Transported in Time
Hearing the Voice of Ernest Holmes Speak Across the Decades
By Jeannette Quinn Bisbee
As I read the various books, articles, speeches, pamphlets, and letters that Ernest Holmes wrote throughout his long career—I so often long to be in the Wiltern Theater or in one of the classrooms at the Institute of Religious Science and Philosophy. I long to be in a room where I can hear Ernest Holmes directly teach me the principles of Science of Mind. I want to hear him personally tell me how to improve my treatments. I want him to guide me in how to use the Creative Mind and speak my word, so that I can be a better practitioner. I deeply desire the experience of being inspired and uplifted by his marvelous speeches, his command of principle, and his power to communicate these marvelous teachings and make it all clear to me. I have thought this probably once a week since I first discovered Centers for Spiritual Living and Ernest Holmes.
And, this weekend, I realized how silly that thought was! I have had the power and the capability to listen to Ernest Holmes any time I wish. You do, too. How? Available on the Science of Mind Archives and Library website are the Live Again CDs that are digitially-remastered versions of lectures that Ernest Holmes delivered in Beverley Hills, CA in 1954. The recordings were produced under the leadership of Kathy Juline, the former editor of Science of Mind magazine from 1989 to 1993. The CDs were first released to the public in 2003, but—you may be like me—and have forgotten about them and not have them in your Science of Mind library. My suggestion is ‘Run—Don’t Walk’ to add these wonderful CDs into your daily life. Then, you can listen to Ernest reach across the decades into the 21st century and into your life to inspire you—just as though you were sitting in the audience hearing his guidance in person.
The compact disc that I am reviewing today is the first in the series called, Live Again! The Unique Voice and Message of ERNEST HOLMES.
First of all, the CD begins with the amazing Michael Beckwith introducing us to the recording—reminding the listener that these tapes were reel-to-reel, state of the art back then, but now remastered for absolutely clear sound quality. Then in his powerful voice, Beckwith starts the listener off on their spiritual journey with a beautiful prayer.
And, then you hear the amazing voice of Ernest Holmes come alive in your ear. If you have never heard Holmes speak—it is such a treat! Just his voice alone is like a form of time travelling. He attended the Leland Powers School of Expression in Boston from 1908 to 1910, and the training he received there still resonates in the powerful tone of his voice and his extremely precise enunciation of his words and ideas. If you listen closely to words like “harmony” and “are”, you can also hear the remnants of his New England accent—that thirty-plus years of living in California still never entirely erased from his voice. In that Boston elocution school, (you can find online a textbook from that school that students had to speak aloud and memorize—filled with excerpts from famous writers like Emerson, Robert Browning, Daniel Webster, Lord Tennyson) Ernest Holmes mastered how to give a speech with passionate conviction and extreme ease and grace. Even more impressive to hear is the eidetic memory (photographic recall) Holmes had of books and texts he had read. As he is speaking to the capacity audience, he is referring to no notes, no outline, and no notecards with quotes or facts to assist him. A voracious reader, who would read a book and give it away after absorbing his contents, Holmes quotes Emerson, Jesus, the Bible, Lao-Tzu, Sri Aruobindo and Carl Jung without skipping a beat. And you can hear the audience in the background, with barely a cough or a rustle arising from their ranks, staying very still and quiet deeply attuned to all Ernest Holmes was sharing.
The first track off the CD is called, “The Greatest Discovery Ever Made”, and Holmes begins with this important guideline for prayer:
“I said that a couple of Sundays ago a prayer unuttered will have no effect. And I was both interested and surprised at the number of people that called up, wrote up, or asked me, ‘What does that mean?’ It means that there is a dynamic something in prayer or treatment and that unless this something is loose—it’s like a seed that isn’t planted. Now when I say a prayer unuttered or unspoken, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it has to be orally spoken, but very frequently—particularly for people who haven’t had much experience—you will find it more effective, perhaps, to do it orally. It doesn’t matter because the treatment is really the method you use to convince yourself.”
He reminds the audience that the best way is to pray—is to pray and forget about it. Be like a gardener who plants the plants carefully and then walks away from the garden. A good gardener doesn’t go back and drag around the plants with him to ensure they grow. And, then step-by-blessed-step Holmes guides the audience then and now in ‘speaking their word’ not by putting power into their word, but by accepting that God is in all their words…..I have listened to this first track over and over—so moved by his words, his phrasing, his essence. It is easy to understand how this man built a church organization—even when that was not his goal.
The tape continues with wonderful vocals provided by the marvelous songstress, Rev. Cynthia James, Associate Minister at Mile High Church in Colorado. The song, “Promised Land” was particularly appealing to me, but all of them take the listener back into the 21st-century and all the wonderful music that Centers for Spiritual Living is particularly good at nourishing souls with.
The CD continues on with three more excerpts from Holmes’ talks—all of them so powerful and so appealing and motivating. I am so blessed to know—I didn’t miss Ernest Holmes; I don’t have to go back in time. I can sit in the comfort and peace of my living room, I can drive around in my car doing errands, I can take a walk with the dog and a set of headphones, I can be anywhere and listen to the magical and marvelous voice of Ernest Holmes ringing in my ears, in my mind, and in my heart—and be inspired and uplifted any moment that I choose. And please be smarter than me….don’t let them sit on your shelf forgotten—pull them out and be transported!!!
You can purchase the set of four or buy them individually via the link below:
http://www.scienceofmindarchives.org/e-store/item/995-live-again-cds-1-4
Jeannette Quinn Bisbee R.Sc.P has been published in Science of Mind magazine, and was an Insight Speaker at the 2013 Asilomar Convention. Her passion is the Archives, and she contributes this blog twice monthly highlighting for readers around the world the wonderful projects and items available in the Science of Mind Archives. She is currently involved in a book project based on material from the Archives and Science of Mind magazine.