No one likes to worry about money. No one likes to lose their job. No one wants to face the possibility of being broke. But these things happen. And, when they do, they’re not random incidents.
The Law of Cause and Effect is the building block of the universe. Every effect has a cause, just as every cause has an effect. And the original, primary level of cause is thought. In other words, thought is the initial cause of everything that happens, and thought is the initial cause of any effort to change it. We read in the book of Genesis that the world began when “God spoke.” His thoughts created the universe, and continually recreate it.
Thoughts of love are cause with a capital C; thoughts of fear are cause with a little c. C thoughts have dominion over c thoughts, because love is real and fear is not; love comes from God, fear does not. Any appearance produced by fear-based thinking is happening only within the worldly illusion, and illusions cannot stand in the presence of love.
We experience who we really are, and what it is we’re meant to do, in any moment when we pour our love into the universe.
Your natural state is external prosperity, because your internal state is spiritually prosperous. By external prosperity I don’t necessarily mean great wealth as the world defines it, but a level of material sustenance that does not include lack or fear.
Beyond the veil of illusion that is our perceptual framework lies a universe of miracles. That universe is not a dream world. It is our spiritual home to which we are destined to return—not at some later date, after we die or after many lifetimes of effort, but every instant of our lives. Our heart is the compass that leads us there. The universe of miracles is where our soul truly lives, even in our mortal forgetfulness. It is not a metaphor, but an actual dimension of consciousness. It is the holy grail of the spiritual quest.
A shift in thinking from fear to love is the miracle. A miracle is not a supernatural event. It is metaphysical. (“Meta” means beyond: thus metaphysical reality refers to a reality that is beyond the physical.) There is nothing supernatural about love or its effects; in fact, love is our true natural state of being. The thinking of the world is simply upside down, with the naturalness of love feeling almost unnatural at times and the unnaturalness of fear feeling natural. The most powerful, liberating thing we can do is to break from the fear-based thinking that dominates the world—to surrender the mind-set the world has taught us and accept a new one instead.
THERE ARE TIMES when what we thought was our very best thinking drove us straight into a ditch. Sometimes, though we played what we thought were our best cards, we still went bust. We did what we thought we should do, and we still lost everything. We tried our best, and we still ended up with disaster looming.
That’s when we’re ready to do the one thing we’ve been terrified to do: admit to ourselves that we’re out of ideas, that we need help we’re incapable of providing for ourselves. Then we find—somewhere around the time when our knees hit the floor—that this isn’t when it’s all over; this is when it all begins. What begins? Our awareness of who we really are, Who walks with us, and why we’re here.
We experience who we really are, and what it is we’re meant to do, in any moment when we pour our love into the universe. That’s the moment when we finally “arrive,” cultivating an attitude in which we see ourselves as here to serve a greater plan than our own, as vessels through which the love that is the heart of all things flows through us to bless the world. This isn’t something to announce to everyone we meet, obviously, but it’s something that any of us can think about and act on.
Opening ourselves fully to love is much different than the “success mentality” taught by the world. No taking the bull by the horns, no trying to push other people out of the way so you can be number one, no desperate struggling to get to the top of the heap. As children of God, each of us already is at the top of the heap. The only real top of the heap is love, and love is what we are.
In recognizing that you’re here only to love, you realize that as long as you do that, you’re already a success. And love doesn’t have to be something grand. As Mother Teresa said, “There are no great deeds; there are just small deeds done with great love.” It might be a kinder greeting to the checkout person at the grocery store, or an apology to someone whose feelings you’ve hurt, or a simple expression of kindness, compassion, or forgiveness.
The point isn’t just what you give when you love, but also what you open yourself to receive. As you send love out, the universe will send love back. It’s simply the Law of Cause and Effect.
WHEN WE THINK of ourselves as channels for the infinite creative energy of the universe, we think higher thoughts than “How will I get a job?” We’re lifted to a realm of consciousness where questions like “How can I best serve the world?” take precedence over “What can I get out of this?” Within that realm, we naturally do get a job, we naturally do create money, and we naturally do produce an outer prosperity that reflects the prosperity in our hearts. This doesn’t mean we don’t have to do the footwork. But our feet become guided by a wisdom we might not have even known we had.
We do this not just to make money or even to get employment; we do this in order to live in the flow of a meaningful, joyful life. In a very real way, money is the least of it. We’re here to do work that exists on a higher plane than mere money. That doesn’t mean money isn’t to be respected, or dealt with appropriately, responsibly, and with moderation. It is, and we will suffer accordingly when we fail to remember that. But money itself is neither good nor bad. It is a material thing that, like all material things, is infused with holiness if created righteously and used for holy purposes.
The way to abundance is to surrender our abilities and talents, asking that they be used by God to help heal the world. Too many people feel that they have talent but simply don’t know where to put it. We’re not raised in a society that asks, “What are your gifts, and how can they make the world a more beautiful place?” We’re usually asked something more like this: “What will you do to make a living?” This knocks us out of our natural rhythm, because the soul simply doesn’t think that way. There is no more natural proclivity than to serve love. Something very powerful happens when we pray, “Dear God, please use me.” Making ourselves available to the universe for its loving purposes, we are taken up on our offer immediately.
When anything—money included—is separated from our natural proclivities, the miraculous universe is thrown off course. As long as we make love our bottom line, then our lives will naturally prosper. Sometimes, what will later make us a fortune arrives first as a creative impulse that no one would necessarily think profitable at the time. Do something not because you think it might make money; do it because it makes your heart sing. The biblical injunction “Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and all else will be added unto you” means “Embrace the realization of your oneness with all things, and everything that could contribute to your good will emerge from the power of that thought.”
One day, you might find yourself called to a task that makes no money at all. But if it contributes to your stature as a human being, to your character and integrity; if it teaches you about yourself and the world; if it provides you an opportunity to show up fully for life—then it was a prosperous activity. Another day, you might find yourself in a job you don’t really love, and yet if you’re honest with yourself you realize it’s teaching you discipline, or humility, or responsibility—necessary lessons in order to attract and manage money correctly.
Money comes from the universe and will arrive when it’s created, not just by a material cause but by the energy of righteousness. Righteousness means “right use” of the mind, and the only right use of the mind is love.
The universe knows what our needs are and is programmed to provide for them. When you start asking, “Have I provided for love’s needs?” more frequently than you ask, “Has love provided for my needs?” then the miracles that occur naturally in the presence of love will fall at your feet and into your hands.
To the ego mind, surrender means giving up. To the spiritual mind, surrender means giving in and receiving. Once we’re there, inside the holy place where all is inner riches, the outer gold of worldly prosperity appears in a miraculous way. It comes inviting us to use our wealth responsibly and to share it generously, as the universe so shared it with us.
Dear God,
I surrender to You who I am, what I have and what I do.
May my life and talents be used in whatever way serves You best.
I surrender to You my failures and any pain still in my heart.
I surrender to You my successes, and the hopes that they contain.
May the Light of Your Love shine deep within my heart,
and extend through me to bless the world.
Amen.