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| October, 2007 | ||
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| Photographs by David Saylor | ||
On August 15, 1959, in a chapel set against the Pacific Ocean at the beautiful retreat center of Asilomar in California, Ernest Holmes gave the last—and most famous—of his annual “sermons by the sea.” He died the following April. On August 12, 2006, Dr. Holmes returned to Asilomar to give the same speech in the same filled-to-overflowing chapel, using the same lectern as he had in 1959. He had been somewhat anonymously wandering the grounds during the previous few days, showing up, appropriately, in archivist Rev. Dr. Marilyn Leo’s workshop on “Ernest Holmes Remembered” to answer questions and talk with seminar participants. How could this be? The founder of the Science of Mind philosophy had been dead for forty-six years, yet here he was, greeting people and clapping them on the shoulder as he passed them in the aisle on his way to the podium that Saturday morning, dressed in his casual seaside garb of flannel shirt and comfortable pants. His New England accent, the inflections in his voice, his gestures and his sense of humor flowed authentically through the presentation. Dr. Holmes’s powerful, enlivening, inspirational and thought-provoking lecture touched audience members profoundly: Some were in tears, some were quietly reflective, some requested to have their pictures taken with him. The pathways outside the chapel were abuzz with animated conversations. The night before, as the week-long United Centers for Spiritual Living conference was coming to a close, we had been informed that there would be one last event in the morning before we went our separate ways: someone named Brad Wethern was going to “do a reading” of Ernest Holmes’s renowned “Sermon by the Sea.” Instead, what we experienced was a realistic portrayal of the great spiritual teacher himself. We were given a taste of what it might have felt like to “sit at the feet of the master,” so to speak. The story of how this came about illustrates the powerful Science of Mind precept of how the creative process unfolds, beginning in consciousness, and eventually manifesting in form. In brief, one morning in 2004, Wethern, who was in his second year of practitioner training at the Claremont Center for Spiritual Living, awoke with the questions, “What would it be like if Ernest Holmes actually came back and spoke to us? What would the effect on people be?” He shared his idea that morning with Rev. Patt Perkins, the senior minister at the church, worried whether this would be perceived as blasphemous or some sort of “power grab.” However, to the contrary, she said, “I think that is an incredible idea!” Wethern, who had graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in dramatic arts and at one time had been a stage actor, as well as having taken numerous classes in the Science of Mind philosophy over thirty years, set to work doing research on Dr. Holmes— what his life was like, specific details of his appearance and mannerisms, what he had written. He read voraciously, delving deeper and deeper into Dr. Holmes’s ideas, listened to tapes, talked to people who had actually known him, even gained access to the single videotape that exists of him, a television show he had done. Finally came time for the first public “portrayal,” in which Wethern, robed in black and made up to remarkably resemble Dr. Holmes, gave a talk followed by a series of preplanned questions and answers at a Wednesday evening service at the Claremont Center. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and from that point on, things mushroomed. Wethern started giving his portrayal of Dr. Holmes at various churches; Rev. Dr. Terry Cole-Whittaker came to speak at Wethern’s church and he gave her a DVD of his work; she passed the DVD on to Rev. Dr. Robbie Smith at the City of Angels Church in Los Angeles; Marilyn Leo, who was a childhood neighbor of Ernest Holmes, saw Wethern’s portrayal there and asked him to be a part of her seminar series at the Asilomar conference in 2006; Patt Perkins had envisioned Wethern giving “The Sermon by the Sea” at that very conference, so he made an inquiry to do so; he was invited to participate; and “Ernest Holmes” returned to Asilomar to give his renowned speech. Since his initial portrayal, Wethern has expanded the variety of things he does in his role as “Dr. Holmes,” now even answering questions spontaneously. He has recorded two CDs and two DVDs, Prosperity and The Sermon by the Sea, and has others in the works on health and relationships. Wethern relates with wonder, humility and gratitude, “The whole universe has said ‘yes’ to this. There have been no ‘no’s’” He succinctly summarizes the process, “So there it is: thought into form!” Wethern spoke recently about how “sacred theater” (as Terry Cole-Whittaker calls it) has impacted on him personally and on his audiences. Science of Mind What is your purpose in doing this work? Wethern How is what you do different for people from reading Ernest Holmes’s books or listening to recordings of his lectures? What I provide in portraying Ernest Holmes is an emotional component that comes from the human presence. It allows them to really experience what it might have been like to be with a man who created a spiritual philosophy that has evolved forward into a new century and it connects them with the fact that what they’ve been reading has come out of a real-life teaching. I see this as my ministry: to provide the catalyst that allows people to see the living, breathing Ernest Holmes, which then allows them to further their studies with an added dimension. Has this opened up new pathways for you personally as well? On a personal level, I am loving this whole thing because I had left acting behind many years ago. I studied theater arts in college, was in two different theater ensembles and acted on stage, and did stand-up comedy for a couple of years. But I never—even though I lived in LA—had a career as a working actor. At some point, the whole idea of acting didn’t make sense to me anymore—it was like some kind of a pipe dream—so I went into real estate. But doing this has opened up the idea that if I can successfully portray Ernest Holmes to the people who are in charge of his whole organization, I can do anything. I can pursue acting, I can pursue writing—the sky’s the limit. I’ve written and published a few short stories and have a couple of book ideas percolating. I’ve written and performed a play with a friend of mine, Francseskah Kalika, called The Practitioner and the Showgirl. The characters are Dr. Ralph Waldo Woodman, a practitioner, and a “showgirl” who’s having problems with her acting career. It’s a hilarious forty-minute play, available on DVD, which can be used as a training film for practitioners. Another thing I’m working on is a one-man theatrical piece that includes a whole history of Ernest Holmes: as a young man, when he’s first reading Emerson, and then the various stages of his life. Is this “portrayal” different from roles you’ve acted in the past? What’s different about this is that I’m not only the actor, I’m also the writer (or the compiler to be more precise) and the director. When first portraying Holmes I thought people might say “That’s ridiculous” or “That doesn’t make sense.” But the response has been that I discovered something everybody values. From the little spark that started in my mind when I woke up that morning, it’s as though I opened up King Tut’s tomb, and here are all these treasures. And I really enjoy sharing them with the world. You’ve learned a lot of Science of Mind philosophy since you stopped performing as a young man. Do you feel like the person who’s now doing the acting is different from the one who was acting then? Absolutely. At that time, I had all kinds of negative and limiting ideas: “Oh, I’ve got all this competition; oh, it’s hard to be an actor; oh, I don’t know how good I am; oh, auditions scare me.” This project has taken me as a person to another level, and it shows in my daily life. It shows when I speak—because I also do speaking as myself. I give talks at Wednesday night services and am in front of the congregation most Sundays. I know I have a presence now that I didn’t have before I began portraying Ernest Holmes. I notice that I’m not afraid to pause. I’m not afraid to look at people and formulate the thought I have and then say it. I can improvise more easily. My presentations are much more effective than they would have been. What is it like for you personally to step into a “master’s” role and present his teaching? Do you do a spiritual practice to get yourself into the right state of consciousness? I go into a meditation that has a visualization component to it. I imagine Los Angeles in the 1950s—and I was there, so I can remember back: the cars of that era driving around, the Wiltern Theater, where Ernest Holmes spoke to two thousand people on Sundays, which is still there. I see myself walking through the back door of the theater, saying hello to his longtime friend and colleague Bill Hornaday, and then walking up onto the platform with no notes—because most of the time Dr. Holmes, having meditated on the talk in advance, would just get up and give it. (Books were written, including The Science of Mind, from transcriptions of his talks.) So I do all that, and then I put the makeup on, which completes the transition. I used to have a lot of frustrating inner questions, such as, “Am I doing the right thing here?” and “Am I doing him justice?” But once I go out there, all of that kind of drops away and I just get into it. I came to realize that if I think, “Oh, am I doing this right?” that’s my ego getting involved. What’s really happening is that I’ve opened up the channel and just allowed it to come through me. I think Holmes’s basic ideas, such as “thought into form” and “evolution is always forward,” are also some of his strongest. And the idea that “there’s a power for good in the universe that’s greater than we are and we can use it” is a very powerful idea to get across. As Rev. Patt Perkins says, “There’s only one thing to say, and I’ve got to think of fiftytwo different ways of saying it every year.” Ernest Holmes was known for his great sense of humor. What part does humor play in your presentations? Does this come naturally to you? I come from a family of humorists. People have often said that I “think funny.” And I believe Ernest was like that in some ways. From hearing some of the little jokes and things he said, and also talking to Marilyn Leo, who knew him personally, it seems that his humor was pretty outrageous! It was a homespun, organic sort of humor: looking at common things in a humorous way—the foibles of mankind. When I portray him, I think the humor adds another dimension, an element of surprise, making him more human. Have there been personal challenges connected with taking on this role? Yes. I had to look at who I was. I had to be my own person first and then be Ernest Holmes —I could not give myself up. And that was a real challenge because to be a great leader of a church and a movement, even for a weekend, is very alluring. The challenge for me was to stay focused on who I am and then allow this project to take place and be very grateful for everything that’s happened. And I am grateful. Do you think that what you say to people in the “live” question-andanswer sessions accurately represents what Dr. Holmes might actually say if he were here today in the twentyfirst century? Initially, I was responding as though he was back here from an earlier time, but now I do it as though he is here. And I believe it works. People accept the backand- forth quantum leaps in time, perhaps because it adds depth and makes us realize that time is a made-up thing anyway. And because I’ve done so much research on what he’s said on various topics, I have a sense of how that would translate into currentday situations, though I must say that I’m often surprised myself at what comes out! Some might think it presumptuous to take on the persona of a great spiritual teacher like Ernest Holmes. Do you have the sense that he would “approve” of what you are doing? I think that Holmes would approve. He loved artists. I see him coming to a performance and commenting, “Very good! Did I say all those wonderful things?” I think that he would have been amused and very accepting of the fact that this is one person’s art, one person’s offering to the world. As I mentioned earlier, I feel that I’m reenergizing that emotional spark that Ernest once had. I’m contributing in my way to the teaching that has given me so much—just as everyone active in the movement does with their individual talents. I actually feel I am aligning in a kind of way with an ever-circulating realm of purposeful consciousness, which allows me to participate in metaphysical moments such as occurred in the summer of 2006 when, to everyone’s surprise, Ernest Holmes returned to deliver “The Sermon by the Sea.” • |
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