Today I thought I would tell you about a book which arrived
here recently. It is called The Science Of Mind by Ernest Holmes.
As is often the case with me it was Van Morrison who led me to discovering
this book. Van mentioned it in his fascinating recent interview with Dylan
Jones. Dylan asked Van how he came to write a song on his forthcoming album
with Michael Beckwith founder of the Agape church. Van explained
that in his library he came across a book The Science Of Mind which he
was into many years ago and wanted to reconnect with. He looked to see if there
were any Study Centres for Spiritual Living founded by Ernest Holmes near
him and found that there wasn’t, the nearest one was in Bournemouth. However, whilst
searching Van stumbled across the work of Michael Beckwith which he read about and
something resonated. Sometime later Van discovered that his friend actress Roma
Downey knew Michael Beckwith and introduced him to Van, and now Van has
been attending services at Agape ever since, whenever he is on the US west
coast. Van took words from a book by Beckwith and put music to them.
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| Ernest Holmes |
The
connection to Ernest Holmes is that Michael Beckwith graduated from the Ernest
Holmes College School of Ministry in 1985. Dylan said to Van that there is
a very spiritual feel to the new album which there often is in his music and asked
how his personal beliefs have changed over the years. Van retorted that it
isn’t a belief, it’s an energy, a frequency. Van is quite a private introverted
person, but he has always acknowledged an influence when he is checking it out
and taking it further. I have learned so much by following up the pointers in
his lyrics, not only discovering the music of other artists that influenced
Van, but also important figures in such fields as literature, philosophy, psychology,
and especially spirituality.
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| Van at Agape. |
Van’s whole career in many ways can be seen as a spiritual
quest. I have always thought that Van’s best work is when he is channelling the
creative energy of his spiritual muse. He seemed to lose it completely during
the dark days of lockdown but happily seems to be back on the righteous path
now. That is why I am looking forward to hearing this new album more than any
new Van work for 20 years or more. When I ordered the book I expected to receive a slim
paperback which I could read in a couple of days, so I was quite shocked when a
massive weighty tome of 669 pages arrived. I have only read a few pages so far.
It will take me a year to read it all. Happily for me it is advised to use it
as a textbook and only read a few pages every day as a meditation. The book has
a list of tables advising which pages to read on each day of the year. Therefore
I can’t tell you much about the book yet, but I can tell you a little of what I
know about Ernest Holmes so far in case you want to check it out for yourself.
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| Van, Roma Downey |
Ernest
Holmes was born in Lincoln Maine in 1887. At an early age he learned about Mary
Baker Eddy and Christian Science. His later influences included Thomas
Troward, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Christian Larson, Evelyn Underhill, and
Emma Curtis Hopkins. Eventually he became the founder of a movement known
as Religious Science. That name comes from his assertion that his views
can be scientifically proven. His great work The Science of Mind was first
published in 1926. (My well used copy is from 1998) Holmes founded a Center
for Spiritual Living in Los Angeles and there are now over 400 affiliated churches
in the USA alone. He also began publishing Science of Mind magazine
which is still produced today after 80 years.
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