GREAT Morning Beloved!!

“Spiritual Economics: A New Look at Tithing & A New World Vision.”

OK, we did it. We are completing our study of Eric Butterworth’s “Spiritual Economics: The Principles and Process of True Prosperity.”
I hope and pray that you are getting the message from Rev. Butterworth regarding prosperity and abundance. It’s not necessarily ‘what’s in your wallet’ but what’s is in your heart.

So, we will complete our study of this wonderful book with the last two chapters; “A New Look at Tithing,” and “A New World Vision.”

Tithing…there’s that word again. But what is it all about? Well, let’s take a Butterworth look at tithing.
Do you see tithing as something pressed upon you by the ‘church,’ something that is your duty to do? Or have you gone past the ‘oughts & shoulds’ and made it something else?
Do you look at tithing as a part of your Spiritual Practice?

It should be. Not because the Bible tells you to do so. No. But do it because it’s a good practice to get us all into giving.

The practice of tithing is a lot like the study of the Hebrew Bible. When we look at the Old Testament, we are looking at our souls’ journey to understanding God’s Laws. Just as the Ten Commandments were given to teach us how to get along with our neighbor and how to show obedience to God, the practice of tithing is to teach us to give.

Compare the practice of tithing to learning to ride a bike as a kid. You first have training wheels until you get the idea of balance, etc. And the trainers come off and you are off…enjoying the freedom of riding on your own.
So, it is as we mature and settle more and more into our Spiritual Selves, we ‘put away childish things.’ We understand that our Spiritual home, in this case, Unity here in Delaware, is a worthy place to support in every way.

So, we give easily and gratefully to support this Spiritual home. We don’t feel the need to calculate our 10%. We give easily and generously to the Spiritual home that blesses us and supports us.

That is what tithing is supposed to teach us. The Law of Consciousness is teaching us that we always have a choice. We receive as we give and the more we receive, the more we have to give.

Luke 6:38 states: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

An example: Before leaving his home in Baltimore to seek his fortune, William Colgate was advised by a family friend, “Son, whatever work you do, do it well, take the Lord into partnership, give Him a tenth of all you make, and you will never fail.”

Soon Colgate was manager of a Manhattan soap firm, and a few years later he had his own business. He always set aside ten cents of every dollar for charity. On his books, his donations were labeled “Account with the Lord.” As his profits soared, he instructed his bookkeeper to increase the amount to 20 percent, and later 30 percent. Ultimately, he was giving 50 percent.

Tithing is not a divine law as some preach and lecture and teach. It is a practice. It is a means to an end. It is a way of teaching responsibility to individuals, so they understand the process of giving way to the divine flow.
Giving is a fundamental spiritual law. And tithing can be an excellent way to help us all become established in the giving-receiving rhythm.

Tithing can be a way of getting into a giving consciousness, but it is not a substitute for a giving attitude. That comes from within.

Just because you tithe doesn’t mean you give.

Kahlil Gibran says: “You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give…”

We must give the whole tithe; give with love; coming from within. Remember, life is lived from within out.
So, prove the law in action: go the second mile in meeting obligations, turn the other cheek in relationships, forgive ‘seventy times seven’ and be diligent in keeping a high watch of positive thinking and loving reactions in overcoming the world of duality.
Don’t think of what you are giving to, but what you are giving from.

All this discussion, throughout these weeks, has been for….? What? What are we learning, or re-membering throughout this discussion?

Well, a major thought is economic conditions are outside us…in the world. What counts for us is how we deal with any economic condition, as well as any ‘learning opportunity.’ We deal in consciousness; with a higher perspective.

We know of God-substance that is ever-present. It is our purpose, then, to be in the creative flow of abundance. And as we each achieve prosperity; we influence the world to greater abundance. Another thought from Paul to the Romans, 12:2; “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your mind from within.”

Jesus made the breakthrough so that “…we may have life abundantly.” We can never be separated from the all-sufficiency of God-substance within. If we all have access to limitless life, limitless substance and limitless intelligence, then how can any human experience lack of any kind?

Any lack is the result of some sort of obstruction in the free flow of the creative process. Understanding the prosperity law means taking responsibility for your life. Master your thoughts. Get in touch with your consciousness. Connect to your inner Self, that higher being that you are.

We could say that the world is facing a crisis. We hear words like that all the time on the news. But we have an opportunity to bring in a new world.

The Chinese use two symbols to translate our word, crisis. Those two words are danger and opportunity.
Can you see that a crisis is an opportunity to see what is happening through your
perspective; And what will that perspective be? Some reaction that is motivated from your past or a thoughtful response from your spiritual consciousness?

We, ‘New Thought’ folks have a responsibility to “hold to the vision of the spiritual human being who has always risen to the occasion to draw forth the wisdom and creativity required to take the next logical step in the progress of civilization.”

And yet psychologists estimate that not one person in a million is living up to the best which is in him or her. Are you making the most of your inner resources? Can you imagine what your life would be like if you could realize your full potential?

Think on that for a minute.

Now look at how far you have come in your spiritual journey. Trust that civilization has come far and “the best is yet to be.”

There is still great wisdom to be discovered in the depths of humanity’s inner Self. We must do our part in bringing all humanity into the creative flow of healing life, guiding intelligence, and limitless supportive substance.

Every person must take responsibility for his or her own life. As one person changes his or her level of thought, the consciousness of the whole changes to that degree.

It is time to be part of the solution, which is a collective consciousness of the ever-presence of God-substance.

Cannon Farrar:
I am only one, but I am one.
I can’t do everything, but I can do something.
What I can do, I ought to do.
And what I ought to do,
By the grace of God, I will do.

GREAT MORNING BELOVED!!
“Spiritual Economics: The Money Enigma & Discover the wonder of giving.”

We’ve all heard the misquote people throw around a lot; “Money is the root of all evil.” What Paul said is, “The love of money is the root of all evil.” (1 Timothy 6:10)
We should understand by now that it is our consciousness that determines our abundance, and that abundance isn’t necessarily how much money you have in your pocket.
How can money, at one and the same time, be a sought-after necessity of life and yet be a handicap to one’s spiritual growth? How can money be evil when no one can do without it?
SO, let’s change that to “The right attitude toward money is a root of all kinds of prosperity.”
And what is money really? It is a device for measuring wealth. We would go further and state it is a means of exchanging energy. It is an enabling symbol, a tangible representation of intangible universal substance, which enables us to provide food, shelter, clothes, etc.
Money is God in action.
Money is an extension of you…your thoughts and feelings. If you think positively and creatively about your money, you actually multiply its effectiveness. Now think about what you are multiplying if your attitude and thoughts are negative….

Think about how often someone may ask you how much money you have on you, for instance and you reply: “Only 5 dollars.” Why ONLY? ‘Onlyness’ identifies with lack.
Look at a dollar bill…the black ink side and notice the number 1…indicating lack. But when you turn it over to the green side. Focus on “IN GOD WE TRUST.” You have gone from limitation to limitlessness.
Remember, your money is an extension of you; either a symbol of limitation or of limitlessness. When you receive or spend money, ‘think green,’ keep the green side up to remind you that you identify money as a symbol of limitless God-substance. In this way, you are building and maintaining a prosperity consciousness.

We don’t need money, we need faith. We need ideas. We need a flow of creativity. Imbue your money with the idea of abundance. Each Sunday we repeat, “God is the source, I am the conduit.”
What does that mean to you? Are you feeling that energy when you say the words? If not, maybe you’re cheating yourself….and Spirit.

Our money needs us to become that creative idea that in turn, with faith and vision, becomes our creative outlet. Henry Ford had an idea, and that idea as it unfolded became the impetus for his millions. It was the idea.
We all have our own connection to that pipeline of ideas, if we allow it. Wealth is not in money; it is in ideas. And “you are always as rich as you think you are. The only poverty is of the mind.”

Charles Fillmore has said; “Watch your thoughts when you are handling your money, because your money is attached through your mind to the one source of all substance and all money. When you think of your money, which is visible, as something directly attached to an invisible source that is giving or withholding according to your thought, you have the key to all riches and all lack.”
“Never allow money of any kind or amount to pass through your hands without blessing it.”

To bless means to confer prosperity or happiness upon. When it goes from you, give thanks that there is no depletion, but an increase because you have kept it flowing. The circle of giving and receiving.
And keep in mind that giving may involve money, but it also involves your work and in the many ways you make contact with life. All your interactions with others, think how that occurs, are you giving and receiving?

Unfortunately, the predominate attitude toward money and success and acceptable methods of achievement has evolved into getting what you want at any cost.
So, we are reminded again that life is not lived from the outside-in, but from inside-out. Unless we understand this, we miss the whole meaning of life.

“The purpose of life is not acquisition but unfoldment and personal development.”
How are you doing with that?

Your life is a gift from God. What you do with it is your gift to God. Again, what are you doing with that?

Are you a taker or a giver?

A taker is someone who believes that their lives will always be the total of what they can get from the world. But no matter what they take, they can never know peace or security or fulfillment.

A giver is convinced that life is a giving process. Their subtle motivation in all

their ways is to give themselves away, in love, in service, in all the many ways they can share themselves.

If you are seeking to establish yourself in a unitive relationship with divine flow, you must begin to see yourself as a giver. You can never achieve that unitive relationship until giving becomes the main thrust of your life.

“If you discover the wonder of giving, you will find a great blessing of inner fulfillment in your work, which will lead to better work, and by the law of causation, to a greater experience of affluence, which may come through your job or through many different channels.”

The law is exact: if you give, really work in a giving consciousness, you must receive.

Understand that life itself does not have meaning.

You have meaning. Meaning is something you release from within yourself. You put meaning to your work, to your experiences, to every relationship.

So, analyze your attitudes toward everything…your work, your relationships, your world. What can be changed to increase your prosperity consciousness? We have gone through this book that is filled with this whole process, have you listened?

Have you figured out what, if anything, is blocking your prosperity?

GREAT Morning Beloved!

“Spiritual Economics: How to Reverse Financial Adversity & Security in a changing world.”

We have been reminded about quite a few things so far as we journey through this book on Spiritual Economics.
And they are reminders, because we know all this, in reality, but we forget so much as we encounter our physical world.
Sometimes we just wonder, “If I could have only remembered sooner!”
And when we do remember or are reminded, if we could just keep on remembering all if it!
Oh well, Life is a growth process.
So, let’s continue our look at Spiritual Economics.
Let’s face it, we need things to live in this dualistic world…things like clothes and food and shelter, etc. And to get those things, we need something to exchange for the needs, in most cases – a source of income.
Our economy is a complicated thing, from a materialistic vantage.
We have at our access all sorts of statistics and charts trying to explain what’s happening in our economy; but nothing about the cause of it all.
The economy will always be about what we make it, how we decree it, what we expect it to be.
In reality, the economy is little more than a barometer that registers the highs and lows of consciousness.
WHAT?
My consciousness influences the economy.
YES!
Think about it…you are the leader of your business affairs. You determine the consciousness you bring to the ‘table,’ so to speak. Butterworth told us, “Your most important asset is the conscious control of your own life.”

Are you coming from a consciousness of lack and limitation?
Remember: your prosperity will always be a reflection of your consciousness.

The fact is that consciousness is the key to all things which happen to us. The starting point in changing your life to an experience of abundance is the realization that you can change your life by altering your thoughts.
You begin by taking responsibility for your own life. Admit to yourself that your present experience reflects your present level of awareness. You are not a victim of circumstances. Consciousness creates circumstances or at least sets the climate in which they happen.
So, we see, if the cause is in you, in your level of consciousness, then the cure can be affected by changing your thoughts, by altering the cause. Thus, we are altering the inner states of our minds that have been blocking the natural flow of God substance.

It’s hard to stay positive in this world. Sometimes things happen. But nothing is ever a complete loss. There is always some gain, some growth.
Life is a matter of growing. Missing the mark is one of the ways in which we learn to hit the target. Failure is a part of achieving success, and success is ‘earning the right to be there.’
If we find we haven’t succeeded in our attempt at something, we can affirm: “I accept the reality of this situation, but not it’s permanence.”
And a reminder: “Thoughts held in mind produce after their kind.” So, watch your thoughts, watch your words. Only put into words those statements that you really want to see manifest in your life.
For example, the word problem immediately brings about meanings of trouble, impossible obstacles, etc. But the word project brings a different suggestion of creativity, positive endeavors. Or as I say, learning opportunity. And in these, we are taking responsibility. We are always responsible for the way we accept things that happen to us. The incident is external; our reaction is always our own.
Henry David Thoreau wrote in his journal, “The question is not what you look at, but what you see.”

All that really counts is what is happening within us. There is unlimited potential within all of us. And when we are grounded in the field of limitless substance, then we may be broke, but we can never be poor.
Any experience of life can become the best thing that ever happened to us. All things work together for good. Start with positive thought right in the beginning of a ‘so-called’ crisis.

Can you believe that? That all things work together for good? Or how long, when something happens, does it take us to get to that point when we understand that all things work out for good?
Our idea of security probably interferes with that sentiment.
So, what does security mean to you? How important is it?

Professor Peter Bartocci at Boston College has said, “It may be that any view of life that puts security rather than creativity first has misread life at its best, and thus misinterprets the cosmic process.”
WOW. What do you think about that statement?
What do you think this is saying?
How about when we place the emphasis on outer things, we miss the whole meaning of life. Life is for expressing, for growth and expansion.
Humans have survived because of our creative ability, the intuitive flow of ideas, in their spiritual dimension. When we think of only being safe, we stifle the urges of personal growth and advancement.
Security is actually more psychological than financial. Sure, purchase insurance, and save and invest, but do these things from a mindset of unlimited source, not anxiety or fear.
It depends on our thinking when we do what we do.
It is universal law that the patterns you hold in mind tend to influence circumstances. Having a spare tire is not a symbol of fear but rather, evidence of wisdom and good planning.

Even as we work, our money should be put to work also. Saving is a mature practice…all nature saves. But take the high view and save for opportunities, not emergencies.
Through all this, seek first the kingdom for your security. Do what you do with a consciousness of security.

And that goes for retirement too. Yes, plan for it, but not from the negative image of old age and the ‘sunbelt-condominium syndrome.’ You can’t live meaningfully and creatively on a shuffleboard court. It’s not an end but a redirection of activities and interests.
This must be a continuing process of keeping the whole-self alive and fully functioning.
We do not grow old; when we stop growing, we are old

.
Pg 138-140
The word secure comes from two Latin words meaning ‘without’ and ‘care,’….so, being without care, freedom from anxiety.
If we remember that security is not found in things, its only from connecting to the flow of Infinite Mind. Ideas are the gold coins of the Kingdom.

In Hebrew, the word for security literally means ‘worthy.’ True security is in worthiness, not worth. Money and things will not increase your worthiness.
Security is not found in things. It is experienced by identifying yourself as a channel for the flow of Infinite Mind. Are you possessed by your possessions?
Where’s your faith?
Here’s a test…close your eyes and just for a moment, imagine all your possessions gone….what’s your reaction or your response?
That tells you of your faith….of where you are in this dualistic world.
And a good place to go to meditation……