Wisdom for the life you’re living.

Have you ever made a snap judgment about someone and later realized you were wrong? It is not something we like to admit—and it happens. I have probably done this more times than I would like to remember. I remember the first time I saw a dear friend wearing Angel Wings. My first thought was, why? When I told her I would never wear Angel Wings—I'd be too embarrassed, wondering what people would think—she said, "Would you rather be embarrassed for a moment or live in regret for a lifetime?" The next time I spoke at Light on the Mountains in Sun Valley, ID, I proudly wore my Angel Wings and didn't feel embarrassed at all—just a little shocked, knowing my mother would certainly have had something to say if she were still with us.

And that's the thing about judgments. It's a lifetime of lessons we learn from the people around us, advertisements, movies, and TV. If we truly analyze our judgments, most of them are not truly ours. They are a learned behavior; a habit we can unlearn.

It's easy to point at prejudice out in the world and feel like "we are better than them." The Truth is, as the old saying goes, when you point a finger out, you have three fingers pointing back at you. If God is expressing as everyone, every judgment is a judgment against the Divine in another.

Judgments are assumptions we make about people, places, and things out of fear, insecurity and old hurts. I loved my mother, and she always felt inferior to her more prosperous sisters. The result was my mom and dad were always in debt trying to keep up with them instead of just being happy with what they had.

Consequently, I struggled with money most of my life until one day I realized how wonderful my life truly was exactly as it was and exactly as it was not. Do I travel the world? No, and I have the most amazing relationship with my husband. Do I drive a fancy car? No, I drive a Jeep Wrangler because I love it. Am I jealous of people who have more than me? Absolutely not—they show me what's possible. I love and appreciate my friends who have more than me as much as I love and appreciate my friends who have less than me. It's not a competition. It's about being happy with what is and knowing I can attract more if I choose.

Spiritual Surrender is completely different from giving up, as if "nothing can be done." Spiritual Surrender is the act of giving over and trusting "something greater than me can handle this."

I have shared, more than once, that I struggled most of my life with drug and alcohol addiction. I tried more than once to give it up; a couple days here, a month there, once even for four years. It wasn't that I didn't want to stop—it was that I hadn't "surrendered" to that place within me that knew I could. There is a huge difference between being a "white-knuckle" drunk, not drinking and not changing your behaviors, and being clean and sober knowing you deserve better. What I appreciate about both paths is that at least the person isn't drinking. The difference is the first person has not surrendered, which usually leads to anger and frustration about not being able to drink.

Prejudice and gripping come from the same place: fear and separation. Surrender is the antidote to both—we release the judgment and the grip. What opens up on the other side: connection, peace, and room for miracles.

So, this week, name one assumption you carry about a group of people. Where did it come from? Is it still serving you? What's one thing you're gripping instead of giving over?

"Not giving up. Giving over."

Blessings on your journey,

Rev. Gayle

In Marianne Williamson's book, The Law of Divine Compensation, she says, "We forgive, then, out of self-interest. I forgive you because I want out of my pain. I forgive you so that I can be free of what you did. I see beyond your mistake to the love in you so that I can see beyond the mistake to the love in me - because only then can I have a miracle."

I remember the first time my mentor and friend, Rev. Suzi Schadle, asked me how long I was going to stay attached to my ex-husband. I was stunned by the question. Truth was that I hadn't forgiven him at the time. I hung on to my hurt, my pain, my anger like it was a badge of honor. What I came to realize was that the only person suffering was me. It's not easy releasing anger or to stop feeling guilty about what part you played in a relationship and yet there is no freedom in building a home around those two emotions. There I stood behind the door to freedom pulling it closed with all my might instead of releasing him and me through forgiveness and walking through the door knowing my life was ready to change.

I'm not suggesting we skip feeling our emotions, and I agree with Marianne about not getting stuck in the quagmire of resentment. Ernest Holmes says forgiveness is not about the other person. It is about releasing them so we can be free. I remember someone saying staying stuck in resentment, anger, or guilt is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. They may be stuck too or maybe – GOD FORBID – they've moved on. Either way your consciousness is your responsibility and yours alone.

Forgiveness is a process — it doesn't happen overnight. I remember laughing out loud when Edwene Gaines said she had to start where she was in forgiving her husband which was repeating: "I forgive you, you son of a bitch". The point is to release anger and guilt we have to start where we are. For me, I used a practice rooted in ancient Hawaiian tradition, Ho'oponopono. The word ho'oponopono means "to make right" or "to correct." I would imagine my ex-husband standing before me and I would say (sometimes even out loud):

1. I'm sorry – acknowledging the issue or imbalance.
2. Please forgive me – asking for release from the negative memory or energy.
3. Thank you – expressing gratitude for healing.
4. I love you – invoking love to restore harmony.

Trust me when I started, I'm sure there was venom coming out along with the words. Eventually, I realized love is the key that unlocks the door. Love is what allows the universe to restore what has been lost. I also was able to release him, so his dirty little feet no longer walked across my mind. Today, if I think of him, it's out of curiosity about who he has become.

Usually when we feel anger towards ourselves it is out of a sense of guilt. It is as important to forgive ourselves as it is to forgive another — yet in my experience and belief, we hang onto guilt longer because we don't believe we deserve to be forgiven.

I carried a lot of guilt. The guilt doesn't feel like a badge of honor. The guilt feels mortifying. What if people knew? I used to wake up in the middle of the night with some horrific memory; lying there wondering who was that person? And there is freedom in forgiving yourself. You are not that person anymore. When a memory pops up, even today, I have two practices I use. I look at it instead of trying to act like it didn't happen. I acknowledge its truth and then I ask myself: are you this person now? I take time to honor how far I have come and how much I have accomplished. Then the second practice is I wrap the experience in white light holding it in my hands. I thank the Divine for reminding me how much I have changed. Then I take a deep breath and blow the experience out into the Universe reminding God that unless there is a reason I need to look at the memory again, I am complete.

So, the question becomes Who are you still angry with? What are you still punishing yourself for?

Forgive them. Forgive yourself. Then stop holding the door closed — and walk through.

Life is too short to stay stuck in emotions that no longer serve you. Do the work, you're worth it.

Blessings on your journey,

Rev. Gayle

In Marianne Williamson’s book, The Law of Divine Compensation, she says, “Putting love first means knowing that the universe supports you in creating the good, the holy, and the beautiful. It means knowing that you’re on the earth for a purpose, and that the purpose itself will create opportunities for its accomplishments.”

I used to think my purpose was to make enough money to survive. And quite frankly, it was a purpose I wasn’t necessarily good at fulfilling. For me, being in survival mode limited my view of the world around me.

It is one of the reasons I love our teachings and her book. The book invites us to trust that the Universe is already moving to correct any experiences we may have of lack or loss because wholeness is its natural state. Spirit doesn’t withhold things from us; it flows through us. The trick, if you will, is to remember that it responds to the consciousness we bring. So, we can block our flow by the power of our thoughts.

So how do we make love the bottom line in our life? First, it’s not a matter of “What can I get?” and more a choice of “How can I serve?” When you go into a place of business, you can tell immediately if the energy is one of service. Those are the places we usually revisit—often.

In life, when we come from fear, we tend to hoard, compete and mistrust. When we allow love to guide us, we are more apt to create, give and collaborate.

When a group of us founded Everyday Center for Spiritual Living, it was an act of absolute love. It started in our living room. Some Sundays the only people who were present were me, our music team, the Core Council members and practitioners. We could have doubted and gone to fear, and yet our faith persevered and people kept showing up. I am happy to say that the Center is still going strong.

I find it interesting that even when love is the bottom line in something we have created and in the people, we associate with, we sometimes run a deficit with ourselves. We tend to be our own worst critic. Our inner critic can run rampant telling us we’re not good enough, we’re too old/young, and I could go on—forever! Truth is, that negative self-image is not who you are. We are God in form, and nothing we have ever done can undo that.

I certainly had no concept of God or being God in form. Finding a Religious Science (CSL) community and studying the Science of Mind opened up a whole new sense of purpose and belonging for me. Am I always in that zone—no, of course not. I am human, and my monkey mind still likes to run rampant if I let it. The difference is now I have the tools. I’ve learned that I can’t demonstrate beyond my own level of consciousness. So, the question then becomes, “Why do I want to limit my good?”

Life is full of opportunities, and the abundance of the Divine is ever-present; give yourself grace and let go and let God.

Blessings on your journey,

Rev. Gayle

When I first discovered the Science of Mind, it felt like coming home. I later learned I wasn't alone in that. Many people describe the very same feeling the first time they walk into a Centers for Spiritual Living (Religious Science) center.

I'll never forget my very first Foundations class. My mentor looked at us and said, "I have some good news, and I have some bad news. The good news is: you are responsible for your life. The bad news is (you guessed it): you are responsible for your life."

Yes, things are going to happen to us — that's life. We may not be responsible for the event. We are always responsible for how we respond to it.

Marianne Williamson calls this the Law of Divine Compensation. Ernest Holmes simply called it Law. And here's the thing: this Law is at work in our lives whether we believe in it or not. We don't have to understand gravity to fall down the stairs. We don't have to understand the Law of Divine Compensation to be living under it — right now.

Williamson's premise is simple and radical: whenever there is loss or lack in our lives, the Universe is programmed to compensate. Not someday. Not if we earn it. It is the nature of the Divine to restore, renew, and make whole. Our job is to get out of the way and let it.

I look back at the first fifty years of my life and see how I created the very chaos that was the bane of my existence. Every. Single. Day. The truth is, whatever we believe about ourselves, the Universe says YES to. I was a gerbil on an exercise wheel — running round and round and going absolutely nowhere. Once I stopped (which was a process, and quite frankly still is), my life shifted and aligned with the new thoughts I held about myself. And nothing changes the conversation you have with yourself faster than someone who knows the Truth about you speaking your word and declaring, "And so it is." Thank you, Rev. Suzi!

In her book, Williamson reminds us that faith isn't a feeling — it's a decision. It's easy to have faith when life is humming along on all four wheels. It takes courage to choose faith when a tire flies off and you're holding on with every fiber of your being. For me, faith is knowing the Universe is always quietly working things out on my behalf. All I have to do is look back — at the mishaps, the misjudgments, the near misses — to see that even before I knew it, the Universe had my back. It always has.

So, here's what I'd tell my younger self, and what I'll tell you: you are responsible for your life. And that? That's the good news.

Blessings on your journey,

Rev. Gayle

In the Science of Mind glossary, Ernest Holmes defines a Practitioner as: "A practitioner is one who practices mental and spiritual healing; and demonstrates for other than physical healing. The practitioner knows within themselves the truth about their patient; and that self-knowingness rises into the consciousness of the patient. We treat wo/man, not as a physical body, not as a diseased condition; neither do we treat the disease as belonging to them; we do not think of the disease as being connected with them nor a part of them. The practitioner realizes that wo/man is born of Spirit and not of matter. Spirit is Changeless, Perfect and Complete. They realize this until they see their patient as a living embodiment of Perfection." (Adapted with gender-inclusive language.)

Becoming a Practitioner is a calling. It is not only a recognition of God in you, through you, as you — it is a recognition that there is no spot where God is not.

Finding the Science of Mind philosophy changed my life — drastically, and for the good. Something in me woke up. My whole being knew I wanted to share this wisdom, and the possibilities life offers when you deeply realize your connection to God — and to all things. That knowing led me to become a Practitioner. And when I became a minister, I realized I was still — and always would be — a Practitioner.

Everybody's calling is unique to them, and yet each of us comes to that place of deep knowing and connection to something greater than ourselves and to all things everywhere.

Being a Practitioner is not a day job — or a night job, for that matter. We are Practitioners 24/7. If we are driving and see an accident, we pray. If we are walking and notice an argument, we pray. If we are watching TV and something riles us, we pray. It is a commitment we have made to ourselves, to God and to All of Life. Prayer is our superpower.

Spiritual Mind Treatment is our form of prayer. It differs from traditional prayer in its intent. Because we are part of and not separate from God, we do not beseech; we declare. There are five steps to a Spiritual Mind Treatment:

1. Recognition (God is!): It is important to remember that when naming the qualities of God, there is no opposite; opposites are human experiences. Emma Curtis Hopkins often called God simply "the Good."
2. Unification/Identification (God and I are one!): This is where you claim your connection as a living, breathing embodiment of God. You and It are One. In Practitioner training we are taught to stay with steps one and two until we feel the connection, a fire in the belly.
3. Realization/Declaration (What I desire already exists!): Always remember that the only time is now, so when we pray, we pray in the present tense. We are not asking; we are declaring.
4. Thanksgiving/Gratitude (I give thanks and know it's done!): Remember to give thanks. Cultivate an attitude of gratitude.
5. Release (I let go and I let God . . . and so it is!): This is the place where you turn it over to God, knowing it is so.

The best thing about Spiritual Mind Treatment is that even if you are not a Licensed Religious Science Practitioner, you can do your own Affirmative Prayers. The difference is in the calling and the training. If you have trouble remembering the steps, try one of these:

R U Ready To Receive: Recognition, Unification, Realization, Thanksgiving, Release

BINGO, an acronym I learned recently:

• B = Begin with God
• I = Include yourself
• N = Name your Good
• G = Give thanks
• O = Over and out

On Sundays, the Practitioners at Light on the Mountains lead morning meditation, set the tone of the service as Practitioner of the Day, and offer Spiritual Mind Treatment afterward. Every Wednesday, they also meet as the Ministry of Prayer. Each Wednesday morning an email goes out; simply reply with your prayer request. All prayers — in fact, all Practitioner sessions — are confidential. That afternoon, the Practitioners gather to do a collective Spiritual Mind Treatment for every prayer submitted that week. These gatherings are deeply meaningful and spiritually rich. I encourage you to take advantage of this gift they give to our community.

Spirit is Changeless, Perfect and Complete. Holmes didn't say "sometimes." He didn't say "for some people." He said it, and every Practitioner at Light on the Mountains spends their Wednesday afternoons proving it.

That's Divine Compensation in action. Love given freely returns multiplied. Our Practitioners give their prayers; our community receives them; and the circle keeps turning. Next week we'll explore what it means to give back and to step fully into that flow ourselves.

For now? Know the truth about someone today. It's already so. And so it is.

Blessings on your journey,
Rev. Gayle

"Our Divine nature never deserts us. Like the prodigal son we may wander into far countries of despair, but the Divinity within us ever gently urges us back to the center of our true being; It ever reminds us of Its presence. If we permit It, this spiritual Self will direct our every decision with intelligence and make perfect our way before us." ~Ernest Holmes, Spiritual Awareness

On October 19, 2002, I shifted my life from drug addict and alcoholic to drug-free, alcohol-free, and cigarette-free. It was my personal epiphany. My life changed for the better. I am not saying I didn't have challenges. More than once, my finances were disastrous, and yet I never lost or questioned my faith.

Being a minister during the pandemic had its own opportunities. Carey Nieuwhof, a Christian minister I follow, said at the time that ministry had always had its challenges, but now it was just hell. I still never lost or questioned my faith.

I didn't lose my faith this past year, yet I certainly questioned my beliefs. Does Spiritual Mind Treatment really work? Have I been fooling myself believing in something greater than me? The answers are absolutely and no. The thing I needed to remember is that which I choose to call God never leaves us. We may have moments of doubt or fear or disillusionment, and It stands like a sentry, waiting for us to acknowledge Its presence.

The truth is, life doesn't come with a playbook. I look at a group of friends I have who are all widows. My first thought is that each one is too young. My deeper, more compassionate thought is to honor their perseverance. Each handles her heartbreak with absolute grace, and each carries that grace in her own way. These women, in spite of their loss or maybe because of it, have the audacity to be comfortable. By comfortable, I don't mean complacent. I mean at home in their own skin, at rest in the Presence even when life isn't easy.

Every single one of us is going to face loss sometime in our lives. Grandparents, parents, children, friends, partners, pets—it happens. And that was my biggest fear this year. Was the person I lean on, the one who always has my back, going to be taken away from me? It is not "easy" to watch the person you love go through chemotherapy and gallbladder issues and then prepare for radiation. And yet I have come to the place of knowing I, too, have the audacity to be this comfortable.

How we live our lives through all the ups and downs is a choice. If we let them, they can make us bitter victims. Be like my friends—it's not the cards you're dealt that matter; it's how you play the hand. Like the prodigal son, we may wander, and that sentry is still standing, gently calling us home.

Blessings on your journey,
Rev. Gayle

"God is Spirit, or Self-Knowingness; God is Law and action; God is result or Body."** ~Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

Here's a sentence I never expected to type: your body is a theological statement.

Not a mistake. Not an inconvenience you're dragging around while the "real" spiritual you does the important work somewhere up in the clouds. Holmes puts Body right there in the same breath as Spirit and Law — not underneath them, not despite them. The body is where the invisible becomes visible. It's God, showing up with a face and a heartbeat and — let's be honest — some genuinely strange noises.

I grew up with a mother and older sister who believed if you weren't thin, you weren't happy. I am sure my sister learned this from my mom, and my mom probably was taught this jewel by her mom. A couple of real memories: hugging my sister hello and her whispering in my ear, "you should really lose at least ten pounds"; or from my mother, "I always know when you're unhappy — you start wearing jeans to hide your weight." It is not easy to love your body when those you love demean you.

We are so practiced at being embarrassed by our own bodies. We apologize for stomachs that growl during meditation, for the wrinkle that showed up overnight, for the fact that grief made us cry in the church parking lot and someone saw. Somewhere along the way, we absorbed the idea that a "spiritual" person floats slightly above all that — untroubled, unbothered, un-embodied. It's a lovely idea. It's also nonsense.

Because here's the truth Science of Mind keeps handing back to us: we don't get to Truth by escaping the body. We get there by moving *through* it. "We shall never know peace until we embody it," Holmes writes — not think it, not theorize it. Embody it. That word is doing a lot of work. It means the Divine isn't allergic to your body. It moved in on purpose.

I'll be honest, I like my body when I am wearing a size eight versus a size twelve. Is that conditioning? Probably. And it's the truth. Am I ashamed of liking my body at a smaller size? No — the truth is, I feel healthier, I move more easily, and I have a lot less aches and pains. I'm comfortable in loving my body, and I am comfortable knowing everyone has a right to choose how they appear in the world. I love Lizzo. I love her confidence and her loving herself enough to be exactly who she is without letting an industry shame her into being something different.

None of this means every ache or limitation is secretly a blessing in disguise, or that we're supposed to grit our teeth and call our suffering holy. It means something gentler: that the body having needs, limits, sounds, and seasons is not evidence that something went wrong. It's evidence that something is alive. Shame has had a long, lucrative career convincing us otherwise — that the right body is quiet, controlled, and endlessly cooperative. Yours doesn't have to audition for that role.

We will stay whole — not despite having bodies, but because we finally stopped treating them like the secret we have to keep.

Blessings on your journey,
Rev. Gayle

Before I became clean and sober, I didn't much like myself, which meant I wasn't really fond of other people either. I used to hang out with a group; we nicknamed ourselves the "fashion police." Not that we ever really handed out tickets and we were in constant judgment about what people were wearing. The thing I have learned about judgment is if you judge other people, they are certainly going to judge you. It is a reciprocal universe.

Last week I wrote about learning to inhabit my own body instead of just occupying it. What I didn't say is that the same lesson applies to every body I encounter — not just mine.

Here's the truth I don't love admitting: I have judged bodies that weren't mine. Not out loud, not even always consciously — but the thought crosses before I catch it. Too old. Too much. Not enough. We've all absorbed decades of messaging that tells us which bodies are acceptable and which ones need explaining. Diet culture, fatphobia, ageism, racism, colorism — they all whisper the same lie: your body is a problem to be solved.

I don't think that's an accident, and I don't think it's harmless. If the Divine chose to show up as physical form — if, as Ernest Holmes put it, humanity is the place where heaven and earth meet — then every time we treat a body as unacceptable, we're rejecting a little piece of God showing up in the world. If judgment is reciprocal, so is grace.

I have never felt so much love and support as I have experienced from the Light on the Mountains CSL community, especially after my Achilles tendon surgery. From being carried down to a canoe while in a non-weight bearing cast and then floating down Silver Creek like Cleopatra floating down the Nile. This community has opened its hearts and homes to me prior to, during and after my injury. It's how that Divine presence shows up for us. I love the quote, "Don't tell God you've got big problems, tell your problems you've got a big God." ~Unknown. That is what the Light on the Mountains community demonstrates time and time again.

Togetherness is not an abstract, spiritual idea. It is bodies — in pews, at tables, in hugs held a beat too long because someone needed it. You cannot be in community without being in a body, near other bodies. That's not a limitation of the spiritual life. That's the whole point of it. Spirit didn't choose the physical as a compromise. It chose the physical as the way to know itself at all — and it chose to do that in more than one body, so we could know each other, too.

So, this week, the invitation isn't just to inhabit your own body — it's to notice how you inhabit the space around other people's. Where do you make room? Where do you flinch, compare, or quietly withhold? What would it look like to greet the body in front of you — whatever shape, age, ability, or color it comes in — as the place where God also lives?

We say we want to build a world that works for everyone. That has to include everyone's body, exactly as it is today, not as it is once it changes to meet somebody else's standard.

Blessings on your journey,
Rev. Gayle

It took me a long time to be truly comfortable in my body. In fact, it is something I still work on.

I don't know about you, I treated my body like a tool. I come from the "no pain, no gain" era. The body wasn't something to be cherished, it was my own personal meat suit.

I pushed through exhaustion because rest felt like weakness. I ignored the ache in my shoulder for two years because stopping to tend it felt like an inconvenience to my schedule. I treated my body the way you'd treat a rental car — drive it hard, worry about the damage later, it's not really mine anyway. Looking back, that's an odd way to treat the one vessel I actually get to keep for this entire lifetime.

Yes, we are spiritual beings having a human experience. And we chose to be here in this dimension in this body. It is good to remember that this is the place where God lives as me.

Ernest Holmes says, "In humanity we seem to have that point where heaven and earth meet, a place where the spiritual and the physical meet. The intangible spiritual always becomes the tangible form. But in humans the spiritual retains its identity as spirit and mind, while at the same time being tangible as physical body." –Ernest Holmes, A New Design for Living

Read that again. Heaven and earth meet — not in a temple, not in a sunset, not in some far-off spiritual plane. In humanity. In this body. In your body, reading this right now. If that's true, then every time I've treated my body like an inconvenience, I've been treating the meeting place of heaven and earth like an inconvenience. That's a sobering thought, and also a freeing one — it means I don't have to go anywhere else to find the sacred. I'm standing in it. I am it.

A lot has happened over this past year for me to truly "feel" my body, not as a tool, more like a spiritual companion. I have been given the opportunity to truly understand there is no separation from my spiritual self and my human self — they are one and the same. True, eventually the physical form of me will lay off this old garment and don something new. And yet until then, it is important to love and respect this material form I have been graced to take care of.

This is the work of inhabiting — not just occupying. There's a difference between living in a house and inhabiting a home. Occupying is passive; you're just there. Inhabiting is active — you tend it, you notice it, you make it yours on purpose. For most of my life I occupied my body. I showed up in it. I didn't inhabit it. I didn't know its rooms. I didn't know what it needed to feel like home.

I recently spent an hour and a half having an Ayurvedic Bliss Massage. I used to be that person who thought the only massage worth having was a deep tissue massage. I am sure they have their place, and what I realized is that a deep tissue massage feels like an attack on this temple known as my body. For me, there is nothing more relaxing or aligning than being on a table and having someone treat your body like it truly is the place where God lives.

I remember lying there, warm oil, no urgency anywhere in the room, and thinking: this is what it feels like to be cared for instead of pushed through. My whole nervous system exhaled. It occurred to me that I had spent decades unconsciously teaching my body that softness wasn't safe — that the only way to earn rest was to collapse first. That hour and a half undid a little bit of that teaching. One session doesn't erase forty years of "no pain, no gain," but it planted a different question in me: what if my body doesn't have to earn tenderness? What if it's owed tenderness, simply because it's the house God lives in?

Am I going to become vegan and give up espresso milkshakes? Never! And there are ways I can be more mindful in aligning my physical being with my spiritual being, because right now they are one and the same.

So, here's an invitation, not a prescription: this week, pick one small way to inhabit rather than occupy. A slower shower. Three real breaths before you answer the next text. A hand on your own chest for ten seconds, just to say I see you, I've got you. Radical Embodiment doesn't ask you to overhaul your life. It asks you to notice you're already home — and to start acting like it.

Blessings on your journey,

Rev. Gayle

"People are opting out of vital conversations about diversity and inclusivity because they fear looking wrong, saying something wrong, or being wrong. Choosing our own comfort over hard conversations is the epitome of privilege, and it corrodes trust and moves us away from meaningful and lasting change." ~Brené Brown

I read that line and had to sit with it for a minute. Because I've done it — opted out. Stayed quiet in a room when speaking up felt risky. Chosen my own comfort and called it wisdom.

Here's what I'm learning: fear isn't a stop sign. It's an invitation.

I remember sitting in class and wanting to make a comment. My mind was so busy telling me why I shouldn't that when I finally found the courage, someone else made almost the same comment. I have a friend who is teaching me that a moment of embarrassment doesn't last as long as a lifetime of regret.

That's the trade we're always making, isn't it? Comfort now, or growth now. Silence now, or connection now. And most of the time we don't even notice we're choosing — the fear just quietly wins, dressed up as being polite, or humble, or not wanting to make waves.

Science of Mind teaches that fear isn't something to deny or push away. “We believe in the unity of all life, and that the highest God and the innermost God is one God.” From that place, fear becomes information, not a verdict. It's a signal pointing toward exactly the place we need to grow. When we forget our oneness, difference starts to feel dangerous instead of sacred. We brace instead of open.

But openness isn't a one-time decision. It's a practice — one we're especially called to when things feel tense. The Divine expresses most freely through our unguarded moments, our honest ones, the ones where we admit we don't have it all figured out. That's not weakness. That's where real connection lives. Vulnerability doesn't undermine our spiritual practice — it grounds it.

And collaboration is the next step after that. It's not just a helpful skill for getting things done — it's sacred work. It asks us to listen deeply, loosen our grip on being right, and make room for wisdom that might not be ours alone. We were never meant to navigate this life in isolation. Every time we choose to collaborate instead of control, we're practicing Oneness instead of just believing in it.

So here's the invitation this week: pick one relationship. Show up honest in it. Name a fear out loud instead of managing it silently. Ask someone how you can support them. Pause before you get defensive, and just breathe before you respond. Think small and specific — not "be more open" in general, but one real moment: after I send my morning email, I'll check in with my colleague. When I feel myself get defensive, I'll pause first.

Micro-moments. That's all it takes to start. And they're worth celebrating every single time.

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted — and neither is a moment of real openness.

Blessings on your journey,
Rev. Gayle

Why I'm Not Talking About Anger This Sunday

I sat with this week's material for a long time. "Mobilizing Anger." Toxic anger versus the kind that serves. All of it well-researched, well-written, theologically sound.

And I felt nothing.

Not resistance, exactly. Not disagreement. Just... distance. Like reading someone else's mail. I kept waiting for the spark that tells me this is the talk, and it never came.

Here's what I've learned after twenty years of doing this work: when the material doesn't move me, it won't move you either. I can fake my way through a Sunday. I've done it before, and you can always tell. The words are right and the room feels flat. One of my best friends would say, “I don’t hear the music”. Nobody grows. I'm not willing to do that to you, or to me.

So I'm not talking about anger this Sunday. Not because anger isn't sacred — it is. Not because the questions in that material aren't good ones — they are. But because I don't get to hand you something I haven't lived with first. That's not integrity. That's performance.

This is the part of ministry nobody puts on the brochure — the discernment before the delivery. Ernest Holmes didn't just study Divine Presence, he had to feel it move through him before he could point anyone else toward it. I take that seriously. If I stand up there Sunday and talk about mobilizing anger while feeling nothing but obligation, I'm not teaching Science of Mind. I'm just reading aloud.

So I'm going back to the drawing board. I don't know yet what will replace it — maybe something's already stirring, maybe I'll sit in the question a little longer. What I do know is this: the topic will be true, or it won't be the topic.

If you've ever had to walk away from something that looked right on paper but felt hollow in your body — a job, a relationship, a plan you'd already told everyone about — you know this feeling. The discomfort of disappointing an expectation versus the deeper discomfort of betraying your own knowing. I'll take the first one every time now. It took me a long time to learn that.

What's something you've had to set down lately because it stopped feeling true, even though it looked good from the outside? I'd love to hear.

Blessings on your journey,
Rev. Gayle

“In meditation we discover our inherent restlessness. Sometimes we get up and leave. Sometimes we sit there but our bodies wiggle and squirm and our minds go far away. This can be so uncomfortable that we feel it’s impossible to stay. Yet this feeling can teach us not just about ourselves but what it is to be human. All of us derive security and comfort from the imaginary world of memories and fantasies and plans. We really don’t want to stay with the nakedness of our present experience. It goes against the grain to stay present. These are the times when only gentleness and a sense of humor can give us the strength to settle down…so whenever we wander off, we gently encourage ourselves to “stay” and settle down. Are we experiencing restlessness? Stay! Discursive mind? Stay! Are fear and loathing out of control? Stay! Aching knees and throbbing back? Stay! What’s for lunch? Stay! What am I doing here? Stay! I can’t stand this another minute! Stay! That is how to cultivate steadfastness.” ~Pema Chodron. “The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times.”

Ernest Holmes reminds us that fear is “nothing more nor less than the negative use of faith … faith misplaced.”

So, the question becomes, can you listen to your fear without giving it the wheel to drive the bus of your life? First let me explain the bus analogy. I believe we are made up of a lot of different parts, which you can actually name: Angry Abbie, Abundant Angi, Bashful Betty, Beautiful Bea, etc. All those emotions want to consume you and want to drive the bus. Some of them make you feel powerful, and some of them, let's be frank, make you feel like shit. The trick isn't kicking any of them off the bus — they're all allowed to ride along. The trick is deciding who gets to hold the wheel.

Honoring and listening to your fear with curiosity and compassion helps you identify what the impetus is to what you're feeling. This can work with all your parts, by the way, and today we are discussing fear. If you're comfortable, sit in a quiet space and talk to your fear. Why is it showing up? When was the first time you experienced this particular fear? Then close your eyes and listen. You might be surprised how much your fear has been trying to protect you all along, even clumsily. Once you have a clear understanding, maybe write down some notes; also known as journaling. Notice patterns. Fear often repeats itself in disguise — same root, different costume.

I am kinder to other people than I am to myself. I had a discussion with a prayer partner this week, and we agreed that is probably true for most of us. Nobody on this planet knows you better than you. Maybe the next time you start to be critical of yourself, you show yourself the same compassion you'd show a child instead. Ask yourself, if this was a three-year-old, what would I be saying to it right now? You'd probably explain to them that there is nothing to be afraid of and give them examples of when they have been brave. Say those same words to yourself. You've earned them too.

It is impossible to eradicate fear. Instead, let's bring some spiritual awareness to it and let it be a catalyst for our courage.

Blessings on your journey,
Rev. Gayle

In her book, Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone, Brene Brown writes, “When we are in pain and fear, anger and hate are our go-to emotions…it’s easier to be pissed-off than it is to be hurt or scared. Anger is a catalyst. Holding on to it will make us exhausted and sick… Or sometimes anger can mask a far more difficult emotion like grief, regret, or shame, and we need to use it to dig into what we’re really feeling… Courage is forged in pain, but not in all pain. Pain that is denied or ignored becomes fear or hate. Anger that is never transformed becomes resentment and bitterness.”

What if anger is an Inner Alarm System? When we stuff our anger or pretend that nothing is wrong, we are doing a spiritual bypass. I’m not saying you need to yell and scream at people when you’re angry. I am saying, if we start acting like anger is our soul’s alarm bell, then maybe we start digging into the why behind the trigger. The Truth is no one can make you angry. You respond with anger because someone has done something that causes you pain or makes you afraid. And this is where our spiritual growth happens: can you acknowledge your anger, feel your anger and spend time healing the pain or being curious about the fear without involving the person that found the trigger and pressed it?

I wish I could say I was an expert at containing my anger, that I always used all the tools I’ve learned, and that’s just not true. Many times, when I get angry, I still either push it down or explode. One is a festering that eventually will find its outlet and the other is just embarrassing because now I have given my power to the person that pressed the trigger…intentionally, or not.

The tools are available to all of us. I’ll admit they sometimes don’t seem easy to access, especially when the person pushing the trigger is a partner or a member of our family. It is not always easy to remember the person standing before you is a reflection of you. Like you, they have their triggers. Like you they have been hurt and wounded. And maybe, just maybe unlike you they don’t know about the tools.

The hardest thing to do when you’re angry is to take a breath, realize you are at a choice point and maybe respond with grace instead of anger. Instead of making it about you, defuse the situation by being curious – try to find out why this person is saying the things they are saying. If you can’t be curious, don’t respond. Take a moment, look them straight in the eye and tell them you’ll have to get back to them and walk away. Their anger, their hurt, their fear stays with them. Your spiritual practice is to do the work to find out why you were triggered and what needs to be healed within you, so you are less likely to “go off like a firecracker.”

I’m still working on my trigger when I am driving a car. Trust me, I am 80 percent better than I used to be, and I still let other drivers tick me off. The thing is, especially now in my life, they don’t even know I am on the road. They’re in their own bubble, driving too fast or too slow, not using their turn signals, whatever! I’m still working on “why does it make me angry”, “why do I feel my blood pressure rise”. Do I have all the answers? Absolutely not — I said 80 percent not 100 percent. I am a work in progress and that is really important for us all to remember.

If you get angry and blow up, you can’t change the response. You can make amends for “your” behavior and remind yourself this is just a page in a chapter in the book of your life and promise yourself you’ll do better.

Blessings on your journey,
Rev. Gayle

I have always loved this quote by Marianne Williamson, "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure" because it speaks to the bravery we need to show up, be vulnerable and live life.

The truth is life is not for the faint of heart and although I had never given much thought to fear being a teacher, when I sit with the concept, it is actually true. Of course, the trick is to pay attention to our fear(s) and use them to propel us forward instead of allowing them to stop us in our tracks.

For me, I think I don't always recognize an emotion as fear until I've done something brave and then realize my fear was an opportunity for me to show up differently.

I tend to avoid large gatherings when I don't know any of the participants; like networking events. I remember finally having the courage to attend one; my mentor said just be curious, make the conversation about them and they'll remember you. Because truthfully, we all like to be listened to. It worked, I felt more relaxed and able to hold my own. Of course, this happened in February 2020 and I'm still planning my networking event.

When we listen to our fear and check in with what the fear is trying to tell us it can be easier to move through whatever is holding you back. When we are on the other side of our fear, we have shifted our consciousness and become clearer about what truly is happening.

I'll admit 2026 has not been my most favorite year. If I was asked to paint a picture of my emotional landscape, I'd use a lot of black and red. The black would be the fear, and the red would be the anger. Is it everyday? Good God no; just more than I am used to. And the lesson for me is knowing how to move through both with grace.

It is why I love the Science of Mind philosophy. It is not a promise that your life is going to be perfect or that you are never going to have days/weeks/months/years you wished never had happened. What I learned was even in the darkest moments there is a power and presence that is at the core of who you are. It never goes anywhere. Do I forget sometimes that we are connected to this Universal Presence? I absolutely do. And then I remember, sit and be silent. Allow yourself to truly feel what this inner presence is telling you. I find great comfort in knowing I am never alone.

Will it always be a bed of roses? Probably not — have you ever fallen on a rose bush? OUCH!

Blessings on your journey,
Rev. Gayle

When I first read The Four Agreements and got to “Always Do Your Best”, I wasn’t convinced that was possible. It sounds like a tall order to some and to others it sounds like a copout.

In the book, Don Miguel Ruiz describes doing your best this way: “Under any circumstances, always do your best, no more and no less. But keep in mind that your best is not going to be the same from one moment to the next. When you wake up refreshed and energized in the morning, your best will be better than when you are tired at night. Your best will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick or sober as opposed to drunk.”

We are a culture that has been groomed to believe we need to work 12 hours a day (or more), skip our vacations, and worry that that isn’t enough. And yet we aren’t doing our best if we are missing out on our families, our friends, our life. As Arnold Zack wrote to Paul Tsongas in a letter, “No one on his deathbed ever said, ‘I wish I had spent more time on my business.’”

When we overdo, we are expending too much energy and if we expend too much energy, we are certainly not doing our best. I remember interviewing for a management job with AT&T on the 70th Floor of the World Trade Center. I was a fish out of water. I’d been living on the East Coast for a year and although I had certainly visited Manhattan, the financial district is its own beast. The man interviewing me told me he expected me to work until 7pm every night. I knew that wasn’t going to work for me, so I mustered the courage to ask him why. I then proceeded to tell him that if and when it was necessary I would work late, however, I was good at managing my time and was quite sure I could complete everything required of me by 5pm. To my surprise and probably his, he hired me.

I think doing our best is about having Grace. Ernest Holmes describes Grace as, “Grace is the givingness of Spirit to Its Creation and is not a special law, but a specialized one. In other words, Grace is, but we need to recognize it. It is not something God imposed upon us but is the logical result of the correct acceptance of life and of a correct relationship to the Spirit. We are saved by Grace to the extent that we believe in, accept, and seek to embody, the Law of Good; for the Law of Good is ever a Law of Liberty and never one of limitation. Limitation is not a thing, not an entity, but a belief. Freedom is a Divine Reality.”

When we Always Do (Y)Our Best, we are allowing ourselves to experience Grace. Not everything needs to be done now. Not everything is your responsibility. Not everything gets tied up pretty with a bow. Life can be messy and when you do your best during the messiest parts; well, that is true Grace.

Blessings on your journey,
Rev. Gayle

I remember the first time someone asked me if I knew what the word assume meant. I knew it was a trick question, so I responded no. They advised me that assume has a tendency to make an ASS out of U and ME. It made me laugh and it also rang true.

We see what we want to see, we hear what we want to hear, and then our brain for whatever reason fills in the blanks based on our history and stories we have chosen to make up.

Have you ever been in a relationship with someone and just assumed they should do something for you because they love you and they should know what you want? STOP IT! To the best of my knowledge none of us are truly mind readers, no matter how much we love a person. The issue isn't that they don't love you, the issue is you are afraid to ask for what you really want. Trust me on this. I spent most of my life in relationships where most of the conversations were going on in my head. And then one day, I'd be done and no one was more surprised than the person I'd been living with.

Have you ever had a disagreement with a friend, spending days ruminating the conversation in your head, losing sleep, feeling upset and angry? STOP IT! Yes, you had a disagreement. It takes courage to reach out and ask an open-ended question — without using the word you. It's safer to have conversations in your head. The problem with conversations in our head is that your friend doesn't get to be an active participant. Many friendships have been lost because we make assumptions about what the other person is thinking and feeling. I don't know about you; me, my psychic skills are really lacking in this department.

You may have noticed that The Four Agreements aren't really separate; they intertwine with each other. When our word is impeccable, we don't leave room for assumptions to fill the silence. We recognize the world isn't revolving around us, so we stop taking things personally. And instead of guessing, we ask.

Life becomes easier. Our relationships become deeper. And we stop making an ASS out of U and ME.

Blessings on your journey,
Rev. Gayle

"Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering." — Don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements

I used to think I had a personal relationship with everyone's bad mood. Someone snapped at me in the grocery line, and I carried it home like it was mine to fix. A friend went quiet for a few days, and I ran through a mental list of everything I might have done wrong. I was exhausted before I even got to the real problems of my day, because I'd spent all my energy absorbing everyone else's weather.

Here's what took me embarrassingly long to learn: most of what lands on us was never actually about us.

That coworker who's short with you in the meeting? She might be up half the night with a sick kid. The friend who didn't call back? He might be drowning in something he hasn't told anyone yet. Even the person who says something cruel and pointed, aimed right at your chest — that arrow was forged somewhere else, in some old wound of theirs, long before it ever reached you. You just happened to be standing there.

This doesn't mean people's words don't matter, or that we should shrug off real harm. It means we stop making ourselves the main character in everyone else's story. Each of us is walking around inside our own reality— our own fears, our own history, our own tired, half-healed places — and most of what we say and do comes straight out of those experiences, not out of some careful assessment of who you are.

I think about this every time I catch myself in the act of projecting, too. When I'm irritable, it's rarely about the person in front of me. It's about the meeting that ran long, the bill I'm worried about, the thing I said to someone I love and can't take back. If I'm honest, my stuff leaks out onto other people all the time. So why would I assume theirs doesn't leak out onto me?

There's a strange kind of freedom in this. Not indifference — freedom. When you stop scanning every interaction for evidence of your own worth, you get your energy back. You stop rehearsing conversations at 2 a.m. You stop editing yourself into a smaller, safer version just to avoid someone else's bad day.

So here's what I want you to sit with this week: the next time someone's words sting, pause before you let them in all the way. Ask yourself — is this actually about me, or am I just standing in the path of someone else's storm? You don't have to solve their storm. You don't even have to understand it. You just have to remember it isn't proof of anything about you.

You are not required to carry what belongs to someone else. Set it down. Walk on light. That lightness isn't callousness — it's clarity. And clarity, friends, is a kind of grace.

Blessings on your journey,
Rev. Gayle

In Love and Law, Ernest Holmes writes, "Since our word creates always, it stands to reason that we have got to be very careful in sowing the seed. You cannot contradict nature and get an affirmative result. You cannot mix up thought, negative and positive and get a steady stream of affirmative consciousness and results. Your consciousness, your creative power, is limited to the amount of belief you have, the word you accept. If you believe you are living in an imperfect universe, it is imperfect to you. God has not erred. God has not made a mistake. There is nothing wrong."

In Don Miguel Ruiz's book, The Four Agreements, he writes, "The first agreement is the most important one and also the most difficult to honor: Be impeccable with your word. It sounds very simple, but it is very, very powerful."

Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

Impeccable means "without sin," and a sin is something you do or believe that goes against yourself. It means not speaking against yourself, to yourself or to others. It means not rejecting yourself. To be impeccable means to take responsibility for yourself, to not participate in "the blame game." Regarding the word, the rules of "action-reaction" apply. What you put out energetically will return to you. Proper use of the word creates proper use of energy — putting out love and gratitude perpetuates the same in the universe. The converse is also true. Impeccability starts at home. Be impeccable with yourself, and that will reflect in your life and your relationships with others. This agreement can help change thousands of other agreements, especially ones that create fear instead of love.

It is interesting reflecting on gossip. It is so easy to share someone else's story, or to gather support by sharing something out of context. I look back at times when I was having a disagreement with someone, and how I would share "my side" of the situation with my friends to gather support for me and against them. Sometimes we gossip simply by sharing someone else's story — when someone asks, "How is Billy doing?" instead of saying, "You should call Billy, I know he'd love to hear from you," we share what we know.

Remember the old TV show — some of you won't, you're not old enough — where the host would whisper something in one person's ear, and they'd turn and whisper what they heard to the person beside them? By the end of the row, the last person was asked to repeat what they'd heard, and it was never even close to what was originally said. Speaking with integrity is about speaking from your experience, not someone else's.

Before you speak, ask: is this my word to give? Your word is yours to keep impeccable — what will you do with it today?

Blessings on your journey,
Rev. Gayle

In the Science of Mind textbook, Rev. Dr. Ernest Holmes reminds us "We should give of ourselves in love and in service to others, in a spirit of generosity and good-fellowship. To refuse to give is to refuse to receive, for everything moves in circles. Real giving is the givingness of the self. A kind word, a thoughtful act, perhaps just a smile, can help lighten the burdens of others."

He reminds us that service is a way to make use of your talent not for your own gain, not even for the glory derived from its use it is an attitude of gratitude that ultimately transforms us.

I've decided to look at how we show up as an act of service to the world around us. How we choose to behave in the world really does matter. So following are some ideas of ways to be of service to your family, your friends, your community and as Buzz Lightyear would say, "to infinity and beyond."

One of Rev. Dr. Ernest Holmes most known quotes is "change your thinking, change your life." The things you think about, focus on, and surround yourself with ultimately shape who you become. Why not choose to be POSITIVE.

Very few things happen instantaneously. Using time, pressure and patience, the universe gradually changes caterpillars into butterflies, sand into pearls, and coal into diamonds. Learn to practice PATIENCE with yourself and with those you interact with. Trust me I haven't always been a patient person, in fact I joked about my impatience. This year I'm learning what it means when people say "patience is a virtue."

It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you aren't really living at all – you're merely existing. Try something new, do something different, show the world you have COURAGE.

When LOVE is your guiding light, you can break through barriers and be a loving presence in the world. The Bible says to "love your neighbor as yourself". It is asking us to show the exact same level of care, compassion, and respect to those around us that we naturally give to ourselves.

Tell the TRUTH, or eventually someone will tell it for you. Next month we are going to be reviewing Don Miguel Ruiz' book, The Four Agreements. The first Agreement is Be Impeccable with Your Word. When you are impeccable with your word, you really don't have to worry about what you have said to whom.

Instead of thinking about what you're missing, be GRATEFUL for all the good in your life. You can focus on anything you choose, why not choose to focus on what you have instead of focusing on what is missing. The Universe is always listening and responding so personally I would rather multiply an attitude of gratitude than the opposite.

RESPONSIBILITY means recognizing that regardless of what has happened up to this point in your life, you are capable of making choices to change your situation, or to change the way you think about it.

You can choose to let your past define you and confine you, or you can choose to learn, GROW, and leave it behind you. You are the writer of your story. Don't let other people have your pen.

I love the song by John Astin, Love, Serve and Remember, we used to sing it every Sunday. It's an excellent reminder on why we are here.

"Why have you come to earth, do you remember? Why have you taken birth? Why have you come? To love, serve and remember...to love, serve and remember...to love, serve and remember to love." ~John Astin

Blessings on your journey,
Rev. Gayle

What's love got to do with it?

How often do we allow ourselves to judge someone — even ourselves — without considering that we are consciousness ever expanding? We form an opinion of someone in a hard season, a bad moment, an old story, and then we keep carrying that opinion long after they've moved past it. An awakened heart is willing to look again. And again. As many times as it takes. It is willing to see the person standing in front of us today, not the version we filed away years ago.

So, what does it actually take to awaken the heart? I've come to believe it happens in two movements: first inward, then outward

The Inward Movement

Before love can move through us toward others, it must find room inside us. We cannot pour from a heart that is clenched, guarded, or full of old static. That happens through four practices:

We calm down. Most of us are running so fast and carrying so much noise that we've forgotten what our own center even feels like. Calming down isn't about doing nothing — it's about slowing ourselves enough to empty out the chatter and reconnect to that quiet place inside that never actually left, it just got buried. You cannot hear your own heart over the noise of a life lived at full volume.

We let the past go. This is not the same as pretending the past didn't happen, or rushing past pain that deserves to be felt. It's something more specific: we keep the lessons, but we release the old stories about how we got them. Carrying yesterday's wound into today's relationship isn't loyalty to your healing — it's just exhaustion wearing a familiar coat.

We enlighten ourselves. This is the work of raising our consciousness — and it looks different for every single one of us. For some it's study, for some it's prayer, for some it's simply paying closer attention to the patterns we keep repeating. Whatever the path, the purpose is the same: to respond to life from a place of love rather than reaction, while still powerfully co-creating in alignment with our highest path. It's a daily choice to see a little more clearly than you did yesterday.

We create abundance. We are each Creators at our core — not someday, not once we've earned it, but right now, at this moment. We can build the life we dream of on every level: emotional, spiritual, relational, material. This isn't about denying hardship or papering over real limitations. It's about remembering that abundance is built not despite our circumstances, but through how we choose to meet them.

The Outward Movement

Once the heart has room, love doesn't stay private. It moves outward into how we treat one another — into the texture of our actual, daily relationships. I have found the following eight qualities show us what a truly awakened heart looks like in relationship:

Attention: Neglect born of inattention damages relationships far more often than outright malice ever does. Most heartbreak doesn't come from cruelty — it comes from being looked past, day after day, until you start to wonder if you were ever really seen at all. Showing up, fully, with your phone down and your mind present, is itself an act of love. It costs nothing and it is everything.

Trust: The entire fabric of our life together — working, living, breathing alongside one another — rests on a subtle, inherent trust in each other's basic goodness. Without it, every interaction becomes a negotiation. With it, we can rest into one another. Trust is rarely lost in one dramatic moment; more often it erodes in small ones, and it is rebuilt the same slow way.

Honesty: Still, after everything, the best policy. Not the brutal kind that uses truth as a weapon, but the kind that simply refuses to build a relationship on a foundation that isn't real. Every small dishonesty we allow ourselves — the "it's fine" that isn't, the omission we tell ourselves doesn't count — quietly withdraws from a trust account we'll eventually need.

Loyalty: We stand by the people we love in their darkest moments — not because we want to stand in the dark with them, but because we don't want them standing there alone. Loyalty isn't agreement, and it isn't blind defense. It's presence that doesn't disappear when things get hard, which is exactly when presence matters most.

Acceptance: We appreciate our similarities and respect our differences — both, not just one. It is easy to love what mirrors us back to ourselves. It is harder, and far more important, to extend that same regard to what doesn't. Acceptance doesn't mean we abandon discernment; it means we stop requiring someone to become like us before we'll consider them worthy of love.

Forgiveness: Imagine if everyone you knew were equally willing to apologize and to receive an apology. Most of our relational pain lives in that gap — the apology withheld, or the one offered and refused. Forgiveness is your remedy — yours to offer, yours to receive — and it is one of the few medicines that heals the giver as much as the receiver.

Empathy: It is our shared pain, more than our shared joy, that connects us at the deepest level. We are all walking through something, even when it doesn't show. Treating each other with that knowledge — gently, without assumption, with room for what we cannot see — changes everything about how we move through the world together.

Self-Love: Relationships don't create joy — they reflect it. The joy was always meant to come from within first. We cannot offer attention, trust, honesty, loyalty, acceptance, forgiveness, and empathy from an empty well. Self-love fills the well so there is something real to give.

Coming Home to the Heart

Right now, wherever you are, bring your attention into your heart. Place your hand there and feel it — not just as an organ, but as the seat of something larger. Notice the subtle shift in your awareness, the quiet ground beneath fear, sorrow, anger, doubt.

This is the place we should pray from. This is the place we should speak from. This is the place we should live from.

Blessings on your journey,

Rev. Gayle

(Ask Me Anything… Well, Almost!)

Okay, let's be honest for a moment. 😄

Gateway Ten in Dan Millman's Everyday Enlightenment is actually Embrace Your Sexuality — and as much as I absolutely adore each and every one of you, that is not a conversation I'm ready to have with you on a Sunday morning! So we are taking a creative detour, and I think you're going to love where we're going instead.

This Sunday is going to look and feel a little different — and a whole lot of fun.

This Sunday is ALL about YOU.

Have you ever wondered about who we are and where we come from? Here's your chance to ask! We're throwing open the doors to your curiosity. No question is too big, too small, or too out there.

What do you want to know about…

⭐ Centers for Spiritual Living — our global organization and what connects us to a worldwide community of seekers?

⭐ Religious Science — our faith tradition, our teachings, our philosophy, and the transformative wisdom of Science of Mind & Spirit?

⭐ Light on the Mountains — our Leadership Council, our Spiritual Practitioners, and the beautiful community we are building together?

⭐ Me — yes, really! If there's something you've been curious about, this is your moment!

Here's how it works:

When you arrive, you'll find 3x5 cards at the Welcome Desk. Write your question on a card — one question per card please — and drop it in the basket. During the message, I'll draw cards one at a time and answer your questions as best I can.

Come ready to laugh, learn, and maybe even be a little surprised. This is going to be a great morning together! 🎉

Blessings on your journey,

Rev. Gayle

Oh and if you watch online, email your question to minister@lightonthemountains.org and I will make sure your question is included in the basket.

I have sat with a lot of people in some of their darkest moments. I have watched grief crack someone wide open and witnessed fear talk people out of the life they were born to live. And in all of that, one thing has become crystal clear to me: the parts of us we are most ashamed of are not our enemies. They are our oldest protectors.

Dan Millman speaks in this gateway about illuminating the shadow — those hidden, disowned parts of ourselves we've tucked away out of sight. I'd like to offer a different way of seeing them. What if those parts aren't dark or broken? What if they were simply young, and scared, and doing the very best they could to keep you safe? Calling them a shadow makes them sound like something to be fixed or overcome. I believe when you Illuminate Your Heart — when you look at those protective parts with tenderness, thank them for showing up, and gently invite them back into alignment with who you truly are — you don't lose anything. You get yourself back. You return to that place of pure potential Dan Millman points to in this very gateway.

And here is what I know to be true at the core of everything I teach: you are here to live a joy-filled life.

I know. Take a breath. Because life will hand you every opportunity to prove me wrong. The phone call in the middle of the night. The diagnosis that rearranges everything. The loss that makes the world go quiet in a way you weren't prepared for. Jack Canfield offers a deceptively simple equation in The Success Principles that changed the way I see everything: E + R = O — Event + Response = Outcome. Most of us have been blaming the Event for the Outcome our entire lives. But it is our Response — the one we choose, even on our worst days — that ultimately shapes what comes next. You won't always get the response right. Life will bring you to your knees. I know that too. But most of us will stand again. And when you do, what you believe about yourself in that moment matters more than you know.

These 12 Steps are my invitation to you — to stop managing your heart and start living from it.

Step One: Tell the truth — starting with yourself. Don Miguel Ruiz called it being impeccable with your word, and it is the foundation everything else is built on. When you live in honesty, you don't have to keep track of your stories. There is a quiet freedom in that you cannot put a price on.

Step Two: Get a bucket list and take it seriously. No matter your age, no matter your circumstances — write down what you want to be, do, and have. Then make a plan. Dreams without a date are just wishes.

Step Three: Anchor yourself in something bigger than you. You don't have to believe what I believe — I mean that sincerely. But faith in something greater than yourself is what keeps you standing when the ground shifts beneath your feet. You were never meant to do this alone.

Step Four: Be courageous enough not just to face your fears, but to question the beliefs you've never questioned. Some of what you think is truth is actually just an old story someone handed you a long time ago. You are allowed to hand it back.

Step Five: Walk your talk. This one is personal for me — as someone who stands at the front of a room and teaches, I have to practice what I preach. Not perfectly. But honestly. The people in your life will trust your example far more than your words.

Step Six: This is your life. Yours. You get to choose what you think, who you love, and what you believe. Don't trade that power away just to make other people comfortable. Fitting in is wildly overrated.

Step Seven: Look for yourself in other people. Every single one of us is a unique, irreplaceable expression of the Divine in human form. When you start seeing that — really seeing it — you stop looking for what divides you and start discovering what connects you. That is where healing lives.

Step Eight: Come back to now. The present moment is the only place love actually exists — not in the past you're replaying or the future you're rehearsing. Stay here. Love what is in front of you, including yourself. Especially yourself.

Step Nine: Your body, mind, and spirit are meant to move together. When one is out of sync, you feel it everywhere. Step outside. Watch how effortlessly nature holds itself in balance — the tides, the seasons, the way a tree bends in the wind without breaking. You are part of that same intelligence. Trust it.

Step Ten: You already have more wisdom than you are giving yourself credit for. Seek good counsel — absolutely. And then come home to your own intuition. It has never stopped speaking to you. It's been waiting for you to listen.

Step Eleven: Find what sets you on fire and protect it. Then ask yourself every single day — not someday, today — What am I doing right now that feeds that desire within me? Passion is not a luxury. It is a direction.

Step Twelve: We are all One. When you've done the work, turn around and offer your hand to someone still finding their way. Be of service. Leave people better than you found them. And while you're at it — sing like no one is listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like it's heaven on earth.

After all, your heart didn't come with an owner's manual — but it did come with a light, and it's been waiting for you to turn it on.

Blessings on your journey,

Rev. Gayle

In Gateway Eight of Everyday Enlightenment: The Twelve Gateways to Personal Growth, Dan Millman says, “Fear is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master.” He reminds us that fear, like pain, can alert and advise us, but it can also cloud our thinking and limit our lives. Fear appears in many disguises: “I’m not really interested,” “Why bother?” or “I can’t.” We face fear every day—the fear of failure, rejection, change, and even the fear of fully being ourselves. But our fears are not walls; they are hurdles. Courage is not the absence of fear, but the willingness to move through it. 

Every one of us faces fear on a regular basis. Being spiritually aware of our fears allows us the opportunity to go within and do some deep inner work. Fear can be used as a barometer, showing us what is happening within and around us. But fear was never meant to be in the driver’s seat. It was never meant to run our lives.

In the 1938 version of the Science of Mind text, Ernest Holmes writes that fear is “the negative use of faith.” He describes it as faith misplaced—a belief in two powers instead of One. Fear happens when we forget there is One Power, One Presence, One Life, and we begin to believe there is something greater than Good, greater than God, or greater than the Divine Presence within us. 

And yes, I get it. We are living in a chaotic world right now. We are human beings with free will, and when people forget our connection to each other, to nature, and to this planet, chaos seems to reign. The choice we must make is whether we are going to feed the chaos or feed our faith.

There is an Old English proverb that says, “Fear knocked at the door, faith answered, and no one was there.” Fear often grows in our imagination before anything actually happens. We become afraid of a story we have told ourselves about an outcome that may never come to pass.

Today, my husband and I learned that although his last chemotherapy treatment is scheduled for August 19th, after a two-week break, he will begin radiation treatments—five days a week for six weeks. I felt myself starting to go down a rabbit hole of anger and disappointment.

Then I was reminded of an ancient wisdom story: inside each of us are two wolves constantly battling. One is love and the other is fear. The wolf that wins is the one we feed.

And then I remembered: there are truly only two emotions — love and fear. All other emotions fall under one of them. So I asked myself, “Which wolf am I feeding?”

I took a time-out and texted my prayer posse, because I know that when I can’t see the forest, they can. Sometimes facing our fears does not mean we do it alone. Sometimes courage looks like reaching out, asking for prayer, and allowing others to hold the vision of faith when our own vision feels blurry.

Fear wants us isolated. Love reminds us we are connected. And in that moment, I chose to feed love.

Fear is not here to stop us unless we let it. Fear gives us space to look within and decide what we are going to feed.

Ramakrishna said, “The winds of God’s grace are always blowing; it is for us to raise our sails.”

So face your fears. Raise your sails. Trust Spirit. And move forward.

Blessings on your journey,
Rev. Gayle

In Everyday Enlightenment: The Twelve Gateways to Personal Growth, Dan Millman describes emotions as “waves on the sea” or “weather in the skies,” rising and passing of their own accord. That image is both comforting and challenging. It reminds us that emotions are natural. They move through us. They change. They do not need to be feared, denied, or judged. At the same time, we are invited to remember that while we may not be able to control every feeling that arises, we can choose how we respond.

This is the heart of the Seventh Gateway: Accept Your Emotions.

Accepting our emotions does not mean letting them run our lives. It does not mean acting out every impulse, speaking every angry thought, or making decisions from fear. It means becoming honest enough to say, “This is what I am feeling right now,” without shame. From that place of awareness, we can respond with greater wisdom.

Science of Mind teaches that we are expressions of the Divine. If God created us out of Its own nature, then the peace, love, wisdom, and wholeness we seek are already within us. Ernest Holmes reminds us in This Thing Called You that what stands between us and our good is often the accumulated thoughts, beliefs, and emotions of the ages. But what has been placed in consciousness can also be removed.

This means our emotions are not evidence that we are spiritually failing. Sadness does not mean we are separate from God. Anger does not mean we are bad. Fear does not mean we lack faith. Emotions are part of our human experience. They may point to beliefs, wounds, needs, or memories that are asking for our attention.

Many things influence our emotional state. Sometimes emotions arise from the meaning we give to an experience. Sometimes they are affected by fatigue, stress, diet, hormones, illness, pain, or environment. A restless night of sleep can make us irritable. A stressful day can make us reactive. A song, a smell, a memory, or an old relationship can suddenly bring up feelings we thought were long gone.

Because emotions have many causes, we need compassion for ourselves and others. We also need tools.

We can begin by breathing. When we are upset, our breath often becomes shallow. A few slow, deep breaths can create space between feeling and reaction. We can notice our posture, relax our shoulders, soften the body, and allow tension to release. We can step outside, take a walk, sit in nature, or change our environment. We can use humor to regain perspective. And when appropriate, we can take action: study for the exam, have the honest conversation, ask for help, or set the needed boundary.

The spiritual practice is not to control every emotional wave. The practice is to remember the ocean beneath the wave.

We are not responsible for every feeling that comes. We are responsible for the consciousness we bring to it. When we accept our emotions without surrendering our power to them, we become freer, wiser, and more available to the guidance of Spirit within.

Blessings on your journey,
Rev. Gayle

It’s easy to ignore our intuition, especially in Western cultures where we place so much value on the intellect. We are taught to focus on our grades, our IQ, and our accomplishments. We learn early how to succeed in the outer world, yet very little about how to listen to the wisdom within.

And yet, there is so much more to this life and to how we experience it. Intuition is not random; it is the soul’s quiet guidance system. What might our lives look like if we devoted as much time to the wisdom of our soul as we do to the things we have learned from the outside world?

Our philosophy teaches that Spirit expresses through us as wisdom, love, creativity, and insight. The challenge is not whether intuition exists — it is whether we are willing to listen, to trust, and to act from that place of inner knowing.

In the Science of Mind textbook, Ernest Holmes reminds us, “Intuition is God in man, revealing to him the Realities of Being; and just as instinct guides the animal, so would intuition guide man, if he would allow it to do so.” (p. 342.2)

Our intuition grows stronger when we quiet our fears, our doubts, and the constant noise around us long enough to hear that still, small voice within.

Do you remember a time in your life when you absolutely knew you should not do something, and you did it anyway? I do. Hindsight can be a powerful teacher, and sometimes I wonder if my path to this moment would have been straighter had I simply listened.

I found this philosophy because I listened to my intuition. I heard a clear inner voice telling me I needed to change my life or I would either destroy myself or harm someone else through the pain I was carrying. I am not sure I even want to imagine what my life would look like had I ignored that guidance. I only know that by listening, my life took an amazing turn for the better.

Each of us has a fire burning within our hearts. It is our purpose, our calling, our deepest spiritual desire. When we ignore that inner fire, we begin to feel disconnected and numb, like standing beside a fire that no longer gives warmth. Too often we abandon our truth trying to live up to someone else’s expectations. When this happens, we lose alignment with who we truly are. Over time, this disconnection can lead to depression, addiction, anxiety, or simply moving through life half-awake.

Intuition is one of Spirit’s love languages. The more we trust ourselves, the more clearly we hear Divine guidance. Life becomes more peaceful when we stop forcing and start listening.

You do not need all the answers before taking the next faithful step. Your soul already knows the direction. Our work is learning to trust it.

Intuition is not something outside of us that we must earn. It is the Divine already speaking within us, gently guiding us toward the fullest expression of who we were created to be.

Blessings on your journey,
Rev. Gayle

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass; it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” — Vivian Greene

There are moments in life when it feels like the storm just won’t let up. We wait. We hope. We tell ourselves that once things calm down, then we’ll feel better, do better, be better. But what if that’s not how it works?

What if the work is to meet life right where we are?

In the teachings of Science of Mind, we are reminded that our thoughts shape our experience. Not sometimes—always. That means even in the middle of uncertainty, we have a choice. We can allow our minds to run toward fear, doubt, and resistance…or we can begin to gently guide them somewhere else.

This isn’t about ignoring what’s happening. It’s about choosing how we meet it.

Taming the mind doesn’t mean controlling every thought. Let’s be honest—that’s not realistic. It means becoming aware. It means noticing where your attention goes and asking yourself if it’s serving you. Are you moving toward something, or just trying to escape what you don’t want?

There is power in that shift.

When we begin to trust ourselves, ease our expectations, and give ourselves time, something starts to change. We stop fighting the moment. We stop needing everything to look a certain way before we allow ourselves peace. And in that space, something greater can enter in.

Call it God. Call it the Divine. Call it your higher self.

Whatever name you give it, there is a presence within you that already knows the way forward.

Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is take a step back and listen. Not to the noise around us, but to that quiet, steady voice within. The one that reminds us we are not stuck—we are in process.

And every ending, no matter how it appears, holds the seed of a beginning. 

So instead of waiting for the storm to pass, maybe this is the moment to shift. To breathe. To trust. To take one small step—not away from what is, but toward what could be.

Because peace isn’t found when everything changes.

It’s found when we do.

Blessings on your journey,
Rev. Gayle

When many people think of spirituality, they imagine meditation, prayer, service, or inner peace. Rarely do they think of budgets, savings, debt reduction, or wise financial choices. Yet true spiritual growth includes every area of life—including our relationship with money.

Gateway Four, Manage Your Money, reminds us that abundance begins with consciousness. Money itself is not good or bad. It is simply energy in motion, a tool of exchange, and a reflection of how we think, feel, and act around supply. If we carry fear, guilt, avoidance, or scarcity beliefs, those patterns often show up in our financial lives. If we cultivate gratitude, responsibility, and trust, we begin opening the door to greater flow.

In the Science of Mind teaching, we know God is the Source of all good. That means our job, bank account, investments, or circumstances are not the true source—they are channels through which supply may come. When we confuse the channel with the Source, fear grows. When we remember the Source is infinite, faith returns.

Managing your money is not about worshiping money. It is about honoring the life you have been given. It means being awake enough to know what comes in, what goes out, and where your energy is being directed. It means asking bold questions:

• Am I spending to impress others or to support my values?
• Am I avoiding financial truth because I feel shame?
• Am I blessing what I have, or constantly focusing on what I lack?
• Am I circulating my good wisely, joyfully, and consciously?

One powerful spiritual practice is generosity. Whether through tithing, giving, or supporting what feeds your soul, generosity reminds us that life is circulation, not congestion. Hoarding often comes from fear. Giving from wisdom affirms trust in divine flow. As we bless others, we loosen the grip of scarcity within ourselves.

Another practice is gratitude. Instead of resenting another person’s success, bless it. Celebrate abundance wherever you see it. What you condemn, you push away. What you bless, you welcome into your own experience.

This gateway is also a call to courage. Open the bills. Make the plan. Create the budget. Reduce the debt. Build the savings. Learn the skills. Pray and then move your feet. Spiritual maturity does not hide from reality—it transforms it.

Money management is self-respect in action. It is clarity replacing confusion, stewardship replacing avoidance, and trust replacing fear.

Today, choose one step toward financial freedom. One honest look. One wise choice. One generous act. One grateful thought.

The Universe responds to movement. When you align faith with action, supply has room to flow.

Blessings on your journey,
Rev. Gayle

It’s not always easy to pick a book for a series and trust that every chapter will be of a spiritual nature. That was the thought I had when I re-read Gateway Three in Dan Millman’s book Everyday Enlightenment.

And then I found this wonderful quote from Ernest Holmes in his book, 10 Ideas That Make A Difference:

“Every time we think of our body, we should think of it as our spiritual body. Think of every organ, action, function of our physical body as being pure and perfect Spirit, and think of God as being in us and around us and through us. Think of every breath we inhale as the breath of Life, and think of the things we eat as spiritual Substance forever nourishing the body. Think of Spirit and our body as being one in perfect harmony, and affirm perfect circulation, perfect assimilation, perfect elimination. We should declare that in pure Spirit there is not stagnation or inaction or overaction or false action. Our body is part of the kingdom of God, therefore there is a spiritual pattern at the center of it.” (p. 15.2)

The Third Gateway – Energize Your Body states the following: “Your body is the only thing you are guaranteed to keep for a lifetime. It forms the foundation of your earthly existence. Energizing your body enriches your life by enhancing every human capacity. If you lack vitality, nothing else really matters; if you have your health anything is possible.”

On Wednesday, before I wrote this BLOG, I met with a group who, like me, had decided to do a Spring Vital 21-day Detox. The facilitator went over what to expect, what we would be releasing, and how the 21 days progressed.

I’ll be honest—by the end of the call my head was swimming, and I truly wondered what I had signed up for. And yet that still small voice within me reminded me that 1) it’s only 21 days, and 2) a cleanse/detox is not only good for the body, it revitalizes the soul.

We all know we should eat well, exercise, and get enough sleep. I love that Dan calls this The Holy Trinity of Health.

There are so many different ideas out there around eating. Trust me, I know—I have probably tried them all. From Intermittent Fasting to High Fat/Low Carb, it can make your head spin. And yet regardless of your plan, or what speaks to you, there are some basic guidelines that are good to follow.

I personally love the idea of eating breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper. It gives our body the day to digest everything we put in it, and when you eat lightly at night there is less food to process before you go to bed.

I took a nutrition class once and the instructor told us for the next three months we were only supposed to shop the perimeter of the grocery store. At the time, I hadn’t really paid attention to the fact that all the fresh food is on the outer aisles of the grocery stores.

Okay, this might not be true for the big box stores and check out your grocery store next time you shop.

I am not much of a vegetable eater; this may prove problematic over the next 21 days, and I do love my fruit. Eating fresh foods, preferably organic, are not only easier on your internal organs, they provide a lot of the nutrients your body needs.

There are lots of recommendations on how much water to drink. One program I followed for a year had me drinking a gallon of water a day. That may seem excessive, and I love the recommendation of taking your body weight (140 pounds) and dividing it in half (70 pounds); convert that to ounces and that is the amount of water you should drink daily—70 ounces. My commitment is to drink 80 ounces of water daily regardless of how much I weigh. Do what works for you, and remember dehydration is no joke, so drink lots of water.

I highly recommend paying attention to how YOU feel eating and not eating certain foods; it’s your body, so take some time to listen to it.

When someone asks, “Do you exercise regularly?” I immediately think about going to the gym or engaging in some activity. Some people are naturally active, and some people abhor the idea of exercise. I am probably somewhere in between.

I do know some daily activity is better than nothing at all. One easy exercise is to get up from where you’re sitting every hour and move. You can walk around inside or go outside and get some air. It doesn’t have to be a long walk; just move.

Dan included the following as another “exercise” that can be done at any time:

Stand up, sit down
Now stand up slowly to the count of ten
Feel your body - are you balanced
Now sit down to the count of 10

And if you haven’t done so already, check out The Peaceful Warrior exercise. I highly recommend giving it a try. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmPdGDQNzVc

Are you getting enough rest? Depending on where you look online, you’ll hear we need 8 hours of sleep. I’ve never slept 8 hours in my life, and staying in bed that long makes my body hurt. You do you, as long as you wake up refreshed, you are getting enough sleep. And rest is more than just sleep.

Be mindful of your movements throughout the day. Choose to make your daily chores a meditation. AND don’t be afraid to take a nap.

Ordinary, everyday practices can energize your body and temper your spirit.

REMEMBER: YOUR BODY, THAT IS THE ONLY HOUSE GOD HAS AS YOU ON THIS REALM.

Blessings on your journey,
Rev. Gayle

There comes a moment in every growth journey when inspiration is no longer enough. We may feel motivated, hopeful, and ready for change—but eventually life asks something more of us. Life asks for willingness. Not force. Not struggle. Not perfection. Willingness. The second gateway of personal growth is reclaiming your will—the quiet inner power to choose again, begin again, and follow through on what matters most.

Will Is Not Harshness

Many people misunderstand willpower. They think it means gritting your teeth, pushing harder, or criticizing yourself into change. True will is gentler than that.

Will is the part of you that says:

• I can pray for one minute today.
• I can take one healthy step.
• I can begin where I am.
• I can stop making excuses.
• I can choose peace now.

Sometimes reclaiming your will starts small. Better sixty seconds of spiritual practice each day than one hour once a week. Consistency transforms us more than intensity ever will.

Until I began rereading Everyday Enlightenment: The Twelve Gateways to Personal Growth, I never thought much about “my will.” Recently, I stopped doing my spiritual practice. As a minister, I felt shame and guilt. These are practices I teach, and I value living in integrity.

As I sat with my 13 Months coach, she gently reminded me that I had a great deal to process, and simply being present while allowing my body and spirit to adjust was important. Eventually, my spiritual practice found its legs again. Not all at once. Some days I journaled. Other days I prayed. Slowly, I returned to practice—and discovered it had evolved into something that fits my life even better now.

Remember What You Have Already Done

If you think you lack willpower, look back.

You have already done hard things.

• You learned skills.
• You kept commitments.
• You survived seasons you thought would break you.
• You raised children, built relationships, held jobs, endured heartbreak, and kept going.

The evidence of your strength is already written in your life.

Finish What You Start

One of the greatest drains on the soul is repeatedly abandoning ourselves.

• We start with excitement... then quit.
• We make promises... then break them.
• We dream... then retreat.

Every unfinished promise chips away at self-trust.

But each completed act—no matter how small—restores dignity.

• Finish the walk.
• Make the call.
• Clean the drawer.
• Write the note.
• Say the apology.
• Keep the promise.
• Self-respect is built one kept promise at a time.

It is interesting that in the book, Dan Millman talks about “just do it.” For me, as a person in recovery, it took time to believe I was worth living differently. I had many stops and starts, broken promises to myself, and broken promises to God—as I understood God then. Until one day, I decided: No more. Once the decision was made, my will stepped forward to support it. And as every person in recovery knows—whatever the recovery may be—you choose each day not to return to what once had power over you.

Boundaries Are an Act of Will

Sometimes reclaiming your will means saying no. Not because you are angry. Not because you are selfish. But because your life energy is sacred. You do not owe your time to everything that asks for it. A healthy “no” often creates room for a wholehearted “yes.”

Forgiveness Frees the Will

Dan Millman writes: “Forgiveness is giving up all hope for a better past.”

How much energy is lost wishing yesterday had been different? Forgiveness does not excuse harm. It releases your life from being chained to it. When we forgive, we reclaim the power trapped in resentment. When we let go, our will becomes available again for love, service, and creation.

Love Is the Highest Will

Ernest Holmes reminds us that love is the only reality. Love creates tolerance, understanding, harmony, and peace.

• Will without love becomes control.
• Discipline without love becomes punishment.
• Boundaries without love become walls.

But when love guides the will, our choices become healing.

This Week’s Invitation

Where in your life are you being asked to reclaim your will?

• Begin one small practice?
• Finish something incomplete?
• Set one boundary?
• Forgive one burden?
• Trust yourself again?

Choose one thing. Do it today.

That is how freedom begins.

Blessings on your journey,

Rev. Gayle

I recently went through a period where I struggled with my spiritual practice. It started to feel more like a to-do list than a meaningful way of deepening my relationship with Spirit. Then something simple—but powerful—occurred to me: Spirit is ever-present. Right here. Right now. In the middle of our everyday lives.

Using Everyday Enlightenment by Dan Millman, we’re going to take a deeper dive into this spiritual school we call daily life. Each week, we’ll explore one of the gateways which he says “…form our stairway to the soul.”

This first gateway is about discovering your worth. It begins with a fundamental truth: you are One with the Power and Presence of the Divine. That means your worth has never been lowered, compromised, or damaged by circumstance. Your worth exists as a fact of life.

So the issue isn’t your actual worth—it’s your perceived worth. In life, we tend to accept no more (and no less) than what we believe we deserve. Even the Jewish mystic Jesus taught, “It is done unto you as you believe.”

When I reflect on my own life, I can clearly see how my level of worth—closely tied to self-respect—shaped what I allowed, what I attracted, and what I settled for. At times, I set myself up to fail.

Take an honest look at your own life. How often have you undermined your own good?

• Quitting—or never beginning—something meaningful
• Settling for less than you’re capable of earning or becoming
• Staying in relationships that diminish you
• Overspending or neglecting your well-being
• Using substances or habits that slowly harm you
• Driving yourself to exhaustion or burnout
• Withdrawing, numbing out, or giving up

These patterns aren’t proof that you lack worth—they reflect what you’ve been taught to believe about your worth.

Worth is not something you earn—it’s something you recognize. Have you ever seen an infant struggle with worthiness? Of course not. Worth is inherent.

So how do we begin to reconnect with it?

1. You are not alone. Your worth is not dependent on perfection. We all stumble.
2. Acknowledge your past with compassion. You did the best you could with the awareness you had at the time.
3. Make amends where needed. Apologize, ask forgiveness, and release what you cannot change. The past only lives if you keep carrying it.
4. Trust your process. Growth isn’t linear—it moves in an upward spiral.
5. Lean into grace. It already exists within you. When you act in alignment with your true nature, your sense of worth strengthens. Grace reminds us that only this moment is real—and this moment is where your power lives.

This is where the work begins—not by becoming worthy, but by remembering that you already are.

Remember: “The winds of grace are always blowing; all we need to do is raise our sails.”

Blessings on your journey,

Rev. Gayle

Resurrection Is an Inside Job

I recently taught Spiritual Economics based on the book by Eric Butterworth. What struck me was how many people struggle with Bible quotes and references.

So as we come to the close of Holy Week, I like to look at the story of the Jewish mystic known as Jesus through a New Thought lens.

What I know to be true is this:
We all experience our own resurrections.

Some are dramatic. Others are quiet, almost invisible—even to ourselves. And every resurrection begins the same way: as an internal transformation.

I had my own.

I started drinking between my freshman and sophomore years of high school. That same year, my best friend passed from leukemia. Years later, on October 19, 2002, after a night of partying, something shifted.

I woke up knowing—I was done.
Done drinking. Done smoking. Done using.

Something within me had changed. It was my numinous moment. The desire to self-destruct died… so something greater could live.

Resurrection is an inside job.

And it’s ongoing. I still spend time each day releasing limiting beliefs, fear, and habits that no longer serve me.

So, I ask you:
What are you ready to release so you can experience your own resurrection?

Rolling Away the Stone: What Are You Still Guarding?

When I first found this teaching, I was given a simple practice:
Put a stone in your pocket for every person, place, or thing you couldn’t—or wouldn’t—forgive.

You could feel the weight.

Those stones represented resistance, doubt, and emotional protection.

We all do this. We build walls to protect ourselves from past hurt.
But the same walls that protect us… also keep us stuck.

For me, alcohol and drugs numbed the voice of my inner critic—the “monkey mind” that constantly tore me down.

When I rolled that stone away, I had to learn a new way to live.
I had to quiet that voice.

That meant doing forgiveness work—of others, and even more importantly, of myself.
It meant surrendering fear and doubt.

As Joyce Meyer says,
“Don’t tell God you have a big problem—tell your problem you have a big God.”

And as Ernest Holmes taught,
“Change your thinking, change your life.”

I’m living proof.

But let’s be honest—it’s not always easy.
You have to want freedom more than you want to hold onto the pain.

It takes courage to roll away the stone… and step into the light.

You Were Never Meant to Stay in the Tomb

What would your life look like if you truly believed this:

You are a unique, individualized expression of the Divine.
You are loved—unconditionally.
And you have a purpose that only you can fulfill.

It’s time to be brave.
Get out of the stands. Step into the arena.

No one else can live your life for you.

The Christ Consciousness Within You

This isn’t just theology—it’s awareness.

What we call Christ Consciousness is the realization that we are connected—that love, unity, and our divine identity are essential to who we are.

Even our founders pointed to this deeper truth in the United States Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident… that all are created equal… endowed with unalienable rights… Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

What if these aren’t just political ideals…but spiritual truths waiting to be embodied?

Easter and the Law of Renewal

So, this Easter, the question isn’t just what happened then—

It’s what is happening within you now.

Are you ready to become more fully present to the life that is seeking to express through you?

Easter reminds us:
We are always being invited to rise.

To release.
To renew.
To become.

So, I’ll leave you with this:

What are you ready to rise from… and who are you ready to become?

Blessings on your journey,

Rev. Gayle

I didn’t grow up in a religious household. I’m not sure either of my parents believed in God—it wasn’t something we ever talked about. My dad’s religion was golf at 6 a.m. every Sunday, and my mother had her “conversations with Gert,” sitting at her bedroom window, gazing out at Mt. Si as she reflected on life.

So, when I look at this High Holy Week through a New Thought lens, it’s not meant to be sacrilegious. It is, for me, a way of honoring the Jewish mystic known as Jesus of Nazareth.

Palm Sunday is often seen as a celebration—and it is. But it is also something more. It is a moment of deep inner commitment. A moment when a decision is made, not because the path is easy, but because it is true.

Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey—a symbol of peace and humility. Crowds gathered along the road, spreading cloaks and palm branches, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” Jerusalem was the spiritual and political center, especially during Passover, so this was not a quiet or accidental moment. It was a deliberate, public declaration.

And here’s the question that lives underneath it:

What if Palm Sunday is really about the courage to say yes before you know the outcome?

Metaphysically, Palm Sunday represents the conscious choice to step into your higher identity. The “entry into Jerusalem” becomes a symbol of entering a new level of awareness—of accepting a calling that will stretch you.

If you had told me at any point during my first 50 years that I would become a minister, I would have laughed at the absurdity of it. And yet, somewhere in me, I found the courage to say yes. Looking back, I can see there were many moments when the call was there—I just wasn’t ready to answer.

Saying yes is not passive. It is an act of spiritual bravery.

Jesus didn’t drift into destiny—he chose it knowingly.

So, the question becomes personal:

Where have you said yes in your life?
And maybe more importantly—where are you avoiding the call?

Your yes might look like:

• Choosing something meaningful without needing every detail mapped out.
  Paul and I chose to be married in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We had a date, and I had a dress. We trusted that we would find the rings and the place once we arrived—and we did.
• Leaving what is familiar to begin again somewhere new.
  I’ve done this more than once in my life. I wouldn’t call it easy, but it has always been an adventure—and it has always stretched me in the best ways.
• Speaking truth with compassion, even when it’s uncomfortable.
  As a minister, I sometimes have the opportunity to have hard conversations—ones I know may not be easy to hear and are necessary for the good of the whole.
• Trusting your inner compass over what others say is best.
  If I had listened to my family and friends every time they questioned my choices, I would have missed many of the experiences that have become the richest stories of my life.

Because here’s the truth: the same crowd that shouted “Hosanna” would later reject the man they once celebrated.

Which raises a deeper question—are you living for applause, or are you living in alignment?

In a world shaped by 24-hour news cycles and constant social media noise, it’s easy to confuse popularity with truth. But truth is not determined by consensus. It is revealed through inner knowing.

Palm Sunday is the beginning of Holy Week—not the end.

It is the moment where something shifts. Where a decision is made. Where a person steps forward, not because they have guarantees, but because they are willing to trust what is calling them.

Life responds to that kind of courage. Your yes changes the trajectory of your experience.

Palm Sunday isn’t really about palm branches. It is about personal awakening. It is about the moment you choose to move forward, even when you cannot see the whole path.

So the question isn’t whether it will be easy.

The question is—will you find the courage to say yes?

Blessings on your journey,

Rev. Gayle

I remember being in a Landmark Worldwide class when the facilitator asked, “What is life?” I’ve never been fond of trick questions. It felt like one of those moments where there was a “right” answer they were waiting for—one that no one in the room was quite giving.

Eventually, the answer they offered was: “Life just is.” And honestly… that has stayed with me. Because in many ways, that’s the closest description we have of God—not a being standing apart, judging, fixing, or withholding—but a Presence that simply is.

God is not watching us from a distance, deciding outcomes. God is not withholding good until we get it right. God is Life Itself—the animating intelligence that is in, through, and as everything. There is no separation between God and creation. No “out there” and “in here.” Only One.

And yet, knowing this intellectually and living from it are two very different things.

There was a time recently when I experienced what I can only call a crisis of faith. Not because God had gone anywhere—but because I had. I had drifted into doubt, into fear, into the appearance of separation. And in that place, it felt like something was missing.

But nothing had actually changed. God had not moved. Life had not withdrawn. The Presence was still fully available. What needed to shift was not God—but my awareness. My willingness to remember. My willingness to align. My willingness to trust that what I was seeking was already here.

This is where the teaching from Ernest Holmes becomes so powerful. He makes a distinction that can completely change how we understand faith:

We are not meant to simply have faith in God. We are meant to develop the faith of God. That’s a radical shift. Faith in God still carries a sense of separation—I am here, God is there, and I hope something good happens. The faith of God recognizes that the very power that creates worlds is the same power moving through us.

It is not something we reach for—it is something we are participating in. As Holmes reminds us, belief is not passive. Belief is creative. The universe itself is built out of it. So, the question becomes: What are we believing into form?

This is why I love Spiritual Mind Treatment—Affirmative Prayer. Because it doesn’t come from a place of asking or pleading. It comes from alignment. We are not trying to convince God to do something. We are recognizing what is already true—and allowing ourselves to come into agreement with it.

And here’s the part that can be both empowering and confronting: Prayer is always answered. ALAWAYS.

The creative process is always saying yes. So, if the outer experience doesn’t match what we say we want, the invitation is not to doubt the process—but to deepen our clarity. To become more honest about what we are truly accepting, believing, and expecting. Not as a form of self-blame—but as a return to our creative authority.

The invitation is simple—but not necessarily easy:

Where am I placing my faith?

Am I waiting for life to change?

Or am I willing to align with the creative power already moving through me?

Am I living from faith in God?

Or awakening to the faith of God?

Because the moment that shift begins—even slightly—something begins to move.

A demonstration begins to take place.

And in that spirit, I want to close with a prayer from Dr. Holmes that expands our awareness beyond the personal and into the collective—reminding us that this same Presence is guiding not only our individual lives, but our shared experience as well:

MY PRAYER FOR MY COUNTRY

by Dr. Ernest Holmes, 1887 – 1960

Believing in the Divine destiny of the United States of America and in the preservation of liberty, security, and self-expression, I offer this, my prayer for my country:

I know that Divine Intelligence governs the destiny of the United States of America, directing the thought and the activity of all who guide its affairs.

I know that success, prosperity, and happiness are the gifts of freedom, and are the Divine heritage of everyone in this country.

I know that success, prosperity, and happiness are now operating in the affairs of every individual in this country.

I know that Divine guidance enlightens the collective mind of the people of this country, causing it to know that economic security may come to all without the loss of either personal freedom or individual self-expression.

I know that no one can believe or be led to believe that freedom must be surrendered in order to insure economic security for all.

The All-Knowing Mind of God contains the answer to every problem which confronts this country.

I know that every leader in this country is now directed to this All-Knowing Mind and has the knowledge of a complete solution to every problem, and each is compelled to act upon this knowledge to the end that abundance, security, and peace shall come to all.

And I know that this spiritual democracy shall endure, guaranteeing to everyone in this country personal liberty, happiness, and self-expression.

And so it is. Amen.

In Can We Talk to God, Ernest Holmes writes that “the measure of our faith in the Infinite is the measure of our capacity to draw from the Infinite.” This is why the Great Teacher said, “It is done unto you as you believe.” If we can believe in a greater good, then much good can come to us. Life manifests according to our mental acceptance—our mental equivalents—according to our faith.

Thought is a spiritual activity endowed with creative power.

Take a moment and consider how you may have already proven this in your own life, whether you were aware of this teaching or not. God is always working through us and expressing through our thoughts, beliefs, and actions.

If you plant seeds, water them, and nourish them, they grow into healthy and strong plants. Thoughts are much the same. They are like seeds with a natural tendency to grow and manifest in our lives when we give them our attention.

Our attention, interest, and enthusiasm are what make thoughts powerful. When we continue to focus on a thought, it gathers strength. When we withdraw our attention, it loses its power and influence.

In This Thing Called You, Ernest Holmes reminds us that the barriers between us and our greater good are not barriers in themselves—they are things of thought. Because of this, all things are possible to faith. Jesus summed up this principle when he said, “It is done unto you as you believe.” If we pause after the word as, we see a deeper meaning: life not only responds to what we believe, it responds after the manner of our believing. Life mirrors our beliefs back to us.

Consider these ideas:

1. Our thoughts influence our subconscious mind, which then guides our actions.
2. Our thoughts can influence the minds and lives of others.
3. When we focus on our dreams and goals, we often attract people and opportunities that help us achieve them.
4. Powerful thoughts shape our lives—and sometimes the lives of those around us—so it is important to be mindful of what we think.

All thoughts are creative. In a very real sense, God says “yes” to the thoughts we give our attention to and the ideas we continually dwell upon.

So the question becomes: What are you spending your time thinking about? What seeds are you planting in the garden of your mind?

Ernest Holmes described Religious Science as “a compilation of the opinions of philosophy, the laws of science, and the revelations of religion applied to the aspirations of humanity.” Life is not confined to a single belief system or practice. It is about nourishing the soul and recognizing the Divine presence in every moment.

When we become aware of the creative power of our thinking, we also recognize the opportunity before us. Every thought is a seed. Every belief is a blueprint for what can unfold in our lives.

So let us choose our thoughts with care. Let us nurture ideas of possibility, faith, and goodness. As we do, we awaken to the creative power within us and allow the Divine to express more fully through our lives.

How are we physically?
Who are we financially?
Where are we spiritually?
How are we mentally?
How are we relationally?

These questions are more than a personal inventory. They are invitations into awareness.

Our Nature of Being is the living expression of the Divine through us, and it is shaped by how we are experiencing life in any given moment. Every dimension of our life—physical, financial, spiritual, mental, and relational—is interconnected. When one area shifts, the others respond. Our state of being is not fixed; it is fluid, evolving as we grow in awareness.

When we think about Physical Well-Being, we often think of health and fitness, which is certainly a good place to begin. Yet our physical life also includes our home, our environment, the places we travel, and the spaces we inhabit.

My own physical story is one of grace. My mother and I almost died during childbirth. Because of a tumor on my brain at birth, the doctor believed I might not survive, or that I would live in a vegetative state. An optometrist once believed I would become blind. And yet, here I am.

Recently I’ve realized how important movement and caring for my body really are. If you know me, you might say, “Really? Then why aren’t you doing something active every day?” And that question has helped me see something deeper. In my codependency, I have often placed what is good for me at the bottom of the list.

But I am beginning to understand something sacred:
My body is the form the Divine has chosen to express as Gayle.

Caring for this body is not selfish—it is spiritual. It is an act of honoring the Divine presence that lives and breathes through me.

Financial and Career Well-Being speaks to how we support ourselves in the world—our work, our goals, our income, and our sense of financial freedom. For many of us, the traditional idea of a career may be shifting or winding down. I will admit that I am someone who didn’t do a great deal of long-term planning for the future.

Yet spiritual life continually reminds us that our true security does not come from careful planning alone. It comes from trusting that the same Creative Intelligence that brought us this far continues to guide our path forward.

Spiritual Well-Being asks a different question: What inspires you?

This is deeply personal. Spiritual life is not confined to a single practice or belief system. It is about feeding the soul and recognizing the Divine presence in every moment of life.

For some, it is creating music.
For others, it is dancing, listening to music, painting, praying, or meditating.
Sometimes it is simply sitting quietly in the sand, listening to the roar of the ocean and feeling the presence of something greater than ourselves.

The path to the soul is as unique as the soul itself.

Mental Well-Being is reflected in our thoughts and emotions. Mother Teresa once said:

“Be careful of your thoughts, for your thoughts become your words.
Be careful of your words, for your words become your deeds.
Be careful of your deeds, for your deeds become your habits.
Be careful of your habits, for your habits become your character.
Be careful of your character, for your character becomes your destiny.”

Our inner dialogue shapes the world we experience. Taking care of our mental well-being is just as important as caring for our physical health. Sometimes that means seeking help. Sometimes it means resting. Sometimes it means stepping back and giving ourselves compassion.

Wherever you are in life, honor what you are feeling and thinking. They are not weaknesses—they are signals inviting us back into balance and self-care.

And finally, there is Relational Well-Being.

Whether we are introverts or extroverts, we all need connection. Human beings are meant to walk this life together. The people we surround ourselves with can reflect our highest qualities and support our growth.

Our relationships often act as mirrors. The way we show up in relationship is often the way our relationships show up for us.

A Spiritual Realization

When we step back and look at all these aspects of life, something powerful becomes clear.

Our physical life, our finances, our creativity, our thoughts, and our relationships are not separate pieces of who we are. They are expressions of one underlying truth: The Divine Life is expressing itself through us.

Every breath we take, every thought we think, every act of love we share is part of that unfolding expression.

And the moment we remember this, something awakens within us.
We realize we are not simply reacting to life—we are participating in creation.

So the invitation is simple and profound:

Care for your body as a sacred vessel.
Nurture your mind with loving thoughts.
Feed your soul with creativity and inspiration.
Honor the relationships that help you grow.

Because when we consciously tend to every dimension of our being, we begin to awaken to the truth of who we really are.

Not separate.
Not powerless.

But living expressions of the Divine—
creative, evolving, and capable of shaping a life filled with meaning, love, and purpose.

And when we awaken to that truth, we don’t just change our lives…

We become a living expression of Spirit in the world.

Our Declaration of Principles states that “The manifest universe is the body of God; it is the logical and necessary outcome of the infinite self-knowingness of God.”

Normally, when we think of the word body, we are referring to our physical form. Yet, in this spiritual framework, the physical body is understood as the lowest vibration. The emotional body extends beyond and influences the physical body; the mental body extends beyond and influences the emotional and physical bodies; and the soul body extends beyond and influences the mental, emotional, and physical bodies. Encompassing all of these is the spiritual body—the highest vibration—which overlays and permeates the soul, mental, emotional, and physical bodies.

I was taught—though I can’t remember by whom or when—that when something finally shows up in the physical body, it has already moved through all the other bodies first. We just weren’t paying attention yet.

This is not a scientific model, but a spiritual framework used to describe how awareness, emotion, thought, and meaning shape our lived experience.

For me, it is important to remember that I am a living, breathing organism—a compressed energy field connected energetically to everything around me. My physical body is the most tangible expression of that energy, constantly responding to my thoughts, emotions, and environment.

So why is this important? For me, it’s about empowerment. It is the realization that my thoughts—the one thing I truly have dominion over—really do matter. I believe every day is a gift, and because I believe that, how I wake up and show up each day matters.

At a time in history (and this is not the first time) when we are inundated with information designed to keep us separate, it is especially important to remember all that we share:

• Every person on this planet has a heart and red blood.
• Every person knows joy, fear, love, and loss.
• Every person wants to belong, to matter, and to be seen.

Self-awareness reminds us that beneath all appearances, labels, and differences, we are far more alike than we are different.

We often walk around in these “meat suits,” forgetting that we are part of the manifest Universe—the body of God. Perhaps if we remembered this—that we are God in form—we would look out through the eyes of God and see God looking back at us.

When we remember that we are part of the living body of the Universe, how we think, act, and treat one another naturally becomes more loving, conscious, and connected.

Each of us is the only one who can express the Divine in our own unique way. We matter. We are important. We can begin today—giving what we have—and continue even when it feels like we have less to offer. It is never too late to begin again.

Over the past week, I thought of you—the Light on the Mountains community—often. I felt your love and support on Sunday as I came to a quiet realization that life can feel overwhelming for every one of us at times. I felt that same presence as I sat in a hospital waiting room while my husband was in surgery, and during the two and a half days I stayed with him afterward.

It wasn’t just the Practitioners, or Leadership Council members, or the friends I’ve come to know so well. It was everyone—those in the room on Sunday, those watching online, and even those who weren’t there at all. You are the soul of this community, each and every one of you. I felt the camaraderie and loving intention you hold for Light on the Mountains, whether spoken aloud or carried quietly in your hearts.

That is community.

I feel deeply blessed to have each of you as part of the foundation supporting Paul and me as we move through this experience together.

Paul was in surgery for three hours. During that time, his appendix—attached to the wall of his stomach—his cecum, eighteen inches of colon, and the mass were removed. I even have a photo of what was taken out, though I’m still undecided about whether I’ll ever look at a slab of meat the same way again.

Alongside your virtual support, I was also held in very tangible ways—by Paul’s sister and her husband, my two best friends, and a colleague who has become family. What we know right now is incomplete. The surgeon strongly believes the mass was cancerous, based on his experience, but we won’t know for certain until the pathology report comes back.

And this is where the soul of Light on the Mountains shines so clearly.

You know how to hold space without rushing to answers. You know how to set intention without needing certainty. You know how to stand with love—for Paul’s highest and best, and for mine—without needing to fix or explain what is unfolding.

Perhaps this is what soul truly looks like—not perfection or certainty, but presence. I invite you to notice where you are being asked simply to stay present, to hold love steady, and to trust that even now, something meaningful is unfolding.

When it feels right, take a moment, place a hand on your heart and without asking for answers, silently affirm: “I am held. We are held. Love is at work here.” Let that be enough for now.

I truly love and appreciate you all!

In the Science of Mind textbook, Spirit is defined in the Glossary as:

“God, within Whom all spirits exist. The Self-Knowing One. The Conscious Universe. The Absolute. Spirit in people is that part of them which enables them to know themselves—That which they really are. We do not see the spirit of people any more than we see the Spirit of God. We see what people do, but we do not see the doer.”

Our Declaration of Principles echoes this truth:

“We believe in the incarnation of the Spirit in everyone and that all people are incarnations of the One Spirit.”

In the simplest terms, we believe God is in, through, and as everything—everywhere.

I am currently teaching an amazing class based on Spiritual Economics by Eric Butterworth, where he speaks about faith as the power that releases our “imprisoned splendor.” I love that phrase. It feels so true. We often imprison our own greatness by not fully grasping what it means to be God in form—a unique, individualized expression of Spirit.

Some people call this inner guidance intuition. Others refer to it as the still, small voice within. To me, it doesn’t really matter what we call it. What matters is the practice: learning to recognize and live from that splendor—the deep knowing that I am enough. In fact, I am more than enough.

When I listen to that voice, good things happen. I have experienced profound moments of guidance and grace by paying attention to it. When I ignore it and try to go it alone, I tend to struggle.

Recently—and this is a small but telling example—as I was preparing to travel from Bellingham, WA to Sun Valley, ID, I was packed and ready to go when a thought arose: “How is my luggage going to get from Alaska to Delta when I land in Seattle?” Had I not listened—had I not paid attention—my luggage would still be circling baggage claim, waiting for me to retrieve it.

On a much larger scale, over twenty years ago, if I hadn’t chosen to visit the Center in Kirkland instead of the one in Seattle, I never would have met my husband. I truly have no idea what my life would look like now if I hadn’t followed that inner nudge.

Our founder, Ernest Holmes, is not always an easy read, but he was a profound mystic. His core teaching—Change your thinking, change your life—sounds simple, yet it is not for the faint of heart.

Recognizing yourself as Spirit in form—already whole, complete, and perfect—takes courage. It requires commitment, willingness, and sometimes a healthy dose of moxie.

And the reward?

Freedom.

Alignment.

The release of your imprisoned splendor.

Practice for the Week:

Each morning, pause for one quiet minute. Place a hand on your heart and silently affirm:

“I am Spirit in form. I am guided. I am enough.”

Then ask, “What would Love have me notice today?”

Move through your day paying attention to subtle impulses, gentle reminders, or unexpected clarity. At the end of the day, take a moment to acknowledge where you noticed guidance—even in the smallest ways.

“The important Truth is that you are a spiritual being with the Allness of Infinite Mind within you. Whatever your needs may be, the answer is not to get God to give you more through some divine sleight-of-hand process, but rather to uncover and release your own “imprisoned splendor”. Certainly all things are possible, not because God makes an exception for you by reason of your plea, but because your faith is the key to the kingdom of the power within you to apply the laws that transcend human limitation.” ~Eric Butterworth, Spiritual Economics

The important Truth, as Eric Butterworth reminds us, is that we are spiritual beings with Infinite Mind within. That doesn’t mean life is easy or that we never need support. It means the deepest Source of strength isn’t outside us. And that’s where the practice comes in.

We live in a time when loneliness, depression, anger, and fear are everywhere. The self-help industry is thriving—not because growth is bad, but because discomfort makes us easy to convince that we’re missing something.

And I’m not saying we shouldn’t seek help. Support can be healing. Wise teachers and tools can guide us. But the best guidance always returns us to our own inner authority.

Because the real work is different: it’s learning to uncover and release our own “imprisoned splendor.”

Not through a divine sleight-of-hand.
Not by begging for exceptions.
But by aligning with what’s already true within us.

And trust me—I am a pro at looking outside myself for fixes. It takes practice and commitment to sit quietly and listen to that still, small voice within… to journal honestly about what I’m feeling and why… and then to look up, as Marcia Mode-Stavros shared last Sunday.

So here’s a simple practice—a way to return to your power:

A Simple Return to Power

1. Pause. Take one slow breath. Put a hand on your heart.
2. Name the Truth. “Something deeper in me is steady, even now.”
3. Choose one true next step. “What is one thing I can do today that honors my wholeness?”

Start where you are. Your power doesn’t require perfection—only practice.

And the more you return to that Truth, the more you remember:

You are not cut off.
You are not empty.
You are not lacking the Source.

Before anything takes shape—before a word is spoken, before an action is taken, before a decision is made—there is Spirit: the First Cause, the Creative Intelligence, the Life Principle from which all is created and continues to be created.

And that means this: every beginning begins in consciousness. Every thought, every idea, every choice, every word is an expression of consciousness—and we get to decide what leads our thinking and living.

So, when I say, “It is important to me…,” I’m naming how I choose to begin.

If God is the beginning, then truth must be my starting place.

My word is powerful, and I am responsible for how I use it. That’s why it matters to me to tell the truth regardless of the situation. That’s why it matters to me not to gossip—because gossip is poison. It harms the soul of the one who speaks it, and it can wound the spirit of the one it’s spoken about. If it’s not true, I won’t say it. If it’s not right, I won’t do it.

If God is First Cause, then my thoughts and my words are not small—they are creative.

“In the beginning” isn’t only a moment long ago; it is the moment before anything becomes real in my life—the moment of intention, the moment of inner choice. That’s why I treasure my thoughts, ideas, and words. That’s why I teach and remember the law of cause and effect, the principle that like attracts like. Not as blame, but as empowerment: I am responsible for my truth, my energy, my focus, and my response.

If God is everywhere, then I can return to God anytime.

When the world gets loud, I don’t have to let the noise lead me. I can shut it off. I can be still. I can pray. I can breathe deeply—taking in fresh new energy and releasing what keeps me feeling separate from the whole. I can sit in silence and listen for the small voice within. I can journal. I can come back to center. I can begin again.

And because God is the beginning, I honor the beginning in how I live with others.

I allow each person to walk their own path, regardless of beliefs. My responsibility is to walk my talk and live by example. If people ask, I can share my practices—but each person must choose their own happiness. I speak clearly and passionately, and I allow others to do the same. I ask questions when I don’t understand. I give my full attention to the people I’m with. I listen more and talk less. I refuse judgment. I am for things and against nothing. I choose to be the change I want to see.

So, “In the Beginning, God” is not only about ancient history. It’s about how I begin right now—how I begin my day, my conversations, my choices, my reactions, my relationships, and my thoughts. I begin with Spirit. I begin with truth. I begin with conscious choice.

And I stay awake and aware, allowing the power and presence within me to work in, through, and as me—because the beginning is not behind me.

The beginning is here.

The beginning is now.

And in this beginning, I choose God!

“The practice of the Science of Mind calls for a positive understanding of the Spirit of Truth; a willingness to let this inner Spirit guide us, with the conscious knowledge that ‘The law of the Lord is perfect’ (Psalms 19:7). And we must believe this to be a fact. INSOFAR AS OUR THOUGHT IS IN ACCORD WITH THIS PERFECT LAW, IT WILL ACCOMPLISH—AND NOTHING CAN HINDER IT. ‘Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away’ (Matthew 24:35), said the beautiful Jesus, as he strove to teach his disciples the immutability of the Law of Righteousness.”
— Ernest Holmes, Science of Mind Textbook

And it is a practice.

There is no wiggle room in the Law. That can be a challenging truth, and at times even a painful one. When prayers seem unanswered, it’s natural to ask, Why wasn’t my prayer heard? The truth is, God doesn’t play favorites, and Spirit isn’t keeping score.

When something doesn’t appear to manifest the way we hoped, it’s always a good idea to go within—for clarity, understanding, and a deeper sense of conviction.

I remember a time when I was praying very sincerely for a specific outcome. I was clear—at least I thought I was—and I was doing all the “right” things. What showed up, however, looked nothing like what I had imagined. At first, I was disappointed. I wondered what I had missed. But as I sat with it, I realized the answer had come at the level of my consciousness, not my expectations. What arrived was exactly what I was ready to receive—and it prepared me for what came next. Spirit always responds to consciousness.

As metaphysicians, we are taught to be clear in our what and then allow the Universe to determine the how. This is where I sometimes catch myself wanting to step in and manage the process. I want to offer Spirit a roadmap. I want to explain how it should all unfold.

But that is not mine to do.

There is a clear delineation of responsibility:

• My work: Be crystal clear about what I desire.
• Spirit’s work: Bring it forth in perfect form and timing.

So the practice is this: clarify, align, release—and trust.

It is not always easy and sometimes you may feel like you’re swimming upstream. Beloved family, well-meaning friends and the collective consciousness of society will tell you why it won’t work or never happen.

Don’t be swayed. You’re working in the realm of consciousness, not in the court of public opinion.

Back to Basics again and again!

“Perhaps the simplest way to state the proposition is to say that we are surrounded by a Mind, or Intelligence, that knows everything; that the potential knowledge of all things exists in this Mind; that the abstract essence of beauty, truth, and wisdom coexist in the Mind of the Universe; that we also exist in It and may draw from It. But what we draw from It we must draw through the channel of our own minds. A unity must be established, and a conscious connection must be made, before we can derive the benefits which the greater Mind is willing to reveal or impart to us.” ~Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

The more immersed I become in the Science of Mind philosophy, the more I realize—it doesn’t pull any punches.

This teaching is expansive and compassionate, yes—but it is also direct. The Universal Mind is always available. Infinite Intelligence is never withheld. The Good is omnipresent. And yet Holmes reminds us that what we draw from It must come through the channel of our own minds.

There is no spiritual bypassing here.

Spirit does not force itself into expression. It responds. It mirrors. It creates according to the level of consciousness through which it is invited to act.

This is where the teaching becomes deeply practical—and where I often think of Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. King didn’t just hope for a better world. He held a vision so clear, so unified, so rooted in spiritual conviction that it reshaped collective consciousness. He didn’t wait for conditions to change before he acted. He aligned his thinking, his words, and his actions with a higher idea of justice, dignity, and beloved community—and then he lived from that place.

That is Science of Mind in motion.

Spirit worked through him because he was willing to be a conscious channel for it. His clarity of vision became a mold into which Universal Intelligence could pour courage, creativity, resilience, and love. The results were not accidental—they were lawful.

Science of Mind teaches that Spirit works for us, by working through us, and as us. But the Law responds only to what we consciously accept and embody. Passive awareness doesn’t produce active demonstration. Agreement with truth is not the same as living it.

This teaching asks us to participate.

I often compare it to electricity. The power is everywhere—constant, infinite, reliable. But unless there is a clear circuit, unless the wiring is intact, unless the switch is flipped, the room stays dark. When the light doesn’t come on, we don’t blame the source—we check the connection.

Science of Mind invites us to do the same with our lives.

When something isn’t working, the question isn’t “Why is Spirit withholding?”
The question is, “What am I believing? What am I expecting? What am I consistently declaring?”

Universal Mind can only express through the mold we provide. If our thinking is vague, conflicted, or rooted in fear, the demonstration will reflect that—not as punishment, but as precision.

And here is the grace: nothing is wrong with us.

We are not broken.
Nothing is missing.
We are not separate from the Good we seek. As Emma Curtis Hopkins is often quoted as saying, “There is good for me and I ought to have it.”

Everything we need is already within us. Our work is not to become something else, but to become a clearer channel—to establish unity, to make conscious connection, and to allow the Infinite to move through us with intention.

Dr. King showed us what is possible when a human being lives aligned with a higher vision. Science of Mind reminds us that the same Power that moved through him is present for each of us—right here, right now.

The Power is within you.
The Mind is already present.
And the channel… is yours to open.

Sometimes the Universe doesn’t whisper. Sometimes it knocks you flat and waits to see what you believe next.

You’re cruising along in your brand-new car, minding your own business, when—bam—you get rear-ended or sideswiped. No, this didn’t actually happen to me. It’s an analogy.

Or you’re flying down the mountain, doing what you love, when another skier takes you out and suddenly, you’re in a toboggan headed to the emergency room. Again—an analogy.

My point is simple: life happens.

God. Spirit. Mother Earth. The Universe—whatever name you use—is not picking on you. And neither is life. Disappointment, loss, and uncertainty are not punishments; they are part of being human. Very few people make it through this life without being knocked sideways at least once.

And then there are moments when the curveball isn’t theoretical—it’s personal.

What do you do when you’re a minister, life feels golden, and you’re told there is a high probability your husband has colon cancer?

The first thing you do is reach out for prayer—because faith does not mean bypassing fear. Sometimes faith begins with letting yourself fall apart long enough to be honest. Sometimes strength looks like asking for help.

And then comes the deeper work.

You remember that things don’t just happen to “other people.” They happen to us. Even when we teach this philosophy. Especially when we teach it.

And yes—then you realize you have a blog to write on The Way It Works… and suddenly the teaching isn’t abstract. It’s alive.

In the Science of Mind textbook, Ernest Holmes reminds us that the Law is impersonal—neutral, precise, and always available. It responds to consciousness, not circumstance. It doesn’t create the event, but it governs how we meet it. The Law is not cruel—but it is exact.

So, here’s the practice when appearances are loud:

I don’t deny what’s happening—but I refuse to give it ultimate authority.
I acknowledge the fear—and I choose not to live from it.
I don’t know the outcome of this diagnosis—or even if there is one—but I do know where I stand.

It is my work to hold space for healing.

And as a prayer practitioner, I know that healing isn’t one-size-fits-all. Sometimes it’s physical. Sometimes it’s emotional. Sometimes it’s a deep remembering of who we are beneath the circumstance.

So, I lean into the teachings that changed my life.
I choose to know the Truth even when evidence tries to convince me otherwise.
And when I’m standing in the forest and can’t see clearly, I let others point out the trees.

I choose abundance over fear, knowing that lack is never about resources—it’s about consciousness. I choose love, light, peace, and joy—not because life is easy, but because that is the world I am committed to living in.

The Way It Works isn’t something I talk about when things are going well.

It’s something I live—especially when life asks me what I really believe.

Happy New Year! We have booked another 365 days.

I love the Science of Mind teachings—probably because they gave me the tools that helped me change my life. They opened a kind of Pandora’s box within me, one that invited me to take responsibility for all the wins (few at the time) and all the missteps (more than I could count—or would want to share).

In his own words, Ernest Holmes defined Religious Science as “a compilation of the opinions of philosophy, the laws of science, and the revelations of religion applied to the aspirations of (wo)man.”

Since 2026 (2+0+2+6 = 10 = 1) is all about beginnings—and February’s Chinese New Year ushers in the Year of the Fire Horse—I’ve decided to take a deeper dive into the wisdom of the sage who changed my life: Ernest Holmes.

So, we begin with The Thing Itself.

The Thing Itself is the Power behind all creation. It is known by many names:
Judaism—YHWH
Christianity—God
Islam—Allah
Hinduism—Atman
Taoism—Tao
Indigenous and Earth-based traditions—Great Spirit

The Thing Itself is all of that, because all of those are It.
Many paths. One destination.

In our Declaration of Principles, Ernest Holmes wrote:
“We believe in God, the Living Spirit Almighty; one, indestructible, absolute and self-existent Cause. This One manifests itself in and through all creation but is not absorbed by its creation. The manifest universe is the body of God; it is the logical and necessary outcome of the infinite self-knowingness of God.”

This is that which has always been, will always be, and is present right here and right now. It does not have a favorite person, team, religion, or country. It loves all things unconditionally.

People often ask, “Well, what about this person?” or “What about that action?” Here’s the truth: we are all individualized expressions of God in form. And with free will, we get to choose whether we live from that awareness—or forget it.

It can be tempting, even as ministers, practitioners, or students of this philosophy, to place blame. Yet one of the greatest lessons of Science of Mind is this: you are responsible for your life. And on a global scale, we are responsible for our collective life.

It’s not that God—the Thing Itself, YHWH, Allah, Atman, Tao, the Great Spirit—doesn’t care. It’s that the invitation is to recognize the power and presence of It within you. Not from an egoic place, but from the truth that It is in, through, and as everything.

I may not be able to change the world, but I can change the way I see it.
I may not be able to change my country, but I can change what I focus on.
I may not be able to change my neighbors, but I can change how I choose to show up with them.

If you want a better world, a better country, a better neighborhood—practice being a better person.

Start by owning this truth: The Thing Itself is no farther from you than the nose on your face.