Celebrating Our History

In October 1927, Dr. Ernest Holmes brought Science of Mind magazine to life under the title Religious Science: A Magazine of Christian Philosophy. His first article was about the power of visualization.

Holmes received numerous honorary doctorates in his lifetime as he studied and shared the golden threads of truth among the world’s religions.

This year, our beloved magazine celebrates 94 years in continuous publication. We continue to honor our history and our founder each month, as we include an article from Holmes in each edition, along with a quote from him on each of our Daily Guides.

As we do each year in October, our Daily Guides each feature the work of Dr. Holmes, as curated by Rev. Dr. Jesse Jennings. In so doing, we honor the timeless wisdom and teachings of our founder.

An Adventure in Faith

By — Dr. Ernest Holmes

Shall we live in fear of in faith? Shall we live in confusion or in the peace that comes from a deep and abiding conviction that there is a Power greater than we are, ready, willing and able to work for us?

I think the outstanding thing in the new spiritual outlook of today is that we are called on to invite this Presence, to experience with this Power and actually to live as though God were present with us right now.

But we should not expect to change our whole mode of thinking in a moment’s time. … The training of the mind to think differently is simple enough, but I would not say it is easy, for a thing can be simple without being easy. And again this is where faith must be used, faith in a Power greater than we are, based on the firm conviction that we live in a Divine Presence, which wishes only good for us, and that God has intended that every man should be well and happy and successful. …

This is the great challenge. It is also the great adventure — the adventure of faith in a Power greater than we are, the challenge of a Love that abides forever.

— Excerpted from Ideas for Living by Ernest Holmes.

All Paths Travel Together

Each month, Rev. Dr. David Alexander writes a column in Science of Mind magazine, offering insights into the writings of Dr. Holmes. Responding in the October 2021 issue to “An Adventure in Faith,” Dr. Alexander asks, “How far would we be able to go if we all worked together?”

“If you have read much from our founder,” he writes, “you will know he had a wide breadth of spiritual knowledge and he leaned on the life and ministry of Jesus frequently. He did not do this because he thought Christianity was superior or some special revelation unique from others; rather, he did it, I believe, because of the simplicity found in the practical application of consciousness in the man called Jesus.”

Alexander explains that the message of Jesus focused on three distinct areas: a critique of empire, a call for justice and an invitation to develop, discover and depend on the unlimited power of Spirit.

“Imagine,” he writes, “how far we could go if we did not have to choose one path over the other. What is they all traveled together?”