I am grateful for what I am and have.
My thanksgiving is perpetual. — Henry David Thoreau

Our Essential Nature

“Being happy, loving, joyful and peaceful means being right where we are, with whoever we're with,” Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Cantey says. “It means that we see the good and the God in everything. We don't have to hide in a cave in the Himalayas or go out and change anything. The joy and peace of life is expressing right where we are.”

In the November 2023 Science of Mind magazine, Editor & Creative Director Holli Sharp shares with readers her interview with Cantey and insights from Cantey's guide to creating your best life.

Cantey believes enlightenment is the grace of God unfolding through her. She defines enlightenment as being our eternal, powerful, loving, creative selves, right here and now.  “When you realize this truth of your being,” she says, “it's so natural and normal. There's nothing exotic about it. There's nothing we have to learn or attain. It's sweet remembrance.”

Sharp writes, “Cantey asked herself what stood in the way of her remembrance. And her answer came: I don't have to add anything, but I have to release the idea that I am a separate self. The original meaning of individual is indivisible, of the same stuff. The whole expresses as each and every one of us.”

When we reside in the present moment as the remembrance of Spirit, “we take down the walls and barricades,” Sharp says. “We remove the thoughts and judgments. We simply rest in our eternal oneness.”

She adds, “We're sourced by Spirit. Spirit is for us, so nothing is against us.” And that is cause enough for perpetual thanksgiving.

— Read the full feature by Editor & Creative Director Holli Sharp in the November 2023 Science of Mind magazine.

I Have No Complaint Whatsoever

Daily Guide for Thanksgiving, November 23, 2023, by Sally Robbins

The concept of being thankful, no matter what, intrigues me. Can I really be thankful for everything in my life?

On this day, when Americans celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, I remember reading about a Zen master, Sono, who embraced a spiritual practice of endless thanksgiving.

People came to Sono from near and far to hear her wisdom, even though it was exactly the same advice every time. Whether the stories presented to her were about illness, suffering, heartbreak — it didn't matter. Each time a person presented their difficulty, she would offer this powerful practice: Every morning and every evening, and whenever anything happens to you, simply say, “Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever.”

In the Zen story, Sono gives this advice to a man who goes back home and for a year adopts the practice. He returned to Sono, however, and said, “I've done as you asked, and a year later I'm still as miserable as I was before.” Sono looked into his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, “Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever.” In that instant, the man understood the lesson and returned home filled with happiness.

Pronoia, the opposite of paranoia, is the belief that everything works together for our good. When I trust that the universe has my back, I truly can be thankful for every person and situation in my life.

—Reprinted from the November 2023 Science of Mind magazine.

An attitude of gratitude is most salutary and bespeaks the realization that we are now in heaven. — Ernest Holmes,
”The Science of Mind,” page 497