The Only Reality
Ernest Holmes

Love is the language which is universal, interpreted through every living soul and understood by all. Love will find the solution to every problem, will answer every question, and will ultimately vanquish every foe. Love begets tolerance; tolerance begets understanding, an understanding which is able to put itself in the other person’s place.

Love is unity, understanding, harmony. It is as necessary to the well-being of the soul as food is for the strength of the body. A life which is starved for love, which knows no affection, is unnatural and abnormal. Love would sit within every person, flowing through and permeating one’s entire being. We truly live in its atmosphere when we meet people through whom love radiates. A unity is formed, harmony is created, and we desire to be in their presence.

Love is a synonym for God; and God is love, the universal outpouring of the Spirit through law, wisdom, life, and action. God knows us in love; we know God only through love. When we love humanity we are loving God, in and through others.

It is impossible to enter a state of peace without love. Love is the only reality there is.

From A Holmes Reader on Practical Wisdom, compiled and edited by Rev. Carol Sheffield and Kenneth T. Lind, Science of Mind Publishing.

Practicing Peace and Understanding amidst Fear and Violence—
A Prayer for Boston

Rev. Dr. Kenn Gordon, Spiritual Leader
Centers for Spiritual Living
Apr. 15, 2013

Our blessings and our prayers go out to Boston today after, yet again, another senseless act of violence perpetrated on innocent people. I ask that each of us take a moment and pray for those afflicted, and once again, I ask that we pray for our world and our advancement into a peaceful unity and mature response to these heinous and destructive acts. It is obvious that the traditional responses that we as a world society have implemented for thousands of years have become, and possibly always were, both ineffective and counter-productive. Violence begets violence! The consciousness of vengeance is contagious. The motivation for much, if not all, of the violence we are experiencing is born from an inane and immature sense of revenge. The perpetrators are seeking revenge for the perceived injustices of their lives and when we react to their actions from a mind-set of vengeance we further feed the act.   

The common-place violence that we currently are witnessing is a symptom of a much larger cause and the solution has not been found in our traditional way of handling it. It is time that we begin to look for deeper solutions, as opposed to falling back into our traditional response. So, I ask you to remain calm and clear, to practice understanding and love. This does not mean that we condone these inhumane acts, nor does it mean we allow them to go without penalty.

Centers for Spiritual Living believes that everything in our world begins with a thought, an attitude and a frame of mind. If we live in a violent society, reflecting the vengeance that initiated the act in the first place will do nothing to stop the violence. It may stop the current perpetrators, but it will not end future violence. It is up to us to be proactive and focus our attention on peace and respect for life. It is unrealistic to expect others to do it if we are not prepared to do it ourselves first. It is time that we face the bigger issue, and that is not just what humans will do to other humans but how tirelessly they will justify it. 

A Prayer for Boston, a Prayer for Ourselves
In this time of sorrow and shock, I consciously bring myself back from that which has occurred to the Divine place of recognition and clarity, understanding that this unskillful act perpetrated in Boston moves now beyond form to a place of unconditional wholeness and peaceful realization.

I banish any and all sense of retribution and vengeance and allow my mind to rest in the grace and understanding of peace and acceptance, knowing that every act and every action unfolds in Divinity for the highest and greatest good. Right here and right now, I invoke Truth to enter my being, knowing that It abolishes fear and replaces it with faith, dissolves all sense of retribution and replaces it with love, dissipates all negative judgment and replaces it with understanding.

I know with certainty that goodness comes from this act and I surrender my need to know and understand and stand strong in my faith and optimism.

I surrender this back to Spirit, trusting and knowing that all that needs to heal, all that needs to be recognized, all that needs to be known, is done and present now.

I allow myself to live in this Truth.

And so It is.