“I see no evil,” wrote Ernest Holmes. “I behold only good. I have seen the drunkard lying in the gutter, and the saint kneeling in ecstasy before the high altar of his faith, but I have found no difference. I have perceived that each, in his own tongue is seeking to express the One Life. I will not separate and divide; I cannot condemn nor censure, for I know that there is but One in All. I know that all came from the One, and all will return to the One. I know that all are now in the One, and that each is seeking to express the One. I know and love all.”

This was the reading today from the Science of Mind (page 546). I say “Wow!” If we could truly live this, can you imagine what our world would look like? A world without judgment.

We are only responsible for our own life, and we assist where we are needed and wanted.  I’ve been asking a lot, “What can I do to best relay this teaching in the world?” I keep getting the same answer: “Use it!” 

It is not our job or responsibility to change others. We are here to live our highest life in consciousness and action. Those who are inspired by us will come for what we have. We will be exactly where need to show up, because we will have put ourselves there. Running around trying to change other people, because we feel uncomfortable with the way they are acting, doesn’t change the world. It just creates a world of people trying to control others.

If what Dr, Holmes says is true, “All are seeking to express the One Life,” but one is it expressing it through alcoholism and the other through spiritual ecstasy, what do we do with that? Do we just sit by and let others suffer? Well, anyone who has been in any kind of support program knows that no one will change until they make the decision themselves to do so. No one will truly change until they have their own spiritual awakening.

However, if we could get out of judgment and just love each person where they are (not separate from us), and allow ourselves to love our own life and live it to the fullest, we would be a much more inviting safe place for all. I know for myself, I gravitate to where I am accepted and loved for who I am.

Also, this brings to mind the need to have our boundaries. Yes, of course, we do not let people abuse us. When we can no longer be of assistance to someone and we can feel their problems becoming our problems, bringing our lives into darkness, we must take care of ourselves. No is a powerful word, especially it is backed by non-judgement.

So, for me, I have found that this method truly works. I have had all sorts of people and experiences in my life, close and distant. I see that the times, when I have sought my own happiness and joy, that then and then alone, have I been of most assistance to others.  When I am stable and happy, I have something to share. As the old proverb says, “If the blind lead the blind, more than likely they will both fall in the ditch.”  Even when I have not known it, I have found later, that my example has helped to lift others up.

To wrap this up, each of us, I believe, are finding our own way back to Source. There is only One Life and we all express it at the level of our own relation to that Source. No one is ever lost and we all travel at our own speed. Every journey has to be perfect because this is either true for all of it or for none of it. We do not get to choose when it works and when it doesn’t. The Law is always working. Since life is eternal, I know the journey never ends. I believe we are always cared for here or someplace else after here. As Dr. Holmes wrote, “I know that all came from the One and all will return to the One.”

Love and Aloha,

Rev. Rita