in our consciousness, and having an effect on our lives today.  We not only break through those shadow places, we begin to realize we are more than we ever thought we were.  We are the very Presence we have been afraid of.  We begin to realize all judgment is really self-judgment, and is unnecessary.  All our shadows are replaced with brilliant colour and Life has more meaning than we could ever believe possible!! 

Here’s to Life in all Its radiance, shining brilliantly through us!

IMG 1694

SPIRITUAL MIND TREATMENT

Gratefully I recognize the powerful Presence within and around us.  There is no spot where God is not.  God is both Love and Law, and it works through us according to our thoughts and feelings.

Therefore, today I declare I am ready to stand naked in the Truth.  Freed of all my shadow effects, having claimed the disowned parts of myself.  I am whole and holy.  I am healthy, wealthy and wise.  I am loving and beloved.  I am complete in my Self.

My life is so much brighter because of my declarations.  I am shining the Light so brightly that all who see me, know The Divine.  My way is one of blessings, and everyone around me feels the effects. 

How grateful I am to be here now, to recognize my Self, to honour my Self, and to rejoice in The Self in everything.

I release these words to the Law of Mind, knowing they are done.  And so Is is.

There is only one Mind, God, Infinite Good, Infinite Love, Infinite Truth. This Mind rules and governs all. This Mind is my mind now.

The Life, Love and Mind of God are in action in me at this instant. I am filled completely with the light and Spirit of Truth. Through my mind God thinks. Through my heart God expresses Divine Love. Through my body God expresses perfect life, health and vitality. There is no life, truth, substance nor intelligence in evil; God, the Good is all there really is, and I am surrounded and filled with It.

In my life God is the only activity now taking place. I have spiritual wisdom, spiritual perception and spiritual discernment. I love Truth, speak Truth, rejoice in Truth, for God is Truth. Amen

Raymond Charles Barker

I love this Spiritual Mind Treatment.  It says it all.  Imagine what our lives would be like if we really believed it!

A church I drive past often inspires me with its marquee statements.  This week’s is “Want a new life?  God takes trade-ins.”

If we really embodied the above S.M.T as our Truth, isn’t this what we’d be doing – trading the life we are living now with its limitations for one of limitlessness?  Trading a life of physical, mental or emotional pain for one of peace?

Go ahead – read the Treatment again – and read it with as much feeling and belief as you can. Read it out loud.  Read it until you really FEEL it, and watch what happens in your life!! 

Note:  Dr. Raymond Charles Barker was ordained at the Unity School of Christianity in 1940. He later affiliated with Religious Science, and at the request of Dr. Ernest Holmes, the founder of Religious Science, opened the first Church of Religious Science in New York City in 1946.

Dr. Barker served as President of the International New Thought Alliance from 1943 to 1946. Later he served as President of Religious Science International from 1954 to 1957, and again from 1959 to 1962. Well known throughout the New Thought movement for his writings and lectures, Dr. Barker spoke in every major city in the United States, as well as in Europe and South Africa. His many books and pamphlets, including “Treat Yourself to Life” and “The Power of Decision” have enjoyed steady sales through the years, and have touched the lives of thousands of readers in all walks of life.

I watched an interesting video on YouTube today.  It is called “16: Moment”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNVPalNZD_I

As I watched, it evoked memories – many different memories.  Suddenly I realized it would do that for anyone watching, yet each person would have a different experience of it.  Each person would be attracted by different moments in the film, and even if we were attracted to the same moments we would have a different experience of them.  The memories that were evoked would be different.  This is how we give meaning to things we see in present time – by what we know about things through our memories.

This is the way life works.  We are all experiencing a different reality.  We are experiencing the same story, but with different content because of the value we have given our memories of our experiences – especially the first time we did anything.  We are born, raised from childhood to adulthood, get dressed, fall in love, fall out of love, have jobs, wash dishes, have colds, make love, have arguments, etc.  Our lives are basically the same.  Jesus, Buddha and Hitler all did the same things.  However the meaning we give these experiences is different.

Our lives are made up of little moments.  The more I study the Science of Mind, I realize how important each little moment is.  It is like our little moments are beads strung on our timeline.  Hmm, I just thought of a rosary.  Did you know that the rosary has four sets of "Mysteries of the Rosary" - Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious?   What if we are the Universes rosary?   How would we be prayed?  What are our mysteries?  OK, I’m getting a little out there – but really, what are the moments of our timeline like?  It’s up to us.  Are we creating knots or beautiful, translucent beads.  (Even sorrow can be beautiful.)

Make some beautiful memories with your little moments today.

SPIRITUAL MIND TREATMENT

We live in an infinite Field of creative potentiality.  This Field is God. It has no beginning and no end.  No boundaries.  It is absolutely everywhere.  Within It are both Love and Law.   Love points the way to various possibilities and Law makes those possibilities real.

Today I choose to let go of yesterday and see each moment as brand new.  This moment right now is fresh and unconditioned by my past.  This moment is expanding into the next moment and the next, and I feel the preciousness of all of them. 

My eyes are open to see a new reality.  My mind is clear.  My heart is pure.  I choose to experience Love and Light and Joy.  I choose to experience the Wisdom within me.  I choose a Divine Reality that continually makes all things new.  I come to this Reality with the wonder of a child, feeling loved and blessed.

My life is a string of beautiful moments.  I am so grateful for this.  So grateful to have the awareness to choose wisely.  So grateful to be aware of the Power within my word, and grateful for my embodiment of Truth.

I release these words into that Infinite Field, knowing they are so, and so it is.