Eric Butterworth - Inspirational message for today

[Naptaq]

Jul 8, 2008 8:48:18 GMT -5 Selene said:

I have a tape by him called relationships. The other side he talks about hurt.
""There are countless opportunities of feeling hurt if you're so "inclined" It's important to face th fact that We always have a choice no and matter what a person does or leaves undone u do not have to give him the power how ur gonna feel or think. Quiite often a person will say I don't have to take that from anybody, the fact is he says that in that tone he is taking it, he's holding into his unconsciousness". etc.....Where can I find all these words to e-mail to someone?

I wish I could help you, but I do not have the transcript of that tape. I've been copying his quotes from his website and that's all I know. I'm sorry. I hope you find it.

[Naptaq]

Another gem:

You Always Have A Choice

It is said, "Hope springs eternal in the human breast… ." But this spark of hope is sometimes reduced to a faint glimmer. Many persons cry out with Shakespeare's Juliet, "Come weep with me...past hope, past cure, past help." They may be trapped in situations and relationships that are destructive and depleting, moving from resistance to complete resignation, and yet, they plod along stoically, saying, "What are you going to do, I have no choice." To that person, I want to say, "There is no choiceless life. You always have a choice!" You may be living in very trying times, faced with problems in your work or in your home, problems over which you apparently have no control. You may be confronted with the burden of rising taxes and rising costs that make the challenge of making ends meet precarious at best. There maybe little that you can do to change any of this, or even remove yourself from its influence, yet, you do have a choice.

Life is consciousness. You live in a world of your own thinking. Things may happen around you, and things may happen to you, but the only things that count are the things that happen in you. Your world, as far as you are concerned, is formed by the shape of your attitudes and feelings. As the poet has said, "Every day that is born into the world comes like a burst of thunder, and rings the whole day through, and you will make of it a dance, a dirge, or a life-march, as you will." The winds of circumstance may blow...and they may not always blow in the way you want to go. You can't regulate the winds, and there is really little to be gained in complaining about them...but you do have a choice.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox sat by the East River here in New York City, long years ago, meditating on the fact that people coming from the same home and environment turn out so differently. She was inspired by some sailing vessels moving up the river to their docks, and she wrote these immortal lines: "One ship drives east and the other drives west / By the self-same winds that blow. / `Tis the set of the sails and not the gales / That determines the way they go."

You may say, "Oh, you are talking about attitudes!" Of course I am, for it is the attitudes that color our lives. You may object, "But one must be realistic. This situation has happened. It was not of my doing and it is completely beyond my control. Yet, I have no choice. I might just as well accept it. It is just the way things are!" But I say, it is not the way things are...it is the way you are seeing them, thinking about them, holding them in your consciousness. Perhaps you cannot change the fact of the condition in your life, but you do have a choice as to how you think about it. You can choose fear or faith, despair or hope, pessimism or constructive thinking. And whether you know it or not, you have already made that choice. In a very real sense, we do something about everything that happens in our lives. We may ignore some insults and take offense at others. We may laugh at some difficulties and surrender to others. We may make stepping-stones of some obstacles and stumbling blocks out of others.

Julian Huxley says, "Experience is not what happens to a person, it is what he does with what happens to him." We can always choose what we do about anything that comes into our lives. We can hate or love, we can resist and struggle, or we can deal with it in love and non-resistance. We can worry about it or we can pray about it. We can accept it as a crushing blow of defeat or we can know, as Joseph knew for his brothers that sold him into slavery, that even if they meant it for evil, "God meant it for good." With this attitude we can go on to renewed effort and achievement. If you want to begin to take charge of your life, here is a fundamental principle to build on: "The incident is external, the reaction is your own." You may say, "This has happened, and there is nothing I can do to change it." But, there is something you can do. Actually, you have already done something very vital...you have reacted to it in some way. It is important to know that your reaction is your choice. There is no automatic reaction brought on by circumstances. You may say, "I was going along, minding my own business, and then he did that...he makes me so mad." But you are wrong. He didn't make you mad— you didn't like what he did, and you made yourself mad. This is a very important point

If you really want to take charge of your own life, it is important to continually check up on yourself. If you become disturbed over some thing another person says or does, instead of saying, "Why did he disturb me?" you can ask yourself, "Why did I get upset? Why should I let him decide how I am going to think or feel or act?" We can't go very far toward victorious living without having made the great discovery that "Whenever I am disturbed, it is because I am disturbable. If I become upset over something, it is because I am upsettable." Now, it takes a certain degree of humility and self-honesty to admit this. But, if I can admit it, then there is much that I can definitely do something about.

Everyone has some kind of deficiency, for life is for living and growing, and we probably would not be here if we were already perfect. The important thing is that you have a choice. You can excuse yourself because of your handicap, your age, your lack of education, your color, your economic background, or the physical limitations with which you have to deal with life. On the other hand, you can turn the disadvantage into an advantage, the minus into a plus, with a compensating drive to excel. No matter what your lot in life, or what you have to experience in life, just make sure that if it colors your thinking, you choose the colors.

You may at some time get caught up in a spiraling conflict of personalities. It is said, "It takes two to make a quarrel." But, I say, it only takes one to stop it. You can choose to get off the tit-for-tat treadmill. The human of you may want to "get back" at the other person, or to "get even." But, there is only one way to get even...to love, to forgive, to bless. You always have this choice. If you refuse to take the option, you are a slave to your emotions. Jesus gave this marvelous key for "getting even" in human relationships. Few have really tried it, for it is so simple. He said, "if someone smites you on the cheek, turn to him the other also." This means to turn to that part of your nature, which is transcendent to the hurt— that which naturally loves and forgives. You always have this choice. When you react in anger or hostility, remember it is your mind, your emotions. You are not only letting the birds build a nest in your hair, you are actually supplying the materials.

Now, you may say, "There is one thing I can't do anything about, and that is the past, those wasted years of my life that are beyond recall." And you may go on to indicate how your life has been ruined or frustrated by something done to you back there in the past, or by something you did or did not do. But, you always have a choice. You certainly can't have the years back to live over again. But you can "restore the years which the locust hath eaten." You can change your thoughts about the past, and thus change the influence that it has upon you today. You can let it go, stop living it, stop excusing yourself today because of it. You can insist that, "all things work together for good." Someone once said, "Even a kick in the pants is a boost, if you are faced in the right direction." You have the option right now of facing forward in the direction of your dreams. Thus, no matter what has happened in the past, it cannot limit you or keep you from your good. You Always Have a Choice!

Someone else may say, "You have no choice about the future, for, ‘What will be, will be.’" This is the kind of predestination that most persons reflect in their cliché-ridden conversation. Do you really believe its implications? If you did, you would sit with folded hands and do nothing, for why try anything if "what will be, will be?" There is no predestination, though we may be strongly influenced by what I would call "predisposition"— being predisposed to certain streams of consciousness. But consciousness can be changed. You have a choice. You can alter the flow of circumstance in your life by changing your consciousness and by thinking the kind of thoughts that you want to see manifest in your life.

So...you always have a choice! You can choose your attitudes, moods, reactions. You can choose the effect life's experiences will have on you. You always have a choice, and the wisest choice is the choice of love...to keep yourself consciously in the flow of God.

Eric Butterworth

[Naptaq]

Reverse Your Thought Habits

It has been said that we are all creatures of habit. Whenever we do a thing in a certain way, it is just a little easier to do it in that same way the next time, and even easier the time after that. Eventually the time comes when the effort is in not doing it that way.

Of all the habits that limit, and even enslave us, habits of thought are the most persistent and the most tenacious. We put on an idea in the morning as we put on a shoe, left or right foot first, unconsciously and without even varying the procedure by a fraction. For instance: It is by habit that we may start the day "harping on the same old tune."

It is important, first, to realize that habits that are made can be altered. No thought habit was ever inherited— it was acquired by repetition over an extended period of time. So the great need is to begin to reverse our method of thinking. Instead of taking facts as a starting point, we should take the inherent nature of mental power as a starting point. In other words, we have tended to think reactively. Now we must begin to think creatively. The thoughts we think are not caused by the conditions about which we are thinking, but by reason of our habitual way of thinking about them. Thought is not produced by circumstance. Now, it may seem completely self-evident that our fears, upsets, and worries are caused by the conditions that we are fearful, upset, or worried about, but experiences do not cause thought. The incident is external; the reaction is our own.

No matter what happens around you or to you, you can choose your thoughts. You may not always have done so. You may actually have let people and conditions determine how you think. You may have even formed the habit of reacting in a certain way to certain situations, in which case any person can "push the button" and get a rise of anger or envy or bitterness out of you. In time, it may become so habitual that you identify as the thought habit by saying, "Well, I’m just that kind of person."

So we need to take an occasional inventory of our lives, looking for a repetition of our problems in our work, our finances, our health, our relationships, or just of negative states of mind. All these are the out-picturing of consciousness. But you see, if you refuse to own them, if you insist that they were caused by people or conditions or by God or by fate, then you can do little about changing them…or changing your life. But if you take responsibility for them, admitting that they are persistent states of consciousness in your mind, then you can "change your life by altering your thoughts." Now of course, let’s not delude ourselves. This is not easy. The negative patterns of thought are deep-seated. It is not just a matter of saying, "Oh, I’m just not going to think that way anymore." A good example would be feelings of inferiority. The persistent sense of insufficiency is simply a bad mental habit, and yet, anyone with such a complex knows that it requires much more than making the decision that he or she is not going to think that way anymore. It is not easy to think of yourself as confident and sufficient when your inferiority complex is busy manufacturing more inferior thoughts. As the Indian poet/playwright, Tagore, says, "The slave is a busy making whips for his master."

Yes, it requires a lot more than the decision that you are not going to think that way anymore, but it does require that decision. Changing thought habits must begin with the will to change them. Somewhere along the way, one must determine that he or she will no longer identify with the limited and begin identifying with the Limitless. In other words: You are not an inferior person. You are a person with feelings of inferiority.

There is a very subtle point that is rarely observed in the study of Metaphysics. It is often said, "You are what you think." But this is not really accurate, because, you see, you are thinking what you think. And the "you" that thinks is more than the thought. The thoughts are in your mind…and you have the power to control your mind. You are not just a mind that thinks; you are a unique and wonderful identity in Infinite Mind, with the power to think what you want to think and to react as you train yourself to react. As you think, you use the intelligence that runs the universe. It is the "stuff of God," but you do not manufacture it— you simply direct into molds of your consciousness, like limitless air all about you that you force into "balloons" of various sizes and shapes. You direct this Infinite Intelligence into "balloons" of twisted and distorted thoughts. And, the same Law that would manifest perfection in accord with a perfect mental mold will manifest distortion in accord with distorted thoughts. Because we are creatures of habit, we habitually blow air into certain "balloons" because that’s the way we have always done it. The idea of age as an inevitable experience of deterioration is one instance. Catching cold from wet feet is another. But these are our "balloons"…and we are blowing air into them.

We should never permit negative patterns of thought to stand unchallenged. We should not allow ourselves to hide behind such clichés as, "But I have always been that way." You see, you have not always been that way— you have always been a unique Individualization of God, with the power and the potential to experience the fullness of life. Now, you may well have always acted out something in that way. In other words, you are not a weak person; you are a person with self-limiting thoughts of weakness. But they are your thoughts, and you have the power to think the kind of thoughts you really want to think. That is the important thing.

The positive person is not one who never has a negative thought. Some folks would be startled by this, but I say, even Jesus had negative thoughts. Just note his "wilderness experience." The "Satan" who tried to entice him into using his power for selfish and materialistic ways, symbolized the coming to the surface of the thought patterns of his own mind. But the great lesson is that, whereas, he might have said, "Just like me to act that way." Jesus disidentified with the patterns of thought. So, he could speak to Satan and he could say, "Get the hence." [Luke 4:8] He might have said that this is just the way I normally do thing, but he said, "I refuse to accept it. Get thee hence." This is a great lesson.

As simple as the experience of watching television and deciding that you don’t like a program, you simply change the channel or turn the television off. The thought pattern is in your mind and you are in control…and you can say "No!" When there is a symptom that indicates that you are moving into the clutches of illness of financial depression, you can say, "No!" You can reverse thought habits at any moment, whenever you refuse to identify with them. Simply stand aloof, disidentify with them and say, "Get thee hence!" And mean it! Take charge of your mind.

Do not permit negative patterns of mind to stand unchallenged. Watch the subtle moments, such as the start of a day, when you are saying, "Well, it’s going to be another one of those days." Is that the way you want it to be? Why not affirm: "It is a good day, and I know that I am in the Flow of Good this day." But remember: when you affirm that it is a good day or that you are creative and capable or that you are one with the Healing Flow of Life, you don’t make yourself that way. You simply let the Light shine through the innate potential. You let Infinite Intelligence flow into the "balloons" of your choice. Positive thinking doesn’t make Creative Power, nor does it change either God or conditions. Positive thinking simply attunes us with the Power, which is, and we identify with the Power and as the Power and it shines easily through us.

Habit, like fire, is a good servant, but it is a very poor master. Worry is a habit, but then, so is the tendency to deal with the changing situations in faith. Anger is a habit, but then, you see, so is poise and the habit of keeping centered in the Flow of Love. Initially, you always have a choice. It is your mind, and you can think in any way that you want. So, challenge your thought reactions. Ask yourself, "Now is that the way that I want to think about this thing?" See the wisdom of holding the kind of thoughts that will produce the kind of conditions that you really want to see manifest in your life. It is going to take a lot of discipline, a lot of patience, a lot of alertness. You will have to be "on your toes," ever watching to see that you do not allow your power of choice to go by default. Remember that every negative thought habit started at some point, and at any point you can reverse it and start a new habit that is positive and creative. You can reverse your thoughts. You can change these habits. You can become, truly, a positive thinking person. Today is the day! Now is the time!

© Eric Butterworth

www.ericbutterworth.com/

[Naptaq]

Little Things

How big or how small is a thought? Have you ever thought about that? How big is your thinking? We don’t really know whether a thought has material form or not, do we—whether it is a composition of chemicals, or whether it is composed of any substances at all? If a thought were composed of actual substance, how infinitesimally small a single thought would be. An idea, for instance, for a magnificent symphony, could be no bigger than the faintest dot seen through a powerful microscope.

Everywhere there is vast evidence to support belief in the power of little things. The earth itself, our bodies, everything we can see, from an ocean to a lofty mountain, are all composed of little things, so little as to be invisible to the naked eye.

The builder knows the importance of little things. A single brick may be held in the palm of his hand, but that brick may contain the secret of a twenty-story building, or thirty or fifty or a hundred. Just imagine, if you will, a builder so foolish as to look at that single brick, one of a vast pile of bricks, and say, “How can I build a great building with those little things? It’s impossible.” Well, of course it’s impossible for a brick to build a building, but laying bricks one at a time, here-a-little, there-a-little, piling them one on top of the other, eventually the building is built. A great book is composed of single words arranged in sentences. A year is made up of tiny minutes, made up of even tinier seconds. A tree has thousands of little leaves and twigs, and the trunk of the mightiest tree in the world is composed of infinitely tiny little cells. Little Things.

It may be said that there is really no big thing in existence, because the biggest object we know is simply a collection of tiny bits of substance placed together. So it is with your life and mine. They, too, are composed of little things. Our time on earth is measured in minutes and seconds, for we cannot live a year without living a month or a week or a day, an hour, a second. The work we do is made up of a series of small actions, whether we are building a bridge, cooking a dinner, writing a play, or making morning radio talks. Can we intelligently ignore a small thing, and say that because of its small size it is of no consequence? Of course not. If it concerns us at all, it is important.

How often it has been said that trifles make perfection. It is no less true that trifles make failures. A small spot of black ink on a white satin wedding gown is a small thing of itself, but its influence upon the whole is enormous. In the same way, one single negative thought can damage an otherwise perfect fabric of good thinking. It could be compared with an atomic bomb that can destroy a great city or a tiny deadly microbe that could infect and destroy a fine, healthy body.

Remember, Jesus, with his great insight, pointed out that we are judged by every word we utter. [Matt. 12:36] How small a thing is a word? The greatest effect of our words is upon ourselves, through a process known to science as “autosuggestion.” You say, carelessly, “I feel tired today.” Four little words, out of the thousands you may normally utter in the course of a day, but through the process of your nervous system, those words gradually become made flesh. Now your body and your mind will insist upon feeling tired, and will resist everything you may do to overcome that feeling. You have spoken, you have declared “the word,” you proclaimed “the law.” You have issued not an unimportant observation, but a clarion command. Such is the power of words.

There are no unimportant words or thoughts. There are no unimportant atoms. How often a Truth seeker, whose desire it is to think only in positive terms, discounts, as being of no importance, the casual, negative thoughts that occur to him, that he expresses throughout the day. He may not realize that each negative thought or word damages his spotless work, rendering it imperfect and no longer satisfying or fulfilling. He cries in vain that his prayers are not answered. To accept error as real is to deny the Divine Flow, the process of the God Activity within. To accept any negative condition, however briefly, is to deny the goodness of God.

A woman prays earnestly for something she greatly desires. At the moment of her prayer, she is irritated at the breaking of a dish, and, for one instant, the dish becomes more important to her than the Divine Flow. All through the day, she tells herself, “I will be perfect. I am perfect. I love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.” And then she scolds her young son for being a few minutes late for dinner; and she is angry because she has burned the main dish. How great is her quest for faith and her love of God, and how little these negative excursions—just “insignificant little things.” And yet, each negative thought is a tremendous power. She has loosed the power of a little thing, a deadly little thing, and it destroys her picture of perfection.

May we not be, at times, however brief, a bit angry, discouraged, irritated, fearful, depressed, vengeful? Can we not, at times, speak our mind freely? Can’t we be honest? Of course, but we cannot indulge in these negative bits of dynamite and still have the magnificent, undamaged structure of glory that is the Kingdom of Heaven within. In other words, we cannot have all this and Heaven, too. The small, negative utterances, the statements made in anger or regret or irritation—powerful in themselves—combine in the course of a day to produce an avalanche, a vicious power, to build up a tremendous wall against which our enfeebled faith beats in vain. No one has defeated us. We have defeated ourselves. God hasn’t shut us out. We have, in a very real sense, shut God out.

So often an individual complains, after having listed all his woes, that even though he has prayed and prayed, God hasn’t answered his prayers. What should he do? Well, one need not ask what is wrong with this picture. Remember, Jesus said, “No man can serve two masters.” [Matt. 6:24] We cannot serve our troubles, admitting their domination, and, at the same time, serve God. When, by word or deed, we acknowledge and proclaim the negative, we certainly cannot reap the positive blessing that we desire, because these two elements mix as poorly as oil and water. Both cannot exist in harmony at the same place at the same time. It is only by making a constant effort, throughout every day of our lives, that we can bring ourselves, always, to remember the nullifying affect of negative thoughts and statements and actions, and, through remembering, avoid them like a plague.

Now, this is not an easy thing to do, I will grant, because habits are pretty sturdy stuff. But in this, as in all other human undertakings, practice makes perfect, perseverance wins. Persevere, and the time will come when every negative impulse, however strong or faint, will automatically be repressed and quickly forgotten, to be replaced by positive thoughts and words and deeds, alone.

The effect of this re-conversion is nothing short of wonderful. Just as surely as nature abhors a vacuum, the absence of negative thoughts will obviously permit positive thoughts and statements and deeds to move in and fill our minds and lives, bringing us closer to perfect communion—communion with God. Fear and worry, and all other false “bogies,” dissolve into nothingness, and we begin to vibrate with the positive joy of living, a constant expectation of good, and the new and continuous flow of blessings. The total absence of negative thinking creates the perfect atmosphere in which the Infinite Process of God dwells in complete mastery.

So, let’s not become discouraged if we made many negative errors in the past, because they won’t be held against us. Every day, it could be said, the slate is wiped clean, and we are given a fresh start. As we forgive others, so may we forgive the trespasses we have made against ourselves, so we are forgiven in the Divine Process. Yesterday, with its gloomy record, is banished forever, and God permits us to begin anew from this very day forward.

So, beginning anew each day, we want to remember the power of our thoughts and words. There is an old saying, something to the effect, “If we take care of the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves.” It’s the same with our thoughts and words. If we are careful of the little thoughts and words that occupy our minds, the big ones will be found, always, to be on the positive side.

© Eric Butterworth

www.ericbutterworth.com

[Naptaq]

The Victorious Spirit

In the life of each of us, there come times when we feel that we just cannot go on. I’m sure we have all had this experience, when we found ourselves faced with problems that seem almost beyond our ability to solve. Right now, you may feel that you are confronted with a difficulty that you just cannot possibly handle, that you will not survive, that you will never again be happy or secure or prosperous or just an ordinary human being who can laugh and love and live.

Adjustments are not always easy to make, but my friends, we can make them. You can make the adjustment. You can rise above this experience. You can go on. Frequently, it happens that when we struggle to the point where we feel that we can do so no longer, the pattern of victory for us begins to appear. Suddenly, we see that our efforts have not been wasted, that work has been done that was no less effective because it was invisible. All too often, we give up just as success is about to be ours. Sometimes, when a person has strived to the utmost limit of his capacity and can see no progress, an insidious something inside him may whisper that it is foolish to continue to struggle. Yet, tremendous resources are still left within him. By this I mean, undeveloped, intangible resources of courage and faith and love, of mastery and perseverance. If he just makes the effort to go on and on and on, and to keep on keeping-on, he will begin to call forth this tremendous potential that has been untapped within him.

Life demands a great deal of effort of all of us. But, you see, life is very much worth the effort. Who would want an effortless existence? Circumstances may buffet us, even, occasionally, knock us down. Sometimes we may not seem to have the vitality to get up again. But if we persevere, we find that we can, indeed, get up. And we can go on…and keep on and keep on keeping-on. This is what life is. And this potential for keeping-on is at the heart and root of every one of us, if as Paul says, we “stir up the gift of God” within. [2 Timothy 1:6]

When we refuse to give way to thoughts of inadequacy and fear and to feelings of frustration and bitterness, and determine to employ our physical and mental and spiritual energies in constructive ways, we find that we have undreamed of reserves. Life can be lived victoriously and abundantly by any person. Life can be lived victoriously and abundantly by you, beginning right now, today, this moment!

It is not outer conditions and circumstances that determine the measure of our achievement and satisfaction. The accomplishments of people, men and women, with handicaps certainly fill many books. As a matter of fact, who does not have some kind of a handicap? Just ask yourself. Whether it be physical, mental, emotional, educational, social or economic, everyone has something that is just not right. But what seems to be a handicap is really not always so. It may become a special kind of incentive. Alfred Adler [1870-1937, Austrian psychologist and psychiatrist] calls it “the spur of inadequacy or inferiority.” In order to overcome a seeming handicap, a person quite often has to put forth prodigious effort, and to stir up the source of power in him that will enable him not only to overcome the limitation, but to achieve a life of previously unimagined satisfaction. So, actually, quite often, the person with the greatest handicap is a person who has the greatest achievements, because he works the hardest to find the balance. So it has always been.

Hundreds of centuries ago, the Creative Process in man led him out of the caves and set before him a dream, a hope. It led him along perilous ways, where not even the mightiest mastodon and the saber tooth tiger, for all their marvelous physical development, could survive—and none of them did survive, but man did. Somehow the Spirit within man made it possible for him to survive, and even to grow. And it was the result of “the spur of inferiority” that kept him driving, driving, driving, in order to cope. And that desire to cope enabled him to rise above all the limitations.

And that Victorious Spirit in man is your heritage. It will aid you, right now, in the arduous adventure that is life. It certainly won’t make your problems any smaller, but the Victorious Spirit within you will make you stronger and bigger. It may not shelter you from reverses, but it will help you to surmount them undefeated. It will give you the courage to accept life for what it is, and it will give you the faith to make something more of it. There is a Victorious Spirit within you that is braver than your fears, stronger than your doubts. Within this spirit and by it and through it, you can meet whatever comes to pass.

A number of years ago, a little boy in school showed definite aptitude in handicrafts. The simple articles fabricated in the course in manual training were finished by him with ease, and with joy, and in less time and with greater perfection than any of the other students. His tasks always seemed easy to him. Some finished work of his was always on display for teachers and other students and visitors to the school. He just loved to work with his hands. In every piece of wood, he seemed to perceive some design of beauty and symmetry and usefulness. From his earliest childhood, his one desire was to build himself a great house someday. He used to say, “When I grow up, I’m going to build me a house different from any other house in all the world.”

Well, the years passed, and the necessity for earning a livelihood did not permit him to follow up his skills in handicraft. He took a job with a certain organization, not because he especially liked the work, but because he liked the hours, which permitted him a great deal of time to himself. He married, took on the usual responsibilities of parenthood and of being the household provider. He was very faithful, very dedicated. He lived in an ordinary little house and the demands of his family took every penny of his salary. There seemed no chance of realizing that great house that he dreamed of as a child. But all this did not stop him from dreaming and working.

He managed to accumulate enough money to purchase a piece of property, and then, he began to build a house. He began to build. He dug the basement himself. He did it by hand. He put in every foot of the foundation, installing the framework. And his efforts stretched over many months. His friends watched his efforts. He did all this in the hours between quitting time of his work and to going to bed at night—tremendous dedication! It went on over months, and then over a period of years. Actually, he became an object of pity. People thought he was crazy. It seemed as though his project would never be finished. He was almost a person possessed. And he continued, day after day after day after day, week after week, month after month—here a little, there a little. During the evenings and the holidays and Sundays and every spare hour that he could, he put into his house.

Eventually, the house began to take shape. And then came the part that he really loved, the work on the interior. Carving and finishing, even far into the night, he worked with his own hands and with the help of modern machinery that he had acquired. He built a beautiful mantle in the living room, an impressive stairway with banisters, and did all the hand carving, something that could never be found anywhere anymore. Now, his friends didn’t pity him or deride him anymore. They watched, and they marveled! They couldn’t believe that a person could do such things.

The day came when the house was all finished, and it was beautiful, unique, functional. His pride and his joy in it were almost beyond description. It was not merely another house, not merely a place where he was going to live. It was something that he had created, the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. Any recollections of the years of toil or of the money spent faded away. People came from near and far, friends that he didn’t know he had, to see this place. They all admired the tremendous dedication, the accomplishments.

Well, he lived in his house a few months. Then one day a phone call came to him at his office, and a frantic voice stammered, “Your house is on fire. It’s burning down.” The firefighters had not reached it in time, and the years of labor and sacrifice and love that he had put into that house, lay before him in a heap of smoking ashes and charred ruins. It was all lost! Regarding it sadly for a few minutes, he turned away, and then, he said, “You know, I wanted to change that mantle anyway. And there is always lumber for another house.” So, while others were moaning and groaning and wondering how he could possibly face up to this terrible disappointment, he cleared away what was left. And he began, all over again, to construct the great house that he wanted to build himself, because the great joy was in the building, and he refused in any way to allow that joy to be frustrated, because he loved to create. This enabled him to make the adjustment. Adjustments are not easy to make, but they can be made, because there is a Victorious Spirit within every person.

When we face the impossible, we do so with magnificent capacities that are greater than we know, because we do not face life alone. Life is a mighty force, and the highest expression of it is the Victorious Spirit within man, surpassing any and all circumstances. There is never a time when we really need to give up, or should. There is always the strength to continue…if we would just have the courage to keep on, to dig a little deeper within ourselves, to find that Divine Potential that is always present, and to keep on and keep on, and keep on keeping-on. The courage to try again, to know that success, which means happiness, health, peace and plenty, always rewards our efforts.

Determine to have ever within you the Spirit Victorious. Keep consciously alive within you the idea that you never work alone, you never walk alone. The Spirit of Victory is always present, if you will just dig a little deeper and go a little farther and have a little more faith and let yourself be guided by the Inner Impulse. You are One with the Victorious Spirit, which is a fundamental reality of your life, which will enable you to go on, victoriously, through any and all circumstances.

© Eric Butterworth

www.ericbutterworth.com/

[Naptaq]

Consciousness: A New Insight

Jesus made some startling and, often, very much misunderstood assertions, such as: “For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.” [Mark 4:25, Matt: 25:29, Luke 8:18, Luke 19:26]

Now, the first reaction to this statement may well be, “Where is the justice in that?” It would seem to say, “The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.” Certainly, we are touching on a matter that is only explained by the word, “consciousness.” It is a word that is used ambiguously, a word that really cannot be fully defined. And yet without it, perhaps nothing else can adequately be defined. It is a key to knowing oneself and one’s life. Consciousness.

Man has struggled for thousands of years over the great paradox of an Orderly Universe on the one hand, and the fact of multitudes of suffering on the other hand. Many persons have rationalized suffering as the Will of God, or the gods, or as a stroke of bad fortune. Out of this was born the concept of “Heavenly Elysian Fields,” a place “beyond the blues,” where we finally enter into the orderly Universe after death. But, I cannot conceive of a world created by God in which we have to suffer part of the time in order that we shall not have to suffer the rest of the time. I prefer to believe that the only reason we suffer is that we do not know how not to suffer. I believe that problems are not God ordained, but, always, the result of God exclusion—that problems result, primarily, from a problem oriented consciousness. “For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath”

Ralph Waldo Trine [1866-1958, philosopher, mystic, teacher, early mentor of the New Thought Movement, and author of many books, including, “In Tune With the Infinite”] sensed this theme when he wrote these words, which have been very difficult for some persons to accept. He says: “Within each of us lies the cause of whatever comes to us. No disease can enter into or take hold of our bodies, unless it finds, therein, something corresponding to itself that makes it possible.” No disease can enter into or take hold of our bodies, unless it finds, therein, something corresponding to itself that makes it possible. This gives rise to a very important metaphysical axiom: Consciousness precedes experience. Consciousness precedes experience. No experience can exist separate and apart from consciousness.

Sometimes it is said that man is a cruel and vicious creature, a beast at heart; so there will always be wars and inhumanity to man. This is an extremely prejudicial view. Man is not just human; he is also Divine. He can be either…or many shades in between. How he expresses will always depend on the level of his consciousness. You might think of an illustration of a series of horizontal grid lines on a graph. As you go from bottom to top, you see variations of the degree of Wholeness, from “lowlife” to “top drawer.” As moods change and states of awareness change, consciousness changes along with them, so life changes. This can be graphed just as predictably as the stock market.

We tend to take our levels of consciousness for granted, just as we take the world of appearances for granted. But the great discovery of modern times is that consciousness not only makes our life what it is, but it can be changed—as consciousness changes, life for us changes. This is the key to all healing, success, and happiness. The change is not only in the perception of life out there; it is also in the experience of life in here, within one’s self.

We tend to get hung up on certain levels of awareness and, thus, we are “typed,” self-typed, in a way—a limiting self-image of illness consciousness, or poverty consciousness, or whatever you have. It’s a self-typing that has a great deal to do with where we are and what happens to us in life, not because of the way the world treats us, but because of the way we see ourselves, and the kind of attracting power that we set up to draw to us, from the world, the experiences that come into our lives. So, we see this thing, such as an “illness consciousness,” outpictured in our life, or a “poverty consciousness,” outpictured in our experience.

We need to work for a basic change in our “center of gravity,” a change in the level at which we live and move and have our being. We need to begin to deal with ourselves on a higher level of the “grid lines.” we need to step up a little bit. “I, if I be lifted up…,will draw all men unto me.” [John 12:32] I lift up my own consciousness to a higher level.

There is a great interest, today, in what is often called, “altered states of consciousness.” The movement is a good one. But it can be somewhat misleading, for the great need is not to experience an occasional high—even though it may be a beautiful experience of euphoria. The need is to actually change the “center of gravity,” to change the focus of our mental wellbeing. And we delude ourselves if we assume that we can do this without a great discipline over a long period of time.

In the study and practice of this New Insight In Truth, we should get it fixed in mind that we are not looking for shortcuts, get rich schemes, or miracle healings, for these can be self-deluding. One who works for a “miracle” is probably trying to bypass consciousness. When he has thought something, or had some pattern in his own mind, and thus, has drawn to himself a certain experience, and now he would like to change it all, but he expects a miracle, he expects good luck, he expects it to happen from some outside agency. And he cannot quite accept the fact that the thing is an outpicturing of that which was in his own mind. “As he thinketh in himself, so is he,” as the Old Testament tells us. [Proverbs 23:7 ASV]

You see, there are no experiences unrelated to consciousness. There are no experiences unrelated to consciousness. And there can be no permanent changes of the person without altering consciousness. This is a very important realization: There are no experiences unrelated to consciousness, and nothing can change without actually changing the patterns within yourself. As we say so often, “Our goal is not to set things right, but to see them rightly.” This is not just a cute phrase; it’s a key to the entire Process. Things and people exist for us as we see them. As long as we see them in a certain way, they become that to us, as far as we are concerned. This is why when asked how we can help others, I always suggest, first of all: heal your concern and change your attitude about them. Heal your concern, your anxiety, your tension. Change this in your consciousness, and then begin to deal with them in a positive, loving attitude. And suddenly you project to them and for them, an influence, which is healing.

Sight is an interesting phenomenon. Objects we see are represented by the light they reflect. This light falls upon the retina of the eye, upside down, as in a camera. The image is then transmitted to the brain through nerve endings that are sensitive to light, and we get the picture after it has been distributed over separate recording points, which the mind then assimilates and interprets. Somehow, the picture is transformed into one solid view. What the mind sees is not a lot of separate points, but it sees what its own awareness sees them as being. And this becomes the influence that motivates us, and that we react to.

More than we know, seeing is not believing. Believing is seeing. What we tend to see is that which we know and believe and are impressed by. Consciousness is that which we know to be true, that which we know not to be untrue, also. Where we are in terms of prejudices and convictions, doubts and fears, all rolled into one, this is consciousness. If you think you are sick and psychosomatically induce the symptoms, then you really become sick. And many of the physical ills that man experiences come as a result of this psychosomatic process. You actually know the pain and suffering. That which you see from the lower “fear point” of “the grid” is that which actually comes upon you. Consciousness is involved in all changes in the body. All disease is essentially psychosomatic in origin…all disease. Perhaps, in some cases, thought does not create the condition. But in all cases, thought causes the condition to flourish. So, true healing or help of any kind must come through changing consciousness, raising your “center of gravity.” This is why we always say, “You can change your life by altering your thoughts.”

The key to changing your consciousness is in meditation. Here you turn from the world of limitation to the idea of limitlessness. Here you get the thought of Allness within illness, and Divinity, even within seeming human perversity. Get the thought, in life, that there is always a choice, and as the advertising goes, “Select, don’t settle.” You may not always be able to change things or people, but you can always change the way you see them, you change the way you deal with them—and you always have that choice. And the Law of Consciousness works: To him that hath the consciousness of Abundance, shall be given, and from him that hath not, shall be taken away even that which he hath. You will begin to attract harmony and health and opportunity, because you will have developed a “center of gravity” in the Positive Power of God Mind that will “keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee.” [Isaiah 26:3]

Give some serious thought to this idea of consciousness, because it is a key to the way Truth works. Consciousness is the vital key that is involved in everything that we do and think and say.

© Eric Butterworth

www.ericbutterworth.com/

[Naptaq]

Living With Guidance

What do you want to do with your life? You know, you can do anything, you can be anything, if you make the right use of the faculties within you. It’s all up to you. There is no limit to what you can achieve; and you can make your beginning right now. You can start today, because you have within you, right now, all the power, all the wisdom, all the talent you will ever need. It’s the God Potential within you. Yes, within you is the unborn possibility of Limitless Power, and yours is the privilege of giving birth to it…right now.

The poet [English Renaissance poet, Samuel Daniel, 1562-1619] has said, “Unless above himself he can / Erect himself, how poor a thing is man.” Every person has the capacity to erect himself above his human resources. Every person has within himself the power to do and to be. The biographies of famous men and women are proof of the fact that most of the world’s great doers start with nothing. They grow from mediocrity to greatness, because they recognize and realize the power that is within them.

There is no reason for any person to feel resigned to any particular situation in life. On the contrary, there is a growing feeling that the days are past when a boy or girl can rise from poverty and obscurity to wealth and fame and prestige and power. Young people tell themselves, “Well, you know, things like that were possible in the old days, but they’re not too probable today, because these are more complicated times.” But you see, by accepting such limited thoughts, we delude ourselves. Everyone today has the same capacity, the same power of achievement possessed by any person of the years past. He has the Power within; he has the Power of God. There is no time in the consciousness of God. God is no more present today then he was in the time when some great creative genius set the world on fire with some new product. Don’t let yourself be convinced of any impossibility in your life. Refuse to accept any undesirable situation, any unpleasant circumstance. Remind yourself of the Infinite Power that is yours, and know, constantly, that you can do what you want, you can be what you want, you can do anything, you can be anything, if you want strongly enough to make use of this God Power that flows within you—if you stir up the Gift of God and release your own “Imprisoned Splendor.”

Now, there is a condition here, but it is a condition of method, not of obstacle. There are certain things that you must do if you require to tap your Inner Powers. Not burdensome things, they don’t require special talents. They are things that you are capable of doing right now, right where you are, the things that you must do.

So, what do you want to do or to be? To answer this question is to take the first step toward achievement. Answer the question for yourself. Answer it with care, because on its answer may hinge your whole future life. What do you want to do or be? Give some time and thought to the answer. Regardless of your satisfaction or dissatisfaction with your present life, make very sure that you know what you want. If you think you want change, be sure that you really want change and not just a different atmosphere, different attitudes in your present situation.

Perhaps the dissatisfaction you feel stems from conditions that can be changed. Perhaps you are the one who can do the changing. Even though you believe that others are responsible, there may be much that you can do to bring about a change. Finding out what you really want will help you to see the opportunities for improvement. Be open-minded, both to the advantages of your present lot and to the opportunities elsewhere. Above all, do not hold on to any circumstance, unless you are sure that it is the right thing for you. Do not fear change; do not try to avoid change, if change is right for you. How will you know? You will know. You will feel it. There will be an irrepressible urge, as you tune into the Divine Flow of Guidance. It will come forth naturally.

No man or woman is bound to any undesirable situation. No Child of God is called upon to be resigned to any limited circumstance. You are not bound; you are not limited; you are free, in potential; you are able to change your life, to alter your circumstances. That’s true of you, no matter who you are, no matter where you are and no matter what the conditions. No demands of others, no need for your services can ever chain you or bind you. You can serve without being limited. You can express love and helpfulness to others and enjoy your individual growth simultaneously. You are not required to sacrifice your happiness, your opportunities, your development, for others. It is the Divine Plan that you serve, but it is also the Plan that you grow and progress individually as well.

If you can achieve what you want to achieve where you are, fine, well and good, this is great. Make an extra effort to do so. Don’t let your present opportunities escape you. But, if you feel the Inner Guidance to change, to move on, then don’t hesitate. All the great explorers and scientists and philosophers and thinkers and innovators, all the great geniuses of all time have refused to walk familiar paths, unless the paths seemed right and true. You might say, “But I’m not an explorer. I’m not a scientist. I’m not a philosopher.” But you really are. You are the explorer of your own inner world. You have the boundaries of limitation within your own life to push back. Your mind is a laboratory, wherein you, and only you, can do the work of the scientist. Philosopher? Yes, you are that too. You are the only philosopher who will ever think your thoughts; and it is up to you to think through and to establish a way of life for yourself. You may need to get out of the groove that you are in, which you may sometimes refer to as “a rut.” You may need to learn how to live where you are. Whichever it is, you are on the way to happiness and successful living once you know. And if you know, then how do you achieve what you want? You must be ready. The Divine Resource is always ready. The power to achieve is always available to you, but you can’t use this power until you are ready, and getting ready is something you, and only you, can do.

You can serve where you are or you can serve in a new place, and the keyword, of course, is serve. For more happiness where you are, or for the chance to go higher, serve where you are. Get involved in “giving yourself away,” as someone once said, in whatever it is you do. Whether in business or in the home, whether you associate with one or a hundred persons a day, whether the reward you seek is material or spiritual…serve. Serve well. Serve to the very best you know how. If you feel that you are already doing your part, then do a little more. Look for ways to serve better. Every morning of your life, when you start off to work, ask yourself, “How can I do better the jobs that I do? How can I give more of myself? How can I be a greater expression for the Creative Process?”

If an inharmonious human relationship limits you, then don’t limit yourself to going halfway toward a solution. Go beyond that, go the second mile, go further than you have. Do your utmost. You have this Supreme Authority for making an extra effort. Remember Jesus’ words, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you” [Matt. 5:44] Now, you love your enemies not because there is something wrong with yourself in expressing less than love, not that they deserve your love; you love your enemies because anything less than love is a frustration of your own potential. So you bless them, not because they deserve it, but because you need that blessing consciousness, that freeing expression. Because, you see, that statement, “love your enemies and bless them that curse you” is followed by another statement that is usually obscurely left out, and that is “that you may become sons of your Father.” [Matt. 5:45] You love them, not for their sake, but for your sake, so that you can get yourself in tune, plugged into the Divine Process.

So if you are sincerely determined to do and to be, to achieve your goal, the opportunities will unfold for learning and growing. Accept every opening as a chance to grow and to develop, even though you see little connection between today’s opportunities and the ultimate goal that you set for yourself. There is a Divine Law Of Guidance, and the need is to get still, and to get plugged in, to get tuned in on this Infinite Process that flows through you. Your life will unfold in Divine Order. If you are faced with the opportunity to learn, to unfold in some particular way, then give thanks for Divine Order. Affirm; “Divine Order is now established in my mind, in my heart, and in all these experiences.” Accept the unfolding opportunity as a Divine Outworking. Don’t reject it or put it off. Any opportunity to grow is an opportunity that is present and valid and very much a part of your experience.

Do not make immediate rewards a condition of your growth. Oh, you are going to be paid, and you will be paid well, because the Divine Law will always manifest to you the fulfillment of your expressions. You may be paid in currency whose value is not at once apparent to you. Sometimes the reward is deposited in your “Celestial Account,” in the “Bank of Super-Consciousness,” as you will learn at some later time. But if this happens, then this too will be a part of the unfolding master plan for your life. You will be better able to make use of the reward when you are wiser. But whatever you do, you will be paid, you will be compensated. In consciousness, there will be that process that will be working for you as time goes on.

The important thing is to serve confidently. Once you accept Divine Guidance, follow it wholly. Do not reserve any part of your talent and energy. Spend yourself completely. Do not forget the reward, simply accept the truth that your affairs are unfolding under Guidance, that your reward is being accurately computed and wisely invested for your own best interest. Then, you cannot fail. You will become what you want to become, because you have accepted Inner Guidance. You will be led to your greatest good.

Having achieved, you may look back to the day you let God be God in you, and you can say, “Goodness, I had nothing when I started, but now everything has worked out for me in a beautiful and wonderful way.” You had everything because you had the realization of your Oneness with God. That is the important thing. When you have your realization of your Oneness with God as a starting point, then you have all that you need to enable you to go forward from where you are to where you want to be. Remember, within you is the unborn possibility of Limitless Life, and yours is the privilege, right now, of giving birth to it.

© Eric Butterworth

[Naptaq]

How to Stay “In the Pink”


One of my favorite Psalms is Psalm Eight. Among other things, there is an emphatic statement about the nature of man, which is, “Thou makest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet.” [Psalm 8:6, ASV] This means you. You are created to be the master of fate and circumstance. You have the power to be poised and calm, no matter what happens around you or to you. Yes, you have the capacity to be “In the Pink,” not just occasionally, as something to cheer about, but perpetually…all the time. Of course, there are times when we are down, physically or emotionally, even financially. So, how does this dominion work? It works as we work with it. The Power is within us, but we must claim it, we must use it.

You may recall that time when Jesus was visiting in the home of Martha and Mary, the sisters of his good friend, Lazarus. [Luke 10:38-42] We are told that Martha was “cumbered about with much serving.” [Luke 10:40] She was upset because Mary plunked herself down at the feet of Jesus, talking about spiritual things, while she was out in the other room doing all the work. And she said to Jesus, “Bid her therefore that she help me.” Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Now, it seems unfair, but you see, Martha and Mary here symbolize two levels of consciousness in each of us. The “Martha” part is involved in details and the resulting pressures, and the “Mary” part is the up reach, the attempt to see things from the Transcendent Perspective.

From early morning, until the last thing at night, we have a continuing relationship with the world around us, and also, the ceaseless responsibility to remain in control of our mind. If, like Martha, we are cumbered about many things, we may have our mental and emotional, and even physical, ups and downs. And yet, if we choose the good part, we will keep ourselves in the Flow of Life, we will continually stir up the Gift of God within and we will remain perpetually, as we say, “In the Pink.”

Aldous Huxley [1894-1963, English novelist, essayist, critic, and poet] says, “Experience is not what happens to a person. It is what a person does with what happens to him.” You do not have to be down in the face of things. You can keep yourself up, while remembering that you have dominion, and that your thoughts do not have to be reactions to things; they can be creative. You can think the kind of thoughts that you want to see unfolding in your life.

Abraham Lincoln once remarked that “a person is about as happy as he makes up his mind to be,” and he is as enthusiastic as he decides to be, as vibrant and alive as he insists that he will be. You see, one of the fallacies of human thinking is that such things as joy and love and zest for living are simply the effects or the results of happy times. But this is totally in error. They are not reactions. They are causes. The enthusiastic person does not act in that way because things are going well with him. It is more true that things go well with him because he is an enthusiastic person. The joyous person does not need something to be happy about, he is happy because he is a happy person. And happy people seem always to attract the kind of experiences and relationships that justify happiness.

Have you ever said, “I just can’t do my work today, because I’m just not up to it?” Many persons think that the great artists, the writer or the composer, waits to begin a project until he has grand inspiration. Actually, the truly great do not set to work because they are inspired; they become inspired because they are working. They probably plunge into their work everyday, no matter how they may be feeling, with the same regularity as an accountant setting to work on his books. If he does not have the desire to keep at it, up or down, he will never succeed. It does us little good to discuss the techniques for keeping ourselves “In the Pink,” unless we really have the desire to keep ourselves in “perfect peace,” [“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in Thee.” Isaiah 26:3] as the Bible puts it.

Do you really want to be happy, to be emotionally up, to be physically well? Do you want it enough to lay aside your hurts, your feelings of self-pity? Are you willing to break out of some of the habits of thought that have control of you? Normally, when someone says, “I’m just not feeling up today,” he is referring to the poor conditions of his health. Did you know that sickness is a habit, and health is a habit? I often make the statement, “When you are sick of being sick, you’ll get well.” When you really make the commitment that you will not let persons or situations decide how you should think or feel or act, then you will let go and forgive and love. And then, sometimes more quickly than we could have imagined, we are in the Flow of Life, and as the Bible says, “…thine health shall spring forth speedily.” [Isaiah 58:8] Again, there is a desire involved.

Charles Fillmore used to say that “no one ever dies, until he gives up.” If there is a desire for life and vital living, the Health Process will find someway to unfold, no matter what the age, no matter what the medical diagnosis or prognosis. Resist the temptation to settle into ruts, even if you have little to do. Do your little in interesting and different ways. Take your walk at different times and over different routes. Occasionally do a thing impetuously, without pre-planning. Be careful of ruts, rituals, and routines, which are deadly to any balanced life. Do not deny yourself the fresh stimuli of less familiar places. Keep yourself flexible in mind and in experience, because flexibility is a prime characteristic of youth, and you can be young, if you insist on keeping yourself “In the Pink.”

Steven Vincent Benét [1898-1943, American poet and novelist] “Life is not lost by dying, life is lost minute by minute, day by bedraggling day, in all the thousand small, uncaring ways.” And as I say often, “You don’t grow old. When you stop growing, you are old.” When you stop learning, you are old. When you stop exploring, you are old. The belief is that a person loses his enthusiasm for life because he is getting old. The Truth is he begins to grow old, because he loses his enthusiasm for life. One can be the victim of advancing years, or he can be their master. Vitality, vigor, life itself, depend on what you do with yourself, how you think, how you live. The question is: Are you really willing to take responsibility for your life? How often we kid ourselves that our problems are caused by the world “out there.” We think we are down because of what “he did” or what “they said” or what hasn’t happened, yet, and we may feel that it will be different, when this or that, changes. The way you are feeling has little to do with things or persons, and everything to do with how you react to them. You can get yourself up again, if you really want to, and if you are willing to change your attitude, to change your thoughts.

Most of our troubles, the things we get down about, are like little pebbles. Hold a pebble close to your eyes and it fills your whole world…it is all you can see. It overwhelms you in mind and emotions. Hold it at a proper viewing distance, and it can be examined and properly dealt with. Drop the pebble at your feet, and it becomes part of the gravel on the path you are traveling on. Remember, the Bible says, “thou hast put all things under his feet”

You may say, “But what about the mammoth challenges of life?” I read a story in The New York Times, some years ago that made a great impression on me. It told how, on the previous night, a seventy-seven year old woman and her companion attended a performance of Eugene O’Neill’s A Long Day’s Journey Into Night. What was so unusual about such a story? The woman was Helen Keller, deaf and blind since infancy, and she enjoyed the play through her companion who was tapping the words to her by means of a manual alphabet. In spite of her mammoth handicap, Helen Keller lived a richer, fuller, more interesting life than most people with all their faculties. You think you have troubles? She could have lived in a night of blindness and self-pity, and pitied by all. But she dropped the pebble under her feet and walked along the roadway with joy and enthusiasm.

The great message of Truth is: Though problems exist, their real existence is in the mind, and the mind is dynamic and not static. So, as you change your mind, you change the problem, or at least what the condition does to you, or what it means to you. It is not a matter of refusing to acknowledge that the obstacle is there; it is realizing that because the attitude is the key, something can be done about it.

So you see, you can be “In the Pink” all the time, if you really have the desire, and if you are willing to stir up the Gift of God within you. Someone has said, “Every person contains within himself the wherewithal to surpass himself.” Wherever you are, whatever the problems, however deep you may be in the morass of depression or mental confusion, you can come to yourself. You can rise phoenix-like from the ashes of defeat and self-limitation, and you can recover your equilibrium.

Most of the difficulties of our lives are the result of bad mental habits. Someone has said that “trouble always comes in troops, never singly.” This is because of the habit-patterns of the subconscious mind. Little grooves or magnetic fields are set up in the brain and, unthinkingly, we go down that corridor again…and again…and again. Obviously, it is not easy to change these patterns of thought…but they can be changed, they can. Changing patterns of thought is what this New Insight In Truth is all about.

We need to begin to establish some new thought patterns. Determine that you will be nonresistant to change, that you will accept things, even if they are challenging. Accept them as a part of Life’s Flow. If you try to unhappen things, you will experience unhappiness. Don’t try to unhappen that which has happened. Don’t try to force it back. Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes. Keep yourself in the consciousness of joy and enthusiasm. Get your faith lifted everyday. “And as one writer puts it, “Keep your apples up!” He is talking about the fact that you have those little puffs on your cheek when you smile. “Keep your apples up!”

You can keep yourself “In the Pink,” if you really want to, because there is that in you that is always in the Divine Flow—that is always in the Presence. And the need is simply to pause and remember that God has given you dominion, has put all things under your feet. Like the needle of the compass, as you remove the distractions, the pull of the world and of the flesh, there is that of you that instantly returns to its own “magnetic north,” to your mental and emotional and physical position of wellness.

The most important thing is: When you work at it in the right way—keep yourself in the Flow and keep yourself up—you will begin to live deeply and fully and abundantly. And it is the whole purpose of our Insight In Truth that you do just that. So, we bless you today with the consciousness that, this day, you can keep yourself up…you can keep yourself “In the Pink.”

© Eric Butterworth, copied from www.ericbutterworth.com/

[Naptaq]

The Light Treatment

We are going to share some thoughts today on something that is grandly simple, and yet, deeply profound. It is the need to let light in, to give things the light touch. Oh, how we get so serious about things. We get too grim. We get tense and anxious—too involved at the circumference of things. We lose our center. We lose our focus of light. We need, I think, to recover our sense of “The Flow,” to know that things come to pass, not to stay, to let go and walk on.

In our metaphysical studies, we tend to be very serious, we pray and “treat” for this and that, and we get pretty heavy about it all. Sometimes, we need to just let go and let it happen, let it unfold, get into the Divine Flow and know that “…it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” [Luke 12:32] So, let go and let God. In the first day of Creation, there is a statement, “Let there be light….” [Genesis 1:3] It is important to know that man is essentially a creature of Light. Light is the Reality at the Center of his Being. So, in a very real sense, one needs to affirm for himself, “I am the Light.” So often, the “I,” separated from the “I Am,” gets rather immersed in darkness.

There may be that of you that objects, with the thought that serious problems need to be dealt with seriously. But as Plato says, “It is important to be serious without being solemn.” I remember the story of Bruce Barton,* who tells how a serious minded reader took him to task, because a remark in an article of his during the war seemed too facetious. The letter said, “In ordinary times this might be alright, but we’re in the midst of a great war and it’s no time for jokes.” Bruce Barton replied, “We’re in the midst of a great war, therefore, we should have twice as many jokes and they should be twice as funny.”

There is never a problem or a problem relationship that cannot be helped immeasurably, and possibly immediately, by what I call, “The Light Treatment.” If you emphasize the problem, it soon totally envelopes your whole experience. But if you focus your mind on that which is positive, on the I AM Consciousness, like a magnifying glass focused on the rays of the sun, you soon have what the Bible calls a “refiner’s fire.” [Malachi 3:2] There is a treatment of Light and Power that solves, or dissolves, the problems. It is so important that we begin to understand this consciousness of Light and how It works in human experience.

Sometimes our problem is that we take our selves too seriously. L.P. Jacks* once suggested that it might be wholesome for everyone to occasionally remind himself that he could sail away to far off Tahiti and spend the rest of his days sunning himself without upsetting the equilibrium of the world. Maybe that’s going a little too far. But certainly, no one is important enough to be, what we might call, a “stuffed shirt,” or to have an exaggerated sense of his own indispensability. We may worry needlessly about what people think of us, and we fear the world will discover our inner feelings of insecurity and insufficiency in our work, which they probably already know. But the person who gives things “The Light Touch,” feels no necessity for saving face if he falls short of expectations. He laughs at his own follies and foibles and chuckles over the posturing and the pretense by which people try to gain stature.

Maybe you recall that time that has become classic, when a messenger had been charged with taking a letter from Abraham Lincoln to his Secretary of War, Stanton. The messenger returned to say, “He tore it up and said you are a fool!” Lincoln replied, “Did Stanton say that? Well, Stanton is generally right.” You see, only a secure person can deal lightly with life, can laugh at himself, can accept his limitations without embarrassment and his skills without conceit.

Again, the Light Touch is not just a matter of levity. I like that statement of Joel Goldsmith,* who says, “The loud laugh that speaks the vacant mind.” It is seeing something to laugh about in all things. The ability to give even serious and tragic things the Light Treatment, the ability to keep the mind “up” in the dire circumstances where there is a tendency to fall down.

I especially have been blessed by a story of a young man who had lost both his feet in a tragic mishap. He was in the hospital for a long period of time. And many of his friends came in a constant stream to visit him, as he was a likable young chap. They all came, purportedly, to cheer him up. But they were all so obsessed with the sadness of this vital young man being subjected to the life of an invalid, that they stood around like gloom spreaders, and he usually wound up cheering up his visitors. He would say, “Oh, come on now! It really isn’t all that bad to have no feet anymore. Actually, it solved a lifelong problem of mine. I never could keep my feet warm in the winter, now that’s all taken care of.” Well, in later years, this young man’s life bore eloquent testimony to the fact that his courage was no mere pretense. His is a positive and radiant spirit that blesses everyone he contacts. People who know this young man come to realize that the Light Touch doesn’t mean making light of things, because this man has a distinct handicap, but one quickly sees that the man has seen his problem through Light, rather than through the darkness of despair, and this has lightened the load. So in the end, it’s not a load at all, but an asset.

It is the Light Touch that keeps you forever in the consciousness that “…He who is in you (me)is greater than he who is in the world.” [1 John 4:4, RSV] In this spirit, you can move easily through all kinds of experiences, because you are confident of the Inward Flow of Life and of guidance and of love, substance and peace. So, I say, you might give some serious thought to this. Work to develop the Light Touch—a matter of nonresistance to changes, the conviction that things do not really come to stay, but to pass, let them go, that the antics of people need not irritate you if you ask yourself, “Why should I let them decide how I should think and feel and act?” If they want to live in that consciousness, fine, but you live where you want to live. You decide that you are going to live on top of the world…and stay there.

When you have this lightness of touch as a habitual manner and attitude, then you can give the Light Treatment wherever you are, because you let your Light shine. If you are in your office and you sense some tensions developing, turn on the Light, in your thoughts. Don’t react and, thus, add to the darkness and, thus, turn off your lights. But turn your lights on. Keep your thought in the Flow of love and nonresistance. One light on is worth a thousand pools of darkness. “One on God’s side,” as it has been said, “is a majority.” The Light Treatment can change the whole level of consciousness. And, you see, it really only takes one in the midst of a group, one to turn on the light.

So in the matters of the problems of New York City—or the problems of the world, or whatever it is you may be concerned about—instead of indulging in all the gripes and the complaints and the whole decadent city syndrome, give it all the Light Treatment. Bless it, project love and peace, focus on the good things, think of the good people within the city, within your neighborhood, within your home, within your office. And keep your sense of humor over it. People may be turned off in discouragement that political solutions will help very little, but it really only takes a relatively few persons giving the Light Treatment to turn it all around.

A cab company has a slogan that I find very interesting. The drivers attach to their clipboards a statement that says, “Wave them through and watch them smile.” It’s a small thing, but it can leave “a mile of smiles” extending from every such act. This is a Light Treatment with tremendous power.

I’ve never forgotten an experience in a railroad station waiting room, some years ago, in the middle of the night. This was the classic dreary, cold, and unfriendly place, with ten or fifteen people waiting for the train. They were glum and expressionless. Complete isolation surrounded the place. And into that room came a mother and a child. The child, of course, was awake and very much alive. The child was laughing and singing, and he ran around from person to person asking questions, making faces, climbing on laps. It seemed everywhere, one by one, the lights turned on! Suddenly, the whole room began to change! It was an entirely different place. People began to relate, to talk, to tell stories. There was a sense of warmth, a sense of oneness, a sense of wholeness, a sense of peace that came over that whole place. It was marvelous what happened.

When the train did come, the whole group walked in a body, as a family. And there were farewells, and there was exchanging of addresses, and all this sort of thing, and the promises of “I’m going to write to you”…all by the contagion of Light that was spread by one little child. “Except ye turn, and become as little children…” [Matt. 18:3, ASV] we are told. This is the great need to become as a child, to have that spontaneity, that willingness to let the Light shine, to turn lights on, to be an influence of Light, a radiant Center of Light, wherever we are. In other words, not centered in the ego, but centered in “I AM-ness.” Not centered in a consciousness that separates, but centered in an awareness of Love that joins together and brings all into a Oneness.

One person skilled in the Light Touch will project a Light Treatment wherever he goes. He becomes, what Jesus calls, a “peacemaker.” [Matt. 5:9] Develop this skill of the Light Touch, so that you can give things the Light Touch, which means you take a loose hold upon them, you don’t get all bound up in them. But also, you turn on lights, you project Light into persons and situations. Play it cool! Take the light hold of things. Keep yourself centered and focused. Know that things do not come to stay, they come to pass, so don’t be too anxious or concerned about things that happen. Let them happen. Don’t try to “un-happen” them. What happens around you, what happens within you, are not really all that important. The thing that happens inside you in your consciousness is what counts, not what happens to you or around you.

Affirm for yourself: “I am the Light! I am joyous! I am lighthearted! I am free! I am One with the Infinite Process of Light, and I give all things in my experience, in my relationships, the Light Treatment.”

© Eric Butterworth

* Bruce Barton [1886-1967] One of the most influential advertising men of the 20th century, congressman, writer, and author of The Man Nobody Knows, an account of Jesus as “the most popular dinner guest in Jerusalem.”

*. L.P. Jacks [1860-1955] British Unitarian minister, educator, prolific writer, and interpreter of modern philosophy.

* Joel Goldsmith [1892-1964] Early New Thought teacher and writer, founder of “The Infinite Way.”

[Naptaq]

The point is, “Act the part,” “Assume the virtue.” This is what I told a man who came complaining that he couldn’t find a job. As he was unshaven and his clothes were dirty, I asked him how he would have presented himself if he had found a good job. “Why,” he said, “I would have shaved and been fresh and clean when I went to work.” And I said, “Okay, this is the attitude one should carry to perspective employers, therefore, why not dress that way and feel that way and act that way right now, even if you don’t have the job.” He began to get the message. In other words, “Act the part,” get it into your consciousness. Get the feel of success, The Feel of Affluence, the feel of prosperity, and you will tend to send forth that very aura, which will attract to you, the kind of conditions that, otherwise, you are hungering and seeking for.

~ Eric Butterworth

[Naptaq]

Concerning Phobias

Everyone wants to be happy and successful in life; it is the quite natural drive toward Wholeness. We don’t always reach the heights we long for, however, and we appoint the persons and conditions “out there” as the obstacles in our way. But it is probably true that the major stumbling block is the irrational, but persistent, fear or dread or aversion that makes up our own phobias. You may be afraid to launch out for fear of failing. You may be afraid to meet people, for fear they may not like you. You may be afraid of the future and afraid of the past. You may fear sickness and fear accidents, fear popular opinions, fear the weather. There is nothing too trivial to provide a threat to one possessed of irrational fears.

Fear is behind so much odd behavior in the people we live and work with. Consider that person with the chip on his shoulder who makes half a dozen people miserable before noon every day. The reason for the “chip” is his defensive attitude that comes from irrational fears and phobias. He hears insults where none are intended. He fancies slights where none were meant. He suspects others of cheating or plotting against him or talking unkindly or even maliciously against him. Uncontrolled, this defensive attitude goes on multiplying itself until it populates the world of his consciousness with evil people and evil designs…all because of fear, which is totally irrational.

It is probably true that everyone has some irrational fear or phobia, maybe an uneasiness in dark rooms or high places or riding elevators or climbing stairs. It may involve fear of meeting new people or having new experiences or appearing on stage. Phobias are those groundless fears and dreads about which we say, “Oh, I know it’s unreasonable, but I just can’t help feeling that way.”

There are many impressive sounding names given to phobias: “acrophobia,” which is a fear of heights; “claustrophobia,” fear of closed places; “agoraphobia,” fear of open places; “pyrophobia,” fear of fire; “Anthropophobia,” fear of people; “zoophobia,” fear of animals; and of course, “phobophobia,” which is simply the fear of everything—the fear of phobias. These are abnormal, irrational fears…anything but funny. In many cases, they are quite tragic. But the most common phobia is “pathophobia,” the fear of disease, which is the basis for hypochondria. And there may be a little of the hypochondria in all of us, as I often say.

It is a well-known fact that each week, about twenty five million Americans consult a physician; and of these, more than half have illnesses stemming from mental or emotional origins. And many millions more are addicted to various pills, potions, and drugs, which they take faithfully, and fearfully, because of some imagined ill. The media bombards us with all kinds of remedies, the need for which is created by the subliminal suggestion of such minor ills as headaches, stomach distress, and itchy skin. And the average person adds to his repertory of “symptomatic imaginitis” simply by listening to television.

There is the matter of the annual concern about this or that kind of flu that is going around. Dr. Meerlo, in an article in “Child Family Digest,” talks about the flu epidemics that spread across the land each year. He points to the very real possibility of “mental epidemic,” an “epidemic of fear.” He says that health authorities err in looking for only an adequate vaccine as the cure. He points out that one of the first symptoms of fear, and panicky feelings, is the lowering of the person’s natural resistance against disease. He said it has been conclusively proven that fear can increase the virulence of virus; and he refers to mental contagion and psychic infection as one of the most challenging problems of modern times.

Basil King [1859–1928, Canadian clergyman turned influential moral fiction author], in his book, The Conquest of Fear, has said, and I quote, “When I say that during most of my life I’ve been the prey of fear, I take it that I’m expressing the case of most of us. I cannot remember the time when a dread of one kind or another was not in the air.…In one form or another, fear dogs everyone of us: the mother afraid for her children, the father afraid of his business, the clerk afraid for his job. Hardly a person is not afraid that someone will do him a bad turn, or that what he loves may be snatched away, and so forth. I guess that all the miseries wrought by sin and sickness put together will not equal those we bring on by the means which we do the least to counteract.” So says Basil King.

But you see, normally, it is not just that we do little to counteract them; we may actually defend them. We rationalize the fear or dread thinking that it is actually caused by conditions around us, by the dangers we are facing, by the behavior of the people we have to work with, or the uncertainties of the times in which we live. “Of course I’m anxious! You would be anxious, too, if you were facing all that I have to face!” we say. In other words, we argue that the fear is automatically produced by conditions. But the fact is we fear because we have been conditioned to fear over the years, and thus we react to things out of a fear consciousness. As long as we are fear-full, we will be afraid in the face of the exigencies of life. The fear-full person will almost invariably be a fearful person.

Some think that the problem would be solved if the conditions would just change, if people wouldn’t be so aggressive, if the economy would be more secure, if world conditions would just straighten out. But again, one who is fear-full will always find things to be afraid of, because he begins with the fear, and then goes out and looks for things to justify it. The fearful person is always afraid that something is going to happen, so he ferrets through all the darkest places, through the news of the day, the people around him, etc., and he is almost relieved when the worst happens. He can then say, “I knew it!” In other words, it is a mark of success: “I just knew it! I told you so!”

Again, we might point out to this person that his fears are groundless and irrational. And he might reply, “Well, I know it’s unreasonable, but I just can’t help feeling this way.” But you can help feeling that way. You can make the decision that you are going to take charge of your life. There are always plenty of things to be fearful and insecure about, if that is the way you want to think and feel. But at any time, you can begin to say “No! I am not going to react negatively any longer! I am going to keep centered in the Divine Flow within. I simply refuse, any longer, to permit some phobia to keep me from happiness and success!”

Nearly three thousand years ago, wise old Confucius [551 or 552-479 B.C., Chinese philosopher and educator, one of the most important individuals in Chinese history] said, “A man filled with Truth hath power over Heaven and earth, God and devils. Nothing in the Universe can influence him; fire and water cannot cause him to fear.” The structure of irrational fears, dreads and aversions can be dismantled. “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” [John 8:32]

Human consciousness tends to focus on the fear of consequences. In other words, “What if I lose my job?” “What if we don’t have enough money to meet our obligations?” “What if I catch the flu?” By the Law of Consciousness, if you are locked into the fear of consequences, you will tend to be vulnerable to the very things you fear. So the positive way is to begin to deliberately set up a series of positive sequences of thought that lead to positive consequences. It is a great Truth that if you work to free yourself from the fear of consequences, by centering your attention on the control of the sequences of thought, you will turn your whole life around. When you become conscious, even to a limited degree, of your Oneness with Universal Mind, and thus work to keep your mind stayed at the Inner Center, it will make a new person of you. And you will begin to let go of fears and dreads and begin to live a life of freedom.

One man had just past his sixtieth birthday, and he was feeling terribly sorry for himself. He had a compulsive fear of age. And to him, sixty was being old. A friend, who was over eighty, sent him a card offering her congratulations. This was a shock to him: “‘Congratulations!? at being sixty?” Then he read her note: “You’ve just begun to live after sixty years of preparation. And you are destined to discover that the very best part of life is between sixty and eighty.” This bit of wisdom came at just the right time to help the man dismantle a longstanding phobia, because it challenged him to get his mind on a different level, to control the sequences of thought and to stop indulging in irrational fears of consequences.

Whenever any irrational fear or phobia rears its head, take a stand right away. Affirm: “I take charge of my life. I am not afraid! I am confident of my ability, God given, to deal with people and conditions in a positive and a creative way.” It is important to be alert, to combat all thoughts of separation, which fears and phobias are, and to consciously get centered in Oneness with God. I like the idea of One, O-N-E, “One-derful”. “I am a One-derful expression of God. When I really know how One-derful I am, then there is no way that I can be fearful.” And you, my friend, are One, O-N-E, One-derful!

As Confucius suggests, get the “mind filled with Truth,” it will make you positive and optimistic, looking for the good, instead of fearing crises. So, look for the good, see the good, expect the unfoldment of good in all things and from all persons, including yourself! Dwell much on the idea of the All-Sufficiency in all things, of your Oneness with God. There is no limit to the ability within you to deal effectively with any and all conditions that you may be borrowing trouble over.

Here’s a great thought: “All the help of God that is necessary to solve any given problem, to meet any need, is wherever the problem or the need may be. The Supply of God is always where I am and it is always what I need.” When you are in control of the sequences of mind, you will easily synchronize with the idea that “…greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.” [1 John 4:4]

I love the wisdom of Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Emperor in the second century. He said: “Let others pray not to lose their children. Let me pray not to fear to lose them.” In other words, it is the fear of consequences. Set up positive sequences of thought. Some pray that they will not lose their job; how much better to pray not to fear to lose your job, not to be indulging in the fears and worries and apprehensions of economic change. Instead of praying not to catch the flu, or to have this or that problem, pray that you have no fear. And the great realization is this: “I see God in all persons, so I have no fear of them. I see God in my supply, so I know it is constant. I see God in the world, so I know that nothing can hurt, nothing can harm me.”

Let me conclude with those thoughts of M. Louise Haskins (a very favorite poem of mine that I refer to often). She says:

“I said to the man
Who stood at the gate of the year,
‘Give me a light that I may tread safely
into the unknown.’

And he replied,
‘Go out into the darkness
And put your hand into the hand of God
That shall be to you
Better than the light
And safer than a known way!’”

So with your hand in God’s hand—or with the realization that you are “One-derful”—there is no room for fears or dreads or aversions. And, one by one, your phobias will be dismantled…never to rise again.

© Eric Butterworth

[Naptaq]

God’s Eternal "Yes!"

Most of us have grown up with a primitive concept of God: a big man, big and good, but still a big man, managing the world from the outside—a kind of "absentee landlord." Someone said, kind of facetiously, "Ever since God created man in his own image and after his likeness, man has been striving to return the compliment." In the infancy of the human race, people conceived God as a "superman," who could be brutal, carnal, material—a reflection of their own self-image. In the Old Testament days they prayed, in effect: "Oh, Lord God of Israel, destroy Thine enemies from before Thy face." They thought that their enemies were God’s enemies when, actually, the "enemies" were, purely and simply, in their own consciousness.

Now, you may feel that you have outgrown this concept of the early primitive anthropomorphic kind of God. And yet, in a way, if you ever ask the question, "Why does God allow the war to happen?" or if you ever find yourself saying or thinking, "I asked God for help in achieving my desire, and God said, ‘No.’ So, I guess it’s not right for me to have it," then you are still in the old consciousness, and you have simply cloaked your old beliefs of God in a new terminology. Remember, Jesus said, "God is Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." [John 4:24] The word, "Spirit," implies, "that which is unformed, unspecialized, unrestricted, limitless, universal." This is not a definition—you can not really define God. It is simply a guide to direct our thoughts away from finite form, from thinking of God as a "superman." To worship God in spirit means to enter into Spirit, to immerse ourselves in Truth, to say "Yes" to "God’s Eternal ‘Yes!’"

Again, the question that is so often asked, "Why doesn’t God stop the war?" Well, there is no war in God. Why doesn’t the principle of mathematics answer your problem or keep you from getting the wrong answer? There is no wrong answer in the principle. If God knew war, or if the principle of mathematics knew wrong answers, then the world would be in a state of chaos, water would run uphill, and the earth would fly off into space to be lost in a wild ride to nowhere. The prayer of the enlightened person asks God to do for the nations what the nations can, and must, do for themselves.

Each of us is a free expression of the Infinite. We can, and must, choose to use our potential as we will. God has already chosen us, but we must choose to claim our inheritance and enter into the Spirit of Life. When the Prodigal Son demanded his inheritance and went off into the "far country," why did the father let him go, instead of preventing him from doing what could only lead to want and privation? But, you see, even to ask such a question indicates an incomplete concept of God. Because man is a creative expression of God, he must have the power both to rise and fall, to have the creative ability to add to the Whole, or "magnify the Lord." Man must also have the freedom to fall. I don’t say "fail," because man is, after all, God’s living enterprise. What seems to be failure is simply the decision to take the long way, rather than the straight and narrow way, to the fulfillment of our destiny as Children of God.

We can not change our True Nature, but we can choose whether or not to know the Truth. The Creative Power of Mind can either bless or hinder, depending upon how we use it. Each person is the self-livingness of God, possessed of Infinite Power, but can and does use them, constructively or negatively, in diverse ways. Our troubles always come from the negative or the wrong use of those powers. Now, as in the story of the Prodigal Son, "the Father"—the unvarying Presence of God—is ever ready for man’s return, but the Prodigal Son’s father did not go out to find his son and bring him home. The son arose and came to his father. Once the son did return, however, there was no condemnation. His father told him, as our Father tells us, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love." [Jeremiah 31:3] The blessings of fulfillment were always there, ready for the son to accept.

So, in case of war among nations, or sickness in the life of an individual, man has the exercise of his God-given faculties. When he cooperates with Divine Principle, he lives in love and health and harmony. When he works in opposition to the rules growing out of Divine Principle, he comes to know unhappiness, misery, ill-health, wars and rumors of war. For the Prodigal Son, the father had only an "Eternal ‘Yes!’" It remained for him to say "Yes!" to God’s affirmative. God eternally says "Yes!" to man’s ceaseless cry for peace. Peace is of the Spirit, and at any time, or in any place, man may enter within and feel its activity. All people and all nations will be free from war when they enter into the Spirit of Peace, and rise to the expression of the highest and best within them.

Now, one might ask, "Could a selfish, war-minded person ask God to guide him and expect results? Isn’t this a case where God might say "No"? And again, we say, there is no "No" in God Mind. Remember, "God is Spirit; and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." For the selfish, war-minded person, really to pray for God’s guidance, he must get into the Spirit of God. He must "arise and go to the Father." He must let go of his selfish aims and open himself to the Divine Influence, which will say "Yes!" to him in terms of a righteous and loving and humanitarian form of guidance.

Prayer can never influence God to be less than God or more than God. God is Light and Peace and Love and Wisdom. It doesn’t matter who is praying or what the cause, the answer must be Light and Peace and Love and Wisdom. For a selfish, war-minded person to find Divine Support for his selfish ends would be similar to using light as a means of creating more darkness. Darkness can not come into the light and remain darkness. So, conversely, light can not come into darkness without erasing darkness. The Prodigal Son could not go home until he arose out of his "prodigal state of consciousness" and came to his father. It was this "prodigal consciousness" that, from the first, led him away—and the whole key to his healing was the loss of this state of consciousness. The thief ceases to be a thief the moment he loses his dishonest thoughts. In order to pray for help, we must get into the Spirit of Truth—into the Spirit of that for which we pray. To pray for healing, we must begin to look toward health. To pray for peace, we must open our mind to peaceful thoughts. The Prodigal Son had to stop thinking of himself as a prodigal in order to pray to return home. So in a very real sense, we answer our own prayers. The purpose of prayer is not to influence God, but to influence our own state of consciousness. God isn’t involved in sickness, nor the contagion of sickness. Therefore, He is not, essentially, involved in its healing. God is Life. He remains Life, even while the person is in sickness. The sickness, in a way, is the "going out into the far country," and the healing must come through "coming back unto the father."

Many of us have been troubled over the concept of "the Will of God." Out of our seeming failure to receive what we prayed for, has come the rationalization: "Well, it must be God’s Will that I suffer." Or, "I guess God didn’t want me to have it right now." But, this kind of thinking relates to a variable God whose Will fluctuates according to our actions. If we are good, God loves us. If we’re bad, God punishes us. If we go to church on Sunday, He is happy. If we play golf or stay in bed, He is angry and hurt—or, so it has been said. But, going to church makes absolutely no difference, whatever, to God. It is not for His benefit, it is for ours! Praying does not effect or influence God. Prayer is for us, to help us to accept our Inner Power, to release our Divine Potential, to enter into the Spirit. But, the Spirit is there, unmoved, all the while. It can never be changed in any way, shape, or form. God is Life and Life is perfect and complete. Life can only seek to express and perfect Life. If you pray for Life, Life can only say "Yes!" to you. What can Life know but Life? Can light know darkness, or air a vacuum? Your prayer for Life or for health must be sincere and concentrated effort to get into the Spirit of Life. In other words, your need is to say "Yes!" to Life. You must declare: "I am the Life of God in expression, and the Life in me is perfect and is Whole!"

We weaken our prayers when we ask God for things—for healing, for guidance, for prosperity. In the usual context, to ask for something implies the possibility of a "Yes" or "No" answer. We are looking to God who was formed in our own image-likeness. We might well receive an answer of "No," but the "No" has come out of our own consciousness. It is the result of our own negative thinking. How do you ask the sun to give you sunlight? How do you ask the principle of mathematics to give you the answer to a problem? How do you ask electricity to light your lamp? You ask for sunlight by getting out into the sun. You ask the principle to solve your problem in mathematics by setting the figures in right sequence, using the correct equation. You ask electricity to light your lamp by turning on the switch. You command it to flow and it does that very thing. We ask God for Light or Healing or Substance by entering into the Spirit of God, by realizing that our Unity with Light and Life and Substance is ever there. To ask is to claim, to affirm, to speak the word of Truth. When we put ourselves in the right position, in relation to God’s Wisdom, Strength, Love, Peace or Justice, then God can not say "No." God is altogether positive. In Him there can be no negative. God never says "No." So, the important thing is: stop thinking of accidents and wars and injustices, stop thinking of crime and sickness and lack, stop thinking of darkness and myriad shadows within it, think of God! Think of God, and remember that with Him, there is no variation or shadow due to change. Remember God’s Eternal "Yes!" And assert your "Yes Power"…and live! Say "Yes!" to your innate God-Potential. Use your "Yes Power"…and find dynamic life!

© Eric Butterworth

[Naptaq]

A Disposition to Expect the Good

We quite often hear it said of a person that he or she has a good disposition or a bad disposition, a pleasant disposition or an unpleasant disposition. But you know, it is doubtful that we have thought of having “A Disposition to Expect the Good.” This is a very interesting concept that I want to share with you. I want you to think about it. It is a very profitable attitude to have a disposition to expect the good, because it has been said many times that we get what we expect, not what we want, what we privately and secretly expect comes to pass. It’s a very wonderful thing to develop “A Disposition to Expect the Good,” to see the good in people, to expect the good from our employees, to expect the best to happen in our life, to expect the good—to have it, actually, as a disposition.

If you are blessed with this kind of a disposition, even when you cannot see a ray of light, somehow you know that everything is not dark. You keep busy, and you keep looking for the Light. Even in the face of the most unpleasant facts, happenings that bring an ache to your heart, you keep your faith, you hold onto the good, you keep your conviction that life itself is good and that good is rightfully yours. You believe in the continuity and the unfoldment of good things in your life experience. This leads to optimism—leads to a tremendous expectancy of positive experience.

“A Disposition to Expect the Good” is not something we are born with. It could be, perhaps, that there are some persons, apparently, born with a little greater optimism or a little greater positive outlook on life than others, but even these persons must make a very conscious effort to improve and to maintain that kind of an outlook in the face of living life in our times, with the very difficult experiences that happen from moment to moment. With persistence, we can all develop the kind of disposition that expects the good. It will take a lot of work and I am going to tell you, it is not an easy thing. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline. It means beginning over…and over…and over. When you fail, you have to begin again—pick yourself up—building an optimistic thought-habit that nothing material can shake or change, and it takes time, it takes a great deal of discipline. You can always make a fresh start. You can always step forward, again. You may have learned, for instance, that even when the heart is aching and the mind is confused, you still have the ability to be useful, to do something right, to speak a kind word, to appreciate those about you.

Expect to find goodness in your fellow creatures and the events that come to pass in your life, in yourself, in your work, in your relationships with people. When you meet a person who is unpleasant or unkind, who lacks poise, patience, pride or understanding, do not immediately say, “What an unpleasant guy he is.” Instead, try to realize that you are meeting a person who is, simply, a little less than his best—a person who is, unfortunately, frustrating some of his potential, has yet failed to grow up, to mature. But there is more in him. Believe in the more, expect the more. When you are faced with events that try your patience, begin a determined drive to build a stronger faith, to expect something good to come out of every experience.

Sometimes things happen to us that we feel could not possibly be worse. We can’t see a single atom of good in the situation or experience, and yet, my friends, there is never an event or circumstance, no matter how unfortunate it may appear, that is wholly without value to someone at sometime…if we deal with it in the right consciousness. Somewhere in it is something to be learned, some wisdom to be gained—wisdom to help one meet all subsequent events with greater understanding and courage. You may go on your way striving for maturity, learning from your mistakes, making wiser plans, giving the heart time to heal when it is hurt, giving the mind time to rest when it is tired, and yet, even so, strive to acquire a disposition to always expect the good. If you do this, you may be assured that from your winters, you will emerge, like spring, with beauty and promise.

Someone once said that “a person reacts to us in the way we expect them to,” and I believe, absolutely, that this is true, because that which we expect in another is usually found to be the out-picturing of some kind of trait or characteristic or habit of our own. Haven’t you known some people who are always expecting others to be dishonest with them, actually expecting people to cheat them? I say, cultivate the disposition to expect the good. Expect good food from the grocer—really expect it, look for it! Expect service from people who wait on you. Expect friendly neighbors and courteous relationships. Expect proper value for your money. And expect a good day’s work from the person employed by you—and give fair treatment—and you will get them, all of them, if you have “A Disposition to Expect the Good.”

And, in your relationships, from day to day, expect to be happy, and there will be less experience to cause you unhappiness. Your expectancy is going to open your mind in that direction and you will find happy things flowing forth easily in your relationships.

Expect health. Don’t be forever looking for symptoms of illness. Don’t be a hypochondriac. Don’t say, “Well gee, I guess maybe I’m going to come down with that cold that is going around.”

Discouraging though a situation might be, it is only aggravated if you expect evil, embarrassment, unhappiness, heartache, and loss. Sometimes it does seem that there can’t possibly be good in an experience, but there is latent good within it, somewhere, and it is our job to look for it. We increase that which we give attention to, and it is logical that we should seek out the good, look for it and expect it if we want more of it.

The Law of expecting good and reaping its return is a Divine Law, similar to the law of growth in the world of nature. The farmer who plants corn knows that he will reap corn. If he sows wheat, he counts with confidence on a wheat harvest. He is equally sure that he will reap good as the effect of good thoughts, words and acts, when these become habitual with him. “The Disposition to Expect the Good” is one of the most important developments of his life.

The Divine Law is like the potter’s wheel on which vessels are molded according to the will of the potter and the potter is Divine Mind. We enter into Divine Mind by creating in the thought realm under Divine Law. We, too, are potters and we work in the malleable clay of Soul Substance. Desire is the driving power that causes the wheel to turn according to our will, and we then shape our life depending upon how we turn the wheel. We may misshape the substance with which we work, forming it imperfectly—and this is a sad thing, but it happens so often. Thoughts that are formed by hate, instead of love, turn out life that is lacking in beauty and symmetry. Words that are lacking in Truth create forms that shatter at a touch. They are without strength. They are useless. Faithless conduct misshapes our work from the very beginning, so that it must be done again. All thoughts, you see, must be good if they are going to build anything worth having into our character in life.

Divine Substance built conscientiously into life, makes Itself visible in the form of dependability and integrity. A person comes to be known, by his habitual conduct, as one who is to be trusted or distrusted according to the standard of right that he upholds or disavows. He who cares more for what is right and is more concerned to find the right in every situation than to reap any temporary gain, realizes the greatest gain of all: a life that is symmetrical, because it is in harmony with Divine Law.

So, cultivate “A Disposition to Expect the Good.” Again, this is not easy. It will take a great deal of discipline, but it is so important. Expect the good in people. Expect the good out of a day's work. Expect seeing the good when you turn to the news at night or read the paper in the morning. Expect the good from your family, from your friends. Expect the best treatment from your boss. When you walk into a restaurant, cultivate a disposition to expect to have a good meal. Expect good things!

Instead of letting your mind run into the negative and the pessimistic gloomy attitude toward life and to say, “Well, I guess, you might as well expect the worst, so that you won’t be disappointed.” Expect the best! And you won’t be disappointed, because the Law of Expectancy is dynamic in its effect. Expect the good in and from people in thoughts and words and actions, and expect the good in all of your relationships and you will never be disappointed. You will find that your positive approach to life, your optimism, your conscious awareness of good will lead you into a higher level of vibration, and you will tend to draw from people and circumstances and things, the very best. It is a fundamental Law…and it is one certainly worth working with.

© Eric Butterworth

[Naptaq]

A comfortable cottage stood in the suburbs of one of our large cities. A lovely mother was working as fast as she could in a sunny room that served as kitchen and dining room, and three children were playing around her—not too happily, because they felt the tremendous tension in the air. Fragrance of spices filled the room, and [there was] a big pot simmering on the stove. The woman frequently left the packages she was wrapping to stir the food cooking in the pot. The words "shop early," "mail early," kept running through her mind, and they pushed her on toward more speed and confusion in what she was trying to do. Suddenly, the mother, whose hand was made for gentleness, for healing and comfort, sharply slapped young Benny, whose little hand was pulling a pretty tinsel cord across the room, unwinding the ball more and more at each capering step. The mother’s voice was usually a lovely voice, but now it was sharp, scolding, and she said, "You children get away from there. Go in the other room and stay there." Well, the other room was a nice room, too. Daddy’s big chair was there, and usually there was a radiant fire in the fireplace, only it wasn’t lit now. Mother’s small chair and worktable were there, too, and a shelf of stories that she often read to them. Now, the room was empty and the mother’s voice had made it a, sort of, prison for three, too eager, children.

Time passed quickly for the busy woman in the kitchen. The children were quiet in the other room. She paid no attention to them, until lunch was ready. And then she turned to the living room door to call them and the picture that greeted her smote her heart. Frank and Flora, the three-year-old twins, were asleep on the rug in front of the fireless fireplace. Little cheeks, pressed close together, were tear-stained. Six-year-old Benny stood in front of a picture of Jesus standing before a door that is ajar, and a sorry attempt at building a blockhouse was unfinished in the center of the room. Just as the mother opened the door, she heard the little boy say, "Dear Jesus, I wish you would come and play with me, because mommy is too busy getting ready for Christmas and she is cross." And then, with the candid justice so often found in little children, he added, "But she doesn’t really mean to be cross." Suddenly, a quotation flashed through this listening mother’s mind: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: If anyone hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with me." [Revelation 3:20] Evidently, little Benny had opened his heart’s door to that Divine Process within him, to the Christ, when he added the words, "But, she doesn’t mean to be cross," because his face lighted up with happiness and he turned from the picture to find his mother standing with open arms beside him. Her face was all shining with love, her eyes misty. Little Benny had suddenly opened her heart’s door and no trace of impatience, no frown, remained.

~ Eric Butterworth

[Naptaq]

Dealing With Habits

Habit plays a central role in our lives, and most of us have quite a few habits that interfere with the happiness or effectiveness of our experience. I’m reminded of the doctor who warned a patient that he should, by all means, have regular habits. And the man said, "But I do, I do." And the doctor said, "You were seen in a bar this morning at 3:00." And the man replied, "Oh, but you see, that’s one of my regular habits." Well, seriously, not all habits are bad or limiting. Our chief concern here is with the habits that bind or limit, habits that cause regret and self-condemnation.

The underlying cause of all bad habits can be found in the basic desires of life. We don’t really understand our desires. We don’t know where we’re going, and we are led in confused ways. Habit, like fire, is a good servant, but a very poor master.

Worry is, largely, a habit, so is being disagreeable…and a little restraint would work wonders! Indolent daydreaming can certainly be a bad habit. Likewise, fear is a habit. On the other hand, so is faith a habit. Most people think only half as well as they are capable, because the careless use of language is a habit. Yet, so is the careful use of good language a habit. Each individual must decide for himself the level at which he is going to accept life.

It’s good to take an inventory of our habits now and then, just to see if they’re serving a constructive purpose. Do you often find yourself falling into ruts of thinking and doing that keep you from taking the course that you really want toward life—the way of success and happiness that you desire? You see, we unconsciously begin forming habits every time we undertake something. We’re forming habits every moment of life. Our every act, if we delve deeply enough, is preceded by, and given birth to by, a thought. In time, an act, repeated, forms a habit. And, the sum of one’s habits determines one’s character and one’s destiny. The thought is always parent to the act.

One is never born with habits. They have their origin in the nerve centers of the brain, which are given repeated impulses. Any thought, if persisted in for a sufficient length of time, will eventually reach the motor tracks of the brain and burst into irreversible action—so that we will find ourselves doing that thing again…and again…and again. Our thoughts determine our acts, therefore, the course of our lives, and the influence and impact of our lives upon others. "Good luck" and "bad luck" are simply the tendency to keep the mind tuned in to energy and vibrations of patterns of "good" or "not good." So, if a person has bad luck, he or she shouldn’t feel sorry for himself or herself. He or she should realize that bad luck is simply a bad mental habit. Whenever you do a thing in a certain way, it becomes just a little easier to do the next time…and even easier the time after that, in that same way. Eventually, the time comes when the effort comes in not doing it that way—trying to keep from doing it the way you have habitually come to do it. After you’ve learned to drive a car, you can do so without thinking about every movement you make…you just do it automatically.

We can master and overcome habit. No habit was ever inherited. It was acquired by repetition, over an extended period of time. When we realize that the thought is parent to the act, we may wonder if we have the power to really control which thoughts enter our minds. But you might consider what Judge Thomas Troward [pioneer New Thought teacher] wrote when he says: "If our thought possesses creative power, why are we hampered by adverse conditions? The answer is that we have used our power invertedly. We have taken the starting point of our thought from external facts and, consequently, created a repetition of facts of a similar nature; and so long as we do this, we must-need go on perpetuating the old circle of limitation." A very interesting thought by Judge Troward.

So, the remedy is to reverse our method of thinking, and, instead of taking facts as the starting point, we should take the inherent nature of mental power as a starting point. In other words, you are not just a reactor; you are an originator of thought…at least, you can be, and you should be! Jesus said, "Let your light shine." [Matt. 5:16]

Anger and criticism are simply reactions. How much better it is to express creative original thought. This is a very important point, because few of us realize that we rarely think creatively. George Bernard Shaw once made the witty comment that most persons think only two or three times a year, and that he had made an international reputation by thinking two or three times a week. He was talking about creative thought, about the ability to let thoughts originate from within ourselves, rather than to simply be a reactive process in dealing with things on the outside.

Do you really want to overcome this habit that concerns you? But, you see, you will not really break a habit unless and until you really desire to be free. Without that desire, there is very little hope for you. It is true that "the Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." [Matt. 26:41] But, the mistake is to believe that you are only human. From the Divine point of view, you are a Spiritual Being. You have tremendous potentialities within you, beyond that point of limitation where you’ve always fallen short.

You can overcome your weakness, and it is Divine Will for you to do so! The Apostle Paul says, "In all things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." [Romans 8:37] Act from your weakness and you will be weak. But you see, if you act from your strength, you will find strength far beyond anything you’ve ever known!

Weakness is habitual, because negative thoughts about yourself are habitual. You’ve formed a habit of thinking in a very self-limiting way—of entertaining a very self-limiting self-image. And, you have tended to identify yourself with this. So, there is a continuation of this consciousness, and this thought, in the habitual way in which you’ve thought about yourself. What we call "inherent weakness" is simply a subconscious pattern, which has become a habit. There is no such thing as an "inherently weak person." You can only have thoughts (habitual negative thoughts) that are weak, which tend to frustrate the releasement of your inherent strength. So, here’s where change must take place. Not willful forcing of restraints, but the addition of faith and belief.

In a sense, it could be said, and very simply and self-evidently, that the antidote for a bad habit, is a good habit. If habits are formed by a repetition of a thought, then, by the substitution of positive for negative, we take steps toward freedom from bondage. We are, by nature, thinking creatures, and you can substitute one thought for another. So, this means that you must begin to change your thoughts about yourself, and to form the habit of thinking positively about yourself—identifying yourself as a strong character, with the ability to change and to overcome.

How do we stop thinking the wrong thoughts that create bad habits? By a "law of substitution": by putting another thought in its place. You can eliminate the bad thought by holding, in consciousness, the good one. An affirmation of Truth, for instance, is an effective "thought capsule." It is important to be still for a while and realize that you are the expression of the Infinite, right where you are, and that there is movement within you toward good, toward creativity, toward strength. Perhaps, you would like to verbalize it through an affirmation or a treatment, like this: "I am a strong, decisive, confident Child of God. I am not dependent upon this thing for security. My faith is in God within me." Say that again, "I am a strong, decisive, confident Child of God. I am not dependent upon this thing for security. My faith is in God within me," and you will come to realize that there is a Power—whether you call it "the Christ," as Paul did, or you call it "God," call it "Providence," call it "Nature," call it the "Transcendent Force," call it the "Creative Process." It really doesn’t matter! It is the Power within you that can aid and guide you and pull you through any difficult times of overcoming.

Every one of us can become a person of power or a person of impotence. We have a choice! Once you have grasped the knowledge that you can overcome, then tell yourself, and often, that you can do it and that you will do it—not with some gimmick, but because there is within you an Innate Power making you strong and capable and confident. Determine to be yourself, and you can overcome alcoholism or drug addiction; you can lose weight; you can become punctual; you can stop procrastinating; you can alter the negative patterns of your life. If you really want to, you can be the kind of person that you really, inherently, were meant to be!

© Eric Butterworth

www.ericbutterworth.org/