It seems we strive to remove all suffering from our lives. We don’t want to be sick. We like the comforts of money. We want love either of friends or an intimate relationship. We want to be happy. It is normal and natural not to want to suffer. It is really normal to want to be happy. So, why do many of us continue to suffer? This is a great question, and I think that the Science of Mind and Spirit has a great answer.

Ernest Holmes wrote, “One of the most illuminating things which mysticism has revealed is that evil is not an ultimate reality. It is simply an experience of the soul on its journey toward Reality. Evil is not an entity, but an experience on the pathway of self unfoldment. It is not a thing of itself, but simply a misuse of power. It will disappear when we stop looking at, or indulging in it, so the mystics have always taught the race to turn from evil and do good.”

Firstly, let’s define “evil” so we do not confuse it with its reference to what we call bad deeds and bad people. Evil is simply defined as any thought or action that is not in alignment with Good: lack, limitation, anger, fear, hatred, etc. It is the experience that comes from misusing our mind, from turning away from our alignment with Source, which intends only Good for us. For example, there is only abundance, so why would we think and act like we are poor in any sense, not just in the area of money.

We misuse our minds and we create all kinds of scenarios in our life. The good news is that these experiences do teach us and bring us closer to our spiritual essence if we let them. When we are experiencing a difficult time, we have the opportunity to either turn within ourselves for our answers, build our faith and ask what is wanting to be revealed; or the opposite: sink into the experience as if we are lost. In my present life, I choose to examine myself and why the experience is in my life. Therefore, it becomes my soul’s journey toward Reality.

This morning in my meditation, I was struck by the idea that evil would disappear from my life when I stopped believing in it. Thus, the answer to why we get sick. Someone asked me about a particular ailment and why she could not get rid of it. The truth with a small t is that we still believe in illness. We still believe that we die and get old. Yes, we believe it because what we have already seen, but, I think the mystics are asking us to get a new idea. What if there were only life? They are suggesting that we look at everything with new eyes, that we look for the good in everything. I do believe that when I look for the good, it does show itself to me. My perspective begins to change and my experience follows.

So, what I understand from all of this is that I have some work to do in regards to releasing the beliefs and practicing new ones. It makes sense to me that if I am expanding my consciousness, as I spiritually evolve along with the rest of us, that this would be my next step. It is a journey and I just love it. Just a thought…but perhaps there is no evil and there is no good. Perhaps, things just are and we are the ones who label them.

Today, I will take another step in continuing to look for the good in everything and releasing beliefs that no longer serve me. I will courageously slip into a new possibility even though it is invisible and I have no proof…yet.

Love and Aloha,

Rev. Rita