Changes Are Necessary
Ernest Holmes

As rivers have their source in some far off fountain, so the human spirit has its source. To find his fountain of spirit is to learn the secret of heaven and earth. ~Lao-Tzu

We are living in a world of continual change, a world in which thought, thing, and experience are all in a constant state of flux. It is the very nature of the universe that there should be continual change and variation. It is a living world, the creation of a living creative Intelligence, not a static world created by a God now dead or departed who has left it to decay. No. It is vital and alive. The Mind that created it is not apart from it, but is always active in and through it.

But behind that which changes, behind that which causes the change, we have found that there is something stable and changeless—something eternal upon which all of the external events depend for their very existence. Behind the endless process of change and the infinite variety of experience and expression, there is that which does not change.

We should never be afraid of change, never fearful of what will come. Instead, we should bring to bear on each new event the influence of the creative nature of our thought—an influence that is founded on an inward calm, a sense of certainty and peace, which will reflect itself in the changing scene of our everyday lives.

As we look for and discover the nature of the Infinite which does not change, we find that we develop a complete trust in the integrity of It. We are again reminded of Einstein’s remark that “God does not play dice with the cosmos.” And we then come to possess a feeling of security which is enhanced by the knowledge that each of us has a personal and intimate relationship with the Infinite. It is from this basis of certainty—this sense and awareness of our relationship to God, who is changeless but from whom flow infinite expressions—that all our thoughts should flow.

Excerpted from A New Design for Living by Ernest Holmes, Tarcher/Penguin Publishing.

Martha Beck Helps Us Find Our Way

Life coach and renowned author Martha Beck, “Navigating Waves of Change,” Science of Mind June 2012, offers us tools to become modern day “wayfinders.” Beck’s humorous, engaging style and profound content appeal to a wide variety of readers. She is a monthly columnist for O, The Oprah Magazine and has also written for many other publications such as The New York Times Book Review, Good Housekeeping, Parenting Magazine, Reader’s Digest, Redbook, Real Simple, Mademoiselle, and Chicken Soup for the Parent’s Soul. Beck is the author of several international best sellers, including Expecting Adam, Finding Your Own North Star, and Steering by Starlight. USA Today and Psychology Today have referred to her as “the best-known life coach in America.” Martha Beck lives with her family in Phoenix, Arizona.

Click here to watch Martha Beck discuss her new book Finding Your Way in a Wild New World. For more information, please visit marthabeck.com.

The Power of Music
Kent Rautenstraus

Beloved musician and Science of Mind journalist Kent Rautenstraus shares his personal experience with the transformational power of music.

My parents told me that the first word I uttered was ‘ray-dough,” which they translated as radio. My ears apparently perked up when music played from the console radio in the living room. From the time I was a baby, music was my thing!

At four, with loving nurturance from a musical grandmother, I figured out the melody of “Jesus Loves Me” on her Magnus chord organ. I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to know how to play music, being so young. Nobody told me. Then at eight, I played my first solo at Mountain View Elementary School, “The Friendly Beasts,” a Christmas carol I’ve never heard since. I was hooked on being a musician.

By the late ’seventies, I was in college and Grandma was in a nursing home. She couldn’t remember my name, but we would sit down at the piano and play a duet, “In the Gloaming,” a favorite song from her childhood. She played the melody flawlessly in the treble part of the piano, while I chorded the song in the lower octaves, and I began to suspect that there was a power in music beyond my then-understanding. How else could Grandma remember an old song but not know who I was? Years later, I discovered that music is stored in a part of the brain not affected by dementia.

As a new dad, I played super-silly, child-friendly piano songs around the house. One Saturday morning, my wife snapped an impromptu photograph of seventeen-month-old Melody snuggling up to me while I played “The Wheels on The Bus.” It remains to this day one of the most precious possessions of my life (she’s now twenty). This little soul also loved music from the time she was born. Whew, glad she also likes her name of Melody, too!

Now in my work as Music Director at Mile Hi Church in Denver, I witness the healing power of music in the life of our congregation, and I try to bring forward music that will connect us to a profound experience of the sacred. For me, music remains that clear, beautiful gift of Spirit that—in the words of the beloved hymn—“sings my soul.” I know I’ll never lose the wonder and awe for such a harmonious expression of the Infinite. Ray-dough!

“Bringing Harmony to the Soul”—Live!

In “Bringing Harmony to the Soul,” Kent Rautenstraus inspires readers to use music and sound to empower their lives. Click here for an opportunity to deepen your understanding with videos that demonstrate the power of sound.