I had no idea what “kith” meant, so I figured I should start there—because I bet I’m not alone.
Lyanda Lynn Haupt, in Rooted: Life at the Crossroads of Science, Nature, and Spirit, writes:
“Where kin are relations of kind, kith is relationship based on knowledge of place—the close landscape, ‘one’s square mile,’ where each tree and neighbor and robin and fox and stone is known, not by map or guide but by heart. Kith is intimacy with a place, its landmarks, its fragrance, the habits of its wildlings. Kithship enlivens kinship.” ~pp. 25–26 (Kindle Edition)
It’s a fascinating concept, especially now that my life is lived between two “kiths.” I spend 10–12 days each month in the Wood River Valley of Idaho—what many people know simply as Sun Valley—and the rest of my time in my new home of Bellingham, Washington. Both are stunningly beautiful, and both offer something very different to the heart.
My Kith of Bellingham
If you’ve never been to Washington—or Bellingham, for that matter—let me share a bit of the landscape that lives inside me. Bellingham sits at sea level and yes, Western Washington earns its reputation for rain. That rain is why everything is so green, so lush, so alive. Because we are further north (only 21 miles from the Canadian border!), winter brings more snow and crisp air.
We are a land of water—lakes, rivers, streams—and the city itself opens into Bellingham Bay at the northern edge of Puget Sound. Washington has five major volcanoes, and I have always lived near one. Right now, I’m only 27 miles from Mt. Baker.
My neighborhood has deer, squirrels, and occasionally a black bear who wanders through like he owns the place. (And honestly, he probably thinks he does.)
My Kith of the Wood River Valley
My kith in the Valley is new; my first visit was in May—and yes, it snowed that weekend. The average altitude is about 5,500 feet, depending on where you stand. The Valley is made up of four towns—Bellevue, Hailey, Ketchum, and Sun Valley—each with its own charm.
I love the Aspen trees. In fall they turn brilliant reds and yellows, and when the wind moves through them, they “quack.” It’s a sound that goes straight to the soul.
And the elk—oh my goodness, the elk. Herds of them. They sit at the roadside during evening traffic, waiting patiently for cars to thin so they can cross to where they sleep for the night. The speed limit is lowered at dusk—nobody wants to meet an elk at 55 mph.
I’ve become quite enchanted with the Magpies, too. Maybe that would change if I lived there full-time, but for now they feel magical and beautiful.
And then there is Light on the Mountains. The first time I saw it, I literally stopped the car. It takes your breath away.
Kith, Kin, and Science of Mind
So what does any of this have to do with the teachings of Science of Mind?
In our Declaration of Principles, Ernest Holmes writes:
“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.”
I look at my life in two sections: before discovering the Science of Mind teachings and after. One of the greatest differences is my awareness—my connection to my “kith,” the place where I stand in the moment, and my connection to my “kin,” which for me is all humanity.
It is important to remember we are all connected energetically. I’m not always fond of that idea—and yet I know it’s true, because I believe “the manifest universe is the body of God.” Which means everything—every tree, every human, every elk, every raindrop—is Divine Intelligence expressing Itself in form.
And because of that truth, it matters what I think, how I feel, what I say, how I react. We are not isolated little islands; we are dominos in a vast field of consciousness.
So I’ll leave you with these questions:
What are your predominant thoughts today?
Are you noticing the beauty of the place you inhabit—your own kith?
Or are you complaining about the weather?
Are you offering grace to the people you encounter?
Or are you judging their appearance or behavior?
We are responsible for the reality we create. I may not always notice the beauty or feel the connection, and yet every single day, I am doing my best. And that’s all any of us can do—show up awake, aware, and willing to be part of the great weaving of kith, kin, and the Divine expressing as each of us.
 |
We’ve all heard the phrase, “Opinions are like… noses; everybody has one.” Our opinions are shaped by our individual experiences. They are our personal beliefs about things, and our beliefs are formulated over time based on our likes, dislikes, and perceptions.
When I was in sixth grade, I had an experience where I was ostracized by all the girls who had been my “friends.” The episode may have lasted only a few weeks, but in my memory it felt like months. From that experience, I created a belief that girls - women - could not be trusted. I believed I had to guard my feelings and emotions, because others might use them against me.
That belief became an opinion about people, based on something that really happened. The fact was, those girls did exclude me. The opinion was, “women can’t be trusted.”
Facts can be tricky. A fact is something that appears to be objectively verifiable - something measurable, observable, or commonly agreed upon. And yet, facts change. What was once considered factual in science, culture, or even in our own memories can shift as new information emerges.
Over time, I came to see that my sixth-grade experience was one small event, not a universal truth. I created new experiences (new “facts”) and discovered that women could, in fact, be some of the most loyal and loving friends imaginable.
In The New Thought Dictionary, Truth is defined as:
“In its universal sense, The Truth means God, Spirit, Reality; in a lesser sense, the word truth designates anything that is true – a psychological truth, a spiritual truth, a physical truth.”
And in The Basic Ideas of Science of Mind, Ernest Holmes reminds us:
“We need to keep clearly in mind the difference between a fact, something that is evident and concrete, and a truth, that which everlastingly is, whether we can see it or not.”
So, I had a very human experience (a fact) and created opinions based on those facts. Yet the Truth remains: God is over us, around us, through us, and as us. We experience our Divinity at the level of our consciousness.
As souls ever expanding, I wonder sometimes if humanity is still learning the same lessons, over and over. History repeats itself - not because Truth changes, but because we forget to apply it.
It’s said that the average American now consumes about 34 gigabytes of information a day. That’s an extraordinary amount of data to process! With so much information coming at us, discernment becomes a spiritual practice.
Discernment helps us ask: Is this information true or merely opinion? If it’s fact, what is it based on? Will it still be a fact six months from now? And it reminds us: It’s always okay to change your mind when you receive new facts. Change is the one constant of life on this earthly plane.
In the introduction to the 1938 edition of The Science of Mind, Ernest Holmes wrote:
“We are not bound by precedent. We are not slaves to any tradition. The revelation of Truth is not closed to the human mind. We are open to the influx of new thought, to the receptive awareness of new ideas.” He later condensed that to the phrase we know so well: “Open at the top.”
This doesn’t mean our philosophy changes; it means we are willing to look at new ways to apply Ancient Wisdom. When we do, we truly embody what it means to have a New Thought.
Rev Gayle
“But the person who goes deeply into [their] own nature will find that God speaks in a language more subtle than the human language, without a tongue, in that universal language of spiritual emotion which is instinctive in humanity, and in brute, and held in common by all civilization, by all creation, by all people who have lived—the universal language of emotion, sense, feeling, intuition, instinct. Sometimes we call it conscience, sometimes we call it a hunch, sometimes we call it a vision, a dream. It makes no difference what we call it. It is a direct revelation of Omniscience through us.” ~Ernest Holmes, Can We Talk to God?, p. 11.4
I sometimes forget the sage wisdom of Ernest Holmes until I stumble upon a passage like this—something I may have read before but somehow missed. His words are both mystical and deeply practical.
Reading this again today, I realized I had no memory of the quote. And yet, it feels brand new and achingly familiar at the same time. That’s the beauty of spiritual growth: we meet truth again and again, each time with new eyes, a new heart, a new awareness.
Holmes reminds us that beneath the words, beneath the personalities and differences, there’s a shared language—the universal current of emotion, sense, feeling, intuition, and instinct. It’s the pulse of God expressing through all creation.
And maybe that’s what it means to love the unlikable—to look past the surface of behavior or belief and listen for the beneathness, that subtle divine language within every soul. When I pause long enough to hear it, judgment softens. Compassion rises. Love expands.
The practice, of course, is not always easy. It asks us to sit in discomfort, to breathe through irritation, to remember that every person—yes, even the ones who push our buttons—is an expression of the Infinite. To love the unlikable doesn’t mean to condone harm or ignore boundaries; it means we seek to understand the divine spark beneath the behavior. That’s the work of consciousness, and it’s the heart of spiritual maturity.
Today, I began a new journey of self-discovery—a 13-month mentorship program exploring multiple modalities of spirituality and healing. When asked what my intention was, I said, “To become an open channel for God; to be a safe space where others may discover their own divinity.” For me, it’s like jumping off the edge of my comfort zone and free-falling into the abyss, trusting that the universal language of the Divine will guide me as I build my net on the way down. That’s faith in action—the willingness to live from the beneathness, trusting the unseen currents of Spirit to hold and guide me.
That’s the invitation of “the beneathness”—to dwell in the depth where God still whispers, beyond words, beyond reason, beyond resistance.
Today, may we choose to listen beneath the noise and remember the universal language of Love.
We Believe in the Unity of ALL Life
In October 1927, in the very first issue of Science of Mind magazine, Ernest Holmes published what became The Science of Mind Declaration of Principles: What We Believe. In it, he wrote:
“We believe in the unity of all life, and that the highest God and the innermost God is one God. We believe that God is personal to all who feel this Indwelling Presence.”
Did you catch that? He didn’t say some—he said all.
That’s a pretty tall order: to believe in the unity of all life and to know that people who don’t think, act, or believe like me still have a personal relationship with God. And yet, that’s exactly what Holmes invites us into—a consciousness where everyone is part of the Divine whole.
But how do we live that out in a world divided around, well… almost everything?
Let’s start with the basics. Remove our outer layer—the skin around our frame—and we’re pretty much the same. I know, I know, some of you just jumped to, “But what about this… or that…?” Sure, there are differences, but overall, we’re far more alike than different on the inside.
Did you know that we humans are born with only two innate fears?
1️⃣ The fear of falling
2️⃣ The fear of loud noises
1️⃣ The fear of falling
2️⃣ The fear of loud noises
That’s it. Every other fear is learned—through experience, conditioning, or culture.
Think about that for a moment. Every other fear, phobia, or dislike, we’ve picked up along the way. And that’s okay—unless we use those learned fears to make other people wrong.
I have my list of things I don’t like (don’t we all?). But the real question is: when do my dislikes keep me from listening to another person?
I personally got off social media because it proved toxic for my soul. Recently, I learned something that confirmed my choice: outrage equals engagement, and engagement equals profit. Algorithms are designed to feed us what keeps us angry—not what keeps us kind or connected. I’m not saying you have to do the same, but I do think it’s wise to be aware.
So what if, the next time someone says something you disagree with, instead of rushing to your “side,” you paused—listened—became curious—and asked kind questions?
Because here’s the truth: We the People are the only ones who can stop the wildfire of hatred, misinformation, and unlikability that’s spreading through our world.
This isn’t a political rally cry. It’s a call to simple human decency, respect, and honor.
We believe in the unity of ALL life.
I wish I could tell you I’m really good at this—but the truth is, I’m still a work in progress.
I wish I could tell you I’m really good at this—but the truth is, I’m still a work in progress.
How about you?
So, what is Spiritual Right Action?
In The Four Sacred Secrets, Spiritual Right Action “is performed when we’re no
longer desperately trying to control the flow of life but, instead, are responding to
life as it arises from a powerful state of consciousness.”
That, in and of itself, is a powerful spiritual practice.
Speaking for myself, the real question becomes: Can I give up my doubts, my
fears, my monkey mind, and step into the absolute knowingness that I am always
connected to that which created all, is all, sees all, and knows all?
I’m good at this when life is going well. But when I’m thrown a curveball, I
sometimes forget. I want to start controlling people, places, and things — because
in that moment, I evidently think I know more than, as Ernest Holmes so lovingly
called it, The Thing Itself.
When Life Throws a Curveball
Recently, as many of you know, our bank account was hacked. By the time I
caught it, the hackers had taken over $7,000.
I’ll be honest — I got caught up in the fear, the anger, and the guilt. Yes, guilt.
Because as smart as I like to think I am about scammers and hackers, I had let
them into my account.
It took three long days and a mountain of frustration to finally get fraud tickets
issued with my bank. Once that happened, I went from feeling like a victim to just
feeling… numb.
On the fourth day, I was pulled out of my funk by an amazing community of
people whose energy helped lift me. Then, on the fifth day, I wrote a letter to God.
I said:
“I know my money that was removed from my account is put back easily and
effortlessly, and it is done quickly.”
I dissolved my inner conflict and let it go.
On day six, all the money was returned to our account.
What I Learned
What I realized — finally — was that not only had the hackers stolen our money, I
had let them steal my peace of mind. I had let them pull me away from my faith
and fill me with doubt, fear, and self-recrimination.
The truth is, my emotions and my responses to what life throws at me are my
responsibility.
I’m not suggesting we avoid our emotions. I’m suggesting we become acutely
aware of them — and then consciously decide whether we’re willing to change how
we feel about something.
How I Return to My Sense of Self
Here are the steps I use to move through stuck emotions and return to the
knowingness of my innate perfection:
* I let myself feel what I feel. I don’t cover it up or mask it. My human self
is allowed to express its hurt and pain. But I don’t build a house there and
hang pictures on the wall, becoming a permanent victim of the experience.
* When I’m ready, I choose to heal the feeling. Holding on to emotions
that don’t serve me keeps me out of the present moment — and can
eventually manifest physically.
* I journal. Getting the story out of my head and onto paper gives it shape
and space, rather than letting it run on an endless loop inside me.
* I reach out for support. Sometimes that means a therapist, sometimes a
prayer practitioner, sometimes a trusted friend.
* I talk to God. I may write a letter or simply speak out loud, but I always
bring it to that Higher Intelligence.
* I let it go. This can be the hardest part. And yet, at some point, I must
decide: Is my happiness worth more than staying stuck? So far, the answer
has always been YES.
Why It Matters
We can’t create — or be truly creative — when we’re in a state of inner conflict.
Finding our Sense of Self isn’t just a gift we give ourselves (though that is reason
enough). It’s also a gift to the people around us. Our energy matters. The
vibration we put into the world makes a difference.
So I ask you:
What impact are you having on your own well-being?
