Sunday, March 3, 2002

                                     
"The greatest good that can come to anyone is the forming within oneself of an absolute  certainty, and of one's relationship to the Universe, forever removing the sense of heaven  as being outside oneself."
 - Ernest Holmes - The Science of Mind

                   "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you," stated the Master Mind Jesus.  But far too many people still have absolutely no idea of what He meant.  And many of us who do, still find it difficult to maintain a consciousness that is heavenly.

                From the Science of Mind glossary:  Heaven - A state of happiness.  Heaven is within, it revolves about us; it is the result of that atmosphere of conviction which our thought awakens within us.  The Kingdom of Heaven is unformed, unlimited, unconditioned.  Heaven is not a place, a locality, "with streets of gold and gates of pearl."  It is the real state of Being.  We do not make it real, for it is eternal Reality.  If we abide in the Father and He abides in us, in harmony, in power, in peace, in wisdom; and our thought is friendly, happy, confident and open, our Kingdom of Heaven is a good place in which to live.

               While we are looking at the glossary we may as well look up:  Hell - A discordant state of being.  A belief in duality.  A sense of separation from God.  A belief that our good is always to be, and never is.  Hell is not a location.

               As Dr. Holmes states in the Science of Mind, "heaven is unformed, unlimited and unconditioned."  What this means is that we have the dominion and authority to form, limit and condition our Life experience and the resultant state of heaven or hell is the form, limits and conditions we impose upon it.  If we refuse to release the idea of challenges and struggles then we will continue to have challenges and struggles.   These are all created by an unwillingness to take off the limits, to form pictures of success in our minds and to see the condition of our Life as advancing onward and upward to higher states of enthusiasm, success, loving relationships and work that has purpose.

          Heaven requires a change of Heart.  We must give up thinking from our mind that is immersed in the clutter of the world consciousness and start listening to the truth of our hearts.  We must ask and consistently seek the answers that lead us and guide us to a better state of mind, a mind that is infused with the Divine Promise of "Heaven right here where we are!"  ONLY THE EGO MIND ENTERTAINS IDEAS AND THOUGHTS OF CHALLENGES AND STRUGGLES.  THE EGO MIND WANTS TO BE CHALLENGED AND GO THROUGH STRUGGLES SO IT CAN THEN TAKE CREDIT FOR OVERCOMING THEM!  This is the race-conscious mind that defeats us and denies God in our experience!  We must give up this line of thinking once and for all if we are to realize the "Kingdom of Heaven."  

          I remember early on in my studies I was still persistent in "feeling" challenged and the end result was not what I desired but I stubbornly clung to the idea that the cause was out of my control.  Dr. Domenic A. Polifrone who was my teacher at the time stated very clearly to me, "you do realize that you created this don't you, no one else did it for you, you did it."  It took me almost 24-hours to reconcile myself to the truth of what Dr. Domenic had told me.  I went through emotional turmoil.  I turned the blame from others to self-blame and then to shame, but the butterfly that erupted out of this caterpillar consciousness was a realization and decision to take dominion and authority over my life with the truth.  Not to "overcome" in order to take ego-credit for the overcoming, but to discipline my mind to create heaven right where I was, to break through the barriers of the race-mind consciousness that would credit me with a failure and then credit me with success, but to know and to know that I know that the "truth of my heart" would demonstrate Itself, if I would get myself out of the way and "let" it work through me, as me and for me.

         Letting go of our illusion of "control" and "surrendering" to God or this inner power, is not easy when we first attempt it.  As a matter of fact worry and doubt can often create a great deal of fear in our lives.  Dr. O. C. Smith stated that "fear is the child of an undeveloped consciousness."  Understanding this statement begins the elimination of fear in our consciousness and its effects in our life.  As we "listen to the truth of our hearts" we will find the way to free our mind, to free our soul and to allow the imprisoned splendor within us to erupt as heaven - right where we are.
               
 And So It Is! 
                                                            
Letting Love use me in Its own Good Way,
Henry Lee Bates