Sacred Disruption - Reimagine Everything!, by Dr. Petra Weldes

Disruption has become the norm!

The pandemic has certainly disrupted us, for good and for ill. Devices and technology continue to disrupt our homes and the way we do business, for good and for ill. The internet, social media, and AI have disrupted us for good and for ill. The polarization of our politics and the divisiveness in our government have disrupted us. The turmoil over the civil right of African Americans, immigrants, women, and transgender people have disrupted our ignorance, while the spiraling issues of climate change have disrupted our complacency.



Making It Sacred and Worthwhile

How shall we deal with all this disruption – with angst, anger, apathy or with our spiritual principles and human values? What if we decided to engage with these disruptions as something sacred? Even going so far as to invite sacred disruptions to take us on unexpected healing and growing journeys. Making disruptions sacred is realizing that “the way it’s always been” isn’t and can’t continue to be the same as it always has been. So, how do we reimagine our lives, individually and collectively? How do we reimagine life in such a way that challenges the norms while answering the call of our soul for courageous action, and authentic connection?



Step #1 – Embrace Change as a growth opportunity

We begin by allowing, even inviting, disruption to become sacred. This means embracing change and uncertainty with powerful and positive intentions and actions. The first step is to seek the good that has emerged amid any disruption. This does not deny or avoid the pain nor the challenges we or others have faced. But it does focus us on the fact the something greater is always present and there is a way to learn, grow, and move through disruption to a powerful awakening. Deciding to make a particular disruption sacred means that we take it to the altar of our awareness and invite it to reveal something meaningful and profound. Listening rather than analyzing, feeling rather than forcing, and sensing rather than projecting are all sacred skills our souls develop as we engage in this process.



Step #2 – Make Friends with Ambiguity and Uncertainty

The next step is to invite sacred disruption. This means to court the new, make friends with the unknown, and expect change. Ambiguity and uncertainty become our guides as we decide to invite the wildest parts of our soul and our deepest intuition to lead. We deliberately try new ways of being and doing that are more congruent and aligned with our values, spirituality, and ideals (no matter how uncomfortable). This is way beyond improving ourselves; it calls for sacred and profound acts of authenticity and deeply taking responsibility.



Step #3 – Make it a Creative Act

Sacred disruption becomes a creative act when the destruction has made way for something truly new. Newness begins with reimaging life, not from the normal way it’s been, but from a soulful, connected, profoundly directive decision to make a difference. Reimagining everything begins with values that we espouse but aren’t actualizing, and the hopes we are afraid to believe are possible to achieve. What if they are? What if these are the impulses and desires of your truest essence? Reimagine life, is not trying to create a utopia, but rather, it is day-by-day, moment-by-moment mindfully making a life the contributes, restores balance and justice, reveals creativity and connection, and is utterly in alignment with the highest vibrations of your truest self.



Step #4 – Engage Your Imagination

The creative faculty of imagination is what breaks the bonds of habitual patterns and behaviors. Imagination is the ability to see and sense something in the mind’s eye that is not actually present yet. Every one of us has this ability. Usually it feeds our anxiety, doubt, and fear as we imagine catastrophic outcomes or our inadequacy for creating change. Just remember, our imagination is just as good at imagining outrageously amazing outcomes and our courageous contributions to change. Begin today, imagine a world that works for everyone, even when we have no idea how it will come about. Imagine our planet healthy, people prospering, divides discussed civilly, and an economy in service to humanity and our future. Now all the disruptions have truly been made sacred.

About | Dr. Petra Weldes

For more than 30 years, Dr. Petra Weldes has brought a dynamic, genuine, and engaging style of ministry to congregations around the country. Leading CSLDallas since 1998, she has created a thriving spiritual community, empowering and transforming lives. She serves as Co-Spiritual Director along with her wife, Rev. Karen Fry. A compelling and gifted speaker and teacher, Dr. Petra's purpose is to transform lives and her mission is to grow people, communities, and ideas.

She has served in many capacities at the Centers for Spiritual Living and in local and national interfaith programs and received her honorary Doctor of Divinity from the Holmes Institute in 2004.

​A highly regarded and deeply admired teacher, Dr. Petra engages students with her interactive style. This provides a safe, sacred environment for personal growth and exploration. Her deep wisdom, wealth of knowledge, as well as humility and humor, guide students into journeys of awakening to their unique expression and creative, joyful potential.

An elegant, powerful speaker, her ability to translate seemingly complex and confusing life issues into concise and clear messages invites the audience into deeper levels of understanding of their being and engagement in the world by igniting the change within.

​In the nonprofit, religious, and business communities, Dr. Petra has coached countless leaders to a more conscious, powerful, and courageous presence in their work. She develops potential and connects leaders to ideas that expand consciousness.

Dr. Petra has co-authored three books: Joyous Freedom, Joyous Living, and Joyous Abundance Journals with Rev. Soren Christian, as well as numerous articles and thought papers.

Letting the Power Use US!, by Dr. Maxime Kaye

I have only to open the portals of my soul and accept that which is ready to express through me. Today I fling these portals wide; today I am the instrument through which life flows. 

Ernest Holmes, Science of Mind, p. 305

One of the first important things we learn in our teaching is that “There is a Power for Good in the Universe, greater than you are, and you can use It.” Ernest Holmes began his talks with this powerful statement, engaging thousands of people in awakening to the spiritual presence within and available to us all. Imagine the shifts in consciousness that occurred as he encouraged their awareness of the great truth of limitless possibilities because of this Divine Power.

As we all mature along our evolutionary paths, it is necessary to move from any human beliefs in lack or limitation, and “proving the Principle” strengthens our faith in this Presence and Power. It is appropriate as we grow, however, to cease experiencing ourselves as “children of God,” and enter a more expansive awareness of being “adults of God,” savoring our joyous responsibility to “let the Power use US!”

Yes, it is wonderful to rely on the Presence of Goodness and the Power of the Law to provide for our human needs but even more greatly empowering to realize our essential part in the vision of a just and workable world for all. Let’s “fling wide the portals of our souls,” celebrating our ability to be the instruments through which the Creative Power of the Universe brings about a new reality. In this heightened knowledge of a greater purpose for ourselves and others, we find ourselves filled with peace and gratitude.

Inviting the substantive qualities of the Divine to express through us, we find Light, Love, Life, Peace, Power, Beauty, and Joy manifesting beautifully into our lives and reaching out into the greater world itself. As we choose to BE the Presence, Love overflows, and Wisdom prevails. Finally, we see our essential part in co-creating with the Divine. How magnificent it feels to understand and accept our glorious role, as we consciously bring Heaven to earth.

There is no need to ask, “Make me an instrument,” as we can simply declare, “I am an open channel for God’s Grace to show up in the world today!”

Dr. Maxime Kaye

Language Matters, Part II - Oneness, Really? - by Rev. Dan Granda - Part Two

Transformation and Evolution: We do deep inner-personal work of self-discovery and healing to reveal the greater truth of our divinity, wholeness, and freedom.

- From “Our Shared Values,” Centers for Spiritual Living Operation Design Model

Welcome to Part II of this blog mini-series, Language Matters. It has been a fun little journey to watch one idea turn into a multi-part communication about the importance of the language we use, how it impacts our communication, and ultimately, how it helps us come to a better understanding of ourselves.

Last time, we identified our human desire to be understood and feel seen as a catalyst for better understanding of the language we use while simultaneously recognizing that language often falls short of conveying the full experience one might be trying to share. Similarly, we took a little dive into observing how the way we learn language impacts how we use it and how that correlates to our use of language within a teaching like the Science of Mind. We then tackled the subtle but meaningful difference between the words “transcendence” and “transformation” as a powerful example of how the meaning and understanding of a single word can shift our entire belief system. Do you know what you mean when you say the word? It makes a difference. If you didn’t get a chance to read Part I (https://cslspiritualleader.blogspot.com/search/label/Dan%20Granda), you might enjoy reading through that one first.

There are so many other words within the Science of Mind and teachings like it that easily fall into similar categories of misunderstanding. Words like wholeness, consciousness, vibration, energy, etc..… the list goes on — Words that we are very familiar with. They are frequently used in just about all of our communities. Anyone hanging around one of these new thought centers for even a short time picks up on these words and others like them, easily integrating them into regular dialogue. We use them all the time. Jargon that seems so integral to the teaching and yet is so infrequently defined. We know this because when we take the time to truly find meaning in most of these words, we find that they probably don’t really mean what we had thought, or we find that we hadn’t thought much about what they meant in the first place. Worse, we find we have been using them in a way that actually implies the exact opposite of what it sounds like the word should mean.

Just like in the case of “transcendence” and “transformation,” the impact of understanding these words is huge. Let’s look at a very real example of this: oneness. Oneness is a word we use all the time in the Science of Mind. It is a core tenet of the teaching, and in this case, just about anybody could probably provide a general definition of this concept. It might sound something like, “Oneness recognizes that everything is one life, that we are all connected.” That sounds great, right? It does. It sounds great, and so we like it! But providing even this very innocuous definition almost immediately creates more questions than answers, even if it is just unconscious. Let’s give it some context. Often we can hear oneness being spoken about when we want to recognize, and sometimes even state, that there is no separation between ourselves and others. “We are all one.” And this is True, with a capital T. We are all one, and we are not separate. Yet, the context of this statement is so often amidst a conversation that is otherwise attempting to recognize, and maybe even honor, the perceived distinction that we, as humans, are wired to experience. And so, what happens is we end up either unintentionally bypassing someone’s experience — saying something like, “Yeah, but we’re all one,” implying, “So, your experience doesn’t matter” — or we inadvertently reinforce an unconscious belief that there are some elements of life that we would rather not look at and are not included in our perception of oneness; sometimes we do both. We end up implying and sometimes even saying out loud that our definition of oneness is actually two-ness, duality. “All of this over here is my version of oneness, and all of that over there — the stuff I don’t like, the things that make me uncomfortable, the experiences I don’t want to recognize or admit to — that is not part of my oneness.” It doesn’t take much to realize that doesn’t work out so well, and in no way does it actually means oneness.

Oneness must include the whole experience. We can’t have oneness and attempt to exclude certain experiences, things that make us uncomfortable, or things we don’t like. It must be that which we see as positive and that which we see as negative. It is feeling happy and (dare I even say it) feeling angry; all of the emotions. All of that is God. All of it is One. It can’t be any other way.

It becomes ironic in those times when our declaration of oneness actually beings to imply duality, which it seems might happen more often than we realize. This speaks directly to how easy it is to take on jargon and bear it as a shield. “If I say the right things, then perhaps it will all change,” or “If I say the right things, maybe I don’t have to change.”

And right here, we find the real importance of understanding oneness, of all of our language really. What do I mean when I say _____ (Fill in the blank)? It is not just in communication where understanding our language matters. It is also in understanding ourselves and our own journey.

When you say a word like oneness, what is it that you mean? Do you know what you mean, or is it just another word that got picked up along the way? When you say oneness, do you have a specific and intentional understanding that embodies the essence of true oneness as best as you can at this current moment? When you say oneness, are you aware of the human perception of the whole made up of all of the parts? When you say oneness, does it just sound good and feel right without really thinking too much about it?

There is no shame or judgment here in any of these answers. These are questions that help us better understand our own beliefs. What we believe about oneness is demonstrated in the ways that we unconsciously use and misuse… and then learn, and use and misuse… and then learn again, attempting to become more and more aware of our beliefs.

We can allow our use of oneness, or any of our words really, to be a mirror for a better understanding of ourselves. As stated in Our Shared Values, “We do deep inner-personal work of self-discovery and healing to reveal the greater truth of our divinity, wholeness, and freedom.” The deep inner-personal work of understanding and uncovering our beliefs, conscious and currently unconscious, allows for the creation and experience of that greater yet to be that is looking to come through us.

Rev. Dan Granda

Dan Granda, RScP | Better People Better World (revdangranda.com)

Moving from Me to We, by Gregory Coyle, RScP

Each of us is a reflection of our cultural norms, stereotypes, and biases. The same holds true for Centers for Spiritual Living. It's not a separate thing, but an organization of individuals with a common purpose and vision. And it is heavily influenced by American culture. There is a strong “ME” culture in “aMErica” (and true, other places around the world) due to the growth of Individualism, social media, and the internet. Regardless of where we are, we think, live, and act locally. That’s how it works in the human realm: I start with me (individual), my family, my neighbors, my groups, etc. Our awareness starts internally and moves its way outward.

I have the perspective of growing up in the US and experiencing and learning many of the cultural and regional differences. However, after living abroad for 18 years, many things leave me bewildered about how the US culture has changed. Change is happening, change is inevitable. Yet we are taught that there is One Power that is changeless, everywhere present, and we are part of this One. Within us is this changeless One. Osho talks about “Finding the Changeless through the Changing” in The Book of Secrets. How do we find this Changeless for ourselves, and for our communities? Yes, our spiritual toolboxes. And it starts with each of us individually doing the practice.

Centers for Spiritual Living has centers around the world, but do you actually know where they are and what they do? CSL has a Global Vision, and we are a global organization, but what does that really mean? Global? What are the opportunities available to us now to think, talk, and act globally to truly embrace this idea? When you give a talk or teach a class, can it be done in such a way to bring a real sense of a global connection? Can we connect with these other global centers, so they feel part of the Global Vision and the CSL family?

I invite us, as leaders in this organization, to think when we use the word “Global”, and how we can embrace a Global Vision. We have an opportunity to teach Spiritual Principles locally and remind our communities that there is something greater, a Universal Oneness that we are all a part of. The air that you breathe is the same air that I breathe. We have an impact with our thoughts, words, and actions on everyone else. Let us use our spiritual tools, and have thoughts of Love, Joy, Compassion, and Oneness. Let us remember we are spiritual beings having a human experience. 

Blessings!

Gregory Coyle, RScP

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Greg started his spiritual journey early in life, inspired by his parents’ devotion, faith, and integrity.

Greg has been a licensed Practitioner with Centers for Spiritual Living since 2005 and has been living in Oslo, Norway since 2004.

He offers private coaching sessions, lectures, individual and group meditations, and courses.

He contributes regularly to the Global Heart of Peace Meditation service and has been writing monthly treatments for the Practitioner listserv since 2017.

Greg currently serves as Chairman of the CSL Global Services Committee and has been a member of the Committee since 2020.

He is also a yogi and has been teaching hatha-style yoga since 2001. Greg brings “Spirit, Joy, and Love” into his practice and teachings.

I DOUBLE-DOG-DARE YOU!, by Rev. Susan Overland

"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
~Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

 

“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
~Eleanor Roosevelt

 

“GOD SPEAKS AND IT IS DONE.”
~Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

 

There’s no doubt that most people have seen the iconic moment in 1983’s “A Christmas Story” when 14-year-old Flick is dared to stick his tongue to the school’s flagpole in freezing weather; Ralphie as an adult narrates the scene saying, “NOW it was serious. A double-dog-dare.” It inevitably leads to the sinister triple-dog-dare and Flick being “thtuck” to the pole. Even after almost 40 years (yes 40!), I still find myself yelling, “Don’t do it!” every time I watch that scene because I was the last kid on the block who would ever accept a dare, whether single, double, or triple.

 

Growing up I was the youngest of 5 children and spent a lot of my youth alone and over-protected (the first eight years I was in and out of hospitals a lot). My home life was more Jerry Springer than Brady Bunch and it served me well to be the “good girl,” and not make any trouble. That risk-averse mindset carried well into my adulthood and became the topic of many counseling sessions.

 

Fast forward to 2001. I took a class at a new church I was attending, and I heard the question, “What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?” I went home that night and cried because I couldn’t come up with an answer. Not fail? How would I know that? All that early programming came flooding back, “You can’t do that.” Or, worse, “Who do you think you are?” But Science of Mind™ had opened the flood gates and the messages kept coming, until one day I realized what God was saying to me:

        I double-dog-dare you to stop playing small!

 

Imagine discovering that life is meant to be a grand adventure and all I need do is keep saying “Yes,” and, as Ernest Holmes wrote, “Begin to blot out, one by one, all false belief—all ideas that one is limited…Refuse to think of failure or to doubt your own power. See only what you wish to experience and look at nothing else.” (The Science of Mind, Pg. 302.3)

 

Please, don’t get me wrong, I have not yet jumped out of an airplane, and I know better than to stick my tongue to a frozen flagpole in freezing temps! I’m not a very good swimmer and I never did learn to ride a bike. But the best news is that I no longer scare easily; I love change and trying new things. Finding my voice, taking a stand and not compromising my values, getting into “good trouble,” it took a solid spiritual practice, faith, a good support network, and the occasional sheet of “spiritual bubble wrap” taped around a broken heart. But oh, I do love this life and I can’t imagine not living it fully.

 

It seems both Alice in Wonderland and Eleanor Roosevelt were both right, and I have solid proof that Ernest Holmes was, too. I’ll end with posing the same question to you, “What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?” I can’t wait to see what kind of double-dog-dare God has in store for you! Do let me know.

 

 

“The average person could probably list at least three good reasons to prove why he or she can't do whatever it is he or she really wants. But in the deepest recesses of our hearts, don't we really know that we could do it all - if only we dared?” ~ Jack Canfield, Dare to Win

 

 

Rev. Susan has been a member of the Center for Spiritual Living San José (CSLSJ) since May of 2001. She became a Practitioner in 2005 and obtained her M.A. in Consciousness studies in 2011. As Associate Minister, she is dedicated to inspiring transformation and possibility in the lives of others. Whether as a speaker, facilitator, director, or teacher, her passionate, quick-witted and straightforward point of view gives a new perspective to living the Science of Mind and Spirit. In February 2021, she took on the role of Regional Support Coordinator for Region 3. Prior to her call to ministry, Rev. Susan had a thriving career at Hewlett-Packard and, along the way, collected numerous awards for her theater work from New York to California. She lives in the Rose Garden area of San Jose with her husband Max (a licensed Practitioner), and 1-year-old puppy, Cara, a 10 lb. Maltipoo who is prone to Zoom bombing her meetings and classes!

Ones and zeros, by Dr. Raymont Anderson

I’ve been thinking about us, Tom. Look how binary is the form, the nature of things. Ones and zeros. Light and dark. Choice and its absence. Anderson and Smith.
~Agent Smith, Matrix Resurrections

This quote from the newest Matrix film reminded me that in New Thought, we often talk around duality in lieu of Oneness. And while it is very often this is for good reason; it causes us to forget that there is power in understanding and harnessing the energy of duality. Taoists, Tai Chi, and Qi Gong practitioners understand this power; balancing Yin/Yang. They know it is not “either-or” but “both-and” that generates healing and manifestation. The computer programmer understands that the two-symbol system of "0" and "1” referred to as Binary code, is the very thing that allows them to create anything virtually!

In all meditation resources, the breath is vital in the process. Breathing/respiration consists of both inhalation and exhalation. Two parts of one whole breath are the necessary interconnected aspects of our meditative practices.

Love and Law are not two separate powers or forces even though many argue that “Science of Mind” is more Law than Love and “Unity” is more Love than Law. Both/And invites us to find (temet nosche “know thyself”) and embody this singular dual energy.

“For the only God you and I will ever know is the One we embody. Never forget that.” ~Ernest Holmes

Within our Centers, there is a great amount of unaddressed and unhealed trauma. There exists an abundant amount of “toxic positivity,” people-pleasing, codependency, projection, othering, and ultimately a greater reliance on fear than faith. Our Centers, pulpits, and communities are made up of people who are vastly complex individuals at various points along the healing spectrum.

Just like any hospital, right?

Many medical professionals have various health challenges themselves. Physicians needing healing. Our invitation is to take a very serious look at what we desire to experience (a world that works for all) and to then put Principal to work, embodying our Spiritual Imperative, and live it as a daily activity. We needn’t deny the human over the divine but rather embrace Both And!

From something as simple as a “0” and a “1” the complexity and diversity of all that can exist is created. Infinite creative potential found in understanding and mastering 2 symbols, 2 expressions of one Power.

Dr. Raymont Anderson

As a lifelong learner with a passion for self-development, personal transformation, transmutation, and transfiguration, he lives his bliss as a teacher, minister, author, visual artist, ASL Performing Artist, mentor, father, grandfather, and more, by giving people applicable tools and practices that enable them to live a more fulfilled life; recognizing, realizing, and materializing their Full Divine Potential!.

​His mission is: To live, move, and be an *A.C.T.I.V.E. member of society who serves to Educate, Elucidate, Emancipate, Awaken, and Empower people and communities.

*[Authentic, Compassionate, Transparent, Inspired, Vibrant, Empowered]

As an Ordained Centers for Spiritual Living Minister, he currently serves as the Spiritual Director of The Center for Spiritual Living Greater Baltimore.

Prophetic Zeal: A New Call to Action, by Rev. Dr. Raymont Anderson

If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority … If the church does not participate actively in the struggle for peace and for economic and racial justice, it will forfeit the loyalty of millions and cause [people] everywhere to say that it has atrophied its will . . .

~Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The prophetic zeal of New Thought is the Spiritual Imperative to remain consistently and consciously Open at the Top, to engage the world of effects and conditions as active emissaries of Love and Law who are effectively manifesting and stewarding a world that works for all.

If we are honest, this is terrifying to many of us because it demands that we do the work. It demands that we move our feet, that we move beyond the metaphysical malpractice of “solo spirituality.”

44 …‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then the King will answer, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’ ~Matthew 25

It is the understanding that I live in an apartment building and if your unit is burning, it makes no sense whatsoever for me to say, “It’s not my fire so it’s not my concern.” “I don’t believe in fire, that’s not in my consciousness.” “This teaching is about me doing my spiritual practices and you doing yours, your apartment is on fire, that is for you to work on, not me.” Sounds ludicrous and yet we say things like this all the time when it applies to poverty, racism, homophobia, sexism, etc.

We affirm, “there is only One Life,” and somehow, we want to compartmentalize that life as if what happens in one place has little to no effect on another.

“…Spirit is in everything, and if it is unbroken, and if it is undivided and does not express itself in fragments but in a totality,…” ~ Anatomy of Healing Prayer

The Good Samaritan demonstrates this Prophetic Zeal. He saw a person in need and he did what was his to do.

Are we as a movement ready to do the same?

Are you ready?

Rev. Dr. Raymont Anderson

As an Ordained Centers for Spiritual Living Minister, he currently serves as the Spiritual Director of The Center for Spiritual Living Greater Baltimore.

Within The Centers for Spiritual Living Organization, he is serving as a recently appointed Commissioner on the Spiritually Motivated Social Engagement Committee which supports CSL's Spiritual Leader, Dr. Edward Viljoen (pronounced full-YOON), in formulating and expressing official CSL statements addressing world events. The SMSE also creates webinars and training on how to approach social and global issues based on CSL's teachings and values. Rev. Dr. Ray has been one of the members of the Cultural Integrity & Evolution Committee where he worked alongside several amazing individuals (Spiritual Mavericks), as we synergized with each committee and council represented within CSL to generate the themes to be used globally for 2020, 2021, and 2021. He also served briefly on the Diversity and Inclusion Commission. He has also been working with several people within New Thought as a whole, on creating resources for members of the Deaf, the BIPOC, and the LGBTQIA2+ community.

Ultimately the goal is to establish synergistic collaborations within the organization (Centers for Spiritual Living), within New Thought, and within various other Faith traditions, community organizations, and beyond so that everyone is seen, recognized, listened to, heard, valued, and given space to be themselves… so that everyone, however, the Divine expresses ItSelf as you: African American, Latine, Caucasian, Asian Pacific Islander, Deaf, hearing, Straight or LGBTQ2IA+, Differently Abled, Democrat, Republican, Independent, etc., understand their own Divinity.

He worked briefly on the steering committee for the CSL World Ministry of Prayer, in June 2020 during the Re-Imagine Summit, Rev. Dr. Ray had the distinct honor and pleasure of being on a global panel with several esteemed colleagues in the CSL movement.

What's In Your Consciousness, Br. Dr. Edward Viljoen

Rev. Dr. Edward Viljoen is spiritual leader of the Centers for Spiritual Living and a member of the AGNT Leadership Council. This edited version of his recent talk at the CSL Convention in January speaks to our entire New Thought community and dares to set a higher bar for our individual and collective evolution.

THIS YEAR marks the 10th anniversary of the Centers for Spiritual Living becoming the organization we are today: one integrated family of spiritual seekers. The seeds for our current reality were planted back then. That is the way of things. Things are always created first in mind, in consciousness, before they arrive in form. Today, we are experiencing the results of a creative impulse that was set in motion back then.

I wonder if the delegates and the attendees at the conference back then in New Orleans knew how much we would benefit from being one united family for these times? And then I wonder what the beloved community of Science of Mind in 10 years will need to feed upon that we must confidently plant now on their behalf.

I've been reading about the complicated impact of social media on teens these days and how they are being exposed to an unrealistic view of other people's lives and feeling like they must live up to that. Is pretending that there is no mess in my life one of the downsides of being obsessed with positivity? And is that the Science of Mind message that the community of 10 years of the future will want?

I don't want that for myself, and I don't want it for our movement. I want to know that we can be present for each other in our moments of chaos, distress, and disappointment and be with the raw, complex emotions that go along with being human. I want to plant that seed so that ten years from now, or even right now, young and older alike, will not have to hide when we are feeling sad, disappointed, frightened, angry, confused, or mystified.

When I was younger, and I first found Science of Mind, I developed a fear of negative thinking. So I avoided or hid anything disturbing or conflictual because I thought it said something about my wholeness as a spiritual being. I'm so sorry that I went that way. I wish I had read these words of the activist and child advocate L.R. Knost, who wrote these words:

"Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. And all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you."

Is that not a clarion call for our teaching? To Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. Oh, let us plant those seeds now because I think the beloved community of 10 years will benefit from the fruits of those seeds. I do.

We've had so much loss in this past year. Over 5 million people dead from the pandemic. And Bishop John Shelby Spong died in September last year. Also, Archbishop Desmond Tutu died on the day after Christmas. Two giants of spiritual heroism. Each with their clarion call to spiritual people like us to stay relevant, engaged, and real, to stand in the glorious mess that is humanity and face it all and not hide from it or avoid it, and to love intentionally extravagantly, and unconditionally. They were not afraid to stand in the darkness and shine their light.

Bishop Spong spoke at our Asilomar Summer Conference one year; he said something about how Christianity, for it to remain viable and survive, had to examine, and rethink its teachings. I remember applauding his boldness, thinking, should the same not be true for our Centers for Spiritual Living? Should we not rigorously examine our teaching in light of what is known today so that we can stay relevant. I'm certain doctor Ernest Holmes would want that.

And it's happening anyway.

Whether we want it or not. The difficult questions are asking themselves without permission. Because as we learn about privilege and bias, and classism the world over, these questions cannot be held back. It doesn't matter if we want to hear them or not.

A colleague of ours, a Science of Mind colleague, talking about himself, asked me, "is it only my consciousness that brought me to this experience of success, or did my privilege have something to do with it?" In the same week, another colleague, a Science of Mind minister, called me and asked, "…am I in a position of power and influence solely because of my spiritual practice, or did the societal bias toward my gender and race have something to do with it?"

These questions cannot be stopped and to remain relevant and viable we have to keep step with the questions and answer them. We have to find a modern expression of our beloved Science of Mind that does not blame victims for their experience but instead teaches us to have minds that can hold the complexity, ambiguity, and contradictions of being human, with all of its nuances, and to remain open to the full range of feelings that go with being a messy human being, perched behind a filter of perfection.

In a way, we are being invited to the table to investigate what exactly does spiritual bypass mean? And are we complicit in it? And how may we avoid teaching the next generation to look away when terrible things happen to good people? The Science of Mind of the 1930s must and will evolve. That's just the way of things, and nobody can stop it.

In May of 1992, the Science of Mind magazine published an article by Doctor Ernest Holmes which stated that "The one who understands the Science of Mind will be tolerant, kind, and sympathetic." Now I wonder, if Doctor Holmes were alive today, would he want us to go further and do better than that?

I wonder if he would expand on the idea of tolerance.

I'm guessing yes, he would. I'm guessing he would invite us to the students of Science of Mind to ask "is tolerance deep enough? Does it go far enough for one who is a practicing religious scientist?" I believe he would invite us to lean deeply into it to go further than tolerate disappearances to rejoicing in them as the natural state of the universe and to boldly proclaimed to the world that our teaching the science of mind is a teaching of oneness; how from the one comes the many and that's holy; about the thread of Divinity that connects us; about the healing power of loving kindness and the sacredness of life and the equal-ness of that sacredness in all; and how it is about the power that we have to heal or to harm.

Tolerance may not be enough for that.

It's a good starting point. I can tolerate someone I hate. I can put up with them. Oh, but when I abandoned hate, tolerance is no longer useful.

So I reworded Dr Holmes’ statement with more contemporary words.

The one who understands the Science of Mind will be inclusive, compassionate, loving, and I can add curious, appreciative, radically welcoming, fearless, helpful, engaged, and even more.

Ah, to take a stand for that!

We have been very cautious about taking a stand as a movement and boldly proclaiming this is who we are. What the reason for that is? Why are we so cautious? When conflict happens, we must come to realize that it is our attempt to avoid that discomfort and seek only the harmonious that keeps us from standing up; that in being silent partners it is our silence that perpetuates conflict, itself.

Is the New Thought community conflict-avoidant?

We are very cautious about taking a stand. We like to maintain a positive perspective. We like to see the good and praise it. We love that.

The problem with that approach we are discovering, just like in the personal realm, when something truly unjust or disturbing does happen, no one will know what we stand for until we claim our position clearly, kindly, compassionately. When we don't claim what we stand for, we inadvertently become supporters of things that are not resonant with our own teaching.

In the United States, public shootings have been a problem for a long time and one of our Science of Mind colleagues wrote these words a couple of years back. You can just feel the pain in the words.

"My biggest fear right now is that we as a nation are getting used to the mass shootings and letting it become a new normal period there are no simplistic solutions, but we need to tackle the issue come the eyes and ears and hearts wide open. This isn't right and we need to demand our leaders address all the components of the situation and we can't let anyone off the hook because of finger pointing add budget constraints. If it's not safe to go to an outdoor festival a mall or Walmart, for God's sake, then we are not the land of the free. And if we can't speak up and demand our safety, we are not the home of the brave."

I celebrate when I know some where someone stands. And I am learning in this position as a Spiritual Leader that disagreement is not a terrible thing. People can disagree and still love each other.

Disagreement, it turns out, is survivable. Being shot at a festival or in a nightclub or a supermarket or while jogging in a white neighborhood, it turns out, is lethal.

Maybe, respectfully, we are conflict-averse because of something our founder, Doctor Ernest home said. He suggested that we were to stand for something and against nothing.

I think we can be better, much better at standing for something. And coming out, for something. Or at least getting clear on how this beloved Science of Mind instructs us to live in this world. We might want to also ask ourselves what the imperative is: what is the moral, spiritual imperative of the Science of Mind?

We don't have to have the same opinion, we don't have to agree, but surely, we must ask this question, and answer it. What does this teaching of oneness compassion and love compel me to take a stand for in this world right now? No matter which nation I am living in, how does my faith tradition compel me to stand for liberty, equity, inclusion, justice?

Many years ago, our movement had its annual convention. One of the topics on the table was whether to make a statement, as a movement, in support of same-gender marriage. The statement was defeated. Some objected to it, expressing concern about losing membership. Some said it was political and that we ought not to get involved with politics. In my opinion, at that moment when we defeated the statement, we didn't stand for anything. By not taking a stand and not making a statement we communicated something to those who were affected: we tolerate you. We tolerate what you are going through -- now go work on your consciousness.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu did not tolerate tolerance. Oh no, he took a stand for the LGBTQI plus clergy and community long before it was popular for spiritual leaders to do so. And he was one of the strongest formative voices in creating South Africa’s new post-apartheid expression as a rainbow nation. That's what it was called. It was the First Nation on the planet, I understand, to constitutionally outlaw discrimination based on sexual identity. And he stood for the right of every single person to vote.

Can we decide together now, that the seeds we are planting for the future Science of Mind community are that bold. Can they grow larger than tolerance and more nourishing than self-interest?

Maybe it begins by allowing those questions. What am I promoting, allowing, permitting when I don't take a stand? What am I promoting, allowing and permitting when I ignore those who are unnecessarily oppressed, marginalized maligned, killed, or starved?

Can we unambiguously join those who say it is the moral duty of the spiritual community to explore social issues in the light of their faith tradition?

I believe that we must ask ourselves:

• If Oneness had an opinion about racism, what would it be?

• If unconditional love acted beyond homophobia or any of the other phobias, what would that look like?

• If the infinite all-inclusive, all-knowing mind had a voice about inequitable distribution of opportunities and access to services and resources, what would it say?

And then according to our practice, listen. Listen for the answer.

If the voice says turn away and let each of them tend to their own... if the voice says take care of yourself first... if the voice says that consciousness created it... if the voice says don't think about those who suffer because it'll take you down... if the voice says ignore those who are oppressed and marginalized... then I question if that can be the message of our Science of Mind.

One social media influencer said about this pandemic:

“It is as if mother earth has sent us to our room to think about what we have done so that we can do better.”

So... how CAN we do better?

This is a question that is being asked across societies and faith traditions. Social media is bursting with it as, every day, we see thousands of people unpacking white supremacy, deconstructing evangelicalism, challenging the effectiveness of prosperity teachings in an inequitable society, calling out the generational impact of global colonialism, identifying the damage done by victim blaming when we dare to say, “What's in your consciousness?”

You see, this is happening whether we like it or not.

An African American colleague of ours recently said to me:

"Edward, I work with Fortune 500 executives as the only African American woman in a strongly male-dominated conservative business setting, and yet, I have not experienced the kind of racial and gender microaggressions there as I do in my own science of mind communities."

Should I have asked her “what is in your consciousness?”

Or ought I to hear the uncomfortable and painful truth from one of our own that we can do better than tolerate and blame.

Lest I leave readers with the wrong impression I'd like to complete this message by saying:

I'm extremely optimistic about our future as a movement because of the vision that we have for our world. And I'm optimistic because that vision is doing what the vision ought to do, it is working as. It's bringing these big questions into view in such a focus that we cannot ignore them. We cannot avoid answering them. And digging deep into them. They are not going away.

I'm extremely optimistic about the future because I believe that you and I, we have the heart to do this. We can do this. We can grow, evolve, learn, change, and be relevant players proving every day that we can pivot, change,“rinse and repeat.”

I'm extremely optimistic about the future because a community of people like you and me love each other, and love the Science of Mind enough to let its moral and spiritual imperative come alive in us, and shape us.

I'm extremely optimistic about the future because there is a powerful good in the universe. It is flowing through us even now in the in a constructive creative powerful way in the direction of the vision that we have. It is creating a post-pandemic reality in which we are together again in a new way in a vital form drawn forward by relevance and engagement in a modern way.

Oh, In 10 years' time, we will be grateful that we said yes to a vision that is so beautiful:

• We envision all people, all beings, and all life as expressions of God.

• We see a world in which each person lives in alignment with their highest spiritual principle, emphasizing unity with God and connection with each other; a world in which individually and collectively we are called to a higher state of consciousness and action.

• We envision humanity awakening to its spiritual magnificence and discovering the creative power of thought; a world where every person discovers their own personal power and ability to create an individual life that works within a world that works for everyone.

• We envision a world in which we live and grow as One Global Family that respects and honors the interconnectedness of all life; a world where this kinship with all life prospers and connects through the guidance of spiritual wisdom and experience.

• We envision a world where personal responsibility joins with social conscience in every area of the political, corporate, academic, and social sectors, providing sustainable structures to further the emerging global consciousness.

• We envision a world where every person has enough food, a home and a sense of belonging; a world of peace and harmony, enfranchisement and justice.

• We envision a world in which resources are valued, cared for, and grown, and where there is generous and continuous sharing of these resources.

• We envision a worldwide culture in which forgiveness is the norm.

• We envision a world which has renewed its emphasis on beauty, nature, and love through the resurgence of creativity, art, and aesthetics.

• We envision a world that works for everyone and for all of creation.