Metaphysician, Ernest Holmes, talked about The Science of Mind as a teaching of non-resistance. He shared,“It is necessary that we release all thoughts—as well as things - that clutter up our lives”.
I have lost my phone 3 times now. Not just minor losses, in the manner of, “Where is my phone? Oh, I left it in the car!”
No, I am talking about major disappearances.
The first time it happened I thought, “Wow, that is the craziest thing!” …
I was in the attic at our Centre, attending to some roofing issues. Crawling around in a 3 to 4 foot space, I crouched next to the south cement wall, examining it closely. I snapped a couple of pictures, and then turned to go, wriggling my way through rafters and beams, back out onto our roof top. Then, once I was back down in the main building, I reached for my phone…“Sh*t! It must have fallen out up in the attic. UGH!”
I had my colleague, Collette, call my phone, but that yielded nothing… the ringer was off! Fortunately I have the Find My Phone app, which we were able to use to force a beep. Lo and behold, it wasn’t sounding from the attic at all…. Instead, the beep was coming from the base of the south wall, in between the cement and drywall. YIKES!
Let’s consider the Ernest Holmes quote, written above, and begin to consider how it might be applicable to this situation. Holmes went on to share, “We are reminded that there is something resembling the Divine in the intelligence and fearlessness of the organs of our body - in the way they take that which is necessary to their sustenance and well-being, and release that which is not needed. ”If the organs of the body followed the average tactics of people in their acquisitive habits, if the lungs hoarded the air they take in, if the heart kept the fresh blood stored within its walls, refusing to allow it to circulate, if the stomach retained the food taken in for nourishment, what a static condition we would have! But the very reverse is true. Such perfect assimilation, elimination and circulation has never been equalled by man in anything he has invented.” In my case, I was not ready to let go of my phone. So, I hired a carpenter who cut a hole at the base of the wall and… voila! Problem solved, but did I perhaps miss a lesson in my focus on forcing through the particular outcome that I was determined to see?
Many of us here at the Centre have taken our Striving Styles personality assessment. My results reveal I have a fundamental need for control. (How well do you think I do with ‘letting come’ and ‘letting go’?) I want to make life happen! I want to know how the story ends, and to moderate my participation in life accordingly. I want to know the answer to all problems and be a hero on the way to saving the world. But… does the world need ‘saving’?
I also get regular Shiatsu massage treatments and the lung/large Intestine meridian line always shows up as the area wanting attention. Its message is, “Let Come. Let Go”. Studying the works of Ernest Holmes offers more words of wisdom: “Fighting any adverse condition only increases its power over us, because we are making a reality of it. It has been said that the language of resistance is pain, but non-resistance finds the harmony of the Universe, and swings into Its motion, going with the stream of power, which nourishes and protects.” Resistance is the offspring of fear and ignorance; non-resistance is the offspring of Love.” ”Jill, breathe in… breathe out… let go….”. It is a constant practice.
So, I am climbing CR Look Out this past Friday…. Near the top, many of the rock faces are covered in layers of ice. Additionally, one particular boulder was so steep, that a chain had been secured to it in order to aid climbing.
I noticed my dog, Nova was struggling ahead of me, and then sliding backwards. So I went to her aid. While holding the chain for my own ascent, I reached over to support Nova and help her find better footing… and that’s when I heard a SMACK! SMACK! In the corner of my mind, I thought it was a rock tumbling down. It wasn’t… it was my phone! (Yet again!)
I scrambled down after it, but there was no finding it down the bluff and in the bushes. Again I needed assistance, but this time there was no one around.
This brought up a moment of contemplation for me. Here is my inner dialogue:
“What is it with my phone?”
“Let go, Jill. Surrender.”
“What? Just hide away at home and don’t do anything?”
“No, Let Come, Let Go. Allow the flow of life”.
“So, is it time to let go of my phone? WHAT IS IT WITH MY PHONE?”
Long story short, a young women happened to have been hiking behind me and she was able to help me use the Find My Phone app again. (Yes, my ringer was still off, and thank goodness she had data and we were in an area with a signal). Against all odds, I managed to find my all black, coverless phone in a dark well, under a stump.
Let’s go back to Ernest Holmes for a moment: “Science of Mind is a teaching of non-resistance. There are always things in our lives that we should let go of. In teaching us that we must surrender something, it is not that we should live in poverty or limitation. But, if we put our trust in external things alone, we are certain to become disillusioned. For a person may have a fortune one day and lose it the next.”
Yes… I seem to keep losing my phone. I think the point of the lesson in that for me, is to practice ‘non-attachment’; to be ready and willing to lose everything, and to realize that, even in ‘losing everything’, I have will never actually have lost anything that matters.
The idea that I alone must find the new location for our Centre, that I alone must create a financial flow to support our staff, that I alone must climb this mountain, be supportive to those in troubles, be strong and centred and know what to do… Hell! What if I let go of all that responsibility I put on myself? What if I release the grip and weight of it all? Am just too damn ‘clever’ for my own good?
In Life, like with my phone, I may experience loss… for that moment, that thing is gone. But, somehow, I know how to find it again, every time! So many aspects of my life work in this way, I realize… I surrender and let go, only to figure out a new way to pick up and carry on from where I left off.
This is my story, but I know that I am not alone. We all hold on and clutch on to aspects of our lives, like there is something of importance that we could actually lose. But Life is… omnipresent!! Its essence cannot be ‘lost’, no matter what the circumstances may be.
I just have to turn to Nature to see this Truth in action. Plants don’t struggle, they grow, flower, fruit and fall. Divine Circulation. Ha… I lose my phone and find my phone.… Circulation. We buy a building, we sell a building… let come, let go.
This lesson is learned, for now, but what might there still be for me to wake up to? Where might I still be clutching onto too tightly? Where, in my daily living, can I step back and trust Life Itself?
I will continue to live in the question. Won’t you join me?
TRANSFORM Your Experience…. PRACTICE
~ Can you think of areas of your life where you are holding too tightly and could use a little letting go? ~ Pick a “CONTRACT” from the list provided, below. Write it out and paste it to a location you will see often. ~ Look at it often, and repeat the words to yourself. Here’s mine, for reference ~ (because I tend to carry a huge burden of our Centre’s next steps and I desire being more fluid with my relationship to the Centre, and because I choose to allow more ease and to let the Power of Spirit carry the weight, this is what resonates for me): I make a CONTRACT with Spirit for ease in my life, and I need do nothing to make my life, my work, or my relationships successful, for all is the natural flow of Life in action, always expanding. Ease and Grace is the Power of the Universe that I live now SAMPLES FOR YOU (modified from the works of Emma Curtis Hopkins) ~ I make a CONTRACT with the Universal Life Force for my life, knowing I need not try to preserve it. My life is the Life of Spirit. ~ I make a CONTRACT with the Infinite Presence for my well-being, knowing I need not try to maintain it. My health is the Health of Spirit. ~ I make a CONTRACT with the Infinite Wonder for my strength, knowing I need do nothing to enhance it. My strength is the Strength of Spirit; ~ I make a CONTRACT with Universal Power for my support, knowing I need do nothing to earn it. My support is the Substance of Spirit. ~ I make a CONTRACT with Grace for my defence, knowing that, in Spirit, there is nothing to fear. My protection is the Power of Spirit. ~ I make a CONTRACT with Spirit (whatever you choose to call this Force) for my right thinking, knowing I need do nothing to control or manage my thoughts. My mind is the Mind of Spirit. ~ I make a CONTRACT with Spirit (whatever you choose to call this Force) for my joy, knowing there’s nothing I need do to experience Joy. My joyous song of life is the Joy of Spirit. ~ I make a CONTRACT with Spirit (whatever you choose to call this Force) for my love, and I need do nothing to make myself loving or beloved, for all is Spirit acting with irresistible goodness through me. My love is the Love of Spirit. ~ I make a CONTRACT with Spirit (whatever you choose to call this Force) for my ease of discerning, knowing I need do nothing to improve my capacity to discern. My discernment is the Judgment of Spirit. ~ I make a CONTRACT with Spirit (whatever you choose to call this Force) for my effective accomplishment of all tasks, remembering that the Power and Intelligence within me does the works. My efficiency and competence is the working Skill of Spirit. ~ I make a CONTRACT with Spirit (whatever you choose to call this Force) for my right speech, knowing I need do nothing to guard or enhance my words. My speech is the Voice of Spirit. ~ I make a personal CONTRACT with the Infinite Intelligence for power and wisdom in my life. I need do nothing; study hard or exercise control, for my life is forever a gift in all circumstances, relationships and events.
TRANSFORM Your Experience…. ASK A PRACTITIONER
Dear Practitioner: I am struggling with my partner… everything they do is bugging me lately. What can I do?
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