Dear Friends of Grants Pass Center for Spiritual Living,

January seemed to scoot by so quickly that I didn’t get my newsletter out before I realized, “Oh my gosh, it’s February! How did that happen?” So, I’m combining January and February. Maybe that’s a better way to deliver my newsletter, every two months. It certainly gives me a lot more to report. 

January was our back to basics month and it seemed to me to be very successful. I think it’s very important to refresh our understanding of basic principles at least once a year. Through January, all United Centers have traditionally covered the first four sections of the Science of Mind textbook, by Ernest Holmes. The basic principles covered in these sections are the foundations of our belief system. Dr. Holmes wrote these ideas out in great detail in the “What We Believe” statement which is available on our website www.grantspasscsl.org and also on the United Center website www.unitedcenterforspiritualliving.org. I encourage you to read it and if there are things you don’t understand please ask questions. I’m always available for clarification as are our wonderful Practitioners. (See the back of the Sunday bulletin for names and contact information.) 

Now that we are solidly into 2010 I am working toward implementing some of the things that I would love to see blossom at GPCSL. This Sunday, February 7 at 12:15 right after the Sunday service, I’m starting an “Unexpected Income Club”. This is open to anyone who would like to see his or her financial abundance increase. In our philosophy we teach that God (Spirit, Consciousness, whatever name works for you) is the supply of everything…including money. If God is the supply of money, then to manifest money in our lives, we have to begin at the cause, which is God (or Consciousness). In our “Unexpected Income Club”, we will be using the principles laid out for us in the book, Spiritual Economics, by Eric Butterworth. We have copies of the book in our book store. We’ll be discussing the principles of abundance and I’ll be presenting some exercises, affirmations and spiritual mind treatments (affirmative prayer) for applying these principles in user friendly ways in our daily lives. We will ask you to tithe 10% of your unexpected income to our Center to keep the law of circulation moving in your life. It will be a wonderful experiment or as Ernest Holmes calls it “proof” of the spiritual principles we teach. I invite and encourage all of you to join the discussion and enjoy the wonderful gift of abundance we’ll all be participating in. 

Let me share here a paragraph from a little publication by Ernest Holmes called, The Philosophy of Jesus. For me this speaks directly to the power available in effective prayer and what we will be putting into action in our “Unexpected Income Club”. He writes, “Jesus, in many ways, demonstrated the availability of the Law of Mind to meet human needs, wherever and whenever they arose. Perhaps we have fallen into the mistake of thinking that the Law is available only for a few purposes. We should use spiritual Power in everything we do, and we should have such a complete evidence that this Power actually exists that there will be no question about it in our minds. Jesus said, “These signs shall follow them that believe.” Taking his teaching as the great example, we should expect signs following our prayers of faith.”

I have to confess that this year I’ve experienced a challenge in deciding what classes to offer and when to offer them. I usually try to offer a Foundations class (or its equivalent) early in the year to meet the needs of those who have recently been introduced to the Science of Mind philosophy. I believe the classes offer a beautiful opportunity to really explore our philosophy in depth and share the experience with others. We always have lively and probing discussions that serve to help all of us understand the deep teachings of Science of Mind and how to apply them in our lives. 

This year I’m also facilitating the first year Practitioner students in Prac I, so I’ve had a challenge finding a way to do both Prac I and Foundations. I tried teaching two classes at once last fall and found it to be a bit too much. To accommodate everyone, I finally decided to teach the second 10 week session of Prac I and then move into a version of the basic Foundations class called, “Beyond Limits”. That class will be held on Wednesday evening at 5:30 beginning on March 10. 

During the summer months when I’m not teaching elementary school, I’m available to teach two classes. So, I will offer the “Beyond Limits” class during the day for those that preferred that time. Also, Rev. Helen Downey and Cheryl Long Riffle RScP will assist in teaching and offering workshops and other classes in addition to the “Beyond Limits” curriculum. We’ll let you know more about the additional offerings as we make plans. 

Things in the Center have been running very smoothly. We have raised $3,900 toward reaching our goal of $5,000 for our new deck and we’re hoping to begin construction very soon. We’re knowing that the raffle and other fund raisers will top us off to meet our goal. 

The transition of Cathye Mason from bookkeeper to Judi Holdeman is complete. Let me take this opportunity to thank Cathye for her service over the last years. We are deeply grateful. Also, thank you Pearl Ward for her years of service in the bookstore and thank you Donna Bachek for stepping in. All your service is so deeply appreciated. 

I’m enjoying my leadership role in GPCSL. I am learning so much from the experience and I’m learning the deep meaning of “community”. So many of you show up in service every day and it is a wonderful thing to behold. My heart has cracked open even wider in gratitude. I wait with great expectancy to see what Spirit will unfold for us throughout this next year. 

In loving gratitude,

Rev. Michelle Ingalls

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