What Would Love Do?

In a few days, The United States will be celebrating its yearly love fest that we call Valentine's Day.  It's usual focus is on romantic love; as a result it's a red letter day for florists, candy makers and the greeting card industry.  This is the 21st Century so you can be sure that e-Valentines will be zipping to nearly every computer in America not owned by a hermit.  


While, I am a big fan of romantic love, being fortunate to be well loved in my life by both lovers and wives (I hasten to add, not at the same time) that is not the subject of this blog.  No, I want to examine with you the concept of love itself.  


If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that I have very mixed feelings about Saul of Tarsus, the man we call Saint Paul, the man who virtually invented what we know as Christianity - writing 58% of what we call the New Testament.  


Paul poses problems for 21st Century Christians with his low opinion of women, his institutionalization of the submission of women and his strictures against women clergy in First Corinthians 12.  His attitude toward women is strange when you realize that he had a female disciple by the name of Tecla, who preached all over Asia Minor and wrote 3 very popular books, best sellers in their time, which did not make it into the New Testament - can't have a woman Apostle, now can we!


But when it comes to love, as we say in the US, he "nailed it".  He was "spot on" with his treatise on love in First Corinthians 13.  I will paraphrase from the Aramaic translation of the Bible, directly from the original Greek.  


"Though I have faith that could move mountains and have not love in my heart, I am nothing.  Though I give all my goods to the poor and have not love in my heart, I am nothing.  


Love is long suffering and kind, love does not envy; does not boast.  Love does not behave in an unseemly manner, seeks not its own pleasure, is not easily provoked and thinks no evil.  Love rejoices not in lies but rather rejoices in the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things. 


Love never fails, is forever -  but prophesy, tongues, and knowledge shall all pass away.  Of Faith, Hope and Love... of these love is the greatest". 


These are words that should be in every marriage ceremony all across the globe.  Whether the bride and groom are Christian or Buddhist, this description of love is one every bride and groom needs to understand.  We have a 50% divorce rate of first marriages in the US and I believe it is because we confuse lust with love, Eros with agape. Eros is the state of "falling in love", in which our minds and eyes are clouded with the rosy pink fog of infatuation, liberally spiced with erotic heat. 


Oh, don't misunderstand, I enjoy Eros as much as the next man, its necessary to get man and woman together for procreation and recreation but it is not enough on which to build a life together.  If one had to choose between a fine  friendship with mutual respect and a modicum of attraction or a relationship with the red hot flash of chemical attraction but little shared interests or mutual respect; which do you think would pass the test of time? Heat is wonderful, its fun, it is so seductive, but life cannot and should not be spent in bed!  


After a few months, the novelty wears off and the prospect of the years stretching to old age with a very attractive but otherwise unsuitable partner begin to raise serious doubts about our decision to wed.  At the first major crisis things may begin to unravel.  Being a veteran of more than one marriage based on Eros and short on agape, I know whereof I speak. 


One begins to long for a good conversation with the give and take of true friends. One begins to wonder how to change the husband or wife but we can never really change anyone but ourselves, can we?  Even if life is good in the bedroom, we soon become lonely for real companionship which is really the greatest gift that marriage has to bring to us. 


Here is the truth about love.  Real love is not about sex, money or status.  Love is about a common bond, a mutual liking and respect, bedrock trust of the loved one and a shared view of life.  Real love is 80% friendship and companionship and 20%, if you are lucky, heat and chemistry and that is as it should be. 


At the last moment of your life, you are not thinking of the good sex you shared when you look in your love's eyes and hold their hand.  You are reliving the great adventures shared, the wonderful conversations, even the good arguments; the crises weathered together, the touch of a hand, the kiss on the cheek, the knowledge that someone dear really loves us just for who we are, not for what we can do for them or give them.  


Love is about the loved one, not about us. Our loved ones do not exist to fulfill our needs or to make us "happy". Happiness has always been an inside job.  We must never be dependent on our loved ones emotionally. We must be complete people, whole and happy with or without the company of our love.  A good marriage is interdependent, each giving something unique and special to the one loved and seeking nothing in return.  A true love never keeps books, doesn't count debits and credits and is always quick to forgive and slow to take offense.  


Never play the role of the dominator or abuser for that is to undermine the entire foundation of love.  Real love never hurts, it supports and improves us.  Real love makes us better people; more fulfilled people.  


Take time this February 14th, or whenever you think of love to see how your relationship stacks up to the definition that Paul and I share.  Love is the very definition of God.  Practice Godliness with your husband or wife. 




Rev.Dore' Jacques Patlian

Turning Over a New Leaf

                              Click on arrow to play video version


On New Year's Day we all opened the page on a new chapter in our lives. Another year has passed into history and we all have the opportunity to wipe the slate clean; to make a new start or as we say in the US, "turn over a new leaf".  Time has granted us a chance to have a "do-over" for that which we did not accomplish in 2011 as well as the opportunity to transform ourselves for the New Year.


Whenever your nation or culture celebrates the New Year; for all of us it is a time when many of us promise to stop a bad habit, change our behavior or perhaps just become a better person.  In the US these promises are called New Year's resolutions and they are made in the first flush of change,  a sense of all things being new and an anticipation of the endless possibilities that the "clean slate" of a new year has given us. Oh, we fully intend to do everything we resolve to do but after a few days or a week or two we "fall off the wagon" and are right back to our old ways.  Why?


Well perhaps because it's so easy to forgive ourselves if we fail!  Or perhaps we are trying to "put new wine into old wine skins".  Jesus The Christ used this ancient analogy to tell us that you cannot build a new life using the same state of mind that created the old one. The old world view, the old life, must die for the new one to be born.  


When we make those New Year's resolutions, often with a hangover from New Year's Eve, we really want to achieve them but we still have the same beliefs, attitudes and mindset we had on December 31st.  We haven't changed our thinking.  We are putting  the "new wine" of our resolutions into the "old wineskin" of an old, habitual state of mind.  Our chances of success without a total transformation of our attitudes, beliefs and habitual thinking is therefore close to zero.  


What to do?  Do we just condemn ourselves to be what we have been and, like Popeye in the cartoons, just say: "I am what I am" and never progress, never improve?  We can do that but it defeats the entire purpose of our being on this planet.  We are not here to vegetate or to stand pat; no - the entire purpose of this life is to grow in our ability to love, to learn compassion and tolerance and unconditional love.  At the end of the day, our lives are lived in order that we may finally understand that when pass judgement on another human we judge ourselves because he or she is us. We are here to become consciously One with each other and with God.  We are here to heal our belief in separation which is the root of all error, disease, war, poverty and struggle. 


How may we begin to make a new "wine skin" or mental state fit to receive and act upon our resolutions and desires for the New Year?  The disclaimer here is that it is simple but not easy - in fact, it is the hardest thing that humans do.  We have to change our minds; our subjective mind (unconscious mind) in particular. You see, your subjective mind is the motive force of your life. Your core beliefs are stored there.  Your attitudes live there.  Your deepest fears took root in your subconscious beginning in childhood.  Your memories, good or bad, live in your subconscious and influence your every thought, word and deed.  Your subconscious is the seedbed of your reality.  Unless you can reprogram your subconscious you cannot permanently change your life.  


Your imagination draws on your subconscious to paint it's pictures of fear or horror, success or failure, sickness or health.  What you imagine is what you create in your life.  When we say change your thinking and change your life we are saying that you must reprogram your subconscious by changing your conscious thought each and every hour of every day.  


If you are a pessimist by nature then you see the glass as half empty and will have a life that always fall short - is always half empty.  Want a full glass?  Then you must get over your fear of disappointment and pain and believe and see the world as an optimist does - bright, full of joy, abundance and love. Will you fall short and be disappointed from time to time? Yes, but if you prepare for the worst you will always get it.  If you prepare and expect the best, you will surely receive it as long as you can believe in it.  Optimists have better odds of a happy life; its as simple as that!


Faith is the key.  What do you have faith in right now?  Do you have faith that the world is a dangerous place just waiting to visit bad things upon you?  Well, it is done unto you as you believe!  Fear is really faith expressed negatively so what you fear you surely will experience in your life.  As Paul said:"Think only of things of good report....be you transformed by the renewal of your Mind". Exactly!


Here is a simple formula for transforming yourself this year:


1. Decide what you want to experience in the coming year. Don't worry about how you will get it - that is not your job; God will work through you to take care of the "how".  Your job is to make a clear, complete picture of your desire in your imagination. Once you are clear on what you want in this year, then you are ready to go to work. 


2. Make your desire for 2012 the focus of your thoughts every morning, noon and night. Think about your desire while you work, while you watch a soccer match, while you make love, while you eat or sleep.  Make your desire the center of your life until you achieve it.  This is how the rich become rich; not through luck, God's favor or chance but by focus - by becoming being one pointed and concentrating on their goal or desire. 


3. Think about your desire only in the present tense - say I have ......, never say I will have or I wish I had.  Live in the end of your dream or desire not the beginning.  Imagine what you will say when you get it, whom you will first tell about it, what emotions will you feel at the moment you know that you have achieved your desire. 


4. Express great gratitude for receiving your desire long before you receive it.  By being grateful before your desire takes form in reality, you are expressing not only appreciation to the Creator but showing absolute faith that it is already happening in your life.  Gratitude makes things happen, it is not just a thank you to God.


This is a good beginning, not all you will need to learn. It will begin the process for taking your dream and first making it a good possibility and then a reality as your faith builds and it becomes real in your mind.  The clearer you can see it and imagine yourself achieving your desire - the sooner you will experience it in your life.  


My wish for you and your family is that you have a 2012 filled with plenty, joy, love beyond measure, serenity, perfect health and your fulfilled desire gracing your life and the lives of those you love.  Happy New Year!


And So It Is!


Rev. Dore' Jacques Patlian

The Greatest Story Never Told

Special Holiday Double Message

                               Click on the arrow to play the video of: 
                   The Greatest Story Never Told Part 2: The Legacy of The Christ
                                              
                                
                            The Greatest Story Never Told -Part 1                             


We have all heard of the "Greatest Story Ever Told".  We have seen the babe in the manger with Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, Magi, sheep and cows, on front lawns, in shopping malls, Christmas plays and programs and in children's books.  We can almost feel the cold biting the lips and cheeks of mother and child as they await the Roman census in the town of Bethlehem so far from their Nazarene home. It is a great story of the birth of perhaps the most influential man in history; a man hailed as the literal Son of God by almost 3 billion people.


Wonderful tale but modern archeology and Biblical Scholarship tell us that it simply is not true. There was no Roman Census; Jesus was probably born in Nazareth in June or July in the year 4 BC, and stars do not travel in the sky. The Christmas Story has become a cultural icon in the Judeo/Christian world and has assumed the status of Christian mythology after nearly 1500 years of being recounted over and over again. There is another story - one you may never have heard.  I call it The Greatest Story Never Told. 


It begins with a man named Joseph and his betrothed Mary. They are members of the Essene sect of Judaism, considered by the Maccabean Pharisees and Sadducee's of the Temple as a rather odd cult which was opposed to their rule and to the occupation of Judea by the Romans; which the Pharisees support.  Joseph marries quite late, traditional in Essene communities, indeed, many did not marry at all.  His bride was 20 years his junior and and all was well during the long betrothal period until a crisis arises.  Mary is found to be with child but it is said that Joseph has been a scrupulous man and while they have kissed, no carnal knowledge exists between them.  Now pregnancy out of wedlock was a most serious thing in ancient Jewish society which could even lead to death by stoning; especially among the Essenes who lived a strict and aesthetic life.


We don't know how the pregnancy really occurred but there are documents uncovered in 2003 which suggest that a Roman Centurion named Marcus Pantera was the father; there are other theories but the Pantera story seemed to be the most believed in Jesus' time. We will never know the facts but then neither did Luke who wrote the Gospel that created this Christian myth. 


All these are facts, however, and facts are not what the Christmas Story is all about. Religion tends to focus on what it believes are facts while Spirituality chooses to emphasize the Spiritual Truth of an event. We know that Truth and fact are not the same thing - in searching for fact, we often miss the Truth behind the facts; just as one cannot see the majesty of a forest while looking at individual trees. 


The Greatest Story Never Told is about a man just like you or I who was born a Jew into the poorest backwater of the Roman Empire, apparently illegitimate, with a father old enough to be his grandfather.  Not a very auspicious beginning for the King of Kings, many would say.  I say it was the perfect scenario for the birth of the man who was destined to change the world forever.  


In studying history I have found that people who change the world are seldom princes or kings.  They are never children of fabulous wealth - they are usually born into humble origins and hardship which forced them to develop a strong desire to be more; to transcend their background or parentage.  Adversity is the father of achievement and character and Jesus certainly had plenty of both!  Many buckle under adversity and give up but those made of finer stuff thrive and grow. 


Jesus knew from early childhood what he was born to do.  He was fully human but was certainly touched by God and understood that He had been tasked to bring the New Covenant, the new understanding of life, God and Man to everyone; not just the Hebrews.  He was to spread a new World View to all the peoples of the Earth and, in large measure, he succeeded.  


You see the Greatest Story Never Told is about a man who developed a state of consciousness which allowed him to transcend his humanness and the constraints of the physical life.  He actually become One with God on a conscious level.  He learned to literally enter the Kingdom of Heaven while still very much alive right here on Earth.  As he told us over and over, the Kingdom of Heaven is not up there or over there.  It is within every one of us and we are all born with the key to the Kingdom.  As he told His disciples, "do you not know that you are all Gods; greater things than I have done - you will do also".  He was speaking to every person on the planet, not just to Peter, Andrew or James. If an illiterate fisherman and a carpenter's son can transcend their lower selves, surely we can do what they did. 


The magic and glory of the real Christmas Story is not found in inns with no room, mythical Roman censuses or wise men from the East.  It is found in a poor Jewish boy who spoke only Aramaic, had no Latin or Greek, had a disputed parentage, was from a hardscrabble town with a bad reputation and, by many contemporary accounts, was not particularly physically imposing. Yet this young man developed, with the tutelage and help of God, the Christ Mind which allowed Him to move to a Higher State of Being, a Higher Perspective, a place of conscious Unity with all life and with the Creator.  We can all make this journey if we will do the work. 



The boy that we call Jesus literally showed us how to do a "makeover" of our lives from the inside out.  He showed us how to access our 3 Great Powers to create the life we deserve,  desire and are born to live.  The charming tale of the shepherds, wise men, cold winter nights and stars that stand still won't teach you what you need to know to change anything.  But understanding The Greatest Story Never Told, you will become empowered to create the Kingdom state of Mind right here and right now but only if you really want to transform your life and are willing to change right now.


Think new thoughts, speak new words, love unconditionally and find the God within you. Develop a relationship with your Indwelling God (Holy Spirit).  Embrace that Spirit within you every hour of every day; in your sleeping and your waking; in your going and your coming; in your work and your play.  Talk to God, He will answer if you are open to hearing. It's a good idea to have these God conversations in private, it can really freak out "regular people" if they overhear you!


Do it today. Say goodbye to your old way of thinking and speaking and living. That old life must die for the new life to be born and that is hard to do for most of us, but it must be done. As you change, your life will change all around you. If you do not change inside, nothing outside will ever change. You are the author of your life and you write this life with the pen of God in your hand.  My wish for you is that you know God as your best friend and that you break free of the facts and find the Truth at last. 


May each and every one of you have a most Merry Christmas, a wonderful Holiday Season and a fine New Year!


In Love and Light:


Rev. Dore' Patlian 

Our 3 Great Powers

I believe that one of the hardest things for human beings to accept is that we  are all very powerful beings.  If fact, we have the same power "hardwired" into our very DNA that the Creator uses to create everything that exists.  Yes, we do work on a different scale, our ballpark is a bit smaller, but our power is of the same nature and substance. He has dominion over the Cosmos and we over our lives.  God takes care of the Universe and we take care of our lives and together we co-create our reality of life. 


We have all been sold a "bill of goods", as we say in American English, about who we really are and what we are capable of achieving.  In other words, false information has been taught to nearly everyone on the planet over thousands of years; not maliciously but out of ignorance of the Truth.  A falsehood honestly passed on as a truth is still a falsehood, is it not? 


Personally I think it is way past time for us to awaken to our innate, God given powers and once we realize whom we are, then we must learn to use these powers for the greater good of all humanity.  I certainly can't teach all of this in the space of this short blog but perhaps we can at least introduce you to the 3 fundamental powers that every human has and how you may use them. 


The 3 Great Powers of Man are imagination, will and intellect.  These are literally the Keys to the Kingdo if used wisely and well. Now before we go further, it is well for us to remember that the Prime Law of the Universe is Cause and Effect or "what you sow, you shall surely reap".  All life must obey this Divine Law but humanity has powers that no other Earthly life form possesses, so our responsibility is much greater.  The greater the power, the greater the responsibility! Take care not to sow that which you do not want to harvest. 


The root of all our power lies in the imagination.  Often dismissed as childish fancy, it is anything but!  It is the greatest of the 3 Powers of Man.  Your imagination is the power that allows you to escape the present - no other life form on Earth can do this but us!  I have a very intelligent dog but he cannot create another home in his mind or imagine life as a dog on another planet.  He is bound by the present moment and by precedent or past experience and training. We are not bound by either precedent or the present.  We can erase the past if we have the desire and will to do so and we impregnate our own futures each day with our thoughts and choices. 


The real power of imagination lies in its ability to move us freely from one state of being to another.  We can imagine worlds unknown, we can imagine ourselves a different person, or travel to places never before visited...all in our mind.  We can create a great ship in which to sail the seas, build the tallest building in the world, end all hunger on Earth, write a bestseller, compose a great symphony and never leave our easy chair.  The power lies in the mental pictures of our imaginings.  Without these mental images we cannot create anything in our life - nothing.  Imagination is the greatest gift our Creator has given us.  It is the font of every experience in our life. 


Imagination is a wondrous power - we would be intelligent animals without it. But it is limp, weak and powerless to produce anything without the other 2 Great Powers.  Imagination would be just "wool gathering", useless flights of fancy without the will and intellect to empower it. 


Will is the force that propels us out of the easy chair and over to the computer keyboard to begin the new Bestselling novel or over to the piano keyboard to begin to write down the music that imagination has put in our head.  Will is the force that impels us toward a better life; insists that good enough is no longer good enough!  Without the will to do something we might well live like our furry friend the three toed sloth; reputedly the laziest animal in the world.  
Will is the gas in our tank, our get up and go.  Will is that faculty that keeps us moving forward when all the evidence says "give up".  It is the X Factor in success; without it failure is almost certain.  Will is the force that turns imagination's pictures into our reality.


We have seen will in action all over the globe this year in lands as diverse as Burma, Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.  Will impelled people to finally claim their power and their freedom, against great odds.  Will always triumphs if it stays the course.  It is what enabled a bunch of farmers and merchants with no military experience, no proper clothes, shoes, or weapons to defeat the most powerful nation in the world in 1781.  The American Revolution had no chance to succeed; the facts were astronomically stacked against the whole idea but will would not be denied and in the end the will of the American colonists to be free was greater then the will of the British Empire to subdue them.


The third Great Power of Man is intellect.  It is necessary to have the vision, the conception, the dream.  It is vital to have the will and the energy to get off your butt and begin to create the dream; to empower the vision.  But without intellect you might never figure out how to make it happen.  Intellect is often discounted by spiritual teachers and ministers as being cold, left brained, and overrated.  Not necessarily so, my friends!  


The intellect is what allows you to think critically, make wise choices and figure out how to achieve your dream or vision.  It is all very well to dream of composing a great symphony but first you must learn to read and write music; which is a function of the intellect.  You may wish to build a great building but without a firm grasp of engineering, geometry and the basics of architectural design you will not build a building that I would wish to occupy!  Intellect is the power to figure out how we shall make our imaginal picture a reality


Here is a shorthand way of remembering the role of the 3 Great Powers of Man.  
The imagination is the "what if?" and "why not?".  The will is the "I can do this and I will".  The intellect is the know how to get it done, the skill set to make it happen.  


With the 3 Great Powers of Man... Imagination, Will and Intellect there is nothing that cannot be achieved if it can be conceived.  No matter what anyone tells you, how often they try to discourage you, no matter what the facts appear to be; YOU CAN DO IT but only if you believe that you can and you get started today!  Fear and procrastination are the great enemies of achievement.  Start making your dream a reality today, wherever you are, whomever you are.  Know that you are an expression of the Most High God, you have the Indwelling God within you manifesting as your will, your imagination and your intellect. You were born magnificent, indeed you were born as a perfect creation of a perfect God. Only your disbelief makes it not so.  Change your thinking, claim you 3 Great Powers and you will change your life!


Be well, happy and infused with the love of God until we speak again!


And So It Is!  (modern form of amen)


Rev. Dore' Jacques Patlian


Have you downloaded or ordered your paper copy of "the Science of Mind" by Ernest Holmes yet?  If not go to amazon.com and do it today - it will change your life!

The Christ Phenomenon

Why does the world call the man named Yeshua Ben Nazareth, Jesus Christ?  It clearly was not his name.  Have you ever in modern or ancient times heard of a Jew named Jesus?  No, neither have I!  If he lived today, his American Express card would not say Jesus H Christ.  What's in a name? In the case of Jesus...everything!


Let's clear up his given name first.  His name was Joshua in English or Yeshua in Aramaic; the language in daily use during his lifetime in what we now call the Holy Land.  Remember, people in his culture did not have "last names" as we know them today.  They were identified either by the first name of their father or the place of their birth.  Since the legitimacy of Jesus' birth to Joseph and Mary was in some dispute, he was usually called Yeshua of Nazareth. 


Most scholars today do not place any credence in Luke's manger in Bethlehem story.  Most reputable historians of the Roman period are sure that no "world wide census" was ordered by Ceasar Augustus as this would have created total chaos and Rome was all about order. There is also no record of such a huge event which is very unusual in a civilization that made meticulous records of everything.  Nazareth was certainly his birthplace and was definitely where he grew to manhood.  We know the man Joshua as Jesus from the English garbling of his Latin name which was Jehu.     


Over the centuries we have piled error upon error in regards to the life and works of this great teacher of God's truth. His story has now become so encrusted with half truths and untruths that it is impossible to separate historical fact from legend and fiction.  It now becomes a simple matter of faith - what each of us believes because no one alive today knows.


Where did the word Christ come from and what does it mean?  It is well to remember that Christ is a title not a name.  Christi or Christ is the Latin rendering of the Greek word kristos which means the anointed one; or the one chosen by God.  Kristos means much the same thing as the Hebrew word Messiah, without the literal implications of kingship. 


In the ancient Greek speaking world, which was all of the Eastern half of the Roman Empire, a Kristos or Christ was regarded as the highest level of sage or teacher of Truth.  A Christ devoted his life to understanding, experiencing and teaching the ways of God at the highest level.  In Asia, a person touched by God and called to reveal truth is called a Buddha; in Persia, Zarathustra, in India, Mahatma.  All have approximately the same meaning.  


The person we call Jesus was born a Jew to two very human parents, regardless of the lovely rather pagan story of divine impregnation.  He never once claimed divine birth but did say that He and every one of us are sons and daughters of God.  He called himself the "Son of Man", never the son of God - not once!  He knew that He was born for a special calling, that He had been touched by God and tasked to bring the Light of God's Truth to a world sorely beset by strife, hatred and revenge. 


His life mission was to teach love, tolerance and forbearance to a world that knew only "an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth".  He was as human as any of us that ever walked this Earth and that is the power and majesty of His work and life.  Imagine if you will, a humble Jewish boy called by God to transcend His humble birth in a poor backwater of the Roman Empire so wretched that even the Romans regretted conquering it. He was poor, sparsely educated (could speak neither Greek nor Latin) and yet possessing the Christ Mind and with the hand of God on his shoulder every step of the way, He changed the world forever.  


He introduced Divine Love and Divine Law to a world hungry for light and the world has not been the same since.  Even though He was a "man's" man he still was able to bring the feminine energy of love and forgiveness to a "might makes right" world.  


Now if you are one who believes that He was the literal, begotten Son of God, I will not debate this with you because none of us knows the facts of the matter, but do consider this: does it not follow that a literal Son of God, half God and half man, could transform the world as easily as we turn a page in a book and perform any "miracle" from raising the dead to healing the sick to walking on water without breaking a sweat?  It would be child's play for such a being!  Would death be a great sacrifice to a God who is phsically immortal?  Would a few hours on a cross be a terrible punishment for a God who could transport His spirit to another dimension at will?  Would resurrection be a miracle for a God?  


I don't think so! Even as a child I never bought into this legend because it makes no sense.  The idea of the virgin birth makes all He did trivial. He is so much greater when seen as a human; just as you and I. 


Listen to this!  Would it not be truly a miracle if a young Jewish man born just like hundreds of thousands of other young men could raise the dead, feed 5,000 with nothing but a loaf and 5 fish, walk on water, cure leprosy, insanity, epilepsy, turn water into wine and then rise from the dead?  He said He came to teach us that what He could do we could all do.  "Do you not know that you are all Gods; greater things than I have done will you do also, if you believe" 


How is this possible if He is literally a God? Remember, the key word in what He told us is....Believe!  A God does not have to believe, He just IS.  No, if He is just like you and I then what He can do, we can do if we have the mind of The Christ in us, as did the Master.  


What is the Christ Mind - what in the world am I talking about?  It is the highest state of consciousness that a human being can attain.  One is not born  Christed but we are all born with the potential of achieving it.  To achieve this exalted state of being takes a total dedication of one's life, mind, spirit and body.  You cannot be a Christ and worry about the wife and kids.  You cannot be a Christ and worry about making a living or paying the rent.  You cannot be a Christ and be part of the day to day world.  


To be a Christ one must master the art of being "in this world but not of it".  One must surrender his life to the Higher Good of bringing Light to the world; therefore he will have no business but God's business.  How many times did Jesus say this, even to his mother?  He could be quite abrupt, even with family who wanted Him to stop this messing around and come back and live a "normal" life.


He was born to this Christ life and nothing could interfere; not family, not the girl he loved so much, not the allure of a comfortable life of a Sage, with students, family and children gathered around Him - nothing must take precedence over his divine appointment from God.  The wonder of Jesus is that He was us, but so much more.  He transcended the petty, the mundane, the daily struggle for sustenance, happiness and pleasure.  He was not born a literal Son of God but He became a Christed son of God; as we may all do if we would do the work.  


No, He was born for the Father's business and nothing else would do.  Few human beings can transcend their humanity so completely as did the man we call Jesus.  It is said that there have been six Christs sent to humanity thus far in history but for much of the world, Jesus is The Christ because He was an example of what every one of us could be; if we would but transform our minds, hearts, and lives.  "Be you transformed by the renewal of your mind" Romans: 12,2.


Do you not know that we are all on an eternal journey to Christhood?  Think about that as you drift off to sleep tonight! 


May the Indwelling God be consciously present in your life each waking and sleeping moment and may your life be Heaven on Earth. 


And So It Is!


Rev. Dore' Patlian      

God Is Not a Christian!

One of the most universal of truths is that none of us knows the true nature of God; what He/She looks like, or how God operates to create all that exists.  Oh, yes, we think we know, we believe we know but none of us knows for an absolute certainty - that certainty of personal experience.  


I believe that we shall all have this experience at the end of this Earthly interlude we call life.  But until then, it is all belief, false certainty and faith. Here is what I do know with certainty.  


There is a Higher Power, a Divine Intelligence, a Universal Mind, a Ground of Being - call it what you will but it all adds up to the fact that there is some mind, spirit or soul much greater than any human in intelligence, insight and power and that mind is our Creator.  We can see His/Her works all about us.  We live and move and have our being within the evidence of His Creative Mind which is always thinking and speaking new life and new worlds into being.  


Here is what I believe:  That this Higher Power we have nicknamed God, has nothing to do with humankind's religions or with the manner in which we pay homage to our Creator.  Every religion on this planet began with some humans very personal, very deep and very real spiritual epiphany and revelation.  It may well have been inspired by the awesome wonder of God and all Her works or perhaps by the need to explain the unexplainable in life's journey.  


No matter the cause of this human revealer's spiritual awakening, it was a human experience filtered through a human mind, human heart and human cultural programming.  It was not a religion created by God with a sacred book written by God and then given to mankind.  If so, we should surely all be literally "on the same page" in matters of religion and spirituality.  We aren't.  As a matter of fact, there are almost as many religions, denominations, sects, cults and orders of religion as there are nations and tribes of people.  They can't all be "the one true religion", now can they?


You are not required by God or man to park your intelligence at the church door.  You were given a mind, your greatest gift, in order to use it.  It is your greatest power and should not be wasted in reciting ceremonies, prayers and rituals from 600 BC, 400CE or 1550CE if they no longer make sense to you, do not feed your soul or improve your understanding of God and life.  


So right now, use your mind and ask yourself how could God have given so many people the "true religion" when each is opposed to the other?  


You and I know that God is perfect being, perfect Love and perfect substance.  Perfection does not set one group of his beloved creations against another just for sport. Perfection does not set up a Dark Power (Satan, Devil) to torment the Creations that he supposedly loves unconditionally.  What earthly father would turn a wolf loose in a child's nursery?  What earthly father would promise food and love and give his child a viper?  The answer, of course, is none worthy of anything but scorn and the punishment of law.  Do you believe that The Most High God, the creator of all that exists is not better than you or I?  If that is the case, then how can such an unworthy deity be an object of worship or adoration? 


So, my friends, we are left with the logical conclusion that God is not what we have been taught.  God is not a parent with moods and caprice.  God is not a wrathful Father who punishes His children in ways no decent earthly father would condone.  God is Good personified, God is Love personified, God is endlessly loving and forgiving for He knows well who each of us are and are not.  


No, God is not a Christian.  Neither is God a Muslim or Hindu.  God is not a Jew and Jews are not His "chosen people" because God shows no favor over one human tribe or nation to the exclusion of another.  That is how humans operate; it is not how our Creator functions.  God is the God of all that exists on this planet or on any of the billion of planets in the Universe where life exists.  God is the Universal Mind which is the beginning of all things.  


Religion is no business of God - it is merely man's attempt to explain that which is beyond all human comprehension - the true nature and majesty of all that is.  


We have created "little tin gods" made in our image and built religions and rules of diet, dress, behavior, and worship to suit our image and beliefs. We endow these wholly human institutions with God's imprimatur to give these fables divine authority which they otherwise would lack. 


Dear ones, worship as you will if you enjoy it and it does no harm but do not delude yourselves into thinking you are "doing God's will" for God cares not how you worship or what you wear or eat.  God cares only how you love and how you treat your brothers and sisters.  


Next week we shall examine the Christ Phenomenon.  Be sure to log on and then pass it on.   God is filling your heart with love, power, joy and peace to the extent that your heart and mind are open to receive it. 

And So It Is!


Rev. Dore' Jacques Patlian           
(need prayer assistance, go to the home page and click on "prayer").  

The Greatest Secret is Now Revealed

Did you know that there was a secret to success and greatness that was known to Moses,The Athenians and Spartans, the Romans, Jesus, and many great leaders and nations in modern history, including Napoleon Bonaparte, George Washington, The British Empire, Otto Von Bismark and The United States of America?  Not only is there such as secret but anyone may use it, no matter their race, education, religion or intelligence.

We often find that the deepest truth is so simple we just don't see it and when we finally do "discover" it, we do not believe it. This is one of those truths because it's something so simple that each one of us already does it every day, usually incorrectly, and thus never learns the power of the secret.  The secret is what the Greeks called the Logos, the very Key to Life and to accessing the power of God by using our own words.  What is this seemingly magic key?

The secret is two little words.....are you ready?  These words are:

                                                       I  AM

That's right I AM and its first cousins, IT IS and I WILL.  Learn what the secret meaning of I AM is and how to use it properly and you will transform your life from that moment onward.  These are all forms of the verb TO BE and whether you speak Farsi, French, Mandarin, Pashto, Punjabi, Hindi, Arabic, Spanish or English they will work just the same.   No matter your education or lack of it, no matter your complexion or race, nationality or tribe, you can learn, with the proper use of the I AM, to change your life in one day.

Are these two simple words really that powerful?  Oh, my yes!  The Greeks used these two words to turn back a Persian Army 10 times more powerful and 20 times larger than their own puny force.  The Romans used these two words to take Rome from a poor backward little city state to become the greatest Empire the world has ever seen, one that lasted 1000 years; that is until they forgot the importance of the secret.

The secret, the proper use of the I AM, is at the core of all these tremendous accomplishments and many more examples in our own time, but when nations or people get used to power, get too smug and satisfied; they forget how to use the secret, self doubt creeps in, they quarrel among themselves and their time of greatness is short.  So it is with each of us.

You might ask, well Dore', nations and empires can use this secret but how can an ordinary person like me use it?  Here is how it works.  When you say I AM to any condition or thing in your life, you lay claim and take ownership of that state of mind.  For example, suppose I don't feel well and I say I AM sick. If I keep thinking, "man I really feel lousy, I AM really sick" and I stay in that mental state I will surely experience more and more symptoms of illness.  If you say I AM sick and tired and maintain that attitude, you claim that state of mind and you will receive sickness and fatigue.

When you use the I AM and its first cousins, I WILL and IT IS, you are stating to your mind a truth about yourself.  You are programming your mind with whatever you are I AMing.  Your Mind creates your reality including the health of your body.  If you talk about being poor using some form of the I AM such as "people like us never get ahead" and you will get what you claim for yourself -poverty.

The good news is that like any Divine Law such as electricity or gravity, it works both ways.  Electricity makes life comfortable in Florida and it cooks our food and allows us to enjoy great entertainment right from our living room but it also was used to kill convicts at our State Prison.  So it is with the great I AM.   I can say I AM abundant, I have everything I need or want.  Or perhaps I might say that I AM experiencing peace, the peace that passes all understanding and so it will be.  You can use the I AM to create any state of being that you wish.  Use it carelessly and you will create states of being that you really do not want to experience!   The I AM is like a two edged sword, it cuts both ways so great care must be taken in using it.

Why are these two words so powerful?  The mortal answer is that you are putting a thought into the Law of Cause and Effect and what you put into Cause will surely return to you as an Effect or experience in your life.  Throw a baseball at a plate glass window and unless someone jumps in front of the ball and catches it, you will have a broken window to replace.  Not sometimes but every-time!  That is how Law works, it is predictable, impartial, and impersonal.  Say I AM and you are making a statement into Law of what is true in your life at that moment.  The longer you think and speak this I AM the more power it has over your life.  You can literally I AM yourself into your own personal heaven or hell.

The Divine answer to the I AM's power and the real answer to the secret is that I AM is the very name of God.  You may remember that Moses went up to Mt. Sinai and asked God:  "What is your name?"  God's reply surprised Moses greatly.  God did not say Jehovah, Yaweh, Sam, Fred or Bill, He said: I AM that I AM.  He was telling Moses that He, God, was all that there was; He was the beginning and the end of all things and thus needed no name but I AM.  God's actual name therefore is I AM and so each time you use the I AM or its other forms, I WILL or IT IS, you are literally invoking the Logos or the very name of God.  That is plugging in to a whole lot of power, my friends!

When you speak the I AM you are unlocking your Divine Power by taking mental ownership of that which you have claimed in God's name.  Careful, it works both ways; you see God never says "Yes" or "NO" to your desires, He says "Right you are!"  Positive or negative, for good or ill, what you claim in the name of God you shall receive.   When you use I AM you are creating your present state of being.  Be very careful of the I WILL because when you say I WILL you are impregnating your future with whatever you have claimed in your I WILL statement.  Now understand, one I WILL unwisely used will not ruin your life.  It is the dominant stream of your thoughts and words that will take root in your subjective mind (subconscious) and create the seedbed for your life experience.  If you slip up, just say out loud:  Cancel - Cancel and see in your mind's eye your wiping the words from the blackboard of your life.

The lesson is hard to learn but easy to do.  You must never use the I AM for anything you do not want in your life. You are creating your reality each time you state I AM poor, I AM ignorant, I AM worthless.  On the other hand each time you say I AM abundant, healthy, loved, at peace, whatever your desire - you are taking ownership of these wonderful states and they are returned to you pressed down and over flowing.  Remember the "right you are"?   God will say "Right You Are" each time you speak his name for that which you want or for that which you fear.  It is your choice.

This is why Paul said "speak only of things of good report:".  As you think and speak you are claiming for yourself just what you are speaking and thinking, so watch your thinking and your speaking.  Perhaps the greatest wisdom of Paul was in Romans 12:2.  "Be you transformed by the renewal of your Mind".  That is the entire premise of Science of Mind and of the original form of Christianity before the hierarchy and the rules were invented.  Renewing your state of Mind, transforms your life!  As we say in Science of Mind: "change your thinking and change your life"!

Try watching your I AM's and their other forms for one week and see if things don't take a definite turn for the better in your life.  Think and speak only of things and conditions that you are willing to own and live with.  Speak and think only of good, fine and loving things because your thoughts and words have the power to create heaven in your life using the very name of God - I AM.

God bless and keep you until we are together again!

Rev. Dore' Jacques Patlian     (have you gotten your copy of Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes yet?  It's on Amazon.com)amazon.com

Let's Talk More About God

God is central to any discussion of spirituality and religion.  Let's talk about how Science of Mind views God and His/Her relationship to humanity.   A belief in a higher power, call it God, Allah, the Great Soul, Rama, Yahweh, the Universe, Spirit or whatever you wish it is a universal idea.  It all amounts to a great Mind, a great Soul that is the cause of all that exists, the thinker before the first human drew breath, the architect of the Universe.  Every human society ever studied has a belief in a power greater than themselves.  We are no exception.

Many of us raised in the Judeo- Christian tradition have been taught "the Parent God".  The Parent not only gives you life, he remains involved in your life forever and ever, much as a human parent does.  All of us who have children know that even after our children grow up we still worry, sometimes give advice and even meddle a bit.  So it is with the great "Parent in the Sky".  This concept of God not only cares, meddles and has a plan for our lives ( much like many parents we know) but He punishes and rewards, just like any earthly parent.  The problem with a parent God is that He has never existed and never will.

This is a 4th Century view of God and is totally out of sync with the reality of the 21st Century.  In the 4th Century CE when the basic ideas of Christianity were codified and the Bible, more or less as we know it, was compiled from thousands of Christian writings or Gospels; mankind understood that the stars were the windows of Heaven used by the angels to keep watch over humanity.  Below raged the furnace of Hell where transgressors of God's Law were sent for all eternity.  The Sun revolved around the Earth, therefore could be stopped by God when it suited His convenience.  Oh, and everyone knew the Earth was flat!

We have come a long way since the 4th Century.  We know that above us are clouds and air and if we go high enough, the vastness of Space.  We know that under our feet is a round earth spinning at 186,000 miles per hour and under our feet the mantel of the earth and a molten core of magma.   We are 100% certain that the Earth revolves around the Sun and therefore the Sun can never stop in the sky no matter what God may wish it to do.

Does this mean we must agree with atheists such as Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens that there is no God; that all this was the result of a Cosmic Dice Roll, a unique bit of random chance and that there really is no sense, no intelligence or order in the Universe?  Did the symmetry and beauty of DNA just fall together like so many random spare parts?  Must we give up God because our science has progressed beyond 4th Century legends?   No we do not have to banish God, we may have science, intellect and God too!!

What is in error is not God but in our concept of Him or Her.  We need a 21st Century concept of a Creator God who creates all that exists but is not our parent.  Our parents are our parents.  God is our Creator.  A creator, such as an author or artist cares deeply for its creations, indeed spends years of their lives creating their masterpieces.  But once the creation is finished, they release it into posterity and let it go.  An author cares not who buys their book, as long as it is bought.  A painter cares not for where their work is hung as long as it is enjoyed.  God loves us unconditionally but does not interfere in our lives or punish and reward.  God has done His work in giving us life and a lovely planet with all we need to sustain us that allows us to live and grow.  God has given us all the gifts necessary for us to live the happy, fulfilled and abundant life that is our birthright.

So why don't we live that way; in abundance, health, joy and peace?   Because we do not understand how the Universe works and what our role is.  You see we have been given free will, intelligence, and imagination which are the 3 Keys to the Kingdom of God.  What we do with them is OUR business, we are the captains of our fate and the masters of our soul.   God has given us the land, made all the materials, delivered them to the job site and now it is our job to draw up the plans, build the house and take occupancy.  Instead we say, "if God means for it to happen, it will appear".  Nonsense!   God really cares nothing for where you live, what home you choose, or what car you drive.  Those choices are in your realm.  You have been empowered to create your life just as God creates you and the Cosmos.  You are not a robot or automaton, you are a living expression of the Most High God.  You are made of the very stuff of God; no sheep or weak worms of the dust here!

The day we believe in abundance, health and happiness, the world will experience it.  The day we accept responsibility for our lives as our creations, we are free!

Why are you here if God cares not how you live or what you do with your life?  Doesn't God love you?  Oh, my yes!   God loves you unconditionally which is why He empowers you to live the life your heart and soul impels you to live.  Unlike some earthly parents, God does not give you choices then punish you for exercising them.  God never punishes or rewards.  But God has established Divine Law, both Spiritual and Physical, to run and govern the Universe; which is really the body of God.

A Law is predictable, always works, and can be depended upon.  Gravity is a Physical Law of God and it always works, no matter what.  Electricity is another.  With a positive and negative pole and an energy source, you will always be able to generate electricity, not sometimes but every time.  So it is with God's Spiritual Laws, such as the Mother Law of the Universe - Cause and Effect or as we in Science of Mind often call it "The Law of Mind Action".   What you put into Cause shall surely return to you pressed down and overflowing as effect.  Since you create your life experience with your thoughts, empowered by your words and choices, watch your thinking, speaking and what you choose.  As mother undoubtedly told you: "you make your bed, you must then lie in it".  So true, your thoughts and words impregnate your reality each and every day.

This is why God neither punishes or rewards because the Law is what governs the Universe, not the emotions of God - He has none.  God is impartial and impersonal in the sense that He does not judge.  Neither should we!   What is inside of you is reflected as your reality.  It is that simple and no one is immune from this basic law of life.

More next time when we discuss the operation of The Law.

May God be in consciously be at your Center each moment of the day!

Rev. Dore' Jacques Patlian

Our Greatest Power

That Divine Mind, that Great Soul we call God, has given us 3 great gifts that empower us to create any life experience in which we can believe.   The first is will.  The volition or will power to choose a course of action and hold to it through thick and thin is the basis of our freedom of action as human beings. The second gift is intellect or mind.  This is the gift that allows us to adapt, to think, to reason and to triumph over adversity.  But the greatest of the 3 and the one that is the hallmark of humanity is imagination.

This is the most powerful Divine Gift of all because it allows us to move beyond the known, the present, the familiar and to create places never visited by a human, to experience things never before experienced; to reach new heights and create new wonders that have never before existed.  All of human advancement in science, technology, art, music, medicine, religion and philosophy is due to this power of imagination.  Without it we would be frozen in precedent; the known, the familiar and no advancement could ever occur.  Nothing new can be created until a mind first conceives it.  What we can conceive we may achieve.

The gift of imagination is the evidence of the Indwelling God within us for no other creature on this planet possesses the ability to create what has never before existed, to travel in mind to places never seen or never experienced or to enter alternate states of reality at will.  Imagination is the evidence of God within each of us.  All that exists began in the mind of God or a human mind and both depend on the faculty of imagination.

We can see the natural flowering of this great gift in our children.  Every child lives a vivid imaginal life full of imaginary friends, castles and kings, princes and princesses.   The tooth fairy and Santa Clause are each very real to a child who spends most of their day in the wonderful land of imagination.   What happens to so many of us to stifle that vivid faculty of imagination?   Our parents force us kicking and screaming into the present world of facts and things and discourage our imaginal flights and fancies.  Our teachers make us deal with the here and now instead of what could and should be.  Our clergy force our Spirit into an orthodox,"acceptable" version of God, Heaven and Hell which leaves little room for questioning or imagining.

By the age of 10 most of us have had a lot of our imagination blunted and the rest put on a starvation diet!   Most of us are taught that "Life is Serious Business" and there is no time for "wool gathering" or flights of fancy.  Rather than encourage our children to dream of things that have never been and worlds yet to be discovered; we force then into the hewn path of "facts" and reality.

The imagination is the font of all greatness so the blunting of imagination does not bode well for mankind's future.  Sometimes it seems we have no great people anymore, only more or less competent technocrats.   There has been greatness in the near past but it is becoming more and more the exception rather than the rule.   Perhaps this is because our way of life has changed from an imaginal based life to a life lived in and through technology.

I am not old, only 65 years old for a few more weeks, but in my lifetime I have seen the wholesale crippling of Imagination.  It began about 1950 when television began to take the place of radio as the chief medium of family entertainment.  You see, radio was a banquet for the imagination of the young and old.  It gave you the story in words but you had to paint the picture in your mind as the story unfolded.  You ran your own movie in your mind as the characters spoke their lines from the large console RCA or Philco radio in the living room.

I remember how much I looked forward to hearing the western series Gunsmoke on the radio.  (yes young people, Gunsmoke was first a huge radio hit and then came to TV about 1954).   William Conrad, the wonderful, large actor with the deep commanding voice, played Marshall Matt Dillon and to this day, he is Matt Dillon to me; even 20 years of James Arness in the TV role hasn't displaced in my mind Conrad's deep growl of a voice or the sound of his spurs walking down the main street of Dodge City, Kansas, USA.

Miss Kitty, the Marshall's love interest, was never seen but we heard her husky strong voice.  To us radio Gunsmoke fans, Miss Kitty was a proper lady business person running the Longbranch Saloon, not a madam of a brothel, gambling den and saloon as we were forced to realize when we saw her on TV.  You see we could make any pictures we wanted, it was our imagination that colored in the spoken story.  Radio demanded our active participation, we were partners in the play.  Television demands nothing from us, it is a totally passive medium, it provides the entire visual feast with no need for input from our minds at all.  Few fell asleep in front of the huge Atwood Console Radio but millions fall asleep in front of the TV each night.

Is it any wonder that so many of us lack the imagination to see a better world, to envision a planet free of war, disease, poverty.  We have been force fed all we need to know through a TV screen.  We are passive watchers of life, not participants; many have become mere spectators of life.

I invite you to experience what I am speaking of.   Sirius XM satillite radio has a channel called Radio Classics.  You can meet Fibber Magee and his wife Molly, travel America with Johnny Dollar, ace insurance investigator, or fight crime with La Mont Cranston and the Shadow, laugh with Jack Benny or the Great Gildersleeve.  You can experience the original Radio Green Hornet or hear tales of the Texas Rangers. You can enjoy full length theatrical productions on the Lux Radio Theatre.  If you have not taken your imagination out for a walk in a long time, tune in to channel 82 on Sirius XM Radio and enter a world you never knew existed.

I am blessed to be a Baby Boomer and just catch the end of the Age of Imagination and experience being a partner in the story and then to be an adult in the computer and post imaginal age where we are spoon fed our wisdom, opinions, values and prejudices 24/7 on cable around the world.

I don't suppose I have to tell you which I prefer!  Just an Old Dog trying to learn a new trick!

May God bless and keep you until next time:

Rev. Dore' Jacques Patlian

Further Along The Road To Well Being

Last time we asked the question:  "How many of our readers have experienced a consistent feeling of general well being; a feeling that most everything was going well; you were on top of things and life was good?"  I wish that we could have taken an on-line survey for I believe that not very many of us would have answered "yes" to the question of well being. 


Last week, I asked each of you to look at your reflection and rather than seeing the face of an imperfect product of sin, living an imperfect life in an imperfect world; try instead to see the face of your Creator looking back at you. We discussed how hard this might be for so many of us because we have been taught a great lie; that we are flawed, sinful, "weak worms of the dust" that are imperfect by nature and must be "saved" from our own natures.  The great Truth is that we are Divine Humans made in the Mind of God.  Here is the proof.


Most of us around the world would probably agree, no matter what our concept of God may be, that God is perfect being, perfect mind, perfect substance.  Surely God must be superior to us, or else there is no hope!  If God be not better than each of us, then what is a God for?  Take heart, it is my strong belief and that of many spiritual teachers far greater and wiser than me, that God is perfection personified.  Here is our second question in our quest for "well being".  


If God is perfect, all knowing and all powerful how then did we become so flawed and how is it that we live in a very imperfect place called Earth?  God is the creator of all that exists, is He not?  Well then, like may create only that which is like itself.  A dog cannot give birth to a cat.  Radishes do not spring from seed corn.  Likewise, a prefect God may not create fallible, flawed and often evil creations who live in an patently imperfect world. We are made in the image and likeness of God. (not face or color but essence and mind) Every person on this planet and those on planets yet to be visited by humanity, was created perfect by a perfect God.  The logic and truth is inescapable unless you believe God to be a prankster or practical joker!


How is it that we were we born perfect and end up like we are today?  The answer may surprise some of you and for some it may seem simple.  We believe we are imperfect, we believe that the world is, by definition, imperfect so it therefore it is imperfect.  This is the second great lesson on the road to well being. 


Each of us thinks our life experience into being.  A critical mass (about 33%) of each nation or culture thinks the reality of life in that nation or culture into being and, by extension, a critical mass of the entire planet creates the reality of life on this planet.  Individually and collectively we think our own reality into being in exactly the same way God thinks the Cosmos into being over and over and over. Thought is the child of Mind and Mind is the creator of all that has ever existed, exists now or ever will exist.  


Reality is the result of our thinking.  Current facts and all of history are the residue of past thinking.  The future is the result of the thinking you are doing today.  You see, thoughts are not idle fancy, no indeed.  Thoughts are things and they are creative. 


Once you understand and accept that all begins in Mind, God's or ours, then you understand how to take control of your life by taking control of your thoughts.  Many of us live life on our "default" settings.  By this I mean the values, ideas, biases, beliefs and taboos that were handed down by our parents, clergy, teachers and culture.  


We live on auto pilot, not really in control at all.  We simply replay the same old program over and over and get the same old results over and over.  Just as you may customize the operating system of your computer to suit your individual needs; so each of us can change our core beliefs; the programming deep in our subjective minds that actually causes us to choose, speak and think the way that we do. 


It is really this simple: Change your thinking and change your life!  Now I did say the idea is so simple that people don't want to believe it, but I did not say that it was easy to implement this new idea.  Changing our thinking is really changing who we are.  What else are we but a collection of thoughts?  If this great change was easy, we could wipe out all the evils of this world in a month.  Changing one's thinking is hard work that requires a great desire to change and the discipline to keep at it until you see your life change all about you.  If you could have the life you have always dreamed of, wouldn't it be worth the work? 


You see, when your thinking and believing begins to change, your personal world - your reality, changes with it.  Your circumstances, the facts of your life, are nothing but a projection of what you truly believe, think and speak day by day.  Who you really are inside is what your outside reflects. Nothing in your life will permanently change until YOU DO!


Today's lesson is simply that you are a Divine Expression of God, that is the face of God that is staring back at your from the mirror and that you have been given the greatest power in all the Universe.  The power to change your mind.  This power and the power of imagination are the Keys to the Kingdom of God itself.  


Next week we shall discuss imagination; the very thing that proves the existence of God and our humanity. 


If you have not yet gotten your copy of Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes, go to amazon.com and get yours today.  It will change your life.  I also recommend a little book you can carry with you: The Art of Life by Ernest Holmes, also available on amazon.com  


Rev. Dore' Jacques Patlian