In the Science of Mind, Ernest Holmes writes, “Humanity has compelled nature to do its bidding. We have harnessed electricity, caught the wind, trapped steam and made them do our will. We have invented machines to do the work of thousands. We have belted the globe with our traffic, and built up a wonderful civilization, but in few cases have we conquered our own soul.”

In the Science of Mind, the soul is defined as the subconscious or the seat of all memory. It is also the Law of our being, as it is most definitely projecting our life into form. When Dr. Holmes writes we have not conquered it, he means that we have not taken conscious control of the subconscious, but instead have unconsciously lived our lives.

The time has come. All the inventions, the material systems that we set up have been crumbling for some time now. I don’t know about you, but I do not feel that have anything that I can depend on that is out there. Do you seek to solve your problems in the physical realm or perhaps you are more like I am.  I am being called to, not give up the material world, but to go within and built my inner empire, to conquer my own soul by surrendering my finite self to the highest part of myself, to understand that I have a choice in every moment.

My inner empire encompasses my inner realization that I am Spirit, and that my higher self, my greater self is in complete Unity with the Source of all, the Allness, the Divine Presence.It is from this place that I am building the foundation of an empire that carries me to live the life I was born to live, and to be of assistance to others. I am building a foundation based on a strong Spiritual Immunity. I am looking to recognize the Spiritual in everything as my starting point.

Doctor D. K. Olukoya who wrote, “The Way of Spiritual Immunity,” defines Spiritual Immunity as a state whereby certain things cannot harm you. It is having an internal defense. Sometimes, people wonder why they are always attacked and the attacks prosper, while some other people do not even see any attack and it seems as if nothing touches them.”

We are all built with equal power. Our immune system is controlled by many things, our tendencies at birth, the foods we eat, the environment, but chiefly by the emotions we choose to foster and live by. Scientifically, we already know that stress, anger, fear and other negative emotions, break down our immune system and cause disease. Scientifically, we know that because of unresolved emotions that neuro peptides instead of following their natural path of passing out of our bodies can become lodged in our organs and tissue and if not resolved may disease.

It’s all well and good to know these facts, but how are we going to release ourselves from these emotions without by-passing them? How are we going to become the self-healers we were born to be by taking full advantage of our inner pharmacy?

I only know one way and it is the discovery of the True Self. You have heard me many times state that we are God. What does this mean? It means that we are Perfect Wholeness, we are Love. We are Infinite and unlimited. Ernest Holmes lets us know that we are not part of God, but one of God. It means that we are fully equipped with a Spiritual Nature that acts according to Law in every moment. It is the helm of our ship and the more we get to know this Nature and surrender to it, the more easily we move through life. We cannot continue to see evil in everything and expect to experience Good. We cannot continue to deny our wholeness and expect to experience wholeness and health. Both our physical and mental health can never be restored permanently without a spiritual realization.

Ernest Holmes wrote, “The philosophy of Jesus will remain sound when the belief in a material universe shall have been rolled up like a scroll and numbered with the things once thought to be real. So will be the philosophy of Buddha, Plato, Socrates, Emerson and Walt Whitman and the philosophy that we are writing of today.”

What does he mean by the belief in a material universe? He means that we have place our belief in the material universe before our belief in the Spiritual Universe. We are materialists. We are being called to recognize ourselves as Spiritual Being first.We are being called to roll that scroll up right now and begin our own individualized path to spiritual realization. It is the way through this time of turmoil and challenge. We are calling ourselves to be greater than we’ve ever been before and to be consistent in our belief in ourselves and each other, to recognize that there is only one Power and that we are all united in that one Power, to leave duality and totally experience our oneness with the Great Whole, to take God to our problems, and not crawl on our knees to God with our problems, and finally to cast away the false gods of poverty, disease, lack, anger, judgement and other negatives to which we have become enslaved.

Ernest Holmes wrote, “We came from Life and are in Life, so we are One with Life; and we know that instinctive Life within – which has brought us to the point of self-recognition – still knows in us the reason for all things, the purpose underlying all things, and we know that there is nothing in us of fear, doubt, or confusion which can hinder the flow of Reality to the point of our recognition.”

This is our True Self and it is quietly whispering from within us to live it, to breathe it, to trust it, and to surrender to it. The outside world is screaming the realities, but the inside world is a world of quiet peace and assured knowing.

This is where I am at right now. I do not want to experience separateness any longer. I want to walk as God through this earth plane. I can feel it more each day, and I can see and sense it within all of us. We are ready. Will we heed the call? We are standing on the edge of a great precipice. We have the opportunity to fly and be caught or walk backwards into oblivion, getting caught in the chaos of the world. The very evolution of all of us depends on it. What we do, what we think, what we choose, affects the whole. It begins with us and ripples out into the field.

Of course, we are at choice. Ernest Holmes writes, “Individuality means self-choice, volition, conscious mind, personified Spirit, complete freedom and a Power to back up that freedom.”  Evolution is a choice and it is based on Intelligence, not the opposite. Intelligence means Spiritual Intelligence. This is our innate quality of being. This is a time of conscious evolution.

I never thought I’d see a time like this in my lifetime. I know we’ve been building toward it as we have become more and more inundated with violence and disease and war, until we can no longer ignore it. I am very excited to be part of this shift of consciousness from dependency on the material world to the surrender to the inner realms of God’s consciousness.  The challenges are pushing us to evolve, not to shrink. Again, I think it’s time to reverse the process by focusing on involution, which is about setting our intentions of Love from within and allowing them to evolve in the perfect way in the manifest universe. It’s time to manifest the complete Spiritual self and bring that into everything we are experiencing. We have a Law that we can depend on. When we use it with Spiritual Intelligence in all our dealings, we will see intelligent outcomes in all areas of our life.

God is pushing through us to express Itself, which is our highest and best selves, to follow our passions, to give, to be in service, to love, to heal. In order to truly hear these calls and to get the right instructions, we have to do it for ourselves. We cannot depend on others to get the right answers for us. We have something called intuition that is unique to each of us. It is God, the Power knowing itself in us. Within it, lies all our answers, all our guidance, our path. We are being called to be Cosmically conscious. What is Cosmic Consciousness? It is “the self-knowingness of God in us.”

Some simple steps we can take to begin or continue this amazing journey is to take time everyday to commune with Spirit in our own unique way, to contemplate our Good. If we have to rely on inspiring reading to get us started that good. We need to look to solutions instead of the problem. There are spiritual solutions coming forth in the way of kindness, love, truth. However, the most important thing is to take Spirit into action in our lives. As we find ourselves challenged, bring God to the problem. Recognize and embrace our Spiritual Immunity. Keep it strong through treating ourselves with love and care. Positive conversation is so important. Again, look to solutions. See a future that is bright. Get involved with life from your Highest Self. We are not destined to doom. Cause and Effect is in constant flux. We can have a bright new beginning. Be in gratitude every day. Practice Kindness even if you do not agree with someone. We can walk through this with Love and Wisdom.

Love and Aloha,

Rev. Rita Andriello-Feren, Spiritual Director CSL Kaua`I, Licensed Minister and Spiritual Coach