As we come to the completion of our class, we hope you are finding the following in your life:
A greater appreciation for life, yourself, and everyone in it.
Heightened mindfulness and a sense of connection through a consistent spiritual practice.
Increased clarity (or at least a willingness to be in the question) in your beliefs about life’s biggest questions—the meaning of it all, life and death, calling and purpose.
A renewed commitment to your own personal thriving.
Have a blessed week!
Michelle Medrano
Lead Minister
Josh Reeves
Lead Minister
ADDITIONAL READING
Arguably, the most influential writer on Ernest Holmes and New Thought philosophy in general, is American intellectual, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Inspired by thinkers of the Romantic movement, as well as the heart of possibility in the promise of American individualism, Emerson’s profound thoughts and creativity still guide our teachings today.
Here are a few of his ideas:
On Prayer:
“Prayer that craves a particular commodity—anything less than all good—is vicious. Prayer is the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of view. It is the soliloquy of a beholding and jubilant soul. It is the spirit of God pronouncing his works good.”
On Self-Reliance:
“To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men—that is genius. Speak your latent conviction and it shall be universal sense; for always the inmost becomes the outmost.
Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life’s cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another you have only extemporaneous half possession. That which each can do best, none but his maker can teach him. No man yet knows what it is, nor can, till that person has exhibited it. Where is the master who could have instructed Franklin, or Washington, of Bacon, or Newton? Every great man is unique.”
On the Soul:
“All goes to show that the soul in man is not an organ, but animates and exercises all the organs; is not a function, like the power of memory, of calculation, of comparison, but uses these as hands and feet; is not a faculty, but a light; is not the intellect or the will, but the master of the intellect and the will; is the background of our being, in which they lie—in immensity not possessed and that cannot be possessed.
A little consideration of what takes place around us every day would show us that a higher law than that of our will regulates events; that our painful labors are very unnecessary and altogether fruitless; that only in our easy, simple, spontaneous action are we strong, and by contenting ourselves with obedience we become divine. O my brothers, God exists. There is a soul at the center of nature and over the will of every man, so that none of us can wrong the universe.”
On Living:
“Write it on your heart
that every day is the best day in the year.
He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day
who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety.
Finish every day and be done with it.
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt crept in.
Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day;
begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit
to be cumbered with your old nonsense.
This new day is too dear,
with its hopes and invitations,
to waste a moment on the yesterdays.”
Is Science of Mind Christian?
Here are some thoughts from Dr. Michelle on the question, “Are we Christian?”
SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
Spiritual Practice: Gratitude
Gratitude is a powerful spiritual practice that can be done in many different ways.
Keep a gratitude journal. Each day, write what you were grateful for that day. Although you can repeat your answers day to day, try and come up with something new.
Practice honoring. Along with listening, there is often no greater gift we can give to another than acknowledging them. Thank someone for the impact they’ve had in your life. Honor someone for the courage or uniqueness you see in them.
Give thanks for the wholeness of your life. If it's been anything but a day full of things to be grateful for, get into a meditative state and give thanks for the wholeness of your life. We may not be thankful for everything, but we may find we can experience feeling blessed when we consider our life as a whole instead of in its pieces.
