Re-investing in Faith

Philosophy in Action - for March 2009

Ernest Holmes teaching on faith is absolutely powerful and inspiring. However, for those of us early on our journey of faith, it can be a bit intimidating. In the Science of Mind he defines faith as

“an idea so inwardly embodied that the mind can no longer conceive of its opposite.”

Wow! Now that’s powerful stuff. But what if you do contemplate its opposite? Does that mean you have “less” faith? Often we approach life’s challenges with the notion of “if I only had more faith” or “I don’t have enough faith.” But the truth is you already possess all the faith you will ever have, right now!
If you have ever thought that all you need is more or enough faith in order to succeed, STOP. Begin to pay attention to where the faith that you do have is being used. Is is being used negatively or misplaced as Holmes describes? Do you find yourself saying “oh, I just knew that was going to happen!” when things go wrong? How about when things go better than expected? Do you think to yourself “gee, guess I was lucky?” If so, then its time to start re-investing your faith for higher yields.
It has been said that the difference between the mystic and the paranoid is a thin line. The paranoid believe that there is a grand conspiracy in the universe that is working against them. The mystic believes that there is a grand conspiracy in the universes that is working for them! All we need do to build our faith is to try on the idea that all things are working together for good, right now. In the bible we read: “All things work together for good to them that believe and those who are called according to his purpose” I like to think that since God is all that there is, then we are all called according to his purpose so the only question that remains is – do we believe it? This is what it is to have the faith of God.

for the full article on Faith by Ernest Holmes - pick up a copy of the March issue of Science of Mind magazine

The Call: lost Poem of Ernest Holmes

This poem, entitled "The Call" is one of my favorites by Ernest Holmes - however most do not know of its existence.  It can only be found in the original 1926 edition of "The Science of Mind" text, in which its local is odd at bests.  It can be found at the end of the Glossary and just before the Index (no page number).  After the reorganization of the text in 1938 - the poem disappears - and to my knowledge is not published in any other location.

My soul is stirred by this poem and serves as a focal point of my calling as a minister of New Thought.  Here it is...

The Call:

by Ernest Holmes

This I saw or else some greater presence made it known to thee,

the universe is filled with life, the earth, the sky, the sea

And teamed with Intelligence with majesty and might

Deep within me some subtle inner sight

Beholds and sees, comprehends and knows the All

No fears, no falters, but answers the Divine Call.

To be as one, beyond the bonds of time and space

To overcome the bondage of the human race

And to leap with Trust, undaunted and free,

into the deeps of that infinite sea

Who's waters, calm are ready to receive 

Those who in simple faith Believe.

Faith, Doubt and Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa has recently made the headlines with her soon to be published private journal. The book “Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light” reveals years of private journal writing exposing her personal thoughts throughout her ministry of service to the sick and poor.

The revelation that is making the news is that Mother Teresa writes about her Doubt and “lack of Faith” obviously for such a devoted servant of God this news comes as a surprise and even shock to most.

For me it opens the door to an important conversation, long overdue about the role of Doubt within the building of our Faith. We tend to think of the terms Faith and Doubt as being opposite and exclusive of each other. If you have doubt it means that you lack faith and if you have faith then doubt does not enter your mind. Particularly in the case of faith – we tend to think of it as an absolute. Homes says of faith – “Faith is a mental attitude, so inwardly embodied that the mind can no longer deny it.”

In New Thought we really like absolutes – they keep things clean and simple – easy for the intellect to take hold of. But the fact is that in a metaphysical universe – there is a lot of “gray matter” The danger of painting Faith and Doubt in such black and whites is that we end up holding faith as such a high spiritual ideal that few people actually possess it. We make Faith so pure that we can never fully attain it. Not only that, but we then begin to carry guilt for our lack of faith and our more common doubt. Let’s return to faith in a moment -

What of doubt? Is is simply the lack of or mis-placed faith? I think doubt can be these things – but is much deeper and much more important in our spiritual development. In New Thought we have done very little to understand the valuable role of doubt in our spiritual awakening. To doubt, fundamentally is to question, to question is to inquire and to inquire is to learn and grow. I believe that doubt plays a much larger role in our unfolding and spiritual growth than we have ever acknowledge. After all, was it not Ernest’s youthful and constant questioning of the world around him (the preverbial question mark, always asking Why?) that lead to his awakening and articulation of the wisdom we now call New Thought and Religious Science?

When it comes to building our faith, doubt is an important component. M. Holmes Hartshorne reminds us in his work “The Faith to Doubt” that is was Luther’s dare to doubt the means of grace which the Church presumed to guarantee to the faithful, that “cut the ground out from under medieval Christianity.” I agree with Hartshorne that in terms of exploring spiritual principles it is “not reassurance but the courage to doubt critically” that we need. Similarly, Augustine observed that we doubt for the sake of truth.

I believe that it is through doubt that we are able to plumb the depths of our soul and uncover hidden beliefs – bringing them out of the dark shadows and into the light for close examination. In order to build our faith – we need doubt. Without it our spiritual principles become self serving Polly-Anne platitudes that lack meaning and substance.
Don’t feel guilty about your doubts – embrace them, explore them and allow them to deepen your faith. To do so is to develop healthy and mature faith.
Paul Tillich says this best…

“Faith comprises both of itself and the doubt of itself…To live serenely and courageously in these tensions and to discover their ultimate unity in the depths of our own soul and in the depths of the divine life is the task and dignity of human thought.”

Through exploring our doubts and darkness we can truly come to understand our Faith.

Thank God for Mother Teresa’s doubt - she has reminded us all that Doubt is a natural part of the Faith walk – while one day the church will make her a saint, today we know she was human. A great human with great Faith and Doubt.

Faith

Faith comprises both of itself and the doubt of itself...to live serenely and courageously in these tensions and to discover their ultimate unity in the depths of our own soul and in the depths of the divine life is the task and the dignity of human thought.

Paul Tillich

What does faith mean to you?