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Sunday, January 14, 2001   THE WAY IT WORKS          Religious Science churches and centers all over the world begin each New Year by presenting the first four chapters from the Science of Mind, the Philosophy we teach.  These chapters are the heart and soul of Religious Science. Chapter 2 - The Way It Works                                      This Original Life [God] is Infinite.  It is good.  It is filled with peace.  It is of the essence of purity.  It is the ultimate of intelligence.  It is power.  It is Law.  It is Life.  It is in us.  In that inner sanctuary of our own nature, hidden perhaps from objective gaze, "nestles the seed, perfection."                    In our ignorance of the truth, we have misused the highest power we possess.  And so great is this power - so complete is our freedom in it, so absolute the domain of law through it - that the misuse of this power has brought upon us the very conditions from which we suffer.  We are bound because we are free; the power which appears to bind us is the only power in the universe which can free us.  This is why Jesus summed up His whole philosophy in this simple statement:  "It is done unto you as you believe."  The great Teacher looked so deeply into Nature, that She revealed Her fundamental simplicity to him.  That "believe" and that "as" symbolize heaven and hell.  And so we suffer, not because suffering is imposed upon us, but because we are ignorant of our true nature.                     The Thing, then, works for us by working through us and is us, always.  It cannot work for us in any other way.  It spreads Itself over the whole universe and shouts at us from every angle, but It can become power to us ONLY WHEN WE RECOGNIZE IT AS POWER.                       We cannot recognize that It is, while we are believing that It is not.  Hence, it is written:  "they......entered not in because of unbelief." [Heb. 4:6]  We may enter in because of our belief, but we cannot enter while there is unbelief.  Here we come to a house divided against itself.  If we say we can only experience a little good, then we shall experience but a little good.  But, if we say, with Emerson, "There is no great and no small to the soul that maketh all," then we may experience a greater good because we have conceived it.  [Science of Mind by Dr. Ernest Holmes]                      HOW MUCH CAN WE BELIEVE?  The key to demonstration is the word "as."  It is done unto us "as" we believe.  "As" we believe in our idea of success, we succeed.  The moment our belief changes "as" to a belief in failure, we fail.  God can only do for us what God can do through us, so we must master our beliefs.  We must release those beliefs and assumptions that do not serve our highest and greatest good.  We must release the belief in both good and evil as having power.  That which we call evil or fear, only has power when we give it power.  Without our consent and recognition, there is no power other than Good or God.  We cannot have a greater and fuller Life of Good, while we continue to see a world filled with both good and evil experiences and people.  How can a powerless "evil" truly be real?  It has no power of its own to perpetuate itself, only the power that we give it.  But many of us continue to see evil where there is none.  We continue to live with doubt and fear and worry.  We continue to believe that there is safety in "not making waves."  We live in doubt of ourselves, in doubt that we are created in the image and likeness of God.  We doubt our own God-given power.  We are afraid to lose that which gives us not much more than contentment with life, afraid of the unknown and new experiences that perhaps may bring us our greatest joy.  We refuse to change, but hope vainly that tomorrow will be better than today.  Dr. Domenic Polifrone, Spiritual Director of the Hollywood Church for Today, often uses the statement, "if we do the same thing over and over expecting a different result, that is the definition of insanity."                        We cannot expect our Life to change unless we are willing to change with it.  It will not happen!  To study a spiritual teaching and not use what we learn to "spiritualize" our experiences is a waste of time.  It is taking powerful Principles and reducing them to little more than a "feel good for the moment" pop-psychology.  Going to the movies or watching a football game will give us the same results.  We feel good, we feel excited - movie over - game over - we face the same problems, the same discontent, the same lack of passion in our lives.  We must apply spiritual principles in our lives.  We must begin to "see" the spiritual activity of our daily living, in our circumstances and our relationships.  Back of all activity in our lives is God, waiting to be recognized as Peace, Harmony, Happiness, Joy, Freedom, Beauty and Love.  It is our divine right to experience "the gladness of heart" that the psalmist wrote about.  We must stop looking at our life as a mix of good and bad, greater and lesser.  We must develop an inner confidence in the Good that God Is.  We must let God be revealed as the only Power and Presence in our lives.  We must stop seeing ourselves as less than anything but powerful, beautiful and dynamic.                          We must release our imprisoned splendor to truly experience this "Thing called Life."  God will give us the opportunity - but do we have the courage to take what is ours?  We must quit seeing a "caution light" in front of us and see the "light green" - we must stop hanging on to our old ways and assumptions with a clenched fist - it is time to move forward - with excitement - to live life as an adventure - with passion!  We must courageously walk in the Truth of our "Real Self" - no matter how wonderful it is!                         From the Science of Mind:  Then, knowing that The Thing can work for us only through us, let us begin to accept today more good than we experienced yesterday, and to know that we shall reap a harvest of fulfilled desires.        And So It Is!            Letting Love use me in Its own Good Way, Henry Lee Batesf Angels Church