Shiloh Spiritual Center

San Diego Reader: How long do you spend writing your sermon?

Pastor Roxie Hart: I work from week to week so that by Monday I hope to have some idea and by Friday I hope to have it done, although it doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes it takes only a couple hours and other times it takes several days. We have the foundation philosophy from The Science of Mind, by Ernest Holmes, [as a guiding text] but I also use the Bible, Buddhist philosophy, and teach from Taoism and Native American spirituality — I grab the truth wherever I can weave it in. It’s quite eclectic. But I’m a big Jesus fan, especially.

SDR: What is your favorite subject on which to preach?

PH: Since we preach that everything is God and God is in, through and as everything, it doesn’t matter what I talk about. It’s always about the relationship to Spirit, whatever is going on in people’s lives. If I can’t find a way to do a practical application, to present the topic as how it would look in your day-to-day living, it’s not worthwhile.

SDR: What’s your main concern as a member of the clergy?

PH: My main concern is keeping myself in my spiritual practice. If I can’t walk the talk, I’m not much use to anybody. I try to be in the present moment and remain as compassionate and accepting of everything as I can. I don’t try to fix people but be present wherever they are.

SDR: Why did you become a minister?

PH: It was probably inevitable when my mother said we were atheists and I didn’t believe her. Because I had no spiritual foundations, I was hungry for something. So, I read a lot and researched a lot and looked for what I thought represented the truth. After decades of reading and looking, I ran across Science of Mind and it touched my heart and fed my soul. In the process of really anchoring into that, one class led to another and before I knew it, I had finished ministerial school.

SDR: Why Science of Mind?

PH: What makes it attractive to me is that we’re not victims but co-creators; we are made of God and are the likeness of God — not as a physical, anthropomorphic thing but as the energy of God. We believe we have input and responsibility for our lives. Ernest Holmes’s motto for the Science of Mind teaching was “Change your thinking, change your life.” It’s all about your mind being positive.

SDR: Where do you go when you die?

PH: I just lay this broken body down!… I don’t know whether we go anywhere to another place or whether we’re just energy. I believe in reincarnation. Even though our founder didn’t necessarily believe in it, but he left it up to each of us to decide for ourselves.... That’s a tough question for a person who doesn’t believe in a place called heaven and a place called hell. Those are states of mind and not physical locations. We don’t get punished but remember who we are and realize we’re all the same and connected to God.