Eric Butterworth Speaks: Essays on Abundant Living #84
Delivered by Eric Butterworth on September 21, 1975
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“In a time when the world is facing the grim specter of lack, there is a great need to understand the omnipresence of divine substance. There is little question that people can fail and even go hungry in the experience of life. But the great Truth of the ‘Reality of Affluence’ is that there is a legitimate abundance for every person which he can and must claim for himself. And that lack of any kind in the human expe-ience is the result of some kind of obstruction of the free flow of the creative process.” (From my new book, In the Flow of Life, p. 26.)
Let’s be clear about our terms—we are thinking in this lesson about prosperity...not necessarily as having a lot of money...but as having a consciousness of the flow of substance, which attracts opportunities to give and receive, which directs the wise use of substance, and which still remains free from its burden.
Is prosperity possible, even in a difficult economy? Absolutely! For prosperity for you deals purely with your consciousness. Fillmore says, “Prosperity is based on the conscious possession of the idea of God’s abundance in the back of all things.” There is no lack in God or in the Universe. The substance of God is limitless. You are not created outside of the Universe. You are an integral part of it...a dynamic center within it. The free flow of substance within you is the continuation of tie divine effort that made you. If there is lack in your life, it is not because you are out of the flow of substance, but because you have lost the consciousness of the flow.
You may say, “But the economy of the country...and my employer is erratic. I didn’t cause it, and yet it certainly affects my life.” That is the wisdom of the world that is foolishness with God. We have been conditioned to believe that our lives are shaped by what happens to us. But it is not what happens “out there”, but what we do or think about these things. Thought is the key. However, thought is not produced by circumstances. The incident is external... the reaction is our own.
So, the starting point in working for prosperity is to accept the responsibility for your own thoughts. Become an original thiner. Reject all “they say” and “hearsay” reports. Stop listening to all the scare talk, the wide-spread negative thought about the economy. Don’t let these persons or conditions decide how you are going to think and feel. Resolve to center your thought on only those things of “God’s abundance in back of all things.”
In Truth we walk much about “Positive Thinking.” But we need to get a realistic understanding of it. It is not just saying a lot of pleasant words about things you are really worried about. It is not uttering platitudes, mouthing affirmations, or saying, “Oh, everything will be all right.” Everything will not be all right unless you can get into the consciousness of “all-right-ness.” Positive thinking is “creative thinking”, getting your thoughts synchronized with the creative flow.
A problem for many persons is the influence of money on thought. Money is not the “root of all evil.” Actually, this is a misquotation, for the Bible says, “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” Money is an important symbol of faith that promotes mutuality. But problems arise when we confuse the symbolic with the real. There is nothing bad about money, but we imbue money with bad vibrations when we work for the symbols rather than the flow of substance.
The idea of “demonstrating prosperity” is often equated with praying for more money. But if problems are caused by consciousness... the money-problems are only postponed but never solved by having more money. Unfortunately, the term “demonstrate” emphasizes a kind of magic showing or “working” the divine law. It is best not to pray for money, but to get the awareness of “God’s abundance in back of all things.”
There are three important steps in the orderly process of affluence flowing freely through man: (1) Being, (2) Doing, and (3) Having. There is a tendency to reverse them. We reason that if we can just get enough money, then we will be able to do something good, and then we will be somebody. The principle is: What you are in consciousness, gives rise to what you can do creatively, which leads to what you will have in experience.
Here is a helpful test in self-understanding: If you are not as prosperous or secure as you would like to be...why not? Make a list. Don’t be too analytical. Just outline the things that seem to be keeping you from your good. Actually, these are alibis. You might spend a few days in this examination.
Then, make a new list. Point by point, restate the reasons in terms of what you think “ought to be” the case. There is always a sense of “oughtress” behind every alibi. How do you think people ought to act toward you? What qualities do you feel you ought to express? Work with these for a month. Always try to satisfy yourself as to the exact state that ought to prevail in mind, emotion, body, and affairs. This is your “ought-to-be-ography.”
Finally, if you feel these things ought to be true, you intuitively believe that it is the reality. So, go back and rewrite the ought-to-be’s in the form of “isness” or “I AM” statements. This can become your prayer treatment... and the basis for some positive thinking. Now you can see that the thought is not just what you wish were true. It is your conviction of “God’s abundance in back of all things.”
We need to accustom ourselves to think that we are surrounded by a divine Presence which wishes us good because we are expressing its life. Keep conscious that you are forever in the flow of substance. No matter how things change in the world around you or what happens to you, the flow of substance is constant. All that is required is that you keep conscious of the flow, keep open by positive thought, keep responsive in faith, and keep moving “in the directions of your dreams.”
© 1975, by Eric Butterworth
