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“When planning for a year, plant corn. When planning for a decade,
plant trees. When planning for life, train and educate people.”
– Chinese Proverb
“The moment you change Your inner self just to please someone else,
You have sacrificed a portion of Your Divinity.”
– Rev. M. Janie Hatch-Roberts
“It is a beautiful and true thought to realize that every one of us
stands in the shadow of a mighty Mind, a pure Intelligence, and a Divine
givingness! Not alone unto the great comes the soft tread of the
Unseen Guest. The arrogant have not perceived the simplicity of
faith, but the pure in heart see God.”
– Dr. Ernest Holmes, The Science Of Mind
I came across the Chinese Proverb above as I was contemplating what to
write about in this message. As I read it I am reminded that
everything begins with a seed thought (plant corn), and then we expand
that thought as we do the things that come to us to do (plant trees),
and then we find ourselves living on purpose. The seeding and the
planting symbolize the ideas that we act upon and our willingness to do
whatever comes to us to do, in faith, knowing that we are being guided
and directed by the ideas and inspirations that come to our awareness.
Each of us can take a "seed thought" or idea that appears the
same, but yet express it in many different ways. It is this
willingness to work in faith rather than rely on appearances, that opens
us up to the Greater. The Master Mind Jesus declared, "I, of
mine own self can do nothing, it is the Father that doeth the work"
... but we must have the awareness that Infinite Spirit, is "doing
the work" ... otherwise, we can become discouraged and perhaps even
experience despair. As I sat in my office in Beverly Hills
contemplating this idea of an Internet ministry, I knew that I would
have to rely on Spirit to guide me and to work for me, through me, as I
was committed to reaching a global audience teaching what I believed
then and believe to this day, to be "the way to a wonderful
life" ... the Science of Mind combined with the teachings of the
Master Mind Jesus.
As I developed this Internet ministry, I knew
that I would never personally meet the masses of people who visit this
website from all over the world, or those who sign up as
"Subscribers." Yet, I often receive messages from people
and immediately remember them even though I may not have received a
message from them for a couple of years. And this always reminds
me that there is only one Mind ... and all is known in Mind and we can
know what we want to know. Adding the on-line classes was
suggested to me by one of my subscribers, who became a friend via email
and telephone, Joan, who lived in New Hampshire prior to making her
transition in 2007. Joan would read books by Dr. Ernest Holmes,
Dr. Robert Bitzer, Dr. Joseph Murphy, and others, and would call me and
ask questions or ask for my ideas about what she had read. I
realized that offering on-line classes would give me the opportunity to
get to know more people like Joan, and so I began to contemplate the
idea. And, Joan was persistent in urging me to offer the on-line
classes and finally she convinced me by telling me, "I promise not
to call you anymore at 3:00 a.m. with questions if you will teach the
classes on-line." Now, who would turn down that offer!
The on-line classes opened up a new awareness
for me as I reviewed materials and class outlines for science of mind
classes. I developed material for the classes with a greater focus
on practice and simplicity, rather than theory. As Dr. Holmes so
often stated, it is practice that demonstrates the Principle, not
theory. I believe that spiritual mind treatment, which is also
referred to as affirmative prayer, not only brings us into a greater
awareness of our relationship with Infinite Spirit, but also gives us a
greater awareness of what we really, really want to have, to do and to
be. In other words, it forces us to think, to reason, and to
commit to something. And without reason, commitment is almost
impossible. Affirmative prayer never fails, as long as we are
persistent and use intelligence in our mental work. It truly opens
us up to the personal relationship that we each have with the Infinite
and provides for us the realization of G-d's responsiveness to us
through Love and Law.
Rev. M. Janie Hatch-Roberts wrote that whenever
we compromise who we truly are, our inner self, to please another we
"sacrifice a portion of our Divinity." No one can think
for us and therefore no one can answer for us. I have discovered
in the past ten years that many people will argue against what I teach.
There are those who will argue that I am denying Jesus' divinity, and
others who will tell me that I teach from the work of Jesus too much.
In other words, Christians don't like my teaching to include Jesus
unless I teach what they believe about him and non-Christians too often
confuse Jesus with Christianity. Jesus wasn't a Christian or a
traditional Jewish Rabbi. And, I believe the Jesus I know would be
as rejected by religion today as he was in ancient times. He was
far too radical in his thinking ... and Absolute in his acknowledgement
of G-d as the only Power and Presence in the Universe. Dr. Holmes
included 84 pages in The Science of Mind referencing the teachings of
the Master Mind Jesus and the New Testament, because he believed these
teachings to be of great value, if understood. I believe that the
true teachings of Jesus are metaphysical, not religious. Jesus
taught that All Is G-d, and ultimately All Is Good ... and this is the
Truth, as I believe it to be.
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "Great men are
they who see that the spiritual is stronger than any material force;
that thoughts rule the world." The simplicity of faith has
often been abandoned for religion. Faith that does not require a
religion to guide it or support it, is to me the faith of the great men
and women of history. When we "study" the Bible and
other ancient spiritual writings, we see evidence of men and women who
revealed great truths that had nothing to do with religion or the
generally accepted ideas about G-d for that period of time. Early
metaphysical writers and teachers in the 18th and 19th Centuries were
labeled heretics because they spoke of Something that defied the
traditional concepts of G-d's relationship to us. But, it was this
independent thought that continued to be a persistent voice for a more
loving and responsive G-d, that has now influenced not only great
thinkers, but also religious progressives. Faith in its simplicity
is powerful, inclusive and non-judgmental, and most of all, expresses
the Love of the Divine.
In these past ten years of giving service and
responding to an audience that transcends nationality, language,
religion and culture, I have always felt that this work is a great
blessing to me. Anytime, anyone brings the thought of G-d's Power,
Presence, Intelligence, and Love, into their mind, we are blessed.
And in turn, we bless all others in our experience. This has been
a Decade of blessings, multiplied abundantly!
AND
SO IT IS!
Keep
the faith!
Rev.
Dr. Henry Lee Bates
Visit Rev. Bates BLOG: Living
the Science of Mind
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