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Prosperity
Chapter 11
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[Prosperity]
[Charles Fillmore's Works] [Unity on the Web Home Page]
Lesson Eleven
Laying Up Treasures
AFTER the multitude had been fed by the increase of the
loaves and fishes, Jesus commanded that they gather up the
fragments so that nothing might be lost. "And they all ate,
and were filled: and they took up that which remained over
of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full." Any form of
waste is a violation of the divine law of conservation.
Everywhere in nature there is evidence of stored-up energy
substance, ready for use when needed.
This reserve force is not material but spiritual. It is
ready to be called into expression to meet any need. But
when it is not put to use or called into expression, there
is a manifestation of inharmony or lack either in the body
of man or in its outer supply. It is in his wrong
conception of this spiritual force that man makes the
mistake of falling into the habit of hoarding instead of
conserving. He tries to gather things together in the
external in a vain effort to avert an imagined shortage in
the future and he counts himself rich by the amount of his
material possessions.
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Spiritually awakened people are coming to know that all
riches are spiritual and within the reach of all as divine
ideas. They study the law of conservation as it pertains to
the spiritual and seek to build up a large reserve
consciousness of substance, life, strength, and power,
rather than laying up material treasures that "moth and
rust consume" and "thieves break through and steal."
Men and women scatter their energies to the four winds in
the effort to satisfy the desires of the flesh, and then
wonder why they do not demonstrate prosperity. If they only
realized the truth that this same thought force can be
conserved and controlled to express itself in constructive
channels, they would soon be prosperous. Spirit must have
substance to work on and there must be substance in the
ideas of your mind. If your substance is going here, there,
and everywhere, being spent in riotous thinking, how can it
accumulate to the point of demonstration? Such a waste of
substance is a violation of the law of conservation, a law
that all should know. When you overcome your desire for
dissipation, not the overt acts only but the inner desire,
then you will begin to accumulate substance that must
manifest itself as prosperity according to the law.
One of the fundamental principles in the study of
Christianity is that God's great objective is the making of
a perfect man. Man is the apex of creation, made in God's
image and likeness, and endowed with full authority and
dominion over his elemental thoughts. We sometimes think
that we
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must succeed in some business or occupation before we can
become rich or famous. This is a missing of the mark of
"the high calling of God in Christ Jesus," which is to
demonstrate the divine idea of a perfect man. The real
object of life is not making money or becoming famous but
the building of character, the bringing forth of the
potentialities that exist in every one of us. A part of the
divine plan is substantial provision by the Creator for all
the mental and physical needs of His creation. We are not
studying prosperity to become rich but to bring out those
characteristics that are fundamental to prosperity. We must
learn to develop the faculty that will bring prosperity and
the character that is not spoiled by prosperity.
Faith is the faculty of mind that deals with the
universal-substance idea. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for. Everything in God is ideal, without form or
shape but with all possibilities. He is omnipresent in our
mind and in our body. It is in our body that we bring God
into visible manifestation. Faith is the faculty that does
this. It lays hold of the substance idea and makes it
visible.
The scramble for wealth seems to be the only object of
existence for certain minds. Writers of Biblical times were
incessantly preaching against the evils of money. Yet
Jehovah was always promising riches and honor to all those
who kept His commandments. The gold and silver that God
promised were spiritual rather than material. God is mind,
and mind can give only ideas. These ideas can be translated
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into terms of gold or of anything else we desire, according
to our thought. The only treasures that are worth saving
are those we lay up in the heavens of the mind. The only
gold that can be trusted to bring happiness is the gold of
Spirit. Jesus says, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold
refined by fire, that thou mayest become rich; and white
garments, that thou mayest clothe thyself, that the shame
of thy nakedness be not made manifest."
Paul tells us that "the love of money is a root of all
kinds of evil." That means of course that by loving money
man has in some way limited it. He has not loved the true
source of money but has loved the thing rather than the
Spirit that it expresses. He has broken the law by trying
to grasp the thing and failing to acknowledge the idea that
lies back of it. We must know this law, observing it in the
handling of money, and make love the magnet of supply
instead of becoming entangled in that selfishness and greed
which is causing so much inharmony and suffering in the
world today. We should know that there is a universal money
substance and that it belongs to all of us in all its
fullness.
In the parable of the sower Jesus uses a most striking
phrase. Part of the good seed was choked out by thorns and
the thorns represent the "deceitfulness of riches." Money
is indeed a cheat. It promises ease and brings cares; it
promises pleasures and pays with pain; it promises
influence and returns envy and jealousy; it promises
happiness and gives sorrow; it promises permanence and then
flies away.
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Metaphysically, it is better or at least safer to be poor
than to be rich. Jesus taught this in the parable of the
rich man and Lazarus. The rich man is pictured in torment,
crying for the poor man to give him a drink of water. But
if the rich are miserable, the poor who greatly desire to
be rich are equally so. Poverty and riches are the two
poles of a magnet whose pivot is a belief that the
possession of matter will bring joy to the possessor. This
belief is a delusion, and those who are attracted by this
belief and allow their minds to be hypnotized by the desire
for material possessions are to be pitied whether their
desire is realized or not.
The real possessor of wealth is the one who feels that all
things are his to use and to enjoy yet does not burden
himself with the personal possession of anything. Diogenes
was a most happy man though he lived in a tub. His
philosophy has outlived the influence of the rich and
powerful people who were his contemporaries. He walked
around with a lantern at midday looking for an honest man,
so they seem to have been as rare in his day as in ours.
However, the widespread desire for material possessions
indicates that there is somewhere some good in it. The
natural man is from the soil, formed of the dust of the
ground, and loves his native element. The spiritual man is
from above, originating in the heavens of the mind. He is
given first place and like Jacob supplants the natural man.
Men should not condemn the earth because of this, yet they
should not love it to the exclusion of the heavens. They
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should understand that substance is the day from which the
Father makes the body of His people. "Your heavenly Father
knoweth that ye have need of all these things ... But seek
ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these
things shall be added unto you."
The divine law holds that the earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof. If this truth were thoroughly understood,
men would begin at once to make all property public,
available for the use and enjoyment of all the people. The
early disciples of Jesus understood this and their religion
required them to bring all their possessions and lay them
at the feet of their leaders, to be distributed and used
according to the needs of all. Paul's companion Barnabas
gave his field. Ananias and Sapphira sold their land and
brought part of the price to Peter but held back part of
it. They had not overcome the fear of future lack and had
not put their faith fully in the teaching and promises of
the Master.
When we have recognized the truth of the omnipresence of
God as substance and supply for every need, there will be
no occasion for holding back part as Ananias and Sapphira
did. We cannot hoard money in its material phase without
breaking the law, which is that we have all the substance
necessary for our supply. We ask the Lord for our "daily"
bread and expect to have it but we do not get an
accumulation that will spoil on our hands or that will deny
the proper supply to any other man. The metaphysical idea
of this part of the Lord's Prayer
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is "Give us this day the substance of tomorrow's bread." We
ask not for bread but for the substance that Spirit
arranges to manifest as bread, clothing, shelter, or the
supply for any need we may have.
Substance in the form of money is given to us for
constructive uses. It is given for use and to meet an
immediate need, not to be hoarded away or be foolishly
wasted. When you have found freedom from the binding
thought of hoarding money, do not go to the opposite
extreme of extravagant spending. Money is to be used, not
abused. It is good to keep one's obligations paid. It is
good to have some money on hand for good uses, such as
hospitality, education, for developing industries that will
contribute to the good of numbers of people, for the
furtherance of spiritual work, for helping others to build
useful and constructive lives, and for many other purposes
and activities. But in such conservation of money one
should keep ever in mind the necessity of a constructive
motive back of the action. Money accumulated for a definite
and definitely constructive purpose is quite a different
thing from money hoarded with the fearful thought of a
"rainy day" or a prolonged season of lack and suffering.
Money saved for "rainy days" is always used for just that,
for fear attracts that which is feared unfailingly. "The
thing which I fear cometh upon me."
Money saved as "an opportunity fund" brings an increase of
good, but money hoarded from fear as a motive or with any
miserly thought in mind cannot possibly bring any blessing.
Those who hold the
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thought of accumulation so dominant in the world today are
inviting trouble and even disaster, because right along
with this thought goes a strong affirmation of the fear of
loss of riches. Their actions bespeak fear, and the loss
they dread is certain to be manifested sooner or later. The
worldly idea of prosperity is based on the wrong idea of
supply. One may have the right idea about the source of
riches as spiritual and yet have the wrong idea about the
constancy of supply as an ever-present, freely flowing
spiritual substance. God does not clothe the lilies in a
moment and then leave them to the mercy of lack; He gives
them the continuous supply necessary to their growth. We
can rest assured that He will much more clothe us and keep
us clothed from day to day according to our need. When we
doubt this and place our dependence on stored-up money
instead, we shut off the stream of divine supply. Then when
our little accumulation is spent, stolen, or lost, we are
like the prodigal son and we begin to be in want.
Jesus did not own a foot of land. Yet never did He lack for
anything needed. Without laying up treasures on earth He
was rich in His consciousness of the treasures of heaven
within Himself, treasures ready to be manifested in the
outer whenever He needed them.
We know perfectly well that sooner or later we shall have
to let go of our earthly possessions. Does this bring the
thought of death and of leaving the world behind? Then it
shows what a powerful hold
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this race belief of worldly wealth has taken in your mind.
Men can think of letting go of their material possessions
only in connection with death. They seem to prefer death to
giving up their idea of wealth. When they make such a
choice they decree what shall come to pass for them. That
is why it is hard for a "rich man" to enter into the
kingdom of heaven. He has laid up treasures on earth and
not enough in heaven. He has not made it possible for his
mind to lay hold of the positive pole of wealth, the true
idea of wealth. He is holding to the negative side of the
wealth idea, and that side is always changing. Material
things pass away unless they are firmly connected with the
unchanging, positive Source.
True riches and real prosperity are in the understanding
that there is an omnipresent substance from which all
things come and that by the action of our mind we can unify
ourselves with that substance so that the manifestations
that come from it will be in line with our desires and
needs. Instead of realizing the inexhaustible, eternal, and
omnipresent nature of that substance, we have limited it in
our thought. We have thought that there is only about so
much of it and that we had better hurry to get our share.
We have thought that we must be careful how we spend it and
put some of it away for a time when there won't be any
more. In building up this consciousness of a limited supply
we have concluded that it is necessary to be economical and
more and more saving. We begin to pinch in our mind, and
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then our money becomes pinched, for as we think in our
mind, so we manifest in our affairs. This attitude pinches
the channel through which our substance comes to
manifestation and slows down the even flow of our supply.
Then comes depression, hard times, shortage, and we wonder
why, looking for some way to lay the blame on the
government, or on war, or on industry, or even on the Lord,
but never by any chance do we put the blame where it
belongs: on ourselves.
The "pinching attitude" of mind does even worse than bring
people into want. If people would relax in mind, they would
loosen up the nerves and muscles of the body. They must
learn the cause of their strained, pinching mental attitude
and let go of that first. Then the relief of the outer
condition will become manifest as the condition itself did.
Nearly all of us have been brought up in the belief that
economy is an important thing, even a virtue. We should
save our money and have a bank account. Saving money is the
recipe for success given by many of our wealthy men. It is
not a bad idea. There must be money available in banks to
carry on business and industry. By having a bank account we
contribute to the welfare of the community, if we have the
right idea; which is that the Lord is our banker.
The word miser is from the Latin root from which also comes
"miserable." It describes the condition of those who love
and hoard money, lands, or other material things. The
stories that are told
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about misers are almost beyond credence, but nearly every
day the press recounts the story of the pitiable straits to
which misers have reduced themselves in order to add to
their riches. They sometimes starve themselves to add a few
dollars or even a few pennies to their hoarded store. The
papers recently carried an item about a miser in New York
worth eleven million dollars. He goes from office to office
in one of his great office buildings and picks up the waste
paper from the baskets, which he sells for a few cents.
Another almost as wealthy will not buy an overcoat but
keeps his body warm by pinning newspapers under his house
coat. Such men are not only themselves miserable but they
make miserable all those around them. A New York paper
tells of a miser worth millions when he died. Once burglars
broke into his home, but they succeeded in getting out
again without losing anything.
You do not need to lay up treasures for the future when you
know that the law of omnipresent good is providing for you
from within. As you evolve into this inner law of mind, you
draw to yourself more and more of the good things of life.
In your mind see plenty everywhere. Yes, it is hard
sometimes to overcome the thought that there is not enough,
for it is an insidious thought that has been in
consciousness for a long time. But it can be done. It has
been done and is being done by others. The prosperity law
is not a theory but a demonstrated fact, as thousands can
testify. Now is the time to open your mind and to see
plenty. As you do so you
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will find that there is an increase in your supply. Deny
out of mind every thought of lack and affirm the abundance
of all good. The infinite substance that infinite Mind has
given to you is all about you now, but you must lay hold of
it. It is like the air, but you must breathe the air to get
it. It is yours for the taking, but you must take it. You
should cultivate this wonderful power of the mind to know
that everything is bountiful and this power to lay hold of
invisible substance in the mind and by faith bring it forth
into manifestation. Know with Job that we have as much now,
in reality and in Truth, as we ever had. There is no
shortage, lack, or depression with God.
Do not be fearful, regardless of how outer appearances may
affect others. Keep your head when all about you are losing
theirs. Refuse to load up your mind with the old material
thoughts of economy to the point of denial of what you
really need. Eliminate the old limiting ideas. Assert your
freedom and your faith as a child of God. Do not spend
foolishly or save foolishly. The farmer does not throw away
his wheat when he sows a field. He knows how much he must
sow per acre and does not stint, for he knows that a
stinted sowing will bring a stinted harvest. He sows
bountifully but not extravagantly and he reaps bountifully
as he has sown. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he
also reap." "He that soweth sparingly shall reap also
sparingly; and he that soweth bountifully shall reap also
bountifully."
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We cannot help but see that apparent lack and hard times
are the result of states of mind. We have such things in
the manifest world because men have not squared their
action with divine Principle. They have not used spiritual
judgment. When they invest in stocks and property, they get
the opinions of other men, sometimes those who call
themselves experts. Then comes the crash, and even the
experts prove how little they understand the real laws of
wealth. We can go to an expert who really knows the law
because He ordained it in the first place. And He is not
far away, but right within ourselves. We can go within and
meditate on these things in the silence, and the Lord will
direct our personal finances. He will show us just how to
get the most and give the most with our money and He will
see to it that we have the supply that we need so that we
may not be in want of anything needful to our good. This
may not mean riches piled up or "saved for a rainy day,"
but it will insure our supply for today, the only day there
is in Truth.
As we continue to grow in the consciousness of God as
omnipresent life and substance we no longer have to put our
trust in accumulations of money or other goods. We are sure
that each day's need will be met, and we do not deprive
ourselves of today's enjoyment and peace in order to
provide for some future and wholly imaginary need. In this
consciousness our life becomes divinely ordered, and there
is a balance in supply and finances as in everything else.
We do not deprive ourselves of what we need today;
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neither do we waste our substance in foolish ways nor
deplete it uselessly. We do not expect or prepare for
adversity of any kind, for to do so is not only to invite
it but to show a doubt of God and all His promises. Many
people bear burdens and deny themselves sufficient for
their present needs in order to prepare for dark days that
never come. When we look back over the past we find that
most of our fears were groundless, and most of the things
we dreaded so much never happened. However the things we
prepared for probably did happen and found us not fully
prepared even after all our efforts in that direction. This
should enable us to trust God now and rest in the positive
assurance that He will supply every need as it arises.
Things are never so bad as you think. Never allow yourself
to be burdened with the thought that you are having a hard
time. You do not want a soul structure of that kind and
should not build it with those thoughts. You are living in
a new age. Yesterday is gone forever; today is here
forever. Something grander for man is now unfolding. Put
yourself in line with the progress of thought in the new
age and go forward.
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[Prosperity]
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