Meant To Be

Within each of us is the realm of God. Every human being possesses the essence of all that is holy and vibrantly alive. You are a place where God is, and, despite occasional appearances to the contrary, you are kind, you are compassionate, and you are love. And so is everyone else. This is a universal principle taught by spiritual leaders over ages, and one that can change the way you live your life today.

At your core is peace. It is the place to which you go when discomfort or even disaster strikes. It is an inherent part of you, which may be why we frequently fail to remember it is even there. But it is in this unchanging place inside you where the greater global person begins. It comes from your core and makes itself known in the world, sometimes in surprising places, through the things you do and the relationships you create.

Become aware of just how powerful a force for peace you really are. Today, you can imbue every single action, no matter how minute or grand, with the essence of peace. When someone wrongs you, whether they cut you off in traffic or say untrue things about you, you have the divine choice to respond in kindness, with peace. It is the first stop to something larger, something global.

It can seem hopeless to believe that peace is the way things are meant to be in the world today. Peace seems so unattainable that it often seems easier to give up hope. But even taking one peaceful action in your daily life shifts the word closer to the peace that is meant to be.

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You may like to read

James Allen's The Way of Peace.

Washington state gets rid of sexist language

Story here.

"Words matter," Liz Watson, a National Women's Law Center senior adviser, told Reuters. "This is important in changing hearts and minds."

Guest Blog: Betti Effrig on "Letting Go of Judgment"

Judge not that you be not judged. 

- Matt. 7:1

Easier said than done! The following Taoist story helped me understand:

An old farmer had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. "Such bad luck," they said sympathetically. "Maybe," the farmer replied.

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. "How wonderful," the neighbors exclaimed. "Maybe," replied the old man.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. "Maybe," answered the farmer.

The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son's leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. "Maybe," said the farmer.

So I stopped judging my situation – being in a wheelchair did not have to be good or bad. I understood what my Vietnam Vet friend meant when he told me not to struggle with a cane, but to go for the wheelchair when the time came. We tend to think that not being like everyone else is bad because it is not “normal”, but it is better than struggling to keep walking with a cane, or to try to be something we are not.

One day when I was outside looking at the trees and flowers, I realized that I did not judge them. On that day I decided that when I judged myself or anyone else, I would think of the person as a tree or flower, one of God’s beautiful creations, and just stop with the criticism and negative thinking! It takes practice, and I am far from perfect. On a more challenging day, in my mind’s eye someone who really ticks me off might be an autumn leaf about to drop from the top of an old gnarly tree. . . . .

When we stop thinking in terms of good and bad, we are freed from judgment and guilt and better able to accept what is, be it people or situations. On a practical note, I stopped beating myself mentally when I make mistakes, and I have actually learned not to let aggressive drivers and rude people annoy me. Imagine that!

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You can read more from Betti Effrig at her blog
"CONTENTEDCAT, finding peace with my Muscular Dystrophy diagnosis."

You may also enjoy reading Christian Larson's Pathway of Roses, from Newt List.

Inspiration Vacation

Summertime offers great opportunities to take breaks from our regularly scheduled lives and see ourselves differently. It is a time when many of us take vacations from work, from school, even from our church, and venture out to explore new places in the world. Whether we travel the planet or we vacation at home, we can take this time to shift our perspective just a bit, altering the regular course of our lives to give us a break from the way things usually are.

Traveling to a different country or region gives you the chance to see the world through the eyes of people different from yourself. New thoughts, new ways of doing the everyday things, new voices all stimulate something inside you, and you see the world expanded.

When you take time off, but remain in your everyday surroundings, you can take a vacation within yourself. When you are not distracted by work or the everyday grind, new ways of doing things can be imagined, and then experienced. This can be as vital and stimulating as a trip around the world, because it is a trip inside yourself.

Taking time off from your regular schedule gives you a unique chance to invest time into your spiritual life. When I travel, I always take my ebooks with me. Sometimes I get new ones, mixes of fiction and non, but mainly I like to have my spiritual stand-bys handy to remind myself of why I believe as I do and how to make every day outstanding.

One of my favorite spiritual books to reread is Christian Larson's The Ideal Made Real, subtitled Applied Metaphysics for Beginners. Ernest Holmes attributed this book to introducing him to New Thought ideas. I find that it brings me back to the basics of a new way of thinking about myself and my place in the universe. Every time I read it, I remember, and I become more excited about the possibilities available to me as a human being in a spiritual world.

Have a great inspiration vacation!

The Gender of God

We don't really know exactly what God is, but it is generally agreed that there is a power or intelligence behind the universe, and this power, or principle of harmony, we commonly call God.

We are aware that this power is not a person and that it has no gender—yet we commonly refer to God as "He." Beyond questions of historical tradition and social mores of the times, the issue of God as "gender-neutral" being is actually part of a full understanding of the divine character of the Supreme Being.

At heart is the accessibility of God's "godness" for all people, regardless of our individual gender. Some people argue that God is historically referred to in the masculine, so they are used to it and naturally "translate" the gender in their heads as they read. Others become actually angry when the idea of God's "masculinity' is challenged, claiming that the Bible uses the masculine, so it is how it must be.

Let's try some examples:

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." This sounds "normal" to most of us. It's what we've heard all our lives. In fact, we've heard it so much that we barely question that God is He who gave His life.

But examine how you feel when you read this:

"For God so loved the world that She gave Her only begotten Son." This statement almost sounds comical, as if we were making a joke to prove a point. But in truth, why is it not as valid as the previous male-centric version? If God is beyond gender, than we might just as well refer to God as "She" than as "He!"  (The historical Jesus was a man, so for this example's sake we'll keep him as such!)

Now here's another way of adjusting the language:

"For God so loved the world that It gave Its only begotten Son." Gender-wise, this is probably the most accurate way of pronoun usage for referring to God. "It" is undoubtedly gender-neutral! Yet though most accurate, this version connotes God as something inanimate, without personality, maybe even without "life." In the English language, we mainly use "it" to refer to inanimate objects, so it somehow seems wrong to use this form when referring to the Source of all things!

Finally:

"For God so love the world that God gave God's only begotten Child." Now here's a sentence we can relate to quite well, even though it is a bit awkward in its repetition. It jars our sensibilities a bit because it doesn't flow in the way we know it from our past, but it is not bad, and it is certainly accurate and inclusive.

(Notice also the change of "Son" to "Child." Even though the historical Jesus was male, using the word "Child" suddenly makes the Jesus-as-Child concept more broadly accessible without taking anything away from the historical figure, whom we know from our reading was male, highlighting the love of a parent for that parent's child.)

The Supreme Being—First Cause—is beyond gender, beyond ethnicity, beyond time and anything we can imagine. Using gender-neutral forms, though not perfect, is one of the more effective ways for us to understand the breadth and scope of our Creator.

Newt List is a resource for metaphysical and spiritual ebooks that incorporate gender-neutral forms, for a new way to experience New Thought!

Ernest Holmes Was Here!

The Ernest Holmes Center

Top: 1935; bottom: 1990.

Sixth St. and New Hampshire Ave, Los Angeles

Ernest Holmes, by far the most popular author on Newt List, built his spiritual empire in Southern California, a place he loved for both its geographic sprawl and its spiritual vitality. In 1935, after outgrowing his current office space, he moved his headquarters, the Institute of Religious Science, to 3251 W. Sixth St., in the Wilshire District of Los Angeles.

By the late 1980s, long after Holmes' death, the architectural gem had grown too small for the expansive denomination, so it was torn down and replaced by a modern office building called The Holmes Center, which was the Home Office for United Church of Religious Science (now called Centers for Spiritual Living). The building held administrative offices as well as offices of Science of Mind Publishing and Science of Mind magazine.

In 2011, the organization finally left the building and relocated in Golden, Colorado, thus ending a page in the rich history of New Thought in America.

A Prayer for My Country

by Ernest Holmes

Believing in the divine destiny of the United States of America, and in the preservation of liberty, security and self-expression, I offer this, a prayer for my country.

I know that Divine Intelligence governs the destiny of the United States of America, directing the thought and the activity of all who guide its affairs.

I know that success, prosperity and happiness are the gifts of freedom, and are the divine heritage of everyone in this country.

I know that success, prosperity and happiness are now operating in the affairs of every individual in this country.

I know that divine guidance enlightens the collective mind of the people of this country, causing it to know that economic security may come to all without the loss of either personal freedom or individual self-expression.

I know that no one can believe or be led to believe that freedom must be surrendered in order to insure economic security for all. The all-knowing Mind of God contains the answer to every problem that confronts this country.

I know that every leader in this country is now directed to this all-knowing Mind and has the knowledge of a complete solution to every problem, and each is compelled to act on this knowledge to the end that abundance, security and peace will come to all.

I know that this spiritual democracy will endure, guaranteeing to everyone in this country personal liberty, happiness and self-expression.

And so it is. Amen.

Happy Independence Day, from your friends at Newt List!