LIVING AUTHENTICALLY IN CHALLENGING TIMES

“Whatever happens, stay alive. Don’t die before you’re dead. Don’t lose yourself, don’t lose hope, don’t lose direction.

Stay alive, with yourself, with every cell of your body, with every fiber of your skin. 

Stay alive, learn, study, think, read, build, invent, create, speak, write, dream, design.

Stay alive, stay alive inside you, stay alive also outside, fill yourself with colors of the world, fill yourself with peace, fill yourself with hope.

Stay alive with joy. 

There is only one thing you should not waste in life, and that’s life itself.”

~Virginia Woolf

Lots to be concerned about in the world today. While I don’t want to minimize any of it, I do want to remind you that it is more important that you not minimize yourself – your wisdom, your strength, your grit – during these times.

As far as I know, there has never been a time in human history when there were no challenges, no difficult people, no people who saw things differently, no natural disasters, no storms.

What makes these times different is our access to nearly instantaneous information about most, if not everything on the planet. This abundance of information is available on devices we carry with us throughout our day. We don’t have to go to a special place to access this information, or wait for the morning or evening editions of the newspapers, or the network television news, or for our neighbors to fill us in. It’s all streaming in the present moment.

Now, I know that a fair amount of this information is not accurate, sometimes because all the information is not available yet, sometimes because of innocent mistakes, and sometimes because of deliberate withholding or falsification. So, some of what we get isn’t true.

Of course, it has always been the case that false or mistaken information existed, and in each technological era there have been challenges in determining what is accurate and true.

“What we see depends mainly on what we look for.”

~ John Lubbock 

Which brings me to the topic of the post – how do we live a good and positive life in challenging times?

I think the answer is pretty much what it has always been, do your best to develop a healthy self-concept – to see yourself with radical honesty and to experience your own inner genius. Then, bring that awareness to the challenges the times.

Finding and living from that authentic center happens emotionally:

“Emotional intelligence is about so much more than recognizing, naming, honoring, feeling and expressing your authentic emotions. It also consists of alchemizing and transmuting them, releasing the heart wall, healing the emotional body and developing emotional regulation skills.”

~ Mary Amhasnaa

It happens in recognizing the validity of your own story:

“Never for the sake of convenience or acceptance give up the authenticity of your journey.”

~ Bishop Yvette Flunder

The authentic center brings with it your authentic voice:

“The voice of doubt, shame, and guilt blaring in our heads is not our voice. It is a voice we have been given by a society steeped in shame. It is the ‘outside voice.’ Our authentic voice, our ‘inside voice,’ is the voice of radical self-love!”

~ Sonya Renee Taylor, The Body Is Not an Apology

And the realization of the authentic self carries us through our suffering:

“Jung observed that a neurosis is always found in the flight from authentic suffering. Naturally, no one wants to suffer, but Jung’s observation suggests that there is a distinction between authentic and inauthentic suffering.”

~ James Hollis

When I am centered in the realization of my authentic self, I find qualities such as love, courage despite fear, clarity of purpose, the ability to see people as they are, and the recognition of what is mine to do. It brings me into my own power.

“Power is about presence. It’s the energy of knowing that you are who you are and speaking and acting from your authentic self. It doesn’t matter what your work is; it is your presence that’s the power…the expression of who you are.”

~ Marion Woodman

We are called in these times, in our times, to be immense. To face our fears and demand that humanity become The Beloved Community. Perhaps not in this time, or even our own lifetimes, but the seeds which have been planted by countless ancestors need to be nurtured and kept alive even as we plant more seeds day by day.

The point of this essay is this:

SPIRITUAL BELIEF WITHOUT PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH AND STABILITY IS DANGEROUS TO YOURSELF AND OTHERS.

We must develop our emotional intelligence along with our spiritual growth, doing this by beginning with our inner work, our spiritual practices, to recognize and call forth our inner power, wisdom, and love to be applied with clarity to the challenges we face. And by seeking psychological and emotional development, if not via our spiritual community, from other trusted sources.

From this place of realization of who we authentically are, we speak truth to power; we stand for fairness, justice, and equality; and we act in accordance with what we know to be right.

“The question is not why are we so infrequently the people we really want to be, but why do we so infrequently want to be the people we really are. Living a life of fulfillment that offers something of value to the world starts with radical self-knowledge, self-awareness and self-acceptance. Our task is to be who we are at the deepest level of being.”

~ Oriah Mountain Dreamer, The Dance

As always, your comments are welcome. Please share with others who may be interested.

Copyright 2026 – Jim Lockard

WE ARE IN A TIME OF POLYCRISIS – WHAT IS BEING CALLED FORTH FROM WITHIN?

“If you’ve been feeling confused and as though everything is impacting on you all at the same time, this is not a personal, private experience. This is actually a collective experience.”

~ Adam Tooze, Historian

According to Wikipedia, a polycrisis (from the French polycrise) is a situation in which multiple, distinct crises (economic, environmental, geopolitical, social, or technological) occur simultaneously and interact in ways that amplify each other, producing outcomes more severe than the sum of the individual crises.

There has been a barrage of bad news for several decades now; some of it accurate some not, some a result of the increase in media promoting ideology and the explosion of social media platforms. We are all affected by the state of humanity and the planet, some more than others. But we are all in a state of psychological and spiritual challenge – needing to find something greater within ourselves to bring forth to express in these times.

Some see this time of polycrisis as leading toward an evolutionary jump – as has been the case so often in history. The late futurist, Barbara Marx Hubard saw it this way.

“Many see looming catastrophe, but few of us have realized that this crisis is driving us toward positive change, a quantum transformation.” 

~ Barbara Marx Hubbard

“There is a system within nature that seems to lead to a crisis of one form of development that begins to become chaotic, begins to come into greater disorder and greater breakdown, and there is a pattern in these quantum jumps in which the system jumps to a higher order.”

~ Barbara Marx Hubbard

While this certainly may be the case, it does not lessen the pressure that we face. These evolutionary jumps often leave many behind, generate chaos, even wars and death. Any evolutionary leap requires some chaos, some destruction of the status quo, often suddenly and powerfully. Evidence shows us that evolution is careless of the individual in its endless drive toward something more. Evidence also shows us that what we have been doing is insufficient for the present and for an increasingly challenging future. So, what are we to do?

We know that we humans can rise to challenges, no matter how difficult. Communities come together when the river rises or the hurricane hits; people rush into danger to save complete strangers. One thing to know is that we all have within us this strength and compassion – our Soul contains everything we need to survive and thrive. We need to learn to bring it forth consciously and consistently.

“Often a collapse, a breakdown, a depression — some sort of unsolvable crisis is required before the soul’s message is heard.”

~ Phil Rockstroh

Some of us may require some significant breakdown before we can see the issue, deal with the threat, or listen to the soul. In our current state of polycrisis, there are certainly an ample number of seemingly unsolvable crises unfolding.

“In moments of spiritual crisis we fall back upon what worked before – through the reassertion of our old values in belligerent ways.”

~ James Hollis

Our calling is to transform ourselves, our communities, and our societies. To accomplish this, we must heal ourselves of our limited conditioning, to do regular practices which support this healing, and to engage in our communities and society as an imperfect, but largely healed person. This necessitates confronting our inner demons, our repressed shadow elements, and any sense of our own unworthiness. All of this is on our agenda, and unless we attend to it in a loving, disciplined, and compassionate manner, we will be stuck where we are, unable to bring the best our ourselves to the challenges we face.

It also requires us to grieve what we have lost and what we are consciously giving up to allow us our spiritual growth. We will need to say goodbye to some of our own sacred cows; to release what does not serve our growth, and to grieve properly.

‎”Wake up! Your word is all powerful. Your consciousness is one with Omnipotence. Your thought is infinite. Your destiny is eternal and your home is everlasting heaven.”

~ Ernest Holmes

The critical role of spiritual community in this process is to teach the teaching and to provide a container for development along the painful path of self-realization and awakening. Our church community needs to develop as well, particularly the spiritual leaders and teachers who will need to be capable of the tough love and compassion necessary for this transformation to occur. The Beloved Community will only be realized when enough of us have done the work of realizing who we are and then fully accepting our divine nature.

Whatever and how many crises are touching our lives, we must know that we have within us the capacity to survive and thrive.

“Our culture makes it hard to get in touch with the genuine dimensions of our despair, and until we do, our power of creative response to planetary crisis will be crippled. Until we can grieve for our planet and its future inhabitants, we cannot fully feel or enact our love for them. Such grief is frequently suppressed, not only because it is socially awkward, but also because it is both hard to credit and very painful. At the root of both these inhibitions lies a dysfunctional notion of the self, as an isolated and fragile entity.”

~ Joanna Macy

Join me in affirming:

This is my year of resurrection! I willingly release what no longer serves me in my spiritual growth and commit to the path of awakening and self-realization beginning now.

I know that the True Me is contained in my fullness in the Soul of my being. I commit to doing the work to reconnect with this source of wisdom, healing, and love within me. I am becoming the best version of me, which is enough to live the life of my dreams AND to be a constructive element in every community to which I belong.

I begin now and revisit this statement every day as I do my spiritual practices. As I do this work moment by moment each day, I envision myself whole and complete.

And so it is.

Copyright 2026 – Jim Lockard

ON INTEGRITY

Integrity is a shared process.

Integrity is interrelational.

Integrity is contextual.

Integrity is integrating.

Integrity is unscripted.

Integrity is a kind of super-attention.

Integrity is watching for the cracks in what you thought you knew.

Integrity is willingness to learn together.

~ Nora Bateson

Integrity is an important word and concept. It is critically important in spiritual and religious circles. Without integrity there can be no real spiritual growth in an individual or group. You can say that integrity is integral to attaining true fulfillment as a spiritual student.

The revelation that spiritual guru Deepak Chopra is mentioned multiple times in the email files linked to the Jeffrey Epstein case is, at a minimum, disturbing (LINK). A deeper dive into the situation, including how often so-called spiritual celebrities have difficulty maintaining integrity is here (LINK).

“My intent is to be generous of spirit and live with total integrity every day of my life.”
~ Deepak Chopra

“There is no such thing as a minor lapse of integrity.”
~ Tom Peters

I have often considered some spiritual celebrities as conduits to New Thought for many people. Author Wayne Dyer was such a way shower for me, leading me to being open enough to explore the Science of Mind in the 1980’s. I am grateful for that, and for much of the wisdom that Dyer shared over the years, even though he had his own lapses of integrity, including this (LINK).

One of the most disturbing factors of the crimes associated with Jeffrey Epstein and his wide circle of influential friends and clients is the extent to which such horrific behavior went on and was widely known (and therefore condoned). The victims numbered in the hundreds, and almost all were children at the time. The perpetrators number in the dozens, perhaps even the hundreds, and include world and business leaders. What all of this says about our society is worthy of deep reflection.

But our own house in spirituality and religion is far from perfect. The victims of failures of integrity by religious leaders number in the millions. This has been compounded by the repeated failure of those responsible to demand accountability by transgressors. And even when accountability has occurred, the results are often kept confidential allowing the perpetrators to relocate and offend again. Such violations of trust drive people from spiritual communities.

“As long as you have certain desires about how it ought to be you can’t see how it is.”
~ Ram Dass

We in spiritual communities and organizations have an interest in thinking of ourselves as good people, and we have an interest in being spiritual, which often means to be “nice,” no matter what. I have seen spiritual leaders who were toxic (LINK) protected by congregants, boards, and organizations. This was done for reasons including personal loyalty, a desire not to have a scandal revealed, or a sense that accusations must be proven beyond a doubt.

We in New Thought are nice people as a rule. We tend to think that we live in a friendly, even moral, universe and that people are basically good. We often pay a severe price for these beliefs.

“The opposite of reflexive niceness is integrity.”
~ James Hollis, Jungian analyst

Let’s look at these beliefs:

Our universe is not friendly or moral. It is evolutionary and amoral. We exist in our current forms because of violent collisions of planets, stars, and galaxies which allowed more complex elements to be formed and spread over wide distances. We exist in our current forms because of biological evolution, whose processes toward greater complexity and adaptation have resulted in the extinction of over 99% of all the species which have existed on earth. And we know that we are a transitional species, just as all others are; we will either evolve to more complex and well-adapted beings or become extinct as an evolutionary dead-end. Evolution is careless of the individual and of the species by nature.

Morality does not appear in our universe except as a human invention. Other species may and do cooperate, but they do so as a survival mechanism. Humans are capable of moral thought and actions, but it is something which must be learned and reinforced in the social structures around us. It too, is an evolutionary adaptation.

People have the capacity to be good and moral, but any number of things can limit that capacity, sometimes severely. We know scientifically that psychopaths have little or no ability for moral action or regret due to brain injuries, often occurring when in childhood. Research has shown that most psychopaths and sociopaths are incapable of regaining a sense of morality through any known treatments.

Of course, everyone who commits a violation of integrity does not have a physical condition limiting their capacity. In most cases, people simply decide to act out of integrity, usually by using rationalization. Everyone has done something out of integrity; most of us just about every day in some minor or significant way. It is important to remember that such actions are the result of a divided self, a self which is not integral.

Spiritual study and practices are in large part about realizing one’s wholeness, one’s integrity. To be in integrity means to be in your deepest truth. As that truth is realized more and more, it means to refuse to participate in behaviors which are out of integrity. It also means to speak out for integrity and justice and love in every community to which one belongs.

The Beloved Community does not tolerate behaviors which are out of integrity. Therefore, it requires people who are compassionate to fulfill their potential. We cannot be truly compassionate if we are out of integrity in our own lives; our communities cannot be compassionate if members are silent or complicit in behaviors which are out of integrity.

Our spiritual gurus know this yet often fail. We know this yet often fail. Our compassion is the only thing that can lead us to the realization of our true spiritual potential.

“Contradictions, whether personal or social, that could once remain hidden are coming unstoppably to light. It is getting harder to uphold a divided self….The trend toward transparency that is happening on the systems level is also happening in our personal relationships and within ourselves. Invisible inconsistencies, hiding, pretense, and self-deception show themselves as the light of attention turns inward….The exposure and clearing of hidden contradictions brings us to a higher degree of integrity, and frees up prodigious amounts of energy that had been consumed in the maintenance of illusions. What will our society be capable of, when we are no longer wallowing in pretense?”
~ Charles Eisenstein

Copyright 2025 – Jim Lockard

SELF-TALK IS A KEY TO SPIRITUAL GROWTH – PART 2, FOR NEURODIVERSE THINKERS

“There is no single spectrum. Every child colors their world in their own way—and every hue is worthy of love.”
~ Dr. Simbi Animashaun, 
Spectrum of Love: My Journey Through Autism (LINK)

“For anyone who was ever told they were too much or not enough, who tried to fit into boxes that were never made for them, who was told to quiet their spark or dim their light to make others comfortable, and who has been waiting their whole lives to hear: You are exactly right as you are. It is your time to thrive.”
~ Ronen Dancziger

The Therapist’s Handbook for Neurodivergent People (LINK)

NOTE: I am not in any way an expert in the subject matter below. I have done some research and had a number of conversations and some experiences with neurodiverse thinkers. The purpose of this post is to bring awareness to our New Thought communities.

In Part 1 (LINK) of this series, we explored the importance of “self-talk,” of the process of thinking and feeling which builds new beliefs or supports existing ones in the subconscious. Much of the practice of New Thought teachings involves using directed affirmative thought with appropriate images and emotions. For many, perhaps most, people, the ability to do this is a natural part of life.

But we know that everyone does not think in the same way. Neurodivergent thinkers (usually defined as ADD/ADHD, some Autism Spectrum, Aphantasia, and more), have been a too-often overlooked group historically in New Thought. There are a number of reasons for this, mainly a lack of awareness of the dynamics of neurodynamic ways of thinking, and people often did not let teachers know they were neurodivergent because they may have been ashamed or, in some cases, unaware that they had different thinking dynamics.

“Neurodiversity is not just a matter of social justice, it is a matter of human rights.”
~ Judy Singer, author, and activist

I recall several students who told me that they did not experience mental images (Aphantasia). After learning this, I would usually ask at the beginning of a class is anyone had problems with mental images. A few did. I need to teach differently for them – some of them could not imagine emotions, either. This article in The New Yorker Magazine’s Nov 3, 2025 issue speaks to this issue, but may be paywalled (LINK). In the article, some people with Aphantasia did not know until adulthood that their thinking dynamics were different. They would hear about people thinking in images and believe that it was a metaphor or something.

From the article: “For some reason, these sentences revealed all at once to Nick what in the whole course of his life he had not realized: that it was possible to see pictures in your mind and use those pictures to reëxperience your past. This was startling information.[1]”

The term ‘neurodiversity’ was coined in 1997 by Australian sociologist Judy Singer. In her words: “As a word, ‘neurodiversity’ describes the whole of humanity. But the neurodiversity movement is a political movement for people who want their human rights.”  

Professionals concerned with neurodiversity/neurodivergence are in a “sorting-out” phase, as the definitions have expanded to encompass a wider range of experiences than the core ‘neurodivergent’ presentations typically labelled as autism, ASD or ADHD. This issue is addressed here (LINK).

“Your neurodivergent brain isn’t something to overcome. It’s something to understand, appreciate, and work with. Let’s figure out how to do that, together. You Already Have Everything You Need.”
~ Ronen Dancziger

“Neurodivergence doesn’t follow a straight line. It curves, overlaps, and branches into complex, beautiful configurations.”
~ Ronen Dancziger

For those of us who teach what we call “mental science,” this is, or ought to be, a wakeup call. When we say that our teaching is for everyone, how do we define that? While some neurodivergent people may be unable to direct their thinking, imaginations, and emotions toward specific ideas, goals, and outcomes, many do have that capability. While not being line neurotypical people, neurodivergent people are capable of great mental abilities. For example, it is said that a significant number of scientists and mathematicians are neurodivergent in some ways.

I don’t have a prescription for the best way for New Thought teachers to help those whose thinking patterns do not match our normal teaching patterns. Other than the patience to develop the awareness of the difficulties some will face, and the willingness to seek resources and other assistance when such cases arise. Here are some resources.

RESOURCES:

National Library of Medicine, Topic: Neurodiversity – (LINK)

Neurodiversity Hub – (LINK)

Carlton Training: Adapting Teaching Methods for Neurodiverse Adult Learners – (LINK)

Thriving Wellness Center – Resources for Neurodivergent Adults – (LINK)

Heinemann Publishing – Neurodiversity Resources for Educators – (LINK)

These should get you started.

Our self-talk is critical to our expressions of our true self – of who we really are. It is important that everyone who can learn to make their self-talk more effective in this regard have the opportunity to do so.

“No, autism is not a ‘gift’. For most, it is an endless fight against schools, workplaces, and bullies. But, under the right circumstances, given the right adjustments, it CAN be a superpower.”
~ Greta Thunberg: environmental activist

“Neurodiversity is not about changing people. It’s about changing society’s perception of people.”
~ Nick Walker, author and activist

As always, your comments are welcomed. If you want to comment about your own or someone else’s experience with neurodiversity, please respect privacy in your comments. Please share this post with others who may be interested.

Copyright 2025 – Jim Lockard

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[1] From: Some People Can’t See Mental Images. The Consequences Are Profound, by Larissa MacFarquhar, New Yorker, Nov 3, 2025

SELF-TALK IS A KEY TO SPIRITUAL GROWTH –

PART 1, FOR NEUROTYPICAL THINKERS

“If your friends talked to you the way you talk to yourself sometimes, would you keep them as friends?”
~ Lou Tice

Our inner dialogue, the way we think and feel about ourselves, is a major key to our spiritual, psychological, and physical well-being; it is particularly true in challenging times when we are bombarded with negative input from the world around us. This basic truth is of critical importance to the student of New Thought.

We all need to wrangle the “monkey mind” to lower the volume and, most importantly, change the tone from negativity to affirmation, from self-doubt (even self-hatred) to self-love. Most of our thinking is in patterns we have set down over time, conditioning ourselves into a track which we cannot leave without lots of conscious intention and attention.

This post is for neurotypical thinkers – or those who think in ways we generally call “normal.” Part 2 will address, to the best of my ability, how this applies to neurodivergent thinkers (ADD/ADHD, some Autism Spectrum, Aphantasia, etc.), a too-often overlooked or unecognized group historically in New Thought.

“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.”
~ Henry David Thoreau

When we say that thoughts are things, we mean that our thoughts accumulate to build beliefs. Thoughts are three dimensional – words, images, and emotions – and it is the accumulation of patterns of thinking which build subconscious beliefs. These beliefs then act as scripts which we accept as true and influence, even dictate, how we think and feel subsequently in relation to the beliefs. A stray thought does not do this, unless there is tremendous emotion attached to it – you find out a friend has died suddenly, or that you have won the lottery. In such cases, beliefs can be formed by that single three-dimensional thought, which will tend to be automatically reinforced by subsequent thoughts arising out of the belief(s) formed by it.

The beliefs we form in our subconscious can cause physical changes such as healing and even our DNA to be altered by deeply held beliefs. It is important to remember that negative beliefs will affect us negatively and positive beliefs will affect us positively.

“We are all cases of self-fulfilling prophecy. Whatever we prophesize, or believe, about ourselves will come true. This is why it is very important to pay attention to our thoughts – to make sure we don’t let them go on and on unattended. Our thoughts are like misbehaved children – we need to pay attention to them. Start listening to your self-talk. Pay attention to what you’re inwardly telling yourself day after day. Then if what you hear isn’t prophesizing the results you want, then you can choose to change what you tell yourself.”
~ Marie T. Russell

Spiritual practices, particularly spiritual mind treatment, are designed to direct your patterns of thought toward what you choose to affirm in life and away from negativity. Treating for 15-30 minutes a day is an excellent basis for transforming your self-talk. But there is also a need to “tend the garden” throughout the day, being attentive to your thoughts and feelings and gently redirecting them toward affirmation as needed.

This is the formula for success in New Thought teachings – create affirming thoughts paired with emotions of expectancy; diligently practice thinking those thoughts daily; shepherd your thinking throughout the day, refocusing toward positive expectancy as needed. Remember the importance of appropriate emotions.

“Natural life span of an emotion—the average time it takes for it to move through the nervous system and body—is only minute and a half. We need thoughts to keep the emotion rolling. We lock into painful emotional states [through] our own endless stream of inner dialogue.”
~ Tara Brach

Brach points out the importance of both reinforcing positive emotions and extinguishing negative emotions – not by forcing your feelings, but by gently and firmly refocusing on the positive. You KNOW what it would feel like if your intentions were realized – practice feeling that emotion whenever you think of an intention.

Emotion is the strength of self-talk. Words, even with images, have little effect unless accompanied by emotions that make them seem real and vivid. A trained mind uses this knowledge regularly, with fewer “idle” thoughts and more intentional ones. When we recognize the power of this kind of thinking, we use it to create the life we desire.

“Thoughts of failure, limitation or poverty are negative and must be counted out of our lives for all time. … God has given us a Power and we must use it. We can do more toward saving the world by proving this law than all that charity has ever given it.”
~  Ernest Holmes

Creative Mind and Success

Visualization (LINK) – the use of three-dimensional thinking – is the essence of spiritual mind treatment, or affirmative prayer. We use prayer-treatment to change our minds, to create and develop positive beliefs which guide us automatically toward being our best selves.

When visualizing it is important to imagine that what you seek is ALREADY MANIFEST – not “I will” or “I can” but “I am” or “I have” language. A prayer-treatment is a series of visualizations using three-dimensional thought to build beliefs. This is then reinforced throughout the day by visualizing your desires as manifest as appropriate.

“I once had a garden filled with flowers that grew only on dark thoughts but they need constant attention and one day I decided I had better things to do.”
~ Brian Andreas 

In Part 2, I will explore a bit about how all of this applies to neurodivergent (LINK) thinkers. As noted above, this is a group who has been underserved or ignored in New Thought as a whole.

Copyright 2025 – Jim Lockard

WE ARE CALLED TO COMPASSION

“When we practice generating compassion, we can expect to experience the fear of our pain. Compassion practice is daring. It involves learning to relax and allow ourselves to move gently toward what scares us. The trick to doing this is to stay with emotional distress without tightening into aversion, to let fear soften us rather than harden into resistance.”
~ Pema Chödrön

From a metaphysical perspective, compassion is the revelation of one’s true self, bringing the soul’s agenda to the surface of being. From a psychological perspective, compassion is when the soul, the unconscious, the subconscious, and the conscious minds are aligned. It reflects the innate wisdom of the soul and a recognition of the Oneness of all. It is the ultimate truth of who and what we are and the capacity to see that truth in others. It is the highest religious/spiritual calling and is the goal of all spiritual practices and instruction.

Compassion may be expressed as kindness or harshness, depending upon the circumstances. It is always love and always truth but may be tough love where that is the wise and loving choice. Until we are fully in alignment  with our own truth – our soul’s agenda, we are not fully capable of true compassion and should always attempt to be kind. Humility and empathy are components of compassion. Let’s take a hard look at what calls us to compassion:

WE ARE CALLED TO COMPASSION

As our society is roiled with political upheaval and the climate crisis shows  the results of our ignorance and greed, we are called to compassion.

“The principle of compassion is that which converts disillusionment into a participatory companionship. This is the basic love, the charity, that turns a critic into a living human being who has something to give to–as well as to demand – of the world.”
~ Joseph Campbell

Pathways to Bliss

When we are in the presence of those who hold different worldviews which may mean harm to us or to other humans, we are called to compassion.

“Compassion hurts. When you feel connected to everything, you also feel responsible for everything. And you cannot turn away. Your destiny is bound with the destinies of others. You must either learn to carry the Universe or be crushed by it. You must grow strong enough to love the world, yet empty enough to sit down at the same table with its worst horrors.”
~ Andrew Boyd

Daily Afflictions: The Agony of Being Connected to Everything in the Universe

As we develop new awareness relating to the variety of ways of being human, including the expansion of our understanding of gender expression and non-neurotypicality, we are called to compassion.

“The way women married to men end up as their ADHD husband’s prefrontal cortex, while also parenting ADHD kids, while realizing they’ve had ADHD all along, and that peri/menopause just made masking impossible, so now they’re hanging by a thread. I see it every day in my practice. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.”
~ Dr. Jen Wolkin on Threads

“I genuinely hope that… anti-trans folks someday experience the joy and liberation of being comfortable in your own skin enough to know that the liberation of others is no threat to you.
Equality is not a pie; there is more than enough for everyone.”
~ Charlotte Clymer

As we explore the evolving nature of spiritual community and the radical changes needed to co-create the spiritual community of the future, we are called to compassion.

“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.”
~ Coretta Scott King

As we come to terms with the need to recognize that compassion is truth, the radical holding of truth, even when others may be upset or judgmental as a result, we are called to compassion.

“Many embrace infantilizing treatment under the guise of solidarity because low self-esteem causes people to interpret condescension as compassion.”
~ Ayishat Akanbi

As we deepen our realization that the spiritual path is one of radical self-honesty as a component of self-love, we are called to compassion.

“Job Description for Spiritual Seeker: Full time position available for person who strives to be mindful and aware of the deeper context of life. Must be intellectually curious, open-minded, and willing to change. Reverence for creation, personal humility, and a strong commitment to social justice will be necessary. Study, prayer, dialogue and meditative practice are expectations. Cross cultural experience is important. Compassion and kindness are requirements. Starting date: now. Salary: zero. Benefits: unlimited. Apply in person to the Maker of Everything.”
~ Bishop Steven Charleston

We are called to compassion, the highest quality of being human, by every experience, relationship, emotion, thought, and deed. I am incomplete in my human expression without compassion as part of my automatic response system. There is no higher, more important, or more needed goal.

“You are the people who are shaping a better world. One of the secrets of inner peace is the practice of compassion.”
~ Dalai Lama XIV

Copyright 2025 – Jim Lockard

SOME THINGS I THINK I KNOW

“The latent divinity within us stirs our imagination and, because of Its insistent demand, impels and compels our growth. It is back of every invention; It proclaims Itself through every creative endeavor; It has produced sages, saints and saviors; and will, when permitted, create a new world in which war, poverty, sickness and famine will have disappeared.”
~ Ernest Holmes

“The Practical Application of the Science of Mind,” page 49.2

I found The Science of Mind, and therefore, New Thought, in 1989. I was instantly attracted to the ideas of the teaching and the community I found at the (then) Science of Mind Center in Fort Lauderdale. I began classes within three months of my first visit, became a practitioner 3 years later, and a minister 2 years after that, in 1995. I have worked and practiced the teaching ever since and I credit it with “saving” my life, if not my physical life, then my spiritual and psychological one.

“The end of the hero’s journey is not the aggrandizement of the hero. The ultimate aim of the quest is not ecstasy for oneself, but the wisdom and grace, and the power to serve others.”
~ Joseph Campbell

“The only wisdom we can hope to acquire is the wisdom of humility: humility is endless.”
~ T.S. Eliot

So, here are some of the things I have learned in those 36 years. There are 2 endnotes along the way:

FOR ME

1. My center of power is within me, so no amount of trying to please an outside god, institution, or person will save me. Cause and effect is the primary, but not the only way that the universe operates. There is randomness and acausality which means I must live in the mystery more than I might prefer.
2. My thoughts become my beliefs, and my beliefs become the law of my life – my job is to discover my soul’s agenda[i] and align my thoughts with that as best I can.
3. Ernest Holmes recognized that our Reality is energy infused with intelligence. What he called “love” is that intelligence-infused energy, not an emotion. What he called “law” is the way that energy works across the domains of reality (physical, mental, cosmic, subatomic).
4. Spirit, the Creative Intelligence of the Universe, the Ultimate Mystery, operates by infusing its creation with intelligence and energy. My good is fully available to me when I am in alignment. Spirit does not manage my life in any way and does not know me individually, any more than I can know an individual cell in my body.
5. I am at my best when I have clear intentions in alignment with my soul’s agenda and I follow the path toward demonstration. Through spiritual practices, I can become aware of being out of alignment more quickly.
6. I need to be open to everything – the good, the bad, and the ugly – to have the degree of awareness necessary to extinguish my belief in limitation.
7. My life won’t be perfect in the sense that nothing will go “wrong.” My opportunities for growth come from my challenges.

“The great yogi, maybe he smokes a cigarette, or has a bad temper occasionally: something that keeps him human. And that little thing is very important. It’s like the salt in a stew. It grounds him. This is another way of saying that even a very great sage, a great Buddha will have in him a touch of regret that life is fleeting, because if he doesn’t have that touch of regret, he’s not human and he’s incapable of compassion towards people who regret very much that life is fleeting.”
~ Alan Watts
Uncarved Blocks, Bleached Silk (LINK)

“For a fully enlightened being, the difference between what is neurosis and what is wisdom is very hard to perceive, because somehow the energy underlying both of them is the same.”
~ Pema Chödrön

The Wisdom of No Escape

FOR THE MOVEMENT

1. Our movement began as a bridge from traditionalist-Blue religion to a modernist-Orange spirituality, according to the Spiral Dynamics Model[ii]. Since then, we in New Thought have evolved to a more postmodern-Green culture, and some of the theology and cultural approaches of the earlier movement are no longer appreciated or relevant.
2. The movement has essentially stopped growing for the past 40+ years due partly to this shift toward Green (LINK) and partly to the changing cultural evolutionary patterns of the society around us. Essentially, much of our theology and the programs and classes which supported growth at Orange do not appeal as much to those who have evolved into Green. The organization(s) and most spiritual communities have not adapted to these changes very well – congregations are shrinking and revenues falling as many seek to return to the way it was in the past.
3. What began as a very individualistic teaching (Orange) which drew thousands to a message of positive thinking for personal growth with strong teachers who ruled in an authoritarian way, has evolved into something else. While many celebrate the change to a more egalitarian, less rigorous approach, there is also a longing for the success of the earlier model. Essentially, there has been a failure to develop the wisdom to negotiate the transition from an “I” teaching to a “we” teaching, or a beneficial combination, as those centered at Orange generally feel unwelcome in a Green-centered community (LINK).
4. I think that the egalitarian nature of those centered at Green has led us to a place where our students have no clear, direct curriculum to mastery of the teaching. A wide array of classes with few requirements regarding readiness for certain content (who are we to judge whether a student is ready?) means that beginning students are in more advanced classes and more advanced students are in classes where beginners must be accommodated. There is little room for rigor or a clear path toward mastery. And the credentialing process is less rigorous as well.
5. There has also been a shift in who has come into leadership in the organizations. My knowledge of Centers for Spiritual Living is more current, but I see similar patterns in other NT organizations. Where the ministers of the larger churches, who were almost always centered at modernist-Orange, used to serve on the boards and councils, that is no longer the case. There are at least two reasons for this: one is that there are fewer large churches today; the second is that the evolution into Green brings a greater desire for consensus and egalitarian representation. Larger churches usually have leadership centered at Orange. They are used to making decisions quickly and decisively, which clashes with the dynamic in a Green leadership group where significant time for processing decisions and valuing input from all stakeholders is needed before making decisions, ideally by consensus. This is not to say that those in leadership are not good leaders; it is more about the values systems which arise as a result of cultural evolution and the inherent conflicts within those systems.

“How old are we? As a culture, as individuals? Not in years but wisdom. This question makes me whistle through my teeth, shift uneasily on my chair. Because I think I know. Deep down I know. Many of us never quite got over the hump of adolescence.”
~ Martin Shaw

THE FUTURE

1. We often discuss what will happen to the teachings – The Science of Mind, Unity, Divine Science, etc. – should our current forms of ministries and organizations cease to exist or become increasingly smaller. I have a sense that the teachings would continue to be discovered, albeit without so many places for instruction and community practice.
2. I see this as being in the hands of the newer generation of spiritual leadership, a group who I strongly admire. They are cocreating what is next. Perhaps as some evolve into integral-Yellow they will see the richness of talent and possibility across the other stages and create ministries which serve everyone.
3. I think that ANTN (LINK) is well positioned to grow as more ministries and individuals leave the traditional organizations. However, the reality is that almost all spiritual communities are either shrinking or in other forms of transition – moving online or toward unpaid ministry for two examples.
4. For me individually, the future holds the opportunity to continue to grow and deepen my practice, to connect with like-minded people where possible, and to live a life of great joy and contribution. If I am a sage at this point, that both cheers me and challenges me.
5. I also believe that our futures are mostly unknowable – lots of surprises are on our agendas. However, we can neither wait for such things to show up nor despair if they do not. Ours is to live our best lives in each moment, knowing that we have the benefit of great teachings to support and sustain us.

“To finish the moment, to find the journey’s end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Essay on Experience

Copyright 2025 – Jim Lockard

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[i] Soul’s Agenda: C.GH. Jung saw that the goal of life — individuation — is actually to ACQUIESCE to the Soul’s agenda and learn to trust it so completely as to give over control entirely.    Link: https://roadopener.medium.com/acquiesce-to-the-souls-agenda-a6731bac0188

[ii] Spiral Dynamics: Spiral Dynamics is a model about human thinking and development – it says that human intelligence is evolving and developing within the context of the world in which we live. Further, that this development is the key to how we perceive and interact with the world – we see the world as we are, not as it is. LINK: IS THE CHURCH MODEL GOING AWAY? PART 3 – SPIRAL DYNAMICS INTRO | New Thought Evolutionary

VACATION THOUGHTS

Whatever it may be that your soul, your heart needs may you find it easily, eagerly, gently, wondrously, and healthfully.
May it open you up and make you kinder, wiser, whole and healed.
May it make the world around and within you brighter, sweeter, spacious and nurturing.
May you have rest when you need, energy to do good, laughter like mountains and tears like a spring rain.
May you have mind and heart that open readily and release graciously. 
May your life go well and joyfully.
~ Leigh Shoju Loesch Macaro

One of the lovely things about France is that people here are serious about their vacation time. Most get 4 weeks or more and take the bulk of it from mid-July to the end of August. During that time, many businesses are closed, the big cities empty out quite a bit, and the freeways are full of vehicles with luggage on the roof.

As I write this, I am in a large house in the Beaujolais countryside (pictured) – a château if you will, owned by a dear friend of ours. We spend time here each summer. The population at the house has ranged from 40+ the night of our host’s 60^th birthday party last week, to 4 today – me and three young adults, the two children of our host and the copain or girlfriend of the son.

I should mention that Dorianne is at a larger château in Burgundy this week, for a chamber music seminar with 35 other musicians. We will go to their concert on Sunday and then many will return to this château in Beaujolais for a few days into next week.

This is a good time for reflection for me, as I work on my presentation for the Unity Eastern Region Conference (Oct 5-9), and have some interesting conversations with the young adults here. The topic seems to frequently stray into living in a very unpredictable world and trying to build a future.

The son is in the French army, training for their special forces; the daughter works for luxury fashion and beauty brands in Paris, traveling to places like Rome and Shanghai for work. Both are in their early 20’s. I marvel at their optimism, their accomplishments, and the ease with which they converse across the generations.

We are in liminal times when what has been is fading and no longer works as it once did, and what is emerging is too new to fully grasp, much less predict. They feel this uncertainty, but, as my own adult children do, these young people move forward in their lives, intent on developing the skills and attitudes necessary for these times. They do not cling to the past, they look ahead.

I am heartened by this attitude. While my generation is not leaving them the kind of world I would wish for, I can see them doing what they can to make things right. What I see as an unfair and uphill task, they see as simply their lives unfolding. I appreciate them more than I can say.

It is important for me to take time away from the normal routine, to have conversations with different people, and to be in a different space from time to time. I recommend it.

I’ll fly a starship
Across the universe divide
Until I reach the other side
I’ll find a place to rest my spirit if I can
Perhaps I may become a highwayman again
Or I may simply be a single drop of rain
But I will still remain
And I’ll be back again
And again, and again, and again
~ Jimmy Webb

Copyright 2025 – Jim Lockard

THE UNCERTAINTY OF BEING

“So, the universe is not quite as you thought it was. You’d better rearrange your beliefs then, because you certainly can’t rearrange the universe.”
~ Isasc Asimov

“The research literature has identified three factors that universally lead to stress: uncertainty, the lack of information and the loss of control.”
~ Gabor Maté

“When the Body Says No“

Many of our problems and issues come from an inner need for certainty. This need leads to fear, addictions, belief in conspiracy theories, codependency, and so on. Spiritual growth is largely about coming to terms with the uncertainties of life and of being human, for mystery is at the heart of reality. Spiritual growth is coming to terms the nature of reality as it is.

“Nothing is perfect. Life is messy. Relationships are complex. Outcomes are uncertain. People are irrational.”
~ Hugh Mackay 

We live in uncertain times, but all times have been and will be uncertain. It is our challenge in becoming healthy, mature, functioning people – to learn to survive and thrive in uncertainty and imperfection. The wonderful book “The Spirituality of Imperfection” speaks to this:

“To be human is to be incomplete, yet yearn for completion; it is to be uncertain, yet long for certainty; to be imperfect, yet long for perfection; to be broken, yet crave wholeness.”
~ Ernest Kurtz & Katherin Ketcham

“The Spirituality of Imperfection“

In New Thought, we are often encouraged to be certain. “First at home, in the silence of our own thought, let us heal ourselves of fear, of doubt, of uncertainty.” ~ Ernest Holmes, Observations (LINK)

We do want to be certain about the nature of God, about living in an abundant universe, about there being unlimited good in potential. But while all good may exist in potential, none of us can have all of it. A mature view would say there is little certainty about how to go about realizing our good to fully experience it.

This is often where our spiritual faith conflicts with the knowledge of the world around us. Science tells us that the universe is impersonal while religion often says it is loving and beneficent. Science says that we are subject of physical laws while religion says that we can literally raise the dead or move mountains if our faith is sufficient.

“My scientist friends have come up with things like ‘principles of uncertainty’…But many religious folks insist on answers that are always true. We love closure, resolution and clarity…How strange that the very word ‘faith’ has come to mean its exact opposite.”
~ Richard Rohr

Perhaps one reason why our spiritual communities are losing members is that too many of us insist on a degree of certainty which is counter to the lived experience of our students. We assume that if something good happens or if something bad happens, it can only be the result of some set of beliefs within the person or group affected. That not only is cause and effect the sole way the universe operates (it isn’t), but that the principle of cause and effect is both linear and identifiable as it functions.

Our desire or need to be certain about things in an uncertain reality leads us to demand to know why bad things happen to good people and vice versa. So we attribute a proficient or deficient “consciousness” based upon our external observations of someone’s experience (or of our own). We feel that we must believe we can be certain of the outcome we desire and must follow a specific path to attain it. It is one of our greatest errors.

“Embrace uncertainty. Some of the most beautiful chapters in our lives won’t have a title until much later.”
~ Bob Goff

“To stay with shakiness — to stay with a broken heart, with a rumbling stomach, with the feeling of hopelessness — that is the path of true awakening. Sticking with that uncertainty, getting the knack of relaxing in the midst of chaos, learning not to panic — this is the spiritual path.”
~ Pema Chödrön

“When Things Fall Apart“

Spiritual growth is always away from an excess of self-regard and toward a true sense of humility. We do have a powerful capacity to set the direction of our lives by the way that we think, but we ought not to develop the hubris to believe that power to be absolute. We are subject to many things, many forces in our environment, including physical laws, the collective intelligence of the beings around us, and our own unknowable unconscious drives and repressions. To be humble is to know that and recognize that the life we craft is always a collective effort in a largely unknowable realm of consciousness. It is to know that I am not a victim of life, but a participant in an ongoing experience of becoming.

Affirmations:

I learn to expect the best and to remain in balance when something different manifests.

I let go of the excessive burden of the false belief that I am completely responsible for what happens in my life.

I release the assumptions that something is wrong with me if my life is not manifesting perfectly.

I am more and more comfortable living in the mystery, the uncertainty, and the adventure of life!

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.”
~ Isaac Asimov

Copyright 2025 – Jim Lockard

SOME MUSINGS ON TURNING 74

“How terribly strange to be 7(4).”
~ Paul Simon, “Old Friends”

“Old age cannot be cured. An epoch or a civilization cannot be prevented from breathing its last. A natural process that happens to all flesh and all human manifestations cannot be arrested. You can only wring your hands and utter a beautiful swan song.”
~ Renee Winegarten

I have had the great good fortune to grow old as a Religious Scientist. This means that I have had an advantage that I would not otherwise have had. That is knowing how to direct my thoughts and feelings toward my good – health, wealth, creativity, vitality, etc. – as a matter of practice. This advantage has brought me, I believe, a far more fulfilling life than I might have had given my former trajectory.

Looking back at my 35+ years in the teaching, all of it as a student and some of it as a minister, I can see how different my mental state is now than before. I am reminded of something that a classmate of mine in what was then called “Science of Mind 1” said to me. It was during a class break, and he was an elderly gentleman (although probably not as old as I am now). He said to me, “You know don’t you, that the Science of Mind is about learning how to die?”

I replied that I did not know that. He went on to the effect that it is only by learning how to live fully that we learn how to die. He meant that by living fully, when the time for death comes, we are prepared, fulfilled, if you will.

“Death is extraordinarily like life when we know how to live. You cannot live without dying. You cannot live if you do not die psychologically every minute. This is not an intellectual paradox. To live completely, wholly, everyday as if it were a new loveliness, there must be a dying to everything of yesterday, otherwise you live mechanically, and a mechanical mind can never know what love is or what freedom is.”
~ J. Krishnamurti

When we have not learned how to live, we resist and struggle with death. It need not be so.

Another lesson that this teaching has brought me over the years is the importance of humility. I do not mean the way humility is often understood, as the need for self-deprecation or diminishment. I mean it in its truest sense, as living as honestly as possible. To be humble is to live in truth. This means that I both see my own faults, but that I also know that my potential is virtually unlimited.

“One need only grow old to become gentler in one’s judgments. I see no fault committed which I could not have committed myself.”
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I have learned that it is easy to use spirituality in a very limited way so as to hide from your true potential and from the world. Using calls to prayer/treatment to halt the dynamics of group interaction as soon as something becomes uncomfortable, for example. To use a limited sense of the spiritual to bypass the deep and often painful introspection to reveal not only our true selves, but what we have repressed in our attempts to fit in and be accepted by others. A strong spiritual life requires mental awareness and emotional intelligence.

True spirituality leads one to a realization of a great power within and to the expression of great courage in life. The aphorism “Treat and move your feet” is often misunderstood. The “move your feet” portion is not optional. If one has done a treatment and does not act in alignment with that truth as stated, one has simply done an exercise in trying to feel better. We are not here to hide from the world; it is not what our soul wants from us.

At my age, I have become frustrated with a growing tendency to support a sense of victimhood in our movement. To be sure, the cultural necessity of accepting everyone as equal and demanding as much of every individual and institution is essential. But accepting a victim consciousness as inevitable or even as laudable violates the basic tenants of our teaching. Someone who has been harmed may well need to be enveloped with love and acceptance; however, it is best that they are guided away from victim thinking toward the realization of their own power. I want my friends to see my possibilities and not accept any tendency to see myself as helpless. Ours is to love one another toward a deep realization of our power and possibility.

My gratitude for The Science of Mind, for those who taught me how to integrate it into my life (including my students), and for the wonderful community which now extends to all of New Thought is deep and endless.

I want the movement to survive and thrive. So, I may criticize it from time to time. May I do it with the wisdom of an elder and not simply as an old person.

“The great secret is to embody something essential in our lives. Then, undefeated by age, we can proceed with dignity and meaning, and, as the end approaches, be ready ‘to die with life’. For the goal of old age is not senility, but wisdom.”
~ Anthony Stevens

Copyright 2025 – Jim Lockard