Each one of us is an outlet to God and an inlet to God.

The saying “Each one of us is an outlet to God and an inlet to God” comes from the teachings of Ernest Holmes, the founder of the Science of Mind movement in the early 20th century. Holmes devoted his life to exploring the divine connection between the human soul and the Infinite. In this profound statement, he captures the dual nature of our spiritual existence — that we are both receivers and expressions of divine energy. We are vessels through which the life of God flows in and out, forever cycling between inspiration and creation, stillness and action, receiving and giving.

When Holmes spoke these words, he was unveiling a spiritual law older than religion itself — the truth that humanity and divinity are not separate. We are not abandoned beings pleading for light; we are channels through which the Divine expresses itself. The “inlet” represents our capacity to receive — wisdom, love, truth, and power from the infinite mind of God. The “outlet” signifies our ability to pour those same divine qualities into the world through kindness, creativity, and service. Thus, each human being becomes both temple and conduit — a living instrument of divine flow.

This idea is not unique to Holmes alone; it resonates with the wisdom of ancient mystics and prophets. The Apostle Paul wrote, “In Him we live and move and have our being.” The Upanishads of India declared, “The Self within is the same as the Self of all.” Even the Sufi poets sang of being hollow reeds through which God plays His eternal music. Holmes simply rearticulated this ancient truth in modern language: that God’s presence moves through us, not apart from us. The divine is not confined to heavens above but breathes within every heart, waiting to be received, expressed, and multiplied through love.

History gives us luminous examples of those who lived as inlets and outlets of the divine. Consider Florence Nightingale, who entered the dark fields of war and suffering armed only with compassion and resolve. She listened — deeply — to the whisper of God within her conscience, drawing strength and vision from that inner source. But she did not hoard the light she received; she became its outlet, transforming medicine, reforming hospitals, and restoring dignity to countless lives. Through her, divine love entered the world — not as theory, but as healing action. Her life revealed the secret of Holmes’s teaching: that the soul becomes holy not by withdrawing from life, but by letting divine inspiration flow outward into service.

This teaching also carries a sacred responsibility. To be an inlet of God is to keep one’s heart open — to cultivate silence, gratitude, and receptivity. Yet to be an outlet is to act, to serve, to create, to share what one has received. When the channel is blocked — when we take but do not give, or act without listening — the flow of life becomes stagnant. The soul, like a river, must move to remain alive. Holmes’ wisdom thus calls us to balance contemplation with compassion, faith with work, inner peace with outward courage. The divine current must move both ways — inward for renewal, outward for blessing.

In his philosophy, the Spirit seeks self-expression through us, just as light seeks to shine and water seeks to flow. Every time we love unconditionally, forgive freely, or create beauty from nothing, we become that outlet of the Infinite. And every time we pray, meditate, or listen to the still small voice within, we open ourselves as an inlet to receive divine energy anew. Life, then, becomes a rhythm of breathing God in and giving God out — a sacred heartbeat between heaven and earth.

The lesson is both humbling and empowering: we are not powerless wanderers but sacred participants in the eternal circulation of divine life. To live as Holmes taught is to awaken each day with purpose — to ask not “What can I take from the world?” but “What can I allow God to give through me?”

Practical actions: Begin each morning with quiet reflection; breathe deeply and acknowledge that divine wisdom and peace flow into you. Then ask how you might become an outlet — through compassion, creativity, or a simple act of kindness. When you feel empty, return inward and receive again from the Source. Let prayer become inhalation and service become exhalation. For as Ernest Holmes declared, each one of us is both an inlet and an outlet of God — the living circulation of divine love through all creation.