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"The
out-push of Mind through human activities is the Self-realization of
Spirit and when so understood this out-push becomes invincible.
Ideas come from the great Mind through the human mind. The two
are really one. But ideas can only come to the mentality
that expects them and that opens its doors of thought to them so
they can enter and pass through into expression."
- Ernest
Holmes, Living Without Fear
"Whatever
you have, no matter how seemingly inadequate, bless it. Even if
you have no money and no food, bless your hands, your mind, your skills,
your friends, the air you breathe, the sun that brings light.
Bless everything, and your life will be blessed with riches undreamed
of. ... When Jesus blessed the five loaves and two fishes, He subjected
this evidence of substance to a ray as penetrating as any known to man.
The symbols of bread and fish were still intact, but they were
spiritually expanded far beyond the size indicated by their intrinsic
worth."
- Eric Butterworth,
Discover the Power Within You
Our faith has an attracting power that cannot
be described in words, and that is good because words could only serve
to limit that which is unlimited in its capacity. I recently read
that we are to give of that which we desire to receive, and I am
convinced that this is true to a certain point. In other words, if
we desire to receive money, then we should give money. If kindness
is what we want to receive more of, then we should be kind at every
opportunity to do so. I believe this is what "true
tithing" is all about, it is directing our mind through a conscious
action of recognizing what we are "causing".
We must be conscious of what we are doing and
recognize that when we give money, we can expect to receive money.
Yet, we must also be conscious that we are not expecting our kindness or
our money to be received from those to whom we give them. Our
giving, whether it be money or kindness, should be given freely and void
of obligation, on our part or on the part of others. "Freely
give and freely receive," is the instruction from the Master Mind
Jesus, and it is a principle that we can depend on when we realize that
the Spirit will give through us and to us when our mind is free of
obligation or indebtedness.
Eric
Butterworth in his book, "Discover the Power Within You" ...
takes this principle of giving and receiving to another level as the act
of blessing. Blessing that which seems woefully inadequate
requires faith, yet faith has a level of "chemistry" to it
that will not only attract a greater good to us, it will also lift our
mind above the seeming appearance of inadequacy. No matter what
conditions we may find ourselves in, using the power of our mind we can
transcend them. No one is without this power, but often we will
let the conditions or circumstances that we confront convince us that we
are powerless to do anything about them. This happens for many
reasons. Often it is because we have lived with the condition or
circumstance so long that we see it as our reality and those around us
have supported us in believing this as so. And for many of us,
there is an emotional attachment to our problems; shame, blame,
self-pity, belief in suffering, belief in struggle, etc. ... yet,
none of these things are permanent or insurmountable.
When we feel overwhelmed, it is because we have
overwhelmed ourselves by not rejecting the thoughts and ideas that
appear to limit us. We don't do this intentionally and sometimes
not even consciously, but we do. And, I believe our self-esteem
has something to do with this as well. In a world where
comparisons are made constantly and the use of words to negate our
self-worth are daily being bantered about in daily conversations, the
collective consciousness can have a powerful effect on our self-esteem.
This makes it imperative that we consider Butterworth's instruction to
"bless everything" that comes to our awareness, no matter how
insignificant it may seemingly be.
By fostering and nurturing our inherent faith
in the universal Good and daily "blessing" those things that
are ours now, we can begin to "convince" ourselves that it is
possible to live the life that we desire to experience. Every good
desire of our heart is ours to experience, to have, or to be, but we
must be "convinced, first" that this is so. It is not
necessary or advisable to "convince" anyone else, including
G-d. We have the ability and the capability to choose what it is
that we are to be convinced of and as long as it does not diminish the
liberty or choice of anyone else, it is ours to work out for ourselves,
in our mind, first. We must do the mental work that is required to
"convince ourselves, first."
Some people continue to
believe that we are subject to "God's Will" ... but, as we
look at the Nature of G-d intelligently, we realize that if G-d would
have a will for us, it would be that we choose to enjoy the infinite
Good that G-d has made available to us. The radical Jesus taught
that the "Kingdom of Heaven is within you, not lo here or lo
there" ... in other words, it is normal and natural to accept and
receive the Good that is ours and create our own heaven right here on
Earth ... and we glorify G-d when we do.
AND
SO IT IS!
Keep
the faith!
Rev.
Dr. Henry Lee Bates
Visit Rev. Bates BLOGS: Living
the Science of Mind
Rev
Bates en Espanol
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