Hi GeminiStar -

I started my spiritual journey in Unity (I still speak at Unity churches). I am now affiliated with Science of Mind and have been a Religious Science Minister for 6 years.

Unity and Science of Mind are very similar. They both teach the healing power of affirmative prayer and that your thoughts become your reality. Unity is more Christian based than Science of Mind. 

Also, Science of Mind teaches specific steps in affirmative prayer, which we call Spiritual Mind Treatment.  Licensed Practitioners of the Science of Mind are trained in how to do healing prayer. They must have verified healings in order to be granted a license.

In addition to Unity and Science of Mind, there is also Divine Science, although it doesn't have as many members worldwide.

Rev. Della

"What types of healing?  Fracture healing?  Depression?  Infections?  How far does affirmative prayer become reality? Will it allow you to fly?  Travel faster than the speed of light in a vaccum?  Live forever?  Avoid cancer?"

Some examples of healings which I haver personally been involved in include metastasized cancer going into remission, infections healed, financial difficulties resolved, jobs obtained during economic recessions, MRI confirmed lesions on lungs suddenly disappear, conflict between people which existed for years finally becomes harmonious.  For me, a healing is any negative situation which turns positive. I also know that I personally don't heal anything. I know the Truth for others and Spirit/God/Divine Intelligence does the healing.

All healings are based on an individual's belief. If someone does not believe that something is possible (consciously or subconsciously) then a healing is not likely to happen unless their thoughts change. I believe that anything is possible, however, there are universal beliefs that humanity holds which makes it very difficult to overcome without a great deal of prayer work (it could literally take years).

Also, you choose the final outcome that you want, not the specific way that it is going to happen. So if you want to fly, you can find a way to do it (the Wright brothers already have), but you can't determine how it will happen.

Divine Science is similar to Religious Science and Unity. All of the founders were students of Emma Curtis Hopkins so members basically hold the same beliefs.

Hi J -

What motivated me to move from Unity to Religious Science was time. The Unity Center I attended moved further from my home and I would leave my house at 8:30 AM (I was part of the Music Team) and not get home until 2:00 PM. It began to be too much. So I found a Religious Science Church which was 25 minutes from my home.  I have been a member for 15 years.

Religious Science (now called Centers for Spiritual Living  -  CSL) relies quite heavily on the teachings of Jesus. The back of the Science of Mind textbook is filled with quotes from Jesus. Ernest Holmes loved Jesus and looked to him as a model for what was possible for every one of us. We often say that we see Jesus as the 'great example, not the great exception.' Holmes was also a student of Emerson, as well as eastern religions.

Both Unity and CSL fully embrace using medical help in healing. While both believe it is possible to effect a healing without medical intervention, if a healing requires the use of medication, surgery, or the help of doctors, then a person is encouraged to use them. At CSL, we are concerned with the outcome, not the specific way it happens.

As for CSL, the organization has a Practitioner Licensing Committee (comprised of very experienced ministers) which grants licenses. After a center's Pastor feels the requirements for licensing have been met, then the committee reviews the documentation of demonstrated healings. A Practitioner candidate is also questioned by a panel to determine whether or not he/she has the approprate consciousness of a spiritual healer. If all requirements are met, a license is granted. It takes many years of classes and a minimum of one year as a intern before someone can attempt to get a license.

I hope this answers your questions. If you have any others, I have it set up so I am notified of new messages posted to this thread.

Rev. Della  

If we pray affirmatively we are not begging for a God outside of us to do something for us - but aren't we still stating that we want something and we can't do it ourselves? So something else is answering our requests or affirmative statements. Then what about - we keep getting the same problems until we learn  from them - is that just how Universal Laws work?

Nov 17, 2012 -- 1:43PM, GeminiStar wrote:

Hello, I thought I understood New Thought beliefs but then I listened to a metaphysical radio program on Unity.fm and now I'm baffled. The host said that terms like Divine Order, Everything is working for our highest good, God is in charge and all is well - make it sound like we don't have free will and God is in control. Please help - I'm going thru some rough times and now I don't know what to believe. I understand that we don't pray affirmatively to beg or change God but then how does "everything is working for our highest good" fit in? Confused!!!

I would like to know how anyone knows that there is a "Divine Order", or that "everything" is working for our highest good, or that "God" is in charge and all is well?

It all sounds like mere wish-thinking to me.

There is nothing more abundantly obvious than that "all" is not well, and there isn't even a hint that some supposedly divine entity is "in charge". In fact, the universe proffers sufficient and compelling evidence that illustrates that it is utterly indifferent to human preoccupations.

I think we still have an acute case of post-Copernican stress syndrome. We have not resolved the trauma of losing our infantile sense of centrality in the universe. It has only been through real science that we have been able to pierce this infantile, dysfunctional need to be the center of the universe, the only love object of its creator. Science has made it possible to reconstruct our distant past without the need to idealize it, like some adult unable to deal with the abuse of childhood.

You don't know what to believe, GeminiStar!? 

I'd sincerely recommend that you don't believe anything until the evidence is favorable enough, which doesn't mean that you shouldn't look for such evidence. In the meantime, what I would additionally recommend is the embrace of what could be called 'Enlightenment' values, values that do not require or demand that one take on board insupportable or unjustifiable beliefs about God, gods, or any other infantile notion that likely arises as a result of adaptions of the brain's attachment system. Such values include individual liberty, the pursuit of knowledge, the cultivation of pleasures that do not harm others, the satisfactions of art, personal relationships, and a sense of belonging to the human community. All these, and more, constitute the elements of the good life, lived humanely in a human world.