The man who has arrived will realize that he has done so in the midst of an outer confusion; he will be the one who has gone into the silence for strength, and has come out into the world equipped with power from on high; but that light which he has received must be kept burning.
Not alone in the silence but in the busy throng must all of us find the way of life. Our every thought creates. For the majority of us these thoughts come in every-day affairs, some of which are very trivial, but these too will be demonstrated.
We have missed the whole point, unless we have learned so to control our thought that time and place make no difference.
– Ernest Holmes, Creative Mind.
*Please note this has been recited with the masculine sense that was prevalent at the time of the original work.
We cannot expect to respond in peaceful, loving ways in the face of adversity if we do not practice peace and love in our daily thoughts on a regular basis. Our thoughts create, and if our thought process is trained toward love and peace such will be their force and direction under any circumstance. Much like musicians and athletes practice for peak performance so too must we “practice” the quality of our thinking. We would not expect to pick up an instrument and deliver a virtuoso performance without having a solid background of practice, nor would we expect to be a star athlete without practice and training. Likewise, we should not expect our responses to conditions to differ from the training of our thoughts.
Practicing the Presence of peace and love during our quiet waking hours will provide the bedrock that allows those qualities to remain constant and come to the fore when adverse conditions appear. We can acquiesce to fear and to a hectic world or we can choose peace and love. “Practice,” as they say, “makes perfect!”