Living in Prosperity

Sometimes when I need inspiration I open one of my favorite books and let a chapter speak to me, knowing that the right words will appear. Recently I opened Florence Scovel Shinn’s The Game of Life and How to Play It, and was again awed by her vast understanding of the unbounded creative power that we all have. What an amazing teacher she was!

My husband and I have had more than the usual amount of money going out lately, and I’ve been feeling limited in our finances, so I wasn’t surprised when the chapter on The Law of Prosperity caught my eye. I appreciate Shinn’s perspective on creating abundance in finances, and in all things.

Reading that short chapter reminded me that I choose what truth I will serve. Holding on to worry about the possibility of not having enough money for everything we want to do is not me expressing the highest I’m capable of. I know this (on some days, at least!), but thank Goodness that life provides me with as many opportunities as I need to keep remembering the truth.

Shinn puts it well when she says that, “getting into the spiritual swing of things is no easy matter for the average person. The adverse thoughts of doubt and fear surge from the subconscious. They are the ‘army of aliens’ that must be put to flight. This explains why it is so often ‘darkest before the dawn.’

A big demonstration is usually preceded by tormenting thoughts.

Having made a statement of high spiritual truth one challenges the old beliefs of the subconscious, and the error is exposed to be put out.

This is the time when one must make his affirmations of truth repeatedly, and rejoice and give thanks that he has already received. ‘Before ye call I shall answer.’ This means that every good and perfect gift is already man’s, awaiting his recognition.”

The simple truth is that God is my supply, and there is a supply for every demand.

Financial prosperity is a vibration, a reality that I consciously choose to call to myself. What is mine to do is acknowledge what I need, and then give thanks for it, knowing that it is mine and will come to me at the perfect time, and in the perfect way.

I can do that! Thank you, Florence Scovel Shinn!

May this tool be a blessing. . .

Allowing the Noise

A friend of mine from Unity told me recently that he is never able to quiet his mind. One of the problems that this is creating for him is that he feels completely unable to meditate.  I felt a lot of empathy for him because it seemed that he felt like he should be able to quiet his mind, and wanted to, but for reasons unknown to him just didn’t have the ability to.

His feeling that he lacks something that is intrinsic to all of us as part of our spiritual nature moved me to jump in and suggest another possibility.  And his comments prompted me to think more about the idea of the importance of quieting the mind.

I agree that it can be difficult to hear the quiet voice of spirit within when our minds are busy with life’s many details.  And I do believe that we are better able to live from our highest and most conscious intentions when we take the time to slow down and detach from the world on a regular basis so that we can access our own deep truth.

But the reality is that minds like to be busy.  Our busy minds are the things that create our individual experience and expression, and that provide our humanness.  And through our humanness we uniquely express God within.  Our minds are a powerful and sacred tool in God’s expression.

I know there are those very special people who have practiced long enough that they can spend long amounts of time with a completely empty mind.  But what about the rest of us seekers who are doing our best to find the divinity in all of our experience, including the noisy mind that defies taming?

I have found in my own meditation practice that it’s not the level of emptiness of mind that matters but just that I’m paying attention to what’s moving through.  At times my mind has been so busy that successful meditation was setting a timer so that I could make myself just sit quietly for a prescribed amount of time.  That doesn’t happen much anymore, though, because I’ve learned a little better to not fight what’s happening when I meditate.

Just stopping to notice the mind’s activity is a meditation.  When we can notice and acknowledge a thought it loses its hold and we can let it go.  In unconsciousness our thoughts spin unchecked and we feel unable to quiet the mind’s din.  And what we resist we give energy to, so fighting the mind’s noise just makes it noisier. 

But when we allow our meditation to be an opportunity to just sit with ourselves and be with ourselves, in awareness of what is real for us in that moment, the mind will often quiet on its own, without any effort needed.  (Or not, depending on the day, but even that is a meditation as we learn to watch the noise and see it for what it is, thoughts passing by that we can choose to attend to or not.)  We gain mastery by watching the mind’s pandemonium, and seeing our thoughts for the fleeting things that they are.

So take regular time to be the watcher of your own divine mind, and honor its role in helping you define what you will hold as true, and what you will allow to move past you.

May this tool be a blessing. . .