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.