Category: blog

Got Prayer?

“Prayer Changes Things”

Oh yeah, that’s right. I need to remember that.

“Prayer Changes Things” is a phrase often used to express belief that prayer has a transformative effect on situations, circumstances, and outcomes. It suggests that through prayer, positive changes can occur in our lives, relationships, health, and even the world around us. Whether you’re seeking comfort, guidance, or healing, prayer is seen as a powerful force that can bring about positive shifts.—Copilot

The art of praying is not my forte. Yes, it is an art. Most times, when all else fails, then I remember to turn to prayer. I use prayer as almost my last resort. Pre-written affirmative prayers help me to cope with my stress, conflict, challenges and grief in my life. Often prayer is a source of inspiration, comfort, and guidance during difficult times. But, to immediately and automatically turn to prayer, I’m not there yet. I do know, no matter what happens to me, what counts is how I react to it.

I do have faith though. Faith is a belief that is not based on tangible proof. I do tend to turn to my faith immediately and automatically. Because of my faith, prayers change things in my life. Faith has transformed the way I think about myself and others, and what lies ahead for me. Faith shifts my perspective and has empowered me to forgive. Faith brings a sense of peace and comfort into my heart.

The following is a meditation from Ernest Holmes page 434 Living the Science of Mind that I often use as my all-purpose go to prayer. I’d like to share it with you.

I KNOW there is a Power for Good which is responding to me and bringing into my experience everything that is necessary to my unfoldment, to my happiness, to my peace, to my health, and to my success. I know there is a Power for Good that enables me to help others and to bless the whole world.

So, I say quietly to myself: There is one Life, that Life is God, that Life is perfect, that Life is my life now. It is flowing through me, circulating in me. I am one with Its rhythm. My heart beats with the pulsation of the Universe, in serenity, in peace, and in joy. My whole physical being is animated by the Divine Spirit, and if there is anything in it that does not belong, it is cast out because there is One Perfect Life in me now.

And I say to myself: I am daily guided so that I shall know what to do under every circumstance, in every situation. Divine Intelligence guides me in love, in joy, and in complete self-expression. Desiring that the Law of Good alone shall control me, I bless and prosper everything I am doing; I multiply every activity; I accept and expect happiness and complete success.

Realizing that I am one with all people, I affirm that there is a silent Power flowing through me and them, which blesses and heals and prospers, makes happy and glad their pathway.

And realizing that the world is made up of people like myself, I bless the world and affirm that it shall come under the Divine government of Good, under the Divine providence of Love, and under the Divie leadership of the Supreme Intelligence. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

–Madeline Pallanes

INTELLIGENCE: ARTIFICIAL and SPIRITUAL

I attended “Lunch Bunch” last Sunday. One of the conversations started with “Googling” something and moved to AI. At some point that is not always predictable to me. I am compelled to defend “AI” really the Large Language Model (LLM ) as a practical technology even with its occasional flawed results. Which includes citing the training models and humans’ inability to comprehend how exponential events suddenly move in incomprehensible ways. We do not deal well with the unexpected.

There I go again, getting excited. Once again time to step aside and let the conversation take its course.

Again for me some of the principles of SOM arrive front and center. OK so I’ve read a couple of books about this revolution both upbeat and apocalyptical. The book Scary Smart: The Future of Artificial Intelligence and How You Can Save Our World by Mo Gawdat was one such book. Of all the ideas I have been exposed to so far this statement about the AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) really gave me pause for reflection.

“Instead of containing them or enslaving them, we should be aiming higher: we should aim not to need to contain them at all. The best way to raise wonderful children is to be a wonderful parent.” ― Mo Gawdat

The end of that quote “The best way to raise wonderful children is to be a wonderful parent.” I really love that approach. Will it work with AGI I really hope that will be the case. Either way, applying spiritual values in my life like being a good parent, good employee, husband — this is a good reminder.

I have recently revisited the Silver Rule because it makes a bit more practical sense to me. The Silver Rule is an ethical principle that advises individuals to avoid treating others in ways they themselves would not want to be treated. It is essentially an inverse form of the Golden Rule, which states, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” In other words don’t hurt people. This sentiment has been repeated throughout history. I kind of like this one…

Confucius (551-479 B.C.), a Chinese philosopher, also taught the silver rule. Tuan-mu Tz’u inquired of him: “Is there one word that will keep us on the path to the end of our days?”

The teacher replied: “Yes. Reciprocity! What you do not wish yourself, do not unto others”

Another interesting idea I discovered while investigating Mo Gawdat was a movement he calls “One Billion Happy”

Mo Gawdat says three things in the video:

1) Happiness is Your priority

2) Invest in Your Happiness

3) Share It

Thoughts are things. It feels pretty bold to state Happiness is a decision. My truth is I may not like results or circumstances. Personal happiness is a decision; sometimes not an easy one but it is possible.

Practices To Apply Science Of Mind Principles from our webpage.

I ~ Other Methods To Further Embody Science Of Mind Principles The purpose of these practices is to embody our spiritual principles. This embodiment is a natural and spontaneous response to life, which is in alignment with Science of Mind Principles.

There are many methods to practice and apply the Spiritual Principles in everyday life. Ongoing proficiency and expansion of spiritual practices nurtures the application and embodiment of our Spiritual Principles. Exploring additional methods to deepen our understanding and practice that are in alignment with our Spiritual Principles, is valued and encouraged.

Live, learn and grow in Spirit.

–Chris Wheeler

The Trinity of the Human Experience and God

The Trinity of the Human Experience and God Rev Rhoni Tretsven “You live because Life lives in you. You move because a universal Energy flows through you. You think because an infinite Intelligence thinks through you.” And so, it is and will always be. As a soul, we have come here as if by Divine appointment to be “human.” We live, breathe and have our beingness, as an energy, unconditional love, and experience all this earthly realm through being flesh and bone. A gift.

Being human, life lives within each of us. The Divine presence of creation and love. We are part of the energy having infinite creativity and intelligence. Think of yourself as a human battery. When we are plugged into the source, we are on fire! We are in alignment with not just the spiritual but the physical planes. We are alive and can often feel the pulse of activity running through us. This energy runs through ALL nature, all life.

In the Science of Mind, we do not recognize the “Trinity” as traditional Christian denominations. I would like to point out, we as metaphysicians have a deeper concept of what it really means. What we understand and practice is the Trinity of Being. The Father, Son and Holy Ghost are the same but different. The Science of Mind translation would be The Thing Itself (Absolute Intelligence), the Way It Works (Absolute Law), and What It Does (manifestation).

Another way of understanding is the nature of Being. This “being” Unity. The attributes of Spirit, Mind, and Body. In this unification, we know it as Oneness. It is the triune nature of the One God that humanity has embraced. Think of it too as the “Father as Absolute, positive intelligence; the Son is the oQspring of the Father; the Holy Ghost is “the servant of the eternal spirit throughout the ages.” That which creates ALL. When I think about all the energy we encapsulate, I cannot help thinking we have so much working not only for us, but within us.

This summer I am speaking in a series of talks supported by The Wizard of Us by Jean Houston. A truly powerful book based on the Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum. Houston’s book concerns the transformations we encounter on our path of living through Joesph Campbell’s, The Hero’s Journey. Within the story of “Oz”, we find Dorothy had her own trinity of Mind, Heart, and Truth. These were her “helpers/companions” on the yellow brick road. Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion. All working together, supporting her on her path, to “the great and powerful Oz.”

The Trinity in its essence is God in action, always working for us, never against us. It is a pathway to not just a higher consciousness, but a greater yet to be. It is always operational in our lives. Please know, this Trinity of being has its foundation in love, Agape love. As we continue into our week, I am accepting for each one of us, the experience of this Trinity of being, the life that flows through us as us, and gives to us unlimited possibilities of a life, well lived. And so, it is. Amen. Namaste.

–Rev Rhoni Tretsven

Moving Out of Our Comfort Zones

Earlier this week in meditation, I asked Spirit, “What is my topic for this blog?” Spirit’s immediate reply was, “Comfort Zones,” or, as I consider them, no growth zones.

We recently celebrated Memorial Day, the weekend of my last two major moves. The first was in 2015, when in July 2014 I told the Universe/Spirit I was ready for something new. Sure, I LOVED my life in Sonoma County, my work, spiritual fellowships, friends, the music, the redwoods, and the Russian River. In answer to my prayer for something new, I found out Sonoma State was not accepting new Sociology students as they were full. So, I began searching online for my first love, Religious Studies. I looked at Humbolt and Chico State, no and no; Bakersfield – Oh heck no! But under the fear and resistance, my heart said a quiet yes, this is where you are to go next – Bakersfield. The night before I left Sonoma County, I was shaking in my bed like a cartoon character. And the next morning, I drove into my new life.

As soon as I arrived the affirmations began. People I had never met “recognized” me. The companion cat I had wanted to get for my Maggie moved in within the first few weeks. Eventually, all the school details got worked out and my work expanded to support me comfortably. I completed my BA with honors in Sociology and Religious Studies. It wasn’t long before I began practitioner training—another opportunity for growth and expansion.

While Bakersfield was never supposed to be my forever home, I had gotten comfortable and made many good friends. But, after 2020, I began wanting to be nearer family. At the beginning of 2021, my landlady told me she was selling my house. Where to go? I wanted to be nearer family, which meant Arizona. I am a California girl, born and raised and the thought of moving to another state was way outside my comfort zone. I had to remind myself people move to new states all the time, it’s no big deal, even while honoring the huge leap I was again making in my life.

Ernest Holmes writes in The Science of Mind (p.385) “Nature will not let us stay in any one place too long. She will let us stay just long enough to gather the experience necessary to the unfolding and advancement of the soul. This is a wise provision, for should we stay here too long, we would become too set, too rigid, too inflexible. Nature demands the change in order that we may advance. When change comes, we should welcome it with a smile on the lips and a song in the heart.”

This past weekend, our order of service was new and yes, it made me uncomfortable. And that’s a good thing! We also began our summer series with the introduction to Jean Houston’s The Wizard of Us. The invitation is to join Dorothy and Toto, and their new companions, into the world of magic and transformation. We don’t have to make big moves or get flung over the rainbow to experience change, we just have to be willing to step out of our black and white predictable life into the technicolor Life that is waiting just outside our comfort zone.

We’re off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Us!

–Sharon Whealy, RScP

Why We Are Here – Briefly – Simply

“We should move beyond a commitment to survive into a commitment to prosper. Then, beyond that, we must make a commitment to make this a be;er world. That’s why we’re really here. You might want to start with a prosperity commitment, and then graduate to a commitment to doing good in the world in a real and concrete way. – Edwene Gaines Four Spiritual Laws of Success p 157.

It’s hard enough getting myself to a place that feels like thriving – and now I am supposed to take that commitment into the world….let alone make it a better place. That would be an affirmative. (Note to self: Remember this does not mean trying to change people into what/how I think they should be.)

Then what does it mean for me….

“To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The gift is to the giver, and comes back most to him – it cannot fail.” — Walt Whitman

“Every right recognition you give to this Life will increase your own livingness. Every time you use It in a dynamic way you will be cultivating the ability to use It in an even more effective manner, and this will go forever. There will never come a time when unfoldment will cease.” Ernest Holmes The Art of Life p 87.2

I know when I’m in Flow with Life, when my thoughts are alive and vibrant rather than cautious, judgmental, defensive. Convoluted thinking is the big sign flashing stop now. Even though I do it so well.

So much of the world around us provides ongoing opportunities and invitations to live otherwise: crabby, critical, self-defeating and angry, the reason to read and re-read books like The Art of Life or A New Design for Living and firecracker Edwene is they provide the reminders and road signs to a better way of thinking.

And if thinking makes it so, and it does, then these guides to better thinking/living are one of the greatest assets we have available. I can use that help every day.

“We conscientiously move forward step by step, idea by idea, and as we do so we find we are able to remove limitations which may now exist and make certain no new ones are established.” – Ernest Holmes. A New Design for Living p 71.3

–In peace, Mariann

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions…….

Say: “I am filled with the peace, strength, power and decision of Sprit…. The all-powerful Mind of the Indwelling Christ in me dissolves and dissipates from my mind  all belief in indecision, anxiety.” Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind, page 245.

We all make decisions every day; some major, some minor. Do I put this old shirt in the Keep, Donate, or Toss bin? Or should I cut it up to use as cleaning rags? Should we sell our house and if we do, where will we move? Should we rent or should we buy a new place? What decision will yield the best outcome?

Some people have a harder time than others in making decisions. I learned to not ask someone with ADD (attention deficit disorder) an open-ended question such as ‘What do you want to eat?’ They function better with a clear choice – ‘Do you want chicken or spaghetti for dinner?’

Dr. Raymond Charles Barker was a long-time leader in the Religious Science spiritual movement. He wrote many books, including The Power of Decision, which provides a step-by-step program to overcome indecision. Its 270 pages are filled with spiritual mind treatments and affirmative messages to say to oneself. Dr. Barker thoroughly details how we use creative intelligence to effect positive changes. He writes, “A decision alerts the subconscious energies that a sound and solid idea is being accepted by the conscious mind. Upon that acceptance, the law of consciousness acts and a new event or situation is born….. A correct definition of a spiritually acclimated individual is one whose conscious mind, operating in the field of subconscious creative intelligence gives it creative decisions which it then produces as experience.”

His program relies on intention as he encourages that we:

• Make a depth decision to be happy

• Decide to live richly

• Decide to be healthy

• Decide to be creative

I found this book to be full of wisdom. It is clear that indecision is actually a decision. He points out that worry always begets indecision. How we think and feel determines our place in life. All intelligence exists in our consciousness and awaits our call upon it. At the center of our mind is the clear decision we should make. His most popular book, God is Money, states “Money is God in action, and it takes money to put God into action.”

One of his spiritual mind treatments:

There is one originating Intelligence, Mind, and Spirit, and I am Its action, Its outlet, and Its process of revealing Itself. It knows me as Itself, and I know myself as It. Therefore, I am never indecisive. I always have the right idea at the right time. Infinite Intelligence in me knows what to do, and this knowledge is mine at every instant. Original thinking pervades my consciousness, and I am correctly decisive regarding all matters. I know what I need to know at the instant I need to know it. The results of this correct knowing of original ideas bring forth new and improved situations in my life. For this I am glad.

–Linda Bullock

Out With The Old

Order: I organize my life to carry out my purpose. (Rise Into Your Power, Unity Books)

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions anymore, but I do set goals for the year. This year mine was to do a deep clean of my home and purge some of the “too much stuff” that was cluttering it. I had been making progress working on one closet, room, or cabinet on a weekly basis. I was amassing quite a pile of items that I considered better than a Goodwill donation.

About a month ago, a neighbor mentioned she wanted to have a yard sale. Great! Now I had a means to move the no longer needed items out of the house. I told her I could help out and would have some items I could contribute.

I looked around for other things to add and realized there were some areas, such as the garage, where we were just “storing” stuff, items neither Mike nor I needed, wanted nor could remember why we had them in the first place. Why do we have 10 inflatable rafts for the pool? We had at least 40 keys we couldn’t match to a lock!

I kicked it into high gear. At the end of two weeks I now had too much to take over to my neighbor’s sale and told her I was going to have one on my own the day before, then I could bring what didn’t sell to hers.

This past weekend was our sale. The items that didn’t sell were immediately boxed up and taken to be donated to a thrift store. It feels good to know items that were just collecting dust were now back in circulation. I actually have some empty spaces that were once packed to overflowing. I have a sense of calmness rather than feeling encumbered.

It just so happens that for today’s date, May 22, in 365 Days of Inspiration: Joyous Living Journal by Petra Weldes and Christian Sorensen, the title is “Out with the Old and In with the New”. The reflection for the day is: Look around your house. Is there something that is outdated that you would like to replace? Look at your life and see if there are some old patterns you are dragging forward into your behaviors that it’s time to dump.

I just completed clearing out my physical house of outdated items. Now it’s time to do a spiritual housecleaning. How much happier and lighter I will feel to release some of the emotional “stuff” I’ve been carrying around that is no longer needed. I will clear out old thoughts that have been being stored and make space in my mind for new thoughts that serve me now and allow me to grow, not stay stuck in old patterns. I’ll make room for Spirit to fill me with inspiration and purpose.

In the new order of thought, we are likely to fall into as great an error as in the old thought, unless we go much deeper than thinking of God as merely Principle. GOD IS MORE THAN LAW OR PRINCIPLE. God is the Infinite Spirit. Ernest Holmes, SCIENCE OF MIND page 365.4

–Janet Salese

Spirit Is Allness

Spiral galaxy UGC 12295

Recognizing Spirit as the Infinite Intelligence of the universe, knowing It is the creative force behind all that exists. From the limitless galaxies surrounding us to the boundlessness of the tiniest vibration within, Spirit is the source of all things and is behind all creation.

With purpose and all-knowing good, there is nothing not made from this loving, intelligent Substance. What I Love is that the statement carries a profound sense of spiritual awareness and recognition of the interconnectedness of all existence.

It reflects themes found in various spiritual and philosophical traditions, emphasizing the idea of a universal creative force or intelligence underlying all reality.

Better known to us as The Law.

Werner Heisenberg* quantum pioneer said, “Not only is the Universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think.”

Deepak Chopra* cites the term “Qualia” as referring to the subjective, conscious experiences that individuals have. These are the raw feelings, sensations, and perceptions that make up our internal mental states.

“Examples of qualia include the redness of an apple, the taste of chocolate, the feeling of warmth from sunlight, or the pain of a headache. They are often considered to be ineffable, meaning they cannot be fully described or communicated to others in their entirety.

In my mind it is quite possible the explanation of these differences and interpretations are the results realized in our mind as we actually create individualized reality from the Infinite.

The Law underpins the Quantum Field; our collective and individualized realities make up a part of the Multiverse.

Discovery is infinite; we will never stop discovering as we move through our lives.

That’s pretty incredible.

*Heisenberg and Chopra quotes from: Quantum Body by Deepak Chopra

–Chris Wheeler

The Song of Life

Tamara Morrison illustration

Ernest Holmes Nature will not let us stay in any one place too long. She will let us stay just long enough to gather the experience necessary to the unfolding and advancement of the soul. This is a wise provision, for should we stay here too long, we would become too set, too rigid, too inflexible. Nature demands change in order that we may advance. When the change comes, we should welcome it with a smile on the lips and a song in the heart.

Over the last three years I have experienced a lot of shifts and changes. Mainly, where I have called home. Southern California, up until a couple of years ago, was where I was born and raised. In 2021 Tempe, Arizona, became a soft place to land until Tucson called my heart, and I now claim Rio Rico as my forever home. It is in this beautiful, rural, green, and hilly place I find Spirit in new niches of my re-established life. One of my favorite “new” daily spiritual practices is to sit on my patio in the early morning, with a cup of tea, looking at the mountains, noticing the light of the rising sun in the east, and how it begins to touch everything and awaken it into the new day. Taking a deep breath, and listening to the environment in which I live, there appears a slight breeze, along with the local wildlife emerging from their places of overnight rest. It is different living in a very rural area where I hear cows mooing, and birds singing, where once sirens were blaring, and the sound of cars going up and down a busy street just a few blocks away.

I would describe it as a different type of rhythm and music I now experience. All of it, I am grateful for. As I write this article, I reflected on the question of, “How many of us have a shift in our environment and recognize only the loss of an old way of being, instead of embracing the new?” As we shift, and settle in, the invitation is to release what was and rediscover the now present surroundings. This is applicable not just to our home but work, our spiritual home, eateries, or other places we visit as a routine. We can experience it as an opportunity to learn something new about what the new space has to offer. New friends, new outside resources, it is all inFinite possibilities.

Infinite possibilities is the invitation created by the shifts and changes in our lives. It is an opening for growth both spiritually and personally. So then why do we decline the ability to receive or do something different? Perhaps it is our comfort level, the routine we find safety in? Or maybe we just don’t want to put the effort into something that would push us into redirecting our lives? Whatever our case for defending our limitation, Spirit will eventually nudge us into submission. The submission part is Spirit opening our eyes to what will support us and create a better living experience.

Spirit is leading and loving us, singing to us a new song of joy and an abundant life daily. It is ours to listen to the rhythm of the universe. To step into a new beat and dance and celebrate all the good we can receive. It is accepting and knowing with a full and grateful heart we are loved. Eleanor Ratcliffe says that listening to a birdsong can lower stress and have positive impacts on mental health. “Birdsong is often a sign that there are no predators around. It’s a sign of safety. And way back in our primordial brain, we may recognize it as such, and relax a little.” How many of us listen to the birds sing? I challenge you to take a moment, stop, allow the air to Flow around and through you. Then listen to the sweet language of all that surrounds you. Yes, take time this week to feel and listen. Feel your heart strings of what your soul wants to sing and listen to that still and small voice of Spirit, singing you a love song of all that is, and all that will be, designed for your highest good. Namaste.

Affirmative prayer: Infinite Presence, I listen to the song of life, of my heart, resonating with the peace, beauty, and harmony that restores my soul. Thank you, God, and so it is. Amen.

–Rev Rhoni Tretsven

What is a Pracitioner?

My first experience with Science of mind Practitioners was at CSL-Santa Rosa. Between services, there would be a dozen or so practitioners in a room and often times a line of people waiting for a “one minute miracle,” a chance to meet briefly with a practitioner and receive a Spiritual Mind Treatment. These brief times of prayer helped get me through some hard decisions, such as ending a relationship and eventually deciding to move to Bakersfield, CA.

At CSL-Bakersfield the practitioners would line up at the front of the room after service and offer SMT or prayer. I found this a valuable opportunity not only in stressful times to have someone know the truth of whatever condition I was in at the moment, but also to affirm Life’s good. Some of my favorite prayers were asking to affirm all is well and good and only getting better – the practitioners loved it!

What is a practitioner? Well, technically anyone who studies and practices this philosophy and teaching is a practitioner. Ernest Holmes writes, “The one who attempts to heal himself or another through recognition of the creative power of Mind and the ever availability of Good, is a mental or spiritual practitioner” (SOM 167). A licensed Religious Science Practitioner (RScP) is someone who has taken classes, completed the practitioner training program, passed a written test and an oral panel.

But beyond the training, an RScP has been called into higher service to their community, themselves, and the world. In her article, “The Consciousness that HEALs, A Practitioner’s Calling” (SOM Magazine Nov. 2004), practitioner Linda Watson says, Religious Science practitioners are loving, healing presences who dedicate their lives to demonstrating the power of spiritual realization and helping others to do so through affirmative prayer and spiritual principles.”

When I started the Practitioner Training program it was as a stepping stone to CSL Ministry, but along the way I found the joy of being of service as a practitioner. I love our form of prayer and the deep connection I feel with Spirit and those I have the opportunity to pray with. During Practitioner Training, I found the value of meeting one on one with a practitioner. A practitioner session is a time to be with a professional practitioner who “uses spiritual principles as the basis for their guidance, teaching and healing work” (Linda Watson).

I continue to meet with my practitioner monthly and it is always a great space to work out whatever is going on in my life.

“It is a practitioner’s business to uncover God in every [person]. God is not sick. God is not poor. God is not unhappy. God is never afraid God is never confused. God is never out of His place. The premise upon which all mental work is based is perfect God, perfect man, perfect being” (SOM 168). The CSLTucson practitioners welcome you to know this Truth with us: God is, I am, All is well, I am grateful, and so it is.

SOM = Science of Mind Text – Ernest Holmes

–Sharon Whealy, RScP

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