Joe Niemiec

Forgiveness lightens my load and clears my vision to see the perfection in the world.

Today let me forgive someone
Let me forgive myself
Let me clear my sight.

In the Bible God created the world in six days, found it good and very good, and rested on the seventh day, the Sabbath. Jesus would take private time in the wilderness. Gandhi would spend one day a week in silence. All of us need time to spend in solitude, within ourselves to rejuvenate and recharge our batteries.

Our tradition believes in “support that which we believe in and fight no one.” With this philosophy and the added caveat of knowing the perfection of all beings, my job is to speak to personal values and morals while honoring where that teaching may take you as an individual.

I have to say I am glad that this type of immigration reform was not created in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s or I would not be here. One of my grandfathers came from Poland just after World War 1 and the other had parents who moved from Canada and then left him an orphan in Texas. I also have a large branch of the family that is one-half French Canadian.

My wife and I have remodeled most of our home and incorporated small alters in each room. At the entrance you are welcomed with Eastern Tradition icons and then if you look around the rooms you will find a built in shelf somewhere that speaks to spirituality.

Our teaching which is based on “The Science of Mind” written by Ernest Holmes in 1926 and edited in 1938 is about the empowerment of the individual and, therefore, the evolution of the human spirit or consciousness.

It was with a heavy heart that I recently read about a young lady who chose suicide because of the behavior of others — including those that did not believe her and, therefore, did not prosecute those that violated her. More and more it seems we don’t recognize and honor the boundaries of others, be they male or female, and sometimes even go to the extent of causing verbal or bodily harm, adding further insult by later bragging about our actions.