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"Throw
back the shoulders, let the heart sing, let the eyes flash, let the mind
be lifted up, look upward and say to yourself ... Nothing is impossible!"
- Norman Vincent Peale
"The Science
of Mind" written by Dr. Ernest Holmes, begins with the
"Introduction" which contains four chapters; I The Thing
Itself, II The Way It Works, III What It Does, and IV How to Use It ...
the first four weeks of January, 2007, I am focusing on these
Introductory Chapters. This week I will focus on Introductory
Chapter IV, How To Use It. (Chapter I, 2, & 3 are posted on
the 2007 Archives page
of this site.)
[Science of Mind] It has been
proved that by thinking correctly and by a conscious mental use of the
law of Mind, we can cause It to do definite things for us, through us.
By conscious thinking, we give conscious direction to It, and It,
consciously or unconsciously, responds to our advance along the line of
our conscious, or subjective, direction.
[Science of Mind] It must and will
respond to everyone, because It is Law and law is no respecter of
persons. We are surrounded by an intelligent force and substance,
from which all things come - the ultimate Essence, in the invisible and
subjective world, of all visible and objective forms and conditions.
It is around us in its original state, ready and willing to take form
through the impulse of our creative belief. It works for us by
flowing through us. This law we did not create; this law we
cannot change. We can use It correctly only as we understand and
use It according to Its nature.
[Science of Mind] When we are dealing
with real life - with thoughts, impulses, emotions, etc. - we are
dealing with Causation, with original Cause, and we should be most
careful how we deal with such powers and forces. In dealing with
this subtle power of Mind and Spirit, we are dealing with a fluent
force. It is forever taking form and forever deserting the form
which it has taken. Thus a student of this Science should not be
confused over any given form, but should know that any form which is not
of the original harmony is subject to change. The Original Spirit
is Harmony. It is Beauty and Truth and everything that goes with
Ultimate Reality. The Universe is not divided against Itself.
[Science of Mind] We should learn to
control our thought processes and bring them into line with Reality.
Thought should tend more and more toward an affirmative attitude of mind
that is positive, stable, and - above all else - toward a real unity
with Spirit that is already complete and perfect.
[Science of Mind] In this invisible law
of unfoldment, we must come to trust, and although we do not see the
way, we must believe that the way IS and IS OPERATIVE. We must
trust the Invisible, for It is the sole cause of that which is visible
... "... things which are seen were not made of things which do
appear." (Hebrews 11:3) ... Healing and demonstration take
place as our minds become attuned to the Truth of Being. There is
no process of healing, but there is generally a process in healing.
This process is the time and effort which we undergo in our realizations
of Truth.
[Science of Mind] The one who wishes
scientifically to work out his [her] problems, must daily take the time
to meditate and mentally treat [practice prayer treatment] the
condition, no matter what the apparent contradictions may be. He
[she] is working silently in the Law and the Law will find an outlet
through his [her] faith in It. This Law is the Law which puts the
act into all action. It is the invisible actor, working through us
to will and to do. As a result of right treatment, the mold formed
in the subjective mind by the treatment makes possible a concrete
manifestation. The treatment is an intelligent Energy in the
invisible world. It is a spiritual entity, working through the Law
of Mind, and it is an actual force now consciously directed.
Therefore, it must produce specific results.
I suggest that everyone get very clear on
the method and practice of spiritual mind treatment or prayer-treatment.
The Science of Mind teaches us how to consciously control or direct our
thoughts. Our thoughts create their own energy, no different than
our words or physical actions. Thoughts are things ... and
patterns of thoughts create our experiences. The purpose of
treatment is to "convince" our mind that the images and ideas
of Good that we become aware of ... can be made manifest through our
faith and belief. Everything that we want to do, to have or to be
... begins with an "idea" and we are aware of ideas in our
mind. The structure of these words began with an idea ... and an
idea in the mind of the writer has brought them to your awareness ...
through your mind. There is only One Mind ... we all share in It.
All ideas come from It ... your ideas and my ideas ... all of them.
Ideas are not good or bad, positive or negative ... what we do with them
creates our experience of them. If Edison had ignored the
"idea" of the light bulb ... someone else would have invented
it, for the "idea" was no respecter of persons. It was
available to anyone who could accept it. And this is the same for
you and me and the ideas that come to us.
I believe that there is far too much focus on using
prayer-treatment for the things in our life that "appear" to
be out of balance with harmony, joy, love, happiness, beauty, and light
[intelligence]. Our prayer-treatments should be focused on the
things that we want to experience ... as this is the only way to create
them. Whatever we are experiencing that troubles us, is the
effects of past thinking. And we cannot "do over" our
past thoughts. All we can do, is begin this very moment to think
only of those things that we want to experience ... contemplate the
ideas for success, happiness, love and prosperity that come to our
awareness ... and then use treatment to "convince" our mind to
the conviction that they are ours.
Our intelligent conclusion is
that God is Mind. One Mind infinitely individualizing Itself
through our "awareness" of It. We are not separate and
apart from Mind ... we are "in It" ... and It is in us.
Mind is the "God in the midst of me" ... or as the Master Mind
Jesus stated, "the kingdom of heaven within." It is
essential that in order to live a life that is happy and fulfilled, that
we understand this. And we must learn to trust It ... to have
"absolute" faith in It ... and in order to do this we must
foster and nurture faith in our self ... in our mind's ability to
commune with the One Mind and to accomplish the things that we are to
accomplish. We are here to demonstrate God on Earth ... this is
the Truth ... and since we are in It .... we are in It to win!
AND SO IT IS!
Keep
the faith!
Rev. Hank
Bates
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