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Prosperity
Chapter 10
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[Prosperity]
[Charles Fillmore's Works] [Unity on the Web Home Page]
Lesson Ten
Right Giving, the Key to Abundant Receiving
THERE IS a law of giving and receiving and it requires
careful study if we would use it in our prosperity
demonstrations. It is a law of mind action, and it can be
learned and applied the same as any other law. The teaching
of Jesus stands out prominently, because it can be
practically applied to the affairs of everyday life. It is
not alone a religion in the sense that word is usually
taken but is a rule of thinking, doing, living, and being.
It is not only ethical but practical, and men have never
yet sounded the depths of the simple but all-inclusive
words of Jesus. To some people it is unthinkable to connect
the teaching of Jesus with the countinghouse and the market
place, but a deeper insight into their meaning and purpose,
which the Spirit of Truth is now revealing to the world,
shows that these lofty teachings are the most practical
rules for daily living in all departments of life. They are
vital to modern civilization and the very foundation of
business stability. The law of giving and receiving that
Jesus taught, "Give, and it shall be given unto you," is
found to be applicable
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to all our commercial as well as our social relationships.
We have not been more successful in making this doctrine of
Jesus a practical standard for everyday guidance because we
have not understood the law on which it is based. Jesus
would not have put forth a doctrine that was not true and
not based on unchanging law, and we can be sure that this
doctrine of giving and receiving is powerful enough to
support all the affairs of civilization. We have not gone
deeply enough into the teaching but have thought we
understood it from a mere surface study. "Ye look at the
things that are before your face," says Paul, and Jesus
also warned us to "judge not according to appearance." We
should form no conclusions until we have gone thoroughly
into the causes and the underlying laws. The things we see
outwardly are the effects that have arisen from causes that
are invisible to us. There is an inner and an outer to
everything: both the mental and the material conditions
pervade the universe. Man slides at will up and down the
whole gamut of cause and effect. The whole race slides into
an effect almost unconsciously and so identifies the senses
with the effect that the causes are lost sight of for
thousands of years.
An awakening comes in time and the cause side of existence
is again brought to the attention of men, as set forth, for
example, in the doctrine of Jesus Christ. But men cannot
grasp the great truth in a moment and cling to what is
plainly visible to them, the effect side. The truth that
things have a spiritual
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as well as a material identity and that the spiritual is
the cause side and of greatest value, is a revelation that
may be slow in coming to most people. In this instance it
is the material side that they cling to, thinking it to be
all and refusing to let go. Men have taken the letter or
appearance side of the Jesus Christ doctrine and
materialized it to fit their beliefs and customs. That is
the reason why the Christ message has not purified
commerce, society, and government. But it should be made
spiritually operative in those fields. It will easily do
the work desired when its mental side is studied and when
it is understood and applied from the spiritual viewpoint.
There is need for reform in economics more than in any
other department of everyday life. Money has been
manipulated by greed until greed itself is sick and
secretly asks for a panacea. But it does not look to the
religion of Jesus Christ for healing. In fact that is the
very last place it would apply for aid, because many of the
advocates of the Jesus Christ doctrine are themselves
economic dependents and have no solution for the economic
problem--not understanding the power of their own religion.
Yet no permanent remedy will ever be found for the economic
ills of the world outside a practical application of the
laws on which the doctrine of Jesus Christ is based.
The correctness of the solution of any problem is assured
by the right relation of its elements. All true reform
begins with the individual. Jesus began there. He did not
clamor for legislation to control men or
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their actions. He called His twelve apostles and through
them individually instituted that reform which has as its
basis an appeal to the innate intelligence, honesty, and
goodness in every man. He told them, "Go ye into all the
world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation."
As people learn more definitely about the dynamic effect of
thought and how ideas pass from mind to mind, they see more
and more the wisdom of the Christ teaching. They are
beginning to understand that there is one undeviating law
of mind action and that all thinking and all speaking is
amenable to it. Thus when Jesus said, "By thy words thou
shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be
condemned," He taught the power of thoughts and words to
bring results in accordance with the ideas back of them.
Following the metaphysical side of the teaching of Jesus,
we have found that certain thoughts held in the minds of
the people are causing widespread misery, disease, and
death. We have also found that these thoughts can be
dissolved or transformed and the whole man made over
through his conscious volition. Paul well understood this
process. He said, "Be ye transformed by the renewing of
your mind."
Among the destructive thoughts that men indulge in and
exercise are those forms of selfishness which we know as
avarice, covetousness, money getting, the desire for
financial gain and for possessing the things of the world.
These thoughts threaten seriously to
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disturb the civilization of the world and the stability of
the whole race. The sole thought of money getting is being
allowed by men and women to generate its cold vapor in
their souls until it shuts out all the sunlight of love and
even of life. The remedy for the misery caused by
destructive thoughts is not far to seek. It lies in
constructive thinking along the lines that Jesus laid down.
Indeed the remedy for all the ills to which flesh is heir
lies in conformity to the divine law that Jesus revealed to
His true followers. It is said of these true followers
(Acts 4:32) that they were "of one heart and soul: and not
one of them said that aught of the things which he
possessed was his own; but they had all things common."
Many true Christians have observed this righteous law and
sought to conform to it in community life. Such efforts
have not always been successful, because there was not the
necessary recognition of the mental factor and the
discipline of ideas. So long as the idea of covetousness is
lodged in the human mind as its dominant generating factor,
there can be no successful community life. That idea must
be eliminated from the mental plane first; the next step,
the outer practice, will then be safe and successful.
Everywhere true metaphysicians are preparing themselves to
be members in the great colony that Jesus is to set up, by
working to eliminate from their mind all selfish ideas,
along with all other discordant vibrations that produce
inharmony among members of the same group. A step in this
direction
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is the gradual introduction of the "freewill offering" plan
to replace the world's commercial standard of reward for
services. We are striving to educate the people on this
question of giving and receiving and to let their own
experience prove to them that there is a divine law of
equilibrium in financial matters that corresponds to the
law of balance and poise that holds the suns and the
planets in place. In order to make a success of this great
effort we must have the loving co-operation of everyone to
whom we minister. The law is based on love and justice, and
it equitably and harmoniously adjusts all the affairs of
men. It goes even further, for it restores a harmony and
balance in both mind and body that results in happiness and
health as well as prosperity. Love and justice are mighty
powers, and all things must eventually come under their
influence, because even a few men and women of right motive
can, by right thinking and consequent just action,
introduce these ideas into the race consciousness and pave
the way for their universal adoption. The movement has
already begun and is rapidly gaining headway. Every student
and reader is asked to give it impetus by resolving to be
unselfish and just without compulsion.
The race consciousness is formed of thought currents and
the dominant beliefs of all the people. A few men and women
rise above these currents of thought and become independent
thinkers. The dominating race idea of money getting as the
goal of success is now being replaced by the idea of
usefulness and good works. This idea must be carried
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out by individuals who have resolved to think and to act in
the Jesus Christ way. To be one of these individuals and to
contribute to the change in the race consciousness, first
dedicate yourself in Spirit to the ministry of Jesus and
resolve to carry forward the great work He has commissioned
you to do. This does not mean that you must preach like
Paul or necessarily carry on any extensive work in the
outer. In the silence of your "inner chamber" you can do a
mighty work of power by daily denying the beliefs in
avarice and covetousness and affirming the universal sway
of divine love and justice. You can make the idea of exact
equity and justice between man and man the central theme of
all your saying and doing. When you see examples of greed
and avarice or when thoughts of these seek a place in your
mind, remember the words of the Master: "What is that to
thee? follow thou me."
Never for a moment allow yourself to entertain any scheme
for getting the better of your fellows in any trade or
bargain. Hold steadily to the law of equity and justice
that is working in and through you, knowing for a certainty
that you are supplied with everything necessary to fulfill
all your requirements. Give full value for everything you
get. Demand the same for everything you give, but do not
try to enforce that demand by human methods. There is a
better way: think of yourself as Spirit working with
powerful spiritual forces, and know that the demands of
Spirit must and will be met.
Do not plan to lay up for the future; let the future
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take care of itself. To entertain any fears or doubts on
that point saps your strength and depletes your spiritual
power. Hold steadily to the thought of the omnipresence of
universal supply, its perfect equilibrium and its swift
action in filling every apparent vacuum or place of lack.
If you have been in the habit of hoarding or of practicing
stringent economy, change your thought currents to
generosity. Practice giving, even though it may be in a
small way. Give in a spirit of love and give when you
cannot see any possibility of return. Put real substance
into your gift by giving the substance of the heart with
the token of money or whatever it is. Through the power of
your word you can bless and spiritually multiply everything
that you give. See yourself as the steward of God handing
out His inexhaustible supplies. In this manner you are
setting into action mental and spiritual forces that
eventually bring large results into visibility. Be happy in
your giving. God loves a cheerful giver because his mind
and heart are open to the flow of the pure substance of
Being that balances all things.
Do not give with any idea that you are bestowing charity.
The idea of charity has infested the race consciousness for
thousands of years and is responsible for the great army of
human dependents. Do all you can to annul this mental
error. There is no such thing as charity as popularly
understood. Everything belongs to God and all His children
are equally entitled to it. The fact that one has a surplus
and gives some of it to another does not make the one
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a benefactor and the other a dependent. The one with the
surplus is simply a steward of God and is merely
discharging the work of his stewardship. When one asks for
divine wisdom and understanding about giving it becomes a
joy both to the giver and the recipient.
Followers of Jesus who are doing His work of teaching and
healing should, like Him, receive free-will offerings for
their ministry to the people. The majority of those who
apply to teachers and healers recognize this law of giving
and receiving, but there are quite a number who do not
understand it. First there are those who are in bondage to
the idea of avarice, and secondly, there are those who
still are in bondage to the idea of charity. Both these
classes need education and treatment to release them from
mental limitation and mental disease. The avaricious suffer
most in body and are the most difficult to heal, because of
the mental bias that prompts them to get everything as
cheaply as possible, including the kingdom of heaven. They
must be patiently educated to be just because it is right,
and to learn to "let go" of the acquisitive spirit and
replace it with the spirit of generosity. They will do this
readily enough as a mental drill but are not so willing to
let go of the money symbol. However, continued treatments
in the silence, supplemented with oral and written
instruction, will eventually prevail and heal them.
There are many examples that could be given to prove the
outworking of the law. The covetous idea
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has a great power over the body. It would avail little to
treat the outer manifestation before first removing the
inner cause from the mind. The salvation of such people is
to learn to give generously and freely, not from compulsion
or for the sake of reward but from a love of the giving.
Some metaphysicians think to cure their patients of the
hold of avaricious thoughts by charging them a good round
price for their treatments. By the same token the medical
doctor who charges the most is surest to heal his patients,
and any service for which an exhorbitant price is charged
is the best! Surely this would be a foolish idea.
Metaphysical healing has become so popular that hundreds
have gone into it as a business and are making of it an
industry founded on the old commercial idea, just as cold
and calculating, as hard and unyielding as the idea is in
the ranks of the money-changers of mammon.
Surely there is a "more excellent way," one more in harmony
with divine law, a way that permits the heart as well as
the head and hand to be used in the grace of giving and
receiving. Those who are using the freewill offering method
meet with some criticism and opposition from those who hold
to the commercial method and say that charging a definite
sum is the legitimate way. They accuse Unity of fostering
charity and poverty and keeping alive the spirit of getting
something for nothing that is manifested by so many people.
Our reply is that we are pursuing the only course that
could ever effectually eradicate these erroneous states of
consciousness and bring
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people into an understanding of the spiritual law of
prosperity through giving in love.
Everyone should give as he receives; in fact, it is only
through giving that he can receive. Until the heart is
quickened at the center and the mind is opened up to Truth
there is no permanent healing. Everyone can make a fair
return for everything he gets. We aim to show moneyless
paupers that they can give something in return for the good
that has been done them. It may be to pass the true word to
some other needy one, or merely to lift up their voice in
thanksgiving and praise where before they were dumb. We
recognize the necessity of some action of the mammon-bound
mind. It must be made to let go somewhere before it can
receive the light and the power of Spirit.
Our work is to bring men and women to the place of true and
lasting dominion where they are superior to both riches and
poverty. We can do this by showing them that they are
spiritual beings, that they live in a spiritual world here
and now, and that through the apprehension of the Truth of
their being and their relation to God this dominion is to
be realized.
The central and most vital fact that they must come to
realize is that an idea has the power of building thought
structures, which in turn materialize in the outer
environment and affairs and determine every detail of their
existence. Every man is a king ruling his own subjects.
These subjects are the ideas existing in his mind, the
"subjects" of his thought. Each man's ideas are as varied
and show
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as many traits of character as the inhabitants of any
empire. But they can all be brought into subjection and
made to obey through the I AM power that is the ruler of
the kingdom. In your domain of mind there may be colonies
of alien ideas--the Philistines, Canaanites, and other
foreign tribes, that the Children of Israel found in their
Promised Land when they attempted to take possession of it.
The story of the Children of Israel and how they gained the
possession of that land is a symbolical representation of
the experience of everyone who seeks to reclaim his own
consciousness in the name of the Lord. The meaning in
Hebrew of the name Canaanite is "merchant" or "trader"; in
other words, a set of ideas that has to do with the
commercial phase of life. Study the Children of Israel
(spiritual ideas) in their experiences with these
Canaanites and you will get many valuable hints on subduing
and handling your own money-getting ideas.
You may allow avariciousness and stinginess to develop in
your mind domain until the very blood in your body starts
to dry up and your nerves are shaken and palsied with the
fear of future poverty. If so, it is time these ideas were
driven out and a new set of ideas settled in your domain to
become active in building up a new state of consciousness
(nation). Begin at once to let go of your all-consuming
thoughts of gain. Think about generosity and begin to be
generous for your own sake. "It is more blessed to give
than to receive" will prove itself to you as the law, for
you will be blessed by a new influx of ideas
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of life, health, and prosperity when you start giving.
Instead of being grasping and avaricious, perhaps you have
gone to the other extreme and have cultivated ideas of
small things financially. You may have been fostering
poverty by holding ideas of pennies instead of dollars or
of hundreds instead of thousands. You may be thinking that
you cannot give because your income is small or your supply
is limited. Your remedy is to cultivate ideas of abundance.
Claim God as your inexhaustible resource; that all things
are yours. But in order to set in motion the accumulated
energy of your thought you must also begin to give. You may
be able to give only pennies at first, but give them in the
name and the spirit of your opulent God. Send them forth
with all the love of your heart and say to them as they go,
"Divine love through me blesses and multiplies you."
Your consciousness is like a stream of water. If the stream
is in any way dammed up, the water settles in all the low
places and becomes stagnant. The quickest way to purify and
reclaim the low, "swampy" places in your consciousness is
to let in the flood from above by opening the dam. Many
people try to demonstrate God as their supply by repeating
affirmations of abundance now present, but fail to deny and
thus to let go of the old condition and old belief in lack
by beginning to give as generously as possible. It is not
the amount you give measured by standards of the world, it
is the good will you send forth with the gift; which can be
measured only by spiritual standards.
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"God loveth a cheerful giver." The Greek word here
translated cheerful is hilarion, which means really
"hilarious, joyful." The gift may be measured in dollars
and cents but God looks not on such standards, He looks on
and loves the "joyful" giver. We read in Deuteronomy 28:47,
48, "Because thou servedst not Jehovah thy God with
joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the
abundance of all things; therefore shalt thou serve thine
enemies ... in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and
in want of all things." This shows that there is a definite
relation between the cheerfulness or joyfulness of our
giving and our prosperity. Whether we make a large or a
small gift, let us make it with largeness of cheer and joy,
even of hilarity, remembering that God loveth a "hilarious"
giver. "Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do
them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do."
Blessings That May Be Placed On Our Gifts
Divine love, through me, blesses and multiplies this
offering.
The Father gives abundantly; I receive thankfully, and give
again generously.
This is the bounty of God, and I send it forth with wisdom
and joy.
Divine love bountifully supplies and increases this
offering.
I give freely and fearlessly, fulfilling the law of giving
and receiving.
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[Prosperity]
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