Eric Butterworth - Inspirational message for today

[Naptaq]

The Law of Consciousness

Consciousness is a very deep and somewhat abstract subject, if it is dealt with on the many different levels on which it is normally approached. So I would like to think a little bit today about the subject of consciousness, hopefully, in a way that will be meaningful and helpful to you.

There is a sense in which each of us is a living magnet, constantly drawing to himself or herself the things, the persons, and the circumstances that are in accord with the thoughts that predominate in mind. In other words, you are where you are right now, and you are experiencing what you are facing right now, because of what you are…because of the level of your consciousness.

I know this is a difficult thing to accept. It’s a hard teaching; and sometimes we cry out against the injustice of things around us, and we say, “There ought to be a law!”

There ought to be a law. Well the truth is, there is a Law, and the Law is always working, even in those things that seem unjust, and especially in those: The Law of Consciousness. So we need to face the truth and begin to relate our lives to the understanding of it.

Now, I don’t want to sound like a “greybeard,” but I have been involved in this work for a good while, and I have talked with many, many people who have faced tremendous injustices. And, I’ve heard all the objections to the Law of Consciousness. Someone may say: “Now don’t tell me it was in my consciousness! I was driving down the street, minding my own business—as a matter of fact, my thoughts were even on a beautiful Truth lesson that I had just heard—when around the corner came a truck, out of control, and smashed right into the side of my car. Now, how can you say it’s my consciousness?”

It is very hard to accept the idea that the Law of Attraction is involved in a case like this. But you see, I’m not saying that you “sinned” or that you did something bad and, therefore, were being punished. I mean that for every effect there must be a cause, and that there are no experiences in life that are unrelated to consciousness—to your own consciousness.

So, actually, we waste our time and frustrate any ultimate good that may come out of it by demanding, “Why did this happen to me? What did I do to deserve it?” The important thing is to accept the fact that there is a cause…and accept the other aspect of it: “…that all things work together for good to them that love God [the Lord],” [Romans 8:28, KJV] or, “to them that love the Law,” that some kind of good will come out of it, and you will find the way to move through it easily. Those who work with Law will find a way by which the situation, no matter how it came about, will unfold and will work for ultimate good.

Now of course, out of a sense of injustice, we tend to hold on to this idea: “But why, why? Why did it happen?” And of course, the easy cop-out is that you were simply unlucky. But I say, there is no room in this teaching for chance or luck. Belief in luck will crowd out all individual initiative and faith, because if we talk about luck in a situation like this, then we look to luck as the key to change in the shape of our consciousness.

In this case, it is not that you were thinking of accidents, but that, in consciousness, you were functioning on a particular wavelength in which accidents could happen. In other words, you were receptive to them. It may just be that your mind had been involved with them, you believed in them, you had talked about them—you have shared, in a conversation with someone, the idea that “Some people just don’t watch where they’re going these days” or “It’s just not safe to drive on the streets anymore.” So you build up a kind of a resistance to it, in the sense of this kind of experience as a possibility, or some strong fear of such things.

So, don’t be too analytical. Don’t make too big a thing of it. It did happen. Let it go, in the realization that it could not have come to you if you were in the Flow of the Divine Process. So it is a reminder of the need to get back into the Divine Flow. In other words, the fact is that even though the person struck you from the side, yet, you were there. You were not somewhere else. You were not, at that point, five minutes ahead or five minutes later. You were there. So, there was some kind of an appointment involved—a kind of an attraction process.

When you’re in the Flow of Love, when you’re in the Flow of Wisdom, when you’re in the Flow of Guidance, in the Flow of Creativity, then, as the Psalmist says, “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.” [Psalm 91:7, KJV] This is consciousness at work. The important thing is that, often, without consciously directing the flow of positive thought, we may be unconsciously directing the flow of negative thought.

Consciousness, you see, is a word that is quite often misunderstood. As I’m using it, I’m not simply referring to being awake or aware; I’m talking about the sum-total of your mentality at a given moment. Your mentality, at any time, is quite complex. In other words, you may have many diverse attitudes and feelings, many subconscious patterns, many influences in terms of the inertial force of your mind. If we could balance one against another and calculate all the minuses and all the pluses, we could come up with a kind of a median point, which would actually be the evidence of your consciousness.

Perhaps we could devise some sort of an imaginary device, a meter, with a needle that would indicate whether your consciousness is going below the line or above the line. In other words, the meter could measure from one to one hundred. Anything below fifty would be considered negative or injurious to bodily health. Anything above fifty might be healthy or might be the response or receptivity to that which is good. In other words, this would deal with a positive and negative consciousness. It’s possible, I suppose, that we could create such a meter that would help us to understand when we are getting below the line and when we are above; and when the needle is below the line, it would indicate that we’re in trouble, that we better lift up our thoughts—keep our minds stayed on God, in other words.

Consciousness is the pattern that we hold up to the Universal Law to be filled. So we are always created in the image and likeness of our thoughts. Jesus emphasized the importance of laying up “treasures in Heaven.” [Matt. 6:20] And in this, I think he means storing up positive consciousness—getting ourselves “above the line,” as it were, getting our thoughts in high places, so that, in this higher state of consciousness, we are going to continually attract to ourselves good things, knowing that if our consciousness gets into a lower level, then we are in the negative stream of energy, and we are going to attract to ourselves all kinds of negative conditions.

Every time you pray, you see, there should be an elevation of consciousness. This, in a sense, is what prayer is for…lifting yourself to a higher vibration. Unfortunately, many persons do not understand prayer. Many people pray only when they have a problem, and they pray to influence the Law or to get by with the Law, or they pray that somehow things will go away from them. But you see, God doesn’t interfere with nature or the Law of Consciousness. The purpose of prayer is not to change God, but to get yourself into the consciousness of God. The need, always, is to work with your consciousness. That’s what prayer is for: to lift yourself to a higher level, to get that “needle above the line.” Because, when it’s above the line, when it’s up into the upper area of positivity, then things are going to flow in positive ways into your life.

Actually, a person may be praying constantly and still be aware and involved in fear and hate and resistance to things and people. For some persons, prayer is little more than concentrated worry: “Oh, dear Lord, I have this terrible fear, you see. And I just feel so badly about this! Dear Lord, help me!” But, your thought is in the negative aspect of life, and you may continue to attract these things to you, because that’s where your thought is. It may be hard to understand, and sometimes we say of ourselves or someone else: “But how could such a good person…?” or, “How could such a Christian person suffer so much?” The point is, our consciousness is what determines the experience; and if the sum-total of our thought is worry or fear or negativity, no matter that we are using terminologies that we use in prayer, we are still in the negative consciousness, and we are going to draw negative experiences. For instance, you see something and you respond to it by saying, “Isn’t that awful!” or, “How terrible!” This could be in response to the newspaper or the news on television or the radio. You see, what happens is that you are creating a pattern for yourself. You are creating a level of consciousness that will tend to attract to you that which you are focused upon.

The problem for most of us is our sympathetic response to things. Sympathy is a negative state of mind. Compassion is healthy, but sympathy is very negative. So we tend to be overly sympathetic; we say, “Oh, that’s so sad…so sad.” But the moment you think in that term, you put yourself on that level of consciousness, and you are open and receptive and responsive to that kind of experience. This is the way consciousness works.

So, the important thing is: We want to try to lift our thoughts into a positive level, so that we can be influenced in a positive stream of consciousness. Actively and positively send out thoughts of love, thoughts of good, thoughts of life, thoughts of justice, in the sense of neutrality. Objectively, you can deal with the seemingly negative things, even as a doctor deals with sickness or a fireman deals with fire.

We need to reconsider the old-fashion idea of blessing. So when we see things, instead of reacting sympathetically in thoughts that are negative, bless the thing. Send out a positive thought. Bless the person. Bless the people in the negative situation. Bless the things you see on television, that you read in the paper. Bless them. Send out a thought of a blessing attitude. In this way, you will counteract and neutralize the difficult, the negative, and open your way to the Flow of Good.

So, if you’re hurt over injustice, over loss, over tragedy, or challenges that have come to you, the important thing to know is: The Law is at work and that all things will be made right and that no good thing can ever be taken from you—that good will come to you, but you must be receptive to it. If you are looking to particular sources or channels, becoming bitter toward some injustice, then you are creating barriers to your good.

The Law of Consciousness is always at work. But of course, you need to work to make yourself a living magnet for it; and you can do this when you understand the Law of Consciousness.

© Eric Butterworth

[Naptaq]

Routing the Roots of Failure

I was asked recently by a young fellow, why so many successful persons appear unhappy. He was wondering if success actually deters true happiness. I think a lot of young people have puzzled over this; and have wondered about the values in life, which are related to, what I so often call, “The Success Syndrome” or “success is all that counts in life,” “getting ahead,” “achieving,” “overcoming.” In other words, does success come at the expense of a person’s life or at the expanse of his inner life? Jesus said [paraphrasing]: “What will a man gain by winning the whole world at the cost of his True Self? Or, what can he give that will buy that Self back?” [Matt. 16:26: “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”]

The person who appears successful, but who is really frustrated and unhappy, is one who, more than likely, has never really achieved success, at all. Like Esau, [Genesis 25:23-34] he may have sold his birthright for a “mess of pottage.” Success must deal with that birthright, with the discovery of the True Self and the expansion of it by investing the Self in the creative endeavors of life. This may very well, ultimately reveal rewards and prosperity and things, too; but they will be added, something special, something extra. On the other hand, failure may be said to be frustration of the Inner Potential of the person. It does not, necessarily, deal with position in life or earning or any other widely accepted indicators. It is a matter of failing to utilize the God-given abilities to their fullest.

Now, obviously, I’m dealing with a definition of success and failure that is a little different than the norm by which we judge things in life. But one thing must be stressed: The success that I am talking about is not measured by how our lives compare with others. It is a purely personal thing, the fulfillment of our own potential and the goals that we set for ourselves. It is not a matter of whether we have progressed in “keeping up with the Joneses,” it is more a matter of whether we progress in keeping up with ourselves.

The roots of failure go very deep within the person, and they must be routed out. No matter what the world says or implies about you, you are God’s greater possibility. You are the very self-livingness of a Creative Process, thus you have a tremendous potentiality in the process of unfolding in you and as you…if you give way to it. You may be discouraged at the reluctance of the world to open doors for you, but it remains that you are God’s Living Enterprise, and you cannot fail! This is because God cannot fail! The Success Potential in you is the continuation of the Divine Effort that made you in the first place. Get that into your consciousness. The Success Potential in you is the continuation of the Divine Effort that made you in the first place. It is important to condition yourself to believe that you are surrounded by a Divine Presence that wishes good for you, because you are expressing Its Life. In other words, “You have a good thing going for you!” So, believe it! And act as if it were impossible to fail!

I’ve talked with so many persons who desire to overcome their limitations and to find success—timid people, nervous people, indecisive people, people seemingly barred from life’s opportunities by reasons of their race or their nationality or their background or sex or creed. My advice has always been, “Turn on the green lights! Turn on the green lights!” And, I want to convince every person that they can succeed if they genuinely want to, and if they are willing to work at it, and if they have sufficient faith, to simply act as if they have enough faith!

Many of us have stopped at many a “red light,” limited beliefs that slow us to a halt or cause us to accept the belief of mediocrity or perpetual failure. One such limited idea is the thought that “opportunity knocks only once.” And I say, “Bosh!” to that. Many an unsuccessful person can tell of the time, or times, when he had his chance and muffed it. So he has resigned himself to a drab experience, because he had his “opportunity that only knocks once.” And this is just, absolutely, untrue! The only real failure is in giving up! Opportunity knocks once, but it means it is constantly knocking…it never stops! You may suffer reverses, but if you keep on and keep on keeping-on, you will, in the end, succeed.

Giving up too readily is based on an inner feeling of inadequacy, which must be routed out. If you subconsciously feel that you are a failure, you will stop short of success and achievement every time, because you hold the thought of failure in you. In a sense, it may be said that you are looking for chances to prove that you are a failure, because you believe that’s what you really are. Time and again, defeats and disappointments are suffered, only to achieve success and realize desires…finally.

Modern research has been called “the art of successful failure.” The researcher profits by each reverse and goes on to find right answers—and no one can ever be a good researcher unless he has the willingness to pick himself up and go on and keep on. Take the idea: “Opportunity is wherever I am! Everyday I am expecting new things to happen, better things to express! Every day is a brand new beginning in which my world is made new!” Turn on the green lights, and turn them on everyday of your life. Affirm for yourself something like: “All systems are go! This is the day of opportunity for me! I have a good thing going for me! I’m God’s living enterprise, and God cannot fail!”

Don’t postpone your good by giving in to the dread disease of “tomorrow-itis.” Procrastination has been called “the art of keeping up with yesterday.” Here are just a few symptoms of tomorrow-itis: “Oh, I’ve been too busy.” “I just haven’t had a chance to get at it.” “I’ve been wanting to do it, but I may do it tomorrow.” Remember, Goethe* says, “Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute. What you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has power, genius, magic in it. Only engage and the mind grows heated. Begin and the work will be completed.”

Positive thought is a “green light.” Negative thought is a “red light.” Keep the green lights turned on in your life and don’t be influenced by what “they say” or what they don’t say. The Apostle Paul’s statement to the Romans, as rendered in the Phillips translation, says it very articulately: “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your mind from within.” [Romans 12:2] I’ll say that again: “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your mind from within.” The world may say, “You can’t!” “You’re too old!” “This is not for you!” You say what you want to say! Say what you’re listening to…and don’t listen to what you’re saying. The failure syndromes around you may be oppressive, but you must know that if you keep the green lights turned on, you have something good going for you from within, and it will continue to direct you and influence you as a tremendous supportive process.

You are God’s Living Enterprise…and God cannot fail. Maybe you’ll not reach the top of the corporate ladder. Maybe you’ll never acquire all the material objects affluence can buy, but if these constitute your only goals, then you need to take another look at yourself. Are you seeking, simply, power and money and things, or do you wish true human success? The only real success is fulfilling your highest ideals and realizing your innate potentiality. And the only real failure is giving up short of that point, settling for anything less than the ultimate fulfillment of your desires and ideals. Keep on and keep on keeping-on!

© Eric Butterworth

[Naptaq]

On Loving and Being Loved

You may recall a successful comedy on Broadway a few years ago, which was named Luv, by Murray Shisgal. In the preface to the play, he wrote, “The sense of it is that the emotion of love has been perverted to such an extent that it can be defined only by using another word that comes closer to what we experience, to what we think and how we behave. It can be L-U-V or x-y-z, but it certainly can’t be a word that has been abused as much as L-O-V-E. L-U-V is the perversion of love. I don’t have the audacity to define the other. So, not wanting to give a serious insight into love, the play, Luv, deals mockingly with some of its grotesque counterparts.”

Well, I think I should say that, unlike Murray Shisgal, I do have the audacity to deal definitively with love, because I believe this much-abused word can be rescued and lifted to its rightful place, right at the very heart and center of the New Insight In Truth, as the most needed object in our adventure of self-discovery.

Now, first of all, we must unlearn some fundamental errors. Unlearning always precedes learning. We’ve been conditioned to believe that we come into life empty and we go forth into the world to be filled. We go to school to get knowledge. We go to church to get religion. We go into the marketplace to get money and security. And, we look to certain special people for love—our parents, our friends, our teachers, our associates. And if people do not give us love, then we have a completely loveless experience. If someone gives us love, then we are able to love—at least this is the way we have been reasoning. This is the way we have been taught to think: that you have it, if you have been given it. But you see, this is wrong.

And, there is another great error. Love is not an emotion, love is not sensual, and love is not sex, though it certainly may, and should, use these elements as a conduit through which it naturally flows in the process of communion. But the communion is, or should be, a transcendent thing. We have erroneously thought of love as something you fall into or out of—something like the weather that you can do very little about, either it happens or it doesn’t happen, it’s totally unpredictable. We have thought of love as a kind of approval of one who is lovable, and only as long as he remains lovable. If he does some thoughtless thing, we just stop loving him.

Jesus stressed the Great Law: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” [Luke 10:27] But you see, what we fail to clear up in our consciousness is: How do you love God? You say, “Oh, I love God.” But how do you love God? It’s an abstraction, you see.

Meister Eckert, the mystical teacher, parish priest in Medieval Germany, had some amazing insights for our time—and he always expressed them in a kind of whimsy. He says, “I never give God thanks for loving me, because he can’t help himself.” Now, again, this is rather whimsical, but it says so much! God can’t help himself, because God is Love, and you are created in and of Love. God loves you because it is the very nature of God. And, you love God, again, as Meister Eckert would say, by letting God be God in you.

Your power to love and be loved is within yourself, not in someone else. No one really gives you Love. Anyone can simply surround you with an environment in which you feel relaxed and receptive, and then you can let your own Love Force flow. In John, we read, “We love, because He first loved us.” [1John 4:19 ASV] You can love, because God is a Flow of Love within you. You are always being loved from within…always. You may not be receptive to it. You may not express it. You may frustrate it, but you are always being loved from within.

So, Love is the reality of you, which you either frustrate or express, and this frustration of Love Potential is at the root of most of the ills of mankind. Unless we know this, we indulge in all sorts of fantasies, such as: “Some day my love will come along,” “Some time, love will happen to me.” But, Love has never just happened to anyone. Love is not to be found. It is not finding the right person; it is becoming the right person. If we are not finding Love, it is because we are out of tune with Love’s Flow within ourselves. The mystics say, “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.” And we can say, when you are in the consciousness of Inner-Centered Love, then you are in the Flow of Love, you experience Love, your life is fulfilled in Love…and, by the very power of consciousness, your right mate appears before you. The hunger for Love that is universal is the restless yearning to give way to Love’s Flow from within.

Psychology has long held that the greatest need of man is to be loved. This is true, to a certain extent, but it’s only a half-truth, because it doesn’t tell the whole story. Certainly, the greatest need of man is to be loved, but many in the field of psychology are coming to realize that the great need, essentially, is to love. In other words, we need to be loved, but we need to be loved from within. And we can only be loved from within when we express Love, let it flow, and love in our relationships with people—to release the dynamic energy of our “Imprisoned Splendor.” This is why little children have dolls and why adults have pets, because of the need to love.

Jesus said, again and again, “Love one another.” [John 13:34 & 35, John 15:12 & 17] Why? Not just that it’s nice to love people, but when you do not express Love, then you lose your Center in the Divine Flow of Love. You may not know how or why, sometimes, you get out of this Inner Flow. But you can be very sure that if you’re having difficulties with people or if you’re being pushed around or if you’re being isolated by life, then you are out of the Flow of Love. Your power to love (to paraphrase a thought of Emerson) “is the continuation of the Divine Effort that made you in the first place.” You always have a choice, and no matter what someone may have done to you, or left undone, you can always choose to love. Jesus said, “…love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you.” [Matthew 5:44] In other words, you must love, not because the other person may be especially deserving of your Love, but because you are deserving of your Love. You may think you have good reason not to love someone for what they have done or what they are, but you can never afford to entertain thoughts that separate you from the Flow of Divine Love.

There is a Creative Flow of Love in you at all times. You are always in Love, and you always have sufficient Love within you to deal with any and all situations and relationships. Why, then, do you sometimes feel the lack of Love? And why the plaguing hunger to be loved? It is simply that we’ve been conditioned to an exterior orientation of Love. In a way, we’re like ants in a sugar mill, sitting on a vast mound of sugar, holding out tentacles in a desperate attempt to catch a grain or two as it flies by. With boundless pools of Love within us, we look hungrily into the faces of persons passing by, for some evidence of love and support. You see, the love-starved person is not really the victim of circumstances, as we have thought. He is, rather, the victim of his own unconscious refusal to let the activity of Love flow through him. Love is an Energy Force that emanates just as naturally from the center of us as radiation does from uranium. You are innately a loving creature.

A word that I have coined and have used a great deal is, you are “Loveful.” Loveful! In other words, there are so many words to describe a state of personal fullness, such as joyful, peaceful, beautiful, etc. A few years ago, I began to realize that there was something wrong. Why had we never used the word Loveful? Could it be that we have never really thought of the reality of Love as an Inner Power? Or, of the possibility of ever being really fulfilled in love? There is always enough Love to go around. You are always full of Love, in terms of the Divine Flow within you. You are always Loveful! But, obviously, you must practice releasing it. What you may have thought of as your hunger for love, is really your hunger to love. You are a Loveful Creature. Use the word Loveful. It’s a beautiful word!

Practice love. It doesn’t have to be demonstrative or affected, because this wouldn’t be sincere and real. And it doesn’t mean trying to love all the offensive people of your world, because to try to love people involves a judgment. In other words, it’s a case of, “Well, I don’t like what you’re doing, and that’s terrible, but I’m going to love you anyway.” It’s not trying to love, because to try to love is not, really, to love. True Love accepts people as they are, but sees them as they can be. Love, you see, is not really yours to give or to withhold, because it is a Divine Flow. But, you can turn it on or off, according to your consciousness. So get yourself centered in the Flow of Love. This is to let God love you, and to let Love flow forth through you.

I’ve often told the story of what happened to me on a subway in New York City. I was sitting, one day, looking across the car, as we so often do. And I was looking at a youngster who was right across the aisle. He was young. He was probably in his early teens. He seemed very lonely, fearful…pitiful to see. He had a sad look on his face, and I had the overwhelming urge to go over and put my arms around him and to say, “Young man, it’s alright. You’re loved. I love you.” And, of course, I didn’t do this. Why? Well, pride, and the fact that people might not understand, and the boy himself would be shocked. Then, I realized the need was not to touch him physically, but to simply let Inner-Centered Love flow forth in a radiant outreach. So, I just sent him a blessing, that’s all; I just blessed him. Soon, he looked up and his eyes met mine, and I smiled at him. And for a brief moment, he smiled at me, and for one fleeting instant, our lives touched—there was one moment of communion. Very soon, the subway stopped. The youngster jumped off and ran, and was gone. I believe that, though I may never see that youngster again, his life will somehow be different, and I know that mine will, somehow, be different. This is Love’s way—getting into the Flow of Love. And…it wasn’t mine to give, it was simply mine to accept and to radiate and to let it flow.

This, of course, is the kind of thing that I mean when I say, practice Love. Wherever you are, you have boundless opportunities to “let Love be Love in you,” and to let Divine Love flow forth through you, because, you see, you are a Loveful Creatur

© Eric Butterworth

[Naptaq]

The Advantage of Disadvantage

The challenges of human experience do not inhibit life; rather, they provide us with opportunities to develop the ability to be a good conductor for an even greater life than we might otherwise know. Have you ever noticed that many of the great persons of history started life under some sort of handicap? Demosthenes, the greatest orator the ancient world produced, actually stuttered, and the first time he tried to make a public speech, he was laughed off the rostrum. My dear friend, Norman Vincent Peale, refers often to a feeling of inferiority that has driven him all his life. Many of our American statesmen started life in poor, humble circumstances, with little education and few advantages: Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson. And, we can consider Beethoven, who wrote some of his greatest music after he became completely deaf. You may be thinking, "Well now, these were exceptions. What about the millions who are overcome by their handicaps, persons who are limited and frustrated by their national or religious or racial background, their lack of education or opportunity, their limiting physical disabilities?" If a thousand people fail at a task, and all of them agree that it cannot be done, their contention is negated by one person who succeeds at the task; and the fact that he did it, proves that it can be done. Now, that’s logical, isn’t it? It’s an important thing to carry this logic over in our perceptions of life.

One may find great solace and strength in religion, but unless his religion helps him to realize the fact that, in him, there is something that is mightier than circumstance, then his handicaps, his problems, may simply become an excuse for self-pity and a justification for his unwillingness to launch forward. Unfortunately, there is a religious concept that was born in man’s primitive attempt to rationalize the seeming injustices of his misfortune, a concept that was carried over into the development of religious theology: the limited view of the Will of God. The pain, the crippling disease, the loss of sight or hearing, and the eventual handicap to effective living, all of these, according to some, are "the Will of God," who, for some inscrutable reason of His own, has placed a burden, a handicap, upon the man, upon the person. "Man was born to suffer, to be a loser, to struggle, and this is the way he earns the ‘Glory of Heaven,’" or so that weird concept goes. But, Jesus said, "…it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom." [Luke 12:32] Now, that certainly doesn’t sound like the author of a capricious will, does it? God’s Will is the ceaseless longing of the Creator to perfect Himself in that which He has created. His Will, always, is for Health, for Perfect Life, for Success, for Overcoming. God never! never! never! wills sickness or limitation or destruction or death! Never forget this. God’s Will for you, right now, is for you to succeed, regardless of the experiences or the seeming limitations with which you find yourself bound. You can succeed in spite of your handicap, and more than you may now realize it, your chances of success could even be enhanced because of your handicap, strange as that may seem.

Alfred Adler, the originator of the term "inferiority complex," made some remarkable discoveries in what he called compensation. Adler sums up his philosophy in the words, "It is the basis of my psychology that we can compensate for our deficiencies and, thus, transform a minus of our nature into a plus." "I believe," he says, "that it is to this universal ability to compensate for his weakness, that man owes his unique human character, his survival, and his very hope for the future." You see, Alfred Adler, had caught a Spiritual Law that was clearly seen by the Apostle Paul, who said (and these are among my favorite words of the Bible): "But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation make also the way of escape, that ye may be able to endure it." [1 Cor. 10:13] In other words, Paul is saying that God is inexorable, changeless, eternal, stable—functioning on the level of Principle, not capricious, personal, or vengeful. And, God has but one interest in you and but one Will for you: that you may grow and unfold and express your Inherent Potential. And he will not allow you to be challenged or handicapped beyond your innate ability, which is the God-Potential within you, and He will, through the handicap or the limitation, become a very concentrated activity and motivation that seeks a way of success and the means of compensating for the handicap that was yours in the first place. So, in a very real sense, you are able to achieve not in spite of your handicap, but because of it.

We are told, "…there is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding." [Job 32:8, ASV] And that Spirit in you is not impersonal, vague, or distant. It is your own God-Self. So, it is entirely logical that this Spirit in you should be working ceaselessly and relentlessly for your highest good, in spite of your difficulties, your handicaps, or limitations that you may have attracted by your own consciousness. In a way, the action of Spirit is greater in and around the limitation than at any other point. The Infinite Power is always present, but the will to project that healing, harmonizing, overcoming Power through us is always greatest at the point of need. This is why a handicap can actually become a blessing, and why the disadvantage can actually be an advantage.

The handicapped person is blessed with a focus of Infinite Intelligence and Energy, working in him to compensate and to lead him beyond the problem to normalcy and achievement. He may, and often does, allow the problem to turn him to self-pity and discouragement, but if he knows the Truth, and if he’s willing to let the Activity of God flow through him, then, as Jesus says, "…nothing shall be impossible unto you." [Matt. 17:20, KJV]

If we had all that we needed, if there were no weakness, no immaturities within us, there would be little purpose to our being here at all. We are all on the pathway of unfoldment, and though we may be on different levels of understanding, yet we all have some lack of the full expression of the Almighty. And so, we are here to overcome and to develop. For this reason, we should start where we are and do what we can with what we have, even if it seems that we do not have very much and that we cannot do anything. In every disadvantage, there lies the seed of an equivalent advantage. Every crisis can be an opportunity. Every tragedy can be a blessing. Every disappointment can become His [God’s] Appointment…or, a Divine Appointment.

This is no Pollyanna philosophy. It is simply an understanding of the Activity of God, "who worketh in you both to will and to work, for His good pleasure." [Philippians 2:13, ASV] You are an Expression of God, One with the Great Power and Potential of the Universe. God cannot be limited and the Expression of God cannot be limited, except in the thought of limitation. Your neighbor may appraise your situation and sadly shake his head, but you must refuse to accept that appraisal or to judge yourself by appearances.

Refuse to let the thought of handicap justify your feelings of insufficiency. Instead, look to those who have succeeded in spite of such handicaps and declare, "What God has done, God can do. What God has done, God can do! What any person has done, I can do!" Maybe you’ve heard someone say, "Well, I know that God is my help in every need, but with this handicap, I don’t see how…." Well that person should know that his handicap is not really his physical or financial challenge. The real handicap is his attitude, which is so completely summed up in the little word, "but." There is that in you that can turn any handicap into a veritable handle to power. Believe this, and if you catch yourself saying, "God is my help…but," stop yourself and declare, "God is my help. Period!" No qualifications, no obstacles, no handicaps, and you can turn any disadvantage into a marvelous advantage!

© Eric Butterworth

[Naptaq]

The Law of Acceptance

We all have those times when, after some unfortunate experience, we’ve cried out, "How could I have attracted that to me? What on earth have I done to bring this kind of a situation into my life? There ought to be a law!" Well, in the oversimplified approach to what we call "consciousness" it is often said that we attract to ourselves everything that comes. This is basically true, but not in the sense that we have consciously done or thought something that was directly responsible. The experience has come because we have, in some way, accepted the possibility in consciousness, maybe only through fear and worry. We have accepted limited suggestions, thus we have made for ourselves, or have accepted from others, certain limiting laws that hold us in bondage to limitation. So, when we say, "There out to be a law," there is a Law. We are not always aware of what that Law is, but it’s a Law of Fundamental Life, Fundamental Mind Action that is always at work.

No matter what the experience, it could be said that there is always one moment, leading up to the crisis, in which the suggestion of fear or the imminence of danger comes to mind—a time when we give consent, but when we could reject the negative, when we say, "No! No! I will not have this! No!" And, here’s a very fundamental Principle: You will never experience anything in the world of your body or affairs that you have not previously accepted, in one form or another, into your mind and heart. Remember, there’s always a time, whether it’s catching a cold or having an accident, there’s always a time prior to that, when something of the moment and the imminence of the experience comes to you and you could say "No! No!"

This is closely related to Jesus’ statement, "Agree with thine adversary quickly." [Matt. 5:25] Whenever you face any kind of obstacle, agree quickly. Now, this "agree" doesn’t mean to acknowledge or to admit it or to allow it to happen. It means to settle with it—settle with it, immediately. One woman has a pet statement, "I agree with God, only!" So, the "agreement" is the quick settling of the situation by remembering the Truth—turning from fear to faith, from worry to remembering Divine Law. If you are criticized, agree quickly. In other words, settle with it. Turn your thoughts one-to-one, God in you to God in the other person. Turn away from the thought of hostility and bitterness and self-pity, to "The Divine in me salutes the Divine in you."

If you have a sudden thought of fear of illness or job insecurity or lack of money, dispose of the thought quickly. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t give in easily. Such acceptance will build for later problems. Just say "No!" to it. Then, you may want to think or feel or say, "I agree with God, only!" Say "No!" to the difficult situation and to all the negative thoughts about it.

Every day of your life, you’re confronted by one thing or another of a negative nature seeking entrance into your mind. It may be news of war, economic predictions, personal feelings of inadequacy over some project you’re facing, crime in the streets, and so forth. There are many, many, many possible negative things that, you might say, are events that are waiting to happen. But, these things cannot hurt you as long as you say "No!" to them. Reject them! Agree with the adversary quickly. Get your thought into a consciousness of the Positive Flow of Truth.

You may recall the Gospel account of Jesus stilling the storm. It’s found in the 4th Chapter of Mark. Jesus was with his disciples out on the sea. He was asleep in the bough of the boat. A great storm arose, and the waves were beating on the boat. And the disciples were very fearful. Now, remember, these were hearty seamen, so it must have been a pretty bad storm, because they called out to Jesus, "Master, master, we perish." Jesus awakened, "And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm." Then, he turned to the disciples, and he said, "Why are ye fearful? have ye not yet faith?" Well, the important thing is he spoke the Word of Peace to the storms of inner turbulence.

Let’s not try to resolve this in the thought that it was a great miracle. It deals with the Power of Spirit within man to still the unruly waves and winds of emotions and of thoughts. Basically, the problem was that the disciples had accepted the storm as having the power to destroy them, and this acceptance was the reason for their fears. So, if you’re fearful in a storm, or any crisis, the fear is caused not by the condition, but by your acceptance of the possibility that the condition can do harm to you.

Webster defines "accept" as, "to receive with a consenting mind." The key to Jesus’ poise and quiet power was a consciousness that had been disciplined to accept only the good and the true. His appraisal recognized a crisis, but not the limitation of it. The danger in the crisis gave an opportunity to deal with the situation with Transcendent Power, and Jesus was poised in the awareness of that Power and Potential within him. He was not passive about the thing. Note, he didn’t merely say to the disciples, "Well now boys, let’s not get excited. Things are not as bad as they seem. We’ll pull through this somehow." He didn’t do that at all. He did not consent to let the storm a have place in his mind as something to be fearful over. He simply spoke his strong word of Power, and the storm subsided.

The study of the New Insight In Truth, involves the realization of a Whole Universe. A Universe that is totally supportive of you. It involves the training of the eyes to see good everywhere, and the training of the mind to refuse the suggestions of lack and limitation that, invariably, arise around us. If we accept ourselves as limited, then we accept a limited perspective of the Universe in which many limitations exist.

Can you ever recall announcing in the face of some situation in your work or your home, "Oh, this is really gonna be tough! Oh, this is a doozy!"? At that moment, even though the past experience or your hearsay information will tend to justify it, you are accepting a strong limitation—and usually, it will make a prophet of you. Sure enough, it will be a terrible situation, so it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. But, it’s simply because you have accepted it as being that way to you. That’s the way you’re going to deal with it. That’s where your attitude is.

Now you can see why Jesus says, "Agree with thine adversary quickly." Don’t procrastinate over or laugh about or acquiesce in the limitations of any kind. Settle with them, immediately. Say "No!" And say "Yes!" to the things that you desire to have expressed in your life in a good and perfect way. You can say to others, "If you want to believe in that negative inevitability, that’s your privilege. But for me, I choose to believe that there will be a harmonious outworking. I say ‘No!’ to the difficulty. I say ‘Yes!’ to that which is good." "Choose you this day whom ye will serve." [Joshua 24:15] Agree with God, only. Agree that there is but One Presence and One Power, God the Good Omnipotent in all things, at all times.

This is a very important "slide rule" in prayer. We need to check up on our attitudes. Whether we’re praying in the face of the storm, praying in tension and fear and excitement, whatever it may be, such prayer reveals that we have accepted the possibility of danger. Don’t pray that the storm won’t hurt you, but work out, in the Prayer Process, your fear of being harmed by the storm, and know that, regardless of conditions, you are in the Center of your own Oneness with God, and, therefore, you are at peace, and you are protected. Get that inner sense of Oneness, and you can stand tranquil in the storm of all circumstances. And, you will be an influence to still the storm…and you will be unharmed by it.

Prayer, you see, is acceptance. Remember, Jesus said to pray, believing that you have received, and you shall receive. [Mark 11:24] In other words, realize that it is already done, that you are now Whole. Accept yourself and your total experience on a higher level. Accept yourself as a winner, as an overcomer, as a master of fate and circumstance. Whatever happens "out there" in your life, "out there" in the world, whatever people say about it, or statistics prove about it, you will decide what you accept for yourself. And, what you accept in consciousness is that which is going to unfold in your life, relentlessly and inexorably.

© 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

[Naptaq]

THE GREAT LAW

One of the most important, and basic, Laws of Life is that which has been called, “The Great Law.” This vital Principle is all too often ignored or overlooked. Proof of it lies in the fact that we wouldn’t do many of the things we do or say or think in the course of an average day, if we actually remembered the Great Law and trusted in Its unfailing operation. It is a Law that many persons know about, but no one is doing enough about. The Great Law has been called “The Law of Karma” by the ancient enlightened ones. Modern scientists would call it, “The Law of Cause and Effect” or “The Law of Action and Reaction,” “The Law of Sequence and Consequence.” Ralph Waldo Emerson called it “The Law of Compensation.” When Jesus talked about it, he explained it as “The Principle of Sowing and Reaping,” of “Giving and Receiving,” “Doing Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You.” All of this relates to what we are simply calling, “The Great Law.”

Now, there are those, I’m sure, who doubt the existence of such a Law, because Its workings are often so slow that they are not readily perceived by human understanding. Some persons believe that since this Law doesn’t seem to work consistently in the world, it must come into operation in the next world. With this belief, many persons have carried on in the face of vicissitudes of life with cheerful courage, comforting themselves with the faith that they would get their reward in some future “heaven.” “You have your experiences now; we’ll have ours by-and-by,” in other words.

Now, it has always been understood that the Law works both ways—the good are rewarded and the wicked are punished. But, a law is a law, and if it exists at all, there must always be an operation. A Law of Perfect Justice and Fair Compensation permeates the activities of man, whether we know it or not, whether we see it or not. Many of our oldest spiritual beliefs have risen from our need to believe that a Law of Justice and Compensation is at work somewhere, sometime, in some human destiny.

The belief in a “recording angel” or a “day of justice” or a “day of judgment” or a “far-off heaven of the skies” and a “hell beneath,” all these are bordering on a great sea of Truth. Actually, Heaven and hell are present. They are here…now. They are simply states of mind. Every day is a “day of judgment,” for every day of our life we reap the harvest that we have previously sown, whether good or bad. And, there certainly is a “recording angel,” in terms of our subconscious mind.

The purpose of the Great Law is never to punish, only to teach. It guarantees that, in the long run, every virtue is rewarded, every wrong is redressed in silence, in certainty, and in Divine Order. It could be said that the Eye of God is all-seeing. There is no escape from the Great Law. But, there is unlimited freedom in which to use It for our own benefit, rather than at our own detriment. It is a very comforting thing to know that the more good you send out from yourself in thought, word, and deed, the more good will come back to you.

The workings of the Law of Compensation are evident throughout all of nature. The beautiful peacock boasts an incomparable display of colorful plumage, and yet has a miserable squeak of a voice. The nightingale has feathers of drab brown and grey, yet possesses the gift of soul-stirring sound. People who are blind may develop an exceptionally acute sense of hearing and touch.

Now, just what would this Law mean to you in your everyday living? It has many practical applications. First of all, knowledge of the Great Law should cause you to make a constant effort to keep from letting anything that is evil, or negative, go out from you in thought, word, or deed.

In the final reckoning, it is true that the thief steals from himself, because, in accordance with Law, he will lose the equivalent of that which he has stolen. He may not lose it by literally being robbed, but in some way, at some time, an equivalent amount of good will gravitate away from him. In the same sense, the liar lies to himself. A person who is cruel is hurting himself, for he is attracting to himself, under inexorable Law, as much pain as he is afflicting. But in like manner, the good one is blessing himself. And the giver is giving to himself, for he is setting into operation, in his own behalf, the Law that guarantees that “as he has given, so shall he receive,” “as he has done, so shall it be done to him.” This is the Great Law, and we never really understand life or the experiences of life until we grasp this Great Truth.

Understanding the Law of Compensation should always enable you to drink of life’s cup with greater tranquility, because it is deeply comforting to know that, regardless of appearances to the contrary, you will eventually be compensated through every virtue, and no good will ever go long unrewarded. When you really understand the workings of this Great Law, you know that you don’t have to hold resentment or anger toward anyone. You no longer need to feel any concern, if what you have been doing for others goes unappreciated. You no longer have to harbor ill will toward those who have treated you unjustly. You can let it all go. You can rest in the comfortable assurance that the Great Law will even every score and balance every account in time, in some way.

Whatever would be your grievance, know that God is taking care of the situation and is working in and through the minds and hearts of all involved. Just go peacefully about your business and let the Law balance your accounts. Don’t take it into your own hands. Let it happen. As the Bible says, figuratively, “Vengeance is mine…saith the Lord.” [Romans 12:19] In other words, the Law will take care of it. Don’t worry about it.

It is a common failing to try to blame someone when things go wrong. We want to find the culprit. We want to find someone to put the blame on. But, as we become increasingly familiar with the workings of Universal Law, we are brought face-to-face with the harsh truth that we can no longer blame conditions or circumstances or people for our troubles, ever, because there is no experience unrelated to your own consciousness. Someone else may have done it, but your consciousness may have caused it to happen to you or brought the person into your particular context. This is a very important thing.

Problems are states of mind being perceived by the senses. They are distorted concepts in consciousness, being out-pictured in accordance with the Creative Law. Our personal world is always out-picturing what our soul has accepted and believed. If there is something in your life that you don’t like, in order to remove it from your experience, you must first uproot it from within your soul or your mental attitude.

Body and soul are as perfectly balanced as an algebraic equation. The word “body,” as I’ve used it, means not only your physical body, but the body of your affairs, which includes your business, your finances, your human relationships, the whole of you. In solving an algebraic equation, you can do anything you want to, as long as you keep the equation in perfect balance. If you have a nine that you want to get rid of on one side, you can subtract it, provided you subtract from the other side. You can add or subtract as you choose, as long as you always treat both sides of the equation in exactly the same way and, thus, maintain its perfect balance. And so it is in the equation of body and soul. If there is something you don’t like in the body side of your life, you can remove it, if you will also subtract or dissolve it from the soul side of the equation. On the other hand, if there is something missing from your life, build it into your soul and mentality, and the Law will maintain a perfect balance, while making it manifest in your world of body and affairs.

Every one of us is, right now, exactly where he or she belongs by right of consciousness. Some people cringe at such a statement and will give tremendous arguments and proofs to show how circumstances or other people are the cause of what goes on in their life. But we say it again: We are exactly where we belong by right of consciousness, because there is no such thing as an experience unrelated to consciousness.

People who consistently try to blame others for their troubles are so-called “incurables.” They will never be able to move out of their misery, until they face the fundamental fact that every person is the maker of his or her own Heaven and hell. I know it’s a bitter pill to swallow, sometimes…a bitter pill, indeed. And yet, once we accept the Great Truth, once we free ourselves of the human weaknesses of trying to blame circumstances and people for our troubles, then—and perhaps for the first time—we are ready to stand up to life with a new-found strength. As soon as we realize that problems indicate states of mind within ourselves that need to be healed, we are ready to accept them philosophically and to cope with them constructively. This is a very important Insight. So, we suggest that you give a great deal of thought to it. This is the Great Law.

When you change your thoughts, change your attitudes, begin to redirect your feelings (the ways in which you react to things), and begin to react in a positive way, a constructive way, then you set into operation positive and constructive forces that bring positive and constructive experiences to you. We are dealing with Law, not caprice. That’s the important thing.

So, think a great deal about this. Meditate upon it, reflect upon it, and get the realization that things happen in your life by Law, that nothing occurs by chance, that there are no experiences unrelated to consciousness.

© Eric Butterworth

[Naptaq]

Resources Unlimited

A student of this New Insight in Truth said to me recently, “I’m eager to find something within me, by which I know that I can never be defeated. I want to feel invincible. I want to feel so strong that nothing can ever bowl me over. I want to develop confidence in myself that can be depended on, an inner soundness that will not be swept away.” Well, I guess all of us are looking for this, aren’t we? We’re all like that person. Is this a reasonable kind of expectation? Can we really expect to find that kind of fulfillment?

Have you ever reached into a pocket of an old coat or unused purse and found some money, bringing you an unexpected feeling of blessing? Or, have you ever delved into your mind storehouse and discovered knowledge or inspiration that you had not consciously learned or a skill that you didn’t realize that you could develop to your advantage? Certainly, it is true that you are, indeed, wealthier than you know, because you utilize only a minute portion of your capacity. You are a veritable fountain of Divine Ideas and skills. You are, absolutely, an undiscovered resource. Isn’t that exciting? You are an undiscovered resource!

Many persons today are breaking before the overwhelming stresses of life, because in one way or another they feel inadequate. Much so-called mental illness is an escape from reality. For such people, burdens seem too heavy, problems seem beyond solution, feelings of guilt are too burdensome, and responsibilities are just too great to bear. The thing is, the people who “go to pieces” are not defeated by the strain of living. They are defeated because they think that they are incapable of handling the experiences of life—and it’s all in their own mind. Because they think they are limited, they limit themselves, they frustrate their potentiality.

Many years ago, an experience illustrated this Principle to me, personally. I’ve probably told this before to some of you and you’ll bear with me while I repeat it, because I think it is quite apropos. I sang tenor in a college vocal group, but I wasn’t able to manage to sing a B flat comfortably. Though an A was no problem to me, whenever I approached a B flat, I would anticipate not being able to hit it…and I usually didn’t. So, one night a pianist, who was aware of my problem, secretly transposed the key of one of my numbers, so that when I attempted that comfortable A, I would actually be on the level of B flat. Not realizing the gimmick, I sang the B flat with ease. Of course, the joke was on me. My previous inability to hit the higher note, this proved, had been caused by my fear of inadequacy and had nothing whatever to do with my vocal range. Thereafter, I was always able to very easily hit a B flat and, eventually, went on to B and even, occasionally, to a high C.

Fundamentally, this is a problem of faith. You can manage your problems, if you feel that you are adequate to the job. Issues in your life can be dealt with, if you accept with confidence the resources within you. Now, I’m not saying that you should take a “Pollyanna” approach. Your task is to look at the facts of each situation with clear-eyed honesty, and then to match yourself against them in the calm assurance that the Resource of Spirit within will be great enough to deal with anything that you can confront. Josiah Royce of Harvard University, used to say, and I quote: “Faith is the soul’s insight of discovery of some reality that will enable man to stand anything that may ever happen to him.”

The Australian singer, Marjorie Lawrence, acknowledged this. She was struck down by polio, which threatened to end her successful operatic career. She fought back and regained her health and facility of limb. And she later wrote, “Truly, the Lord is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation.”

Many persons tend to think of God as a sort of Spiritual Being who attends to the Spiritual needs of people only. They recoil at the idea that God is the Intelligence that under-girds all commerce, all finance, and the resources of the world, and that He actually is within every person, expressing Himself in and through and as that person. This is what we call the Presence of God, as distinguished from the absence of God. As long as we think of God “out there,” God who gives and withholds, God who has to be supplicated with and reached for, we are talking about the absence of God. But, the Presence of God is the Allness of Spirit that is present in Its entirety, right at the point where we are—as that which we are.

Jesus turned to God and proved to mankind that God is the Limitless Resource of the people. In this way, he fulfilled and applied Divine Law by increasing the “loaves and fishes,” by providing tax money, by multiplying the fish in Peter’s net, by healing, and by supplying needs as they showed up. Jesus directed his followers to turn to the Activity of God within, the Presence of God, who knows their needs and who would supply and fulfill…if the individual would simply seek the Kingdom Possibility within his or her own nature.

Have you ever let your consciousness stray from this God Power? God is your Supply and Support. As the Bible says, “If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up…And the Almighty will be thy treasure, And precious silver unto thee.” [Job 22:23 & 25] Acknowledge God as your Supply and Support, in other words, and you will never be frightened or worried by life. A tremendous Insight!

The world is inclined to reckon a person’s resources in terms of education and accomplishments and possessions. These are not to be belittled; they are very important. But unless their possessor realizes that the Source is within, in the depth of the Infinite Process, he or she can never be quite sure of holding onto them. You may think of yourself as independent and secure, but nothing in the world is forever ample and stable. Values, situations, demands, occupational needs change constantly. Life is a changing, challenging experience. Many who thought themselves financially secure for life have found their means dwindling and their abilities insufficient to meet the changing demands of the world around them, with the erosion of inflation, etc.

Is there no lasting security? Is there no way to be sure of supply when a person is along in years? These are questions that a lot of people are asking, and it’s important that we ask them. And I say: Of course there is a way!. I’m talking about the way that Jesus demonstrated, that he revealed and proved: the way of knowing God as your way of Life, your Love, your Substance, your Intelligence. It is knowing that God is the Presence of the Infinite Process that is present in Its entirety at the point where you are. All Substance, all Intelligence, all Life, all Love, all Wholeness is present in Its entirety at the point where you are. This is the way of trusting God as the Infinite Father—in all, over all, and through all—filling us with the Inexhaustible Good of His Invisible Resources. You can never know lack, because the Presence is present…never absent.

Do you think of your income as that which will cease when you are of retirement age, and do you worry about this? Do you think of your strength as something that will decrease with the years? Are you concerned about the passing of the years and age that seems to creep up on you? Do you think of abilities as things that will lessen or have no outlet in the years to come, that you may find times when you don’t have the ability or the experience to do the things that you need to do in order to get a job or to hold onto one? Claim, instead, for yourself that all your resources come from this God Source within you, which is Limitless, which is present, never absent, present in Its entirety at the point where you are—that God is your Instant, Constant, and Abundant Resource. You might put that in a form of affirmation: “God is my Instant, Constant, and Abundant Resource.” And, know for yourself that God is one employer who never limits your worth or your ability to numbers of years. God will always have something for you to do, whereby you can enter into greater works, greater Abundance and greater Good. Place no limit on yourself, on your resources, on your years, or your earning capacity. Let your faith be stepped up. Let your resources be strengthened and increased by the Power of the Indwelling God Activity that is present in Its entirety at every point in space…present as you.

Remember, you are wealthier than you know, through your own undiscovered Kingdom within. Your limits are from what you only think to be inadequacies. Faith will enable you to develop a reserve to meet all confrontations in life. God is your Supply and your Support. God is your Unfailing Resource, invisible, but illimitable. And this is the Truth about you.

© Eric Butterworth

[Naptaq]

You Make the Difference!


One day, I was quietly rummaging through the attic of my mind, thinking through some of the experiences of the past and reflecting nostalgically about things that have happened. Suddenly, I found myself humming the popular tune of “September Song.” Then, because the positive seemed to be pushing its way into my consciousness, some new lyrics came into my mind. They went like this:

“No matter where you go, whatever you do,
Your world will always be a reflection of you.
If you know the Truth and good only see,
Then you will have health and prosperity.
Oh, the peace of the world, goodwill to men…
security and equality,
These timeless dreams of man can all come true.
You make the difference. The difference is you.”

This concept, “You Make the Difference,” is one that has lingered long in my consciousness. It is a very important realization. Whenever I am disturbed about world problems, or about people and situations near me, I know that I am dealing with a world of my own mind. We are told that “confusion” is a word for our times, and there is certainly a lot of confusion reflected in the headlines today—and we see so much of it coming through the television tube. But I feel that we are not so much the victims of confusion as we are its cause. The world is in its present state, because you and I and everyone else are unable to see clearly. God created the earth in the beginning, but man has created the world that we see around us and the turmoil and the trouble, the frantic effort and frustration, the greed and selfish striving, the ebb and flow of traffic. But this world is not Life, nor Spirit, nor Ultimate Reality. Things in the world are changing, impermanent, destructible…all except for Life within you and me.

In his book, Human Destiny, which was a bestseller after the 2nd World War, Lecompte de Nuoy, the French biologist, writes: “Peace must be established by transforming man from the interior, not by creating external structures. The source of all evil lies in us. The source of all war lies in us. No outside protection will be effective if the enemy cowering at the bottom of our hearts is authorized to live on.”

The question is frequently asked, “If God created man, why didn’t He create him good?” Well certainly, if God could have done so—so that men could work together harmoniously and at the same time possess the power to magnify the Lord—it is reasonably sure that He would have done so. But a creation of this kind would be automatic and its creatures would be automatons. In order to have the option to fulfill himself, man must also have the potential to destroy himself. You can’t have one without the other.

Jesus quoted the Psalmist, when he said, “I say, you are gods, sons of the Most High….” [Psalm 82:6, RSV – John 10:34 & Luke 6:35] Each of us has within himself the plan and the purpose and the Power of God—and the directing force that goes with it. We are agents of peace and love, all of us, but we must release and express this through our conscious will. This is why we say, “You Make the Difference.” As far as your world is concerned, the difference is you.

Now, you may feel a little bit uncomfortable at being told that you are the cause of world confusion. I don’t like thinking this either. I resist it. It is difficult for me to accept. But you see, we are stating, in principle, that the world is made up of you and me and people everywhere, all joined in a collective consciousness, all forming the direction of the world by the direction of our thoughts, and the only way we can change it is to change those thoughts. It has to start somewhere. It might as well start with you and with me.

A few years ago, when I lived in the city of Detroit, a fine young man, who was a friend of mine, was named by the Junior Chamber of Commerce as the Outstanding Man of the Year. With his typical spirit of humility, this young man remarked to all who commended him that he couldn’t really understand why he had been picked. And, as I congratulated him, I pointed out that it was difficult, and unfair in a certain sense, to single out one person when so many others had done such a fine job. But the selection was made, as are all such things, with the idea of creating a symbol of honor for service to deserving causes, and my friend had simply been picked to be that “symbol.” Even more than an honor, you see, it was a grave responsibility.

In the same sense, you and I are symbols of God’s mighty Power dwelling in humans. Peace can be established. Harmony and human relationships can be achieved. Stability in the economy can be manifest. Honesty in government in the performance of duty can be reached. But remember: You are the one who makes the difference. God always starts with one person, and as far as you are concerned, that one person is you. So, God works through you out into the world into the experience with others.

One person filled with God has launched every great spiritual revival, has inspired every movement for good that has ever taken place in the world. Certainly, the minister, alone, cannot strengthen the church. The company president, by himself, cannot make the company prosper. One government official, alone, cannot run the government, not even the President. All these things take people in the community, in the organization, in the country. At our Unity Meeting every Sunday, we sing the lovely song, "Let There Be Peace on Earth, and Let It Begin with Me.” Who else? You Make the Difference! I make the difference.

There is a remarkable poem that appeared during the Second World War. It was entitled “Morning.” It’s a poem that I love, myself, and I would like to share it with you today. “Morning”:

“Ye that have faith to look with fearless eyes,
Beyond the tragedy of a world at strife,
Rejoice! whatever anguish rend your heart.
God has given you a priceless dower
To live and have your part in freedom’s drowning hour,
That you may tell your sons that see the light
High in the heavens, their heritage to take:
I saw the powers of darkness put to flight.
I saw the morning break.”

You see, we do have a part, each and everyone of us, a very important part in dissolving disagreements and misunderstandings. And by keeping up our courage to meet whatever we must, we can help others in a cheerful way, radiating a consciousness of love. We can remain calm when others need poise. We can show a loving, soothing attitude when others are mentally, bodily, and spiritually torn with the emotions of unrest and resentment—maybe the desire to get even—when the world has seemingly dealt them a staggering blow. Let there be hope. Let there be love. Let there be love and courage and faith at all times in the world and let it begin, consciously and in a dedicated sense, with me…with you.

It has been said, “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” Every individual in the world is a “light bearer” or a “gloom caster,” according to his or her thoughts. Which shall it be? Are you a light bearer or a gloom caster? As you walk into your relationships and into your work this day, ask yourself the question: “Am I bringing light or am I spreading gloom? Am I a part of the solution to the world’s problems, or am I a part of the problems?” Walking under a cloud of darkness will cause things to go wrong for us…always. You may feel that you are a victim of circumstance, but it is really your “cloud” that is the cause.

There is an old saying, “It takes two to make a quarrel,” and yet, any one person can dissolve inharmony through loving nonresistance. You take the first step, whether it is in your home, in the circle of your friends, or in the world at large. You may not have started the feud, but you can release the process that begins to stop it. Someone has to take the first step. Why not let it be you? Remember the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” And I always add, And do it first…do it first!” Change can come about. Conditions can be altered. The world can bring a new experience of peace and love and harmony, but it needs someone to start it. “You Make the Difference!”

Eric Butterworth

[Naptaq]

The Prospering Principle

Fundamental to this New Insight In Truth is the idea that health and wellbeing, which certainly includes what we call prosperity, are not the manifestation of luck or the capricious will of God, but are manifest in accordance with immutable Spiritual Principles. Just as you may become a mathematician through the study and application of certain laws and principles, so you may become an “artist in the fine art of living prosperously,” when you know that there are unerring Laws governing Affluence and the Flow of Substance, and when you seek obedience to those Laws. Charles Fillmore [co-founder of Unity] once wrote: “Apparently, we live in two worlds, an invisible world of thoughts and a visible world of things. The invisible world of thought substance is the real world, because it is the source of the world of things, and man stands between the two, handing out, with his thoughts, the unlimited substance of spirit. When man gets understanding of the right relation between the visible and the invisible into his mind, and active in his thought, all his needs will be met.” This is what Jesus had in mind when he said, “…seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” [Matt. 6:33, ASV]

Mr. Fillmore goes on: “But the invisible thought substance provided for man is very sensitive to our thought about it. That is about the original, the things that originally came from it, and that man claims as his possessions. If one hoards the things he seems to possess, he clogs the spiritual channel from which they originally flowed, and so, receives sparingly from that source. So, watch your thoughts when you’re handling money, because your money is attached through your mind to the One Source of all Substance and all money. When you think of your money, which is visible as something directly attached to an invisible source, that is giving or withholding, according to your thought, you have the key to all riches and the reason for all lack.” These thoughts out of the wisdom of Charles Fillmore.

So, one thing we really must know, and know full well: prosperity begins and ends in thought, in consciousness. During our discussion today, we are going to talk about four ways of expanding your prosperity consciousness. You can expand your prosperity consciousness and here are four ways:

First of all, “The Law of Abundance.” It has been said, “There is a legitimate royal abundance for every soul.” The Bible teaches that it is not for lack of abundance that we experience want, but for lack of the knowledge that there is an abundance for everyone. We are never in want because we are apart from God, but because we do not feel one with God. The problem is we lack the awareness of that Wholeness, which is the Reality of our Being. The only lack in the Universe is in the mind of man. This world has the same resources today as it had a million years ago, the same in times of plenty as times of depression and lack. And, there is the same amount of Substance in the person’s life who has millions in the bank and a person who thinks he is destitute, because we live in Substance. It’s like the air we breathe. It’s like the fish in the water. We live in It. We are surrounded by It. We are an individualized expression of It. We live in an Infinite Sea of Divine Substance. It is inescapable. “For in Him, we live, and move, and have our being.” [Acts 17:28] So our need, as we are told, is to “Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.” [Job 22:21] The need is to identify ourselves with the Truth of Omnipresent Prosperity and Substance.

Again, quoting Charles Fillmore, he says, “In seeking prosperity, you may think that you have two forces to deal with, good and bad, plenty and poverty. You may think that you have to fight off poverty in order to have plenty. You need to think that you have to do away with the bad in order to have the good. But this is not true. If you were cold, you would not have to work with both heat and cold in order to get warm. You need only to light a fire, and the cold, immediately, disappears. Likewise, if the cold wind of adversity blows upon you, you may warm your soul with the realization of God’s never failing bounty and Infinite Goodwill. When you understand that prosperity and poverty are not two things, but simply your attitude toward one thing, then you will find it easier to be prospered.” These, again, are the thoughts of Charles Fillmore.

The second way of expanding your prosperity consciousness is what I call, “The Law of the Expanding Universe.” Jesus said, “…it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” [Luke 12:32] Givingness is the normal, natural expression of God. According to most modern astronomers, it is the nature of the universe to expand. It is also the nature of God to cause all that is of God to expand and grow. Our part is to expand our consciousness of the expanding Universe, to believe that it is God’s Will and the Nature of the Universe that we be prospered. And as we believe it, as we hold this attitude in consciousness, we tune in to that expansive process, which becomes a part of our own life.

Abundance works the same way as the law of growth works for the plant life. The seed has within it the inherent vitality that can cause it to grow into fulfillment. It is the idea of plenty in a particular form. When you have a need, the fact that you are aware of it is proof-positive there is something that can fill it. And, you are usually certain of what should fill it. The “definite idea” is the seed that has within it the inherent potential of growth to fulfill the need in your experience. But, as we know, a seed has to be planted in the ground…the fertile soil of the mind. We do not put the self-expansive quality into the seed, but we must sow it.

The most vital way to irrigate the seed of a need is through praise and gratitude. As Fillmore says, “There is an inherent law of mind that we increase all that which we praise.” So, praise the situation. Praise your life. Praise your hands. Praise your work. Praise your bank account. And as you praise it, you tune in to a larger awareness of the Allness of Spirit. Praise actually raises the consciousness of those who are involved in it, and this opens the way to a greater flow of Infinite Substance.

The third idea that we want to talk about is “The Law of Vision.” We limit ourselves, not by excessive demands upon God’s Abundance, but, purely and simply, because of our shortness of vision. As I say so often, “The great problem is not the need to set things right, but, rather, to see them rightly.” God said to Abraham, “Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it.” [Genesis 13:15] Everything that you can see, everything you can conceive, everything that you can take into your consciousness, into your image process of mind, can become yours.

We can never attain any more than we can envision. This is the other side of the coin. Your imagination is forever focusing an image on the screen of your mind. You can picture yourself as a prince, or as a pauper. Refuse to see your empty pocketbook as a static condition. The very difference between the optimist and the pessimist is that one sees an empty cup, and the other sees a cup ready to be filled.

A great technique is to empty your wallet or pocketbook on to a table and get the picture that God can fill your need, but not your lack. The need is something to be filled. It is a factual situation, where there is a need for more Substance, for more money. But the lack is a mental obstruction. The “need consciousness” looks at the empty wallet and says, “I know that there is Abundance to fill my need and I’m ready to accept it.” The “lack consciousness” says, “Oh my! Oh my! I’m destitute! I have no money!” In other words, it is into an attitude of mental obstruction.

Don’t go to the Source with a cup full of stale water. Empty your cup and accept the steady Flow of Abundance. Charles Fillmore says, “It is your mission to express all that you can imagine God to be. Let this be your standard of achievement. If you can imagine that it is possible to God, then it is possible, also, to you. Let no one belittle himself or dwarf the Supreme by trying to annul Him.” Again, the thoughts of Charles Fillmore.

Finally, there is “The Law of Expectancy.” A free translation of the word “prosperity,” from the Latin, is “to go forward hopefully.” So the word, itself, indicates a confident expectancy of good. And again, it is well to remember that what you pray for, what you affirm, what you work toward, what you desire, what you hope for may be entirely different from that which you may be expecting. One woman had been ill for an extended time, and she asked for our prayer help. She worked with us and her condition gradually improved. But when asked how she felt, she said, “Honestly, I don’t know. I really don’t know how I’m expected to feel.” That’s interesting. She had gotten so accustomed to illness that she couldn’t even imagine herself as well. She was totally unprepared to receive her good. This is consciousness.

Most of us get into this position at one time or another, when the cup of our being, which should be right side up and ready to receive our good, is often turned upside-down. This is static hopelessness, because it is not in a position to receive, or it is so crammed with negative aspects of the problem that there is just no room to hold the good. The most important requisite for attaining any good thing is expectancy. As Jesus said, “All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” [Mark 11:24, ASV] Too many of us have read only the part about asking and receiving and have left out the important thing: the believing. Since we are on the receiving end, we must be in a position, a state of preparedness, ready to receive. This is all that is required. Expectation implies action. As the Quakers say, “When you pray, move your feet.” Act as if. And then get into motion and claim your inheritance.

So, again, four ways of expanding your prosperity consciousness—something to meditate on, to reflect on, to get into a great expanded awareness within you. “The Law of Abundance,” “The Law of the Expanding Universe,” “The Law of Vision” and “The Law of Expectancy.” As in all things, “…ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” [John 8:32]

© Eric Butterworth