June, 2002

Faith Is a Principle

Ernest Holmes

It is useless to make statements in affirmative prayer that we do not inwardly believe. All statements must flow out of a consciousness of conviction. The words used are merely a spontaneous expression of our inward beliefs about life. They must flow from the entire consciousness, the whole mental life, the entire mental process. Spiritual consciousness means that when the intellect affirms the Divine Presence the whole consciousness feels the meaning of what the intellect has affirmed.

Training our consciousness is the chief characteristic of this practice. Our consciousness is not at all times inwardly aware of goodness, truth, and beauty, and here is where scientific or conscious mental practice performs its important office. Practitioners of Science of Mind know that conscious right thought, brought to a focus through definite statements, enforces the Law of Mind. We have knowledge of a science which can be used by any intelligent person who will comply with its principle and law. We have a definite technique that can be used, as well as a conscious knowledge of how to proceed.

Life is and we live it. The Law of Mind is and we use it. The teacher or practitioner of this science, like those in physical sciences, need not explain why things are so. Just as many years of careful work and experiment in the field of science have established certain truths and developed certain techniques, so in spiritual mind practice many years of investigation have demonstrated the principle and practice in this field.

We know something of the how, nothing of the why. The how we use, the why we must accept. In doing this we are in no way departing from scientific procedure, because all science must follow the same method. Prayer and faith have produced wonders throughout the ages. We are reducing them to a principle which can be, at least in some degree, consciously understood. Faith is a principle in the universe, and wherever it has been exercised, this principle has been demonstrated.

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