Problem Solving with Spirit

Divine human beings are brilliant. We use our minds to solve problems all the time. Great discoveries and inventions have been made that have changed the course of the world and positively impacted humanity. Want some examples?

How about indoor plumbing! Someone thought of that idea—a man named John McAdam. He made the modern plumbing system, the sewer system and the modern toilet. He worked on that problem, and he figured it out. Brilliant!

How about electricity? Thank you to divine human beings like Benjamin Franklin, Alessandro Volta, Michael Faraday, Thomas Edison, and Nikola Tesla, etc. for discovering, inventing, and cultivating the power of electricity for the good of humanity.

How about antibiotics? Thank you Alexander Fleming for that invention. He returned from a vacation, and came home to discover mold growing on a Petri dish of bacteria. He noticed the mold was preventing the bacteria around it from growing and spreading. Bam! Antibiotics. An ingenious use of his intellect and human wisdom.

What do all these advances and inventions have in common? They all happened through the human mind. All of these inventions are a direct result of human beings solving problems for us, using their minds, getting an idea and figuring out how to make it work.

From a spiritual perspective, we know that there is only one mind, one Universal mind. The wisdom and intelligence and creativity of that One Mind expresses individually through human beings. These ideas, the inventions, these amazing advances for humanity, are from Spirit. We, individually, are all hooked up with the One Mind of God. We are not the one mind, but as Ernest Holmes said many times, we use the One Mind. That is what’s really going on in these incredible moments of intelligence and inspiration.

Now, most of us aren’t inventing toilets or electricity. But a problem can be anything that we deal with as a human, anything we might want insight about, anything we want to create, anything for which we want an idea, an answer, or a solution. Insights, ideas, answers, solutions, are always possible because all things are possible in the one universal mind of God--to which we all have access.

So, what is happening when we, as human beings, can’t solve a problem? When we are trying so hard, and we are frustrated and we can’t seem to “figure it out"? That is when being spiritually aware, having faith, trusting in our oneness with the One Mind is so important. In fact, it is crucial. When we say, affirm and declare: “There is one mind, that mind is God and that mind is my mind now.” That is speaking a truth we can trust in. And that means we don’t have to spin our wheels, get frustrated, fight, or struggle in our human problems. In fact, we probably shouldn’t.

There is second part to all of this. Our understanding of spiritual principle, our trust, our faith, are all very important—but I believe the other step to this is: the ability to walk away. Many brilliant inventors and scientists, past and present, understand this second step. Albert Einstein, for instance, arguably one of the most brilliant minds in the world, had a famous quote that said this: “I think 99 times and find nothing. I stop thinking, swim in the silence, and the truth comes to me.”

This idea that Einstein is talking about—the walking away to chill out in the silence—is what Emmet Fox called the Law of Relaxation. He insisted that in all mental work (problem solving) effort defeats itself. He said, “When you try to force things mentally… you stop your creative power.” In fact, he suggested: Stop thinking about the difficulty, whatever it is. Be relaxed, gentle, and unhurried, because effort defeats itself.

The idea is to remember, it’s a two step process. Step ONE is: trust that there is a divine solution available to you. As Ernest Holmes told us: “The answer to every human problem already exists in the mind of God.” We may not know the answer, but God within us knows. It’s having that child-like level of acceptance, that God always knows what to do. And we can ask for the revelation of that answer. That is step one.

Step TWO is: We have to recognize when it’s time to shift our attention away from the problem and stop thinking about it. That can be very challenging. You may be asking yourself, how will I know when it’s time to walk away from the problem? Because frustration, confusion, irritation, and anger are not in alignment with our God-Source. God can’t be any of those things. So, when we are feeling like that, something’s off. That’s when we know it’s time to back off, walk away, and trust in our guidance from Spirit.

Something to remember is: Divine guidance comes to the person who expects it. In this moment, please think of any problem, situation, that you are dealing with that you would like guidance for or a solution for and repeat after me: I expect Divine guidance. I may not know how to solve this, but I know Spirit does. I am ready to receive my divine answer. And so it is.

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