I’m a huge fan of The Crown on Netflix and binge-watched all of season three over the holidays. In a recent episode, Prince Philip realizes he has lost his faith. The character says,
“It’s been more of a gradual thing: a drip, drip, drip of doubt, disaffection, disease, discomfort. … [and] compulsive over-exercising. An inability to find calm or satisfaction or fulfillment.”
While this is fiction, I could relate. Above all, because of the news, I think much of the country would say they could relate.
In the end, the fictionalized Prince Philip finds a path back to his faith in a spiritual community; a community where he can think, talk and pray about greater and grander ideas and concepts. Being in community is one of our spiritual practices and, while many of our spiritual practices are individual activities, some can and do benefit from being done together. As a visual, I picture it as a spiraling vortex of group consciousness reaching skyward, raising and lifting everyone caught up in its energy.
This month Dr. Heather will be focusing on the basics of Science of Mind principles, using the textbook as a reference for her talks. What would the textbook say about doubt? I found this quote on page 289:
“Never let anything cause you to doubt your ability to demonstrate the Truth. CONCEIVE OF YOUR WORD AS BEING THE THING. See the desire as an already accomplished fact and rest in perfect confidence, peace, and certainty, never looking for results, never wondering, never becoming anxious, never being hurried nor worried. Those who do not understand this attitude may think you are inactive but remember: “To him who can perfectly practice inaction, all things are possible.”
January’s annual Back to the Basic talks is my favorite theme. They bring me back to the roots of the teaching. Whether you’ve read the textbook hundreds of times or never, this month is a great time to find the gem passages that remind you to have faith. And, like Prince Philip, you just might benefit from our community of people to share it with.
See you on Sundays!
Thanks for this post, Juli. It reminds me when I was first feeling the need to find a spiritual home…how I felt when I first walked into my future church, and how it keeps me feeling and being centered and grounded.