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One of the most striking differences between Religious Science and other
religious/spiritual teachings is our lack of reliance on
"traditional" concepts and ideas. In the nature of
Jesus, a true student of Religious Science must look beyond "widely
held beliefs" to the Truth. As Jesus stated, we must "be
like little children" ... in other words, we must shed the
concepts, traditions and beliefs that diminish us rather than build us
up. Little children come into the world with love for everyone;
without prejudices, without judgment of right and wrong, and without
shame, blame, comparisons, etc. To "be like little
children" we must forget almost all that we have learned from the
world.
The greatest examples of how "the world" has diminished our
perfection (seeing everything as perfect) ... are the widely held
beliefs regarding love, sex and gender. Religious Science looks at
these aspects of our lives intelligently ... without the morbidity of
judgment and prejudice. The Master Mind Jesus taught that we are
to "break" the the concepts and beliefs that do not serve us
... in other words, open them up to the Light of Truth and understand
their relationship to love, peace, joy, happiness, harmony and
intelligence. The Rabbi Jesus taught that we "must" love
one another ... as God loves us; unconditionally, ever-lastingly ...
without any sense of inferior or superior. We must be "open
at the top" Dr. Holmes stated ... think beyond the mediocre ...
otherwise our consciousness remains in a state of mediocrity.
As we look to love,
sex and gender ... there is still so much for us to understand.
One of the reasons I believe that there is such opposition to same-sex
marriage in the United States is that many of us continue to accept
concepts and beliefs derived from the Bible shaped by people of little
insight into the nature of God and the nature of God's creations.
The same can be said about the state of marriage in this country ...
with so many marriages ending in divorce we know the concepts must
change. Love is so confused with sex that we have religious
leaders and even politicians in the U.S. thinking that God actually is
concerned with watching our genitals. Why? Because, the
focus on the physical act of sex which has nothing to do with real love,
has created such a distorted idea of what love truly is. So many
people fall in love with anatomy .. rather than "wait on God"
for the right match ... the person that touches their soul. If you
have time, read the Book of Ruth in the Bible ... the entire Book is
about two people who felt the touch of their soul by another. We
don't get this experience without bringing God into our heart and our
mind ... and it has nothing to do with sexual attraction or lack of
sexual attraction.
In 1926
Dr. Holmes wrote in The Science of Mind:
THE TRUE MEANING OF LOVE
The true meaning of love is a wonderful thing; for it is the desire of
the soul to express itself in terms of creation. Creation is
brought about only through the self-givingness of the lover to the
object of his/her love. This is why, when we love people, we will
go to the limit to help or serve them; nothing is too great, no
sacrifice is enough. The true lover gives all and is unhappy in
not having still more of him/herself to give to the object of his/her
adoration.
Because of our emotional nature, love is generally expressed through the
sex desire. But too great an expression of this desire is
destructive, for it depletes the vitality and demagnetizes the one who
overindulges. This is the meaning, and the whole meaning, of the
story of Samson and Delilah. "He that hath an ear, let him
hear." All people look, and occasionally someone sees.
SEX NOT NECESSARY TO THE
EXPRESSION OF LOVE
The sex relationship is not necessary to the expression of real love.
Love is the givingness of the self, and if this givingness is complete
sex will take care of itself. But energy must have some outlet.
It is only when the unexpressed desire remains in the subjective that
destruction follows in its wake and strews the shores of time with human
derelicts. Liberty and license, freedom and bondage, heaven and
hell, happiness and misery, good and bad, all, all, are tied up in human
desires. Energy is energy and will be expressed or blow the top
off, just as a pipe will stand only so much pressure before bursting.
Millions are daily being blown up, mentally and physically, through the
suppression of desires. Desire is a dynamic force and must be
taken into account.
MALE AND FEMALE
Man, coming from Unity, is both male and female, and has, within
him/herself, both attributes of reality. In some the male
predominates; in others the female. We have two distinct types in
man and woman; but they are types of one fundamental principle. There is
also an intermediate sex; that is, one in which the two attributes seem
to be almost equally balanced. The greatest men and women of the
ages have belonged to this type, for it is a more complete balance
between the two which are really One. <1926 Science of Mind>
What a
great difference an "enlightened" idea can have on a subject
... and to think that Dr. Holmes wrote this in 1926. And like too
many of our modern mystics, Dr. Holmes allowed the less-enlightened to
edit much of the information above out of the current version of the
Science of Mind. It is truly a mystical view of love, sex and
gender, one that would reduce much of the confusion, prejudice and
inflicted pain caused by religions mired in traditions that only serve
to oppress people who are outside of their limited view of Life.
Love cannot be limited anymore than the Infinite can be limited ... it
is to our great benefit to celebrate Love wherever it is expressed.
It takes nothing from us ... "Love don't cost a thing" ... and
that's the Truth.
And
So It Is!
Maximum Love,
Rev.
Hank Bates
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