There was a young man who spent his days wandering the streets of the city. Broke and living in rags, he was constantly looking for handouts. He could no longer borrow from friends or family because they were tired of his inability to pay his loans back and take responsibility for his life.
He lived a life of poverty despite the fact that he had a wealthy father who had died and left him a legacy of millions of dollars. All he had to do was go to the bank and follow the procedure to make a withdrawal. Sounds crazy, does it not?
Okay, let's say you have the responsibility to get him to change his ways and accept his good fortune. Where would you start and what would you tell him to do?
You would start by trying to convince him of the existence of his good fortune. Wouldn't you? Do you think this would be easy? Remember, he has gotten used to the idea that his life is one of a hand-to-mouth existence. Also, he has habituated to a survival lifestyle that's comfortable to him, regardless of how it looks to you.
But let's say that you do get him to accept that the money is waiting for him. What is the next step? Well, he would have to go to the bank and follow the procedures you've outlined for him to make a withdrawal.
How Does This Relate to Our Spiritual Understanding?
It is a good metaphor for the condition under which most people spiritually exist. For example: do you believe that your Creator left you a legacy of incredible wealth or have you habituated, like the son, to a life of just surviving? Do you know the procedure for laying claim to what God has left you in your spiritual bank account?
A life of abundance is not about financial wealth, although this may be part of some people’s experiences. A life of abundance is about a belief in knowing that you will have access to whatever you need when you need it.
Things may occur for you when you need to learn certain lessons in life that will help you move forward in your understanding. Even so, when “bad” things happen to “good” people, it serves a purpose on a grander scale. Does this awareness make it any easier for those involved? No, but if they believe it is a necessary part of their spiritual journey and glean the wisdom from the experience, they can move closer to an understanding of who they really are. In other words, as Teilhard said, they begin to more fully grasp that we are all spiritual beings having a human experience, not humans having a spiritual experience.
God cannot create a life of lack. He offers you all the good you can accept. And therein lies the difficulty. What are you willing to accept for yourself? Whatever it is, it correlates to your belief in the gifts awaiting you, your belief in yourself, and your knowing the procedure for making claim to these gifts.
He lived a life of poverty despite the fact that he had a wealthy father who had died and left him a legacy of millions of dollars. All he had to do was go to the bank and follow the procedure to make a withdrawal. Sounds crazy, does it not?
Okay, let's say you have the responsibility to get him to change his ways and accept his good fortune. Where would you start and what would you tell him to do?
You would start by trying to convince him of the existence of his good fortune. Wouldn't you? Do you think this would be easy? Remember, he has gotten used to the idea that his life is one of a hand-to-mouth existence. Also, he has habituated to a survival lifestyle that's comfortable to him, regardless of how it looks to you.
But let's say that you do get him to accept that the money is waiting for him. What is the next step? Well, he would have to go to the bank and follow the procedures you've outlined for him to make a withdrawal.
How Does This Relate to Our Spiritual Understanding?
It is a good metaphor for the condition under which most people spiritually exist. For example: do you believe that your Creator left you a legacy of incredible wealth or have you habituated, like the son, to a life of just surviving? Do you know the procedure for laying claim to what God has left you in your spiritual bank account?
A life of abundance is not about financial wealth, although this may be part of some people’s experiences. A life of abundance is about a belief in knowing that you will have access to whatever you need when you need it.
Things may occur for you when you need to learn certain lessons in life that will help you move forward in your understanding. Even so, when “bad” things happen to “good” people, it serves a purpose on a grander scale. Does this awareness make it any easier for those involved? No, but if they believe it is a necessary part of their spiritual journey and glean the wisdom from the experience, they can move closer to an understanding of who they really are. In other words, as Teilhard said, they begin to more fully grasp that we are all spiritual beings having a human experience, not humans having a spiritual experience.
God cannot create a life of lack. He offers you all the good you can accept. And therein lies the difficulty. What are you willing to accept for yourself? Whatever it is, it correlates to your belief in the gifts awaiting you, your belief in yourself, and your knowing the procedure for making claim to these gifts.
Love is the energy of the Universe. The Work of Change is Hard
Like everything else, there is a process involved. We all have a lot of erroneous thinking to overcome, and it rarely happens with a snap of the fingers. Simply shuffling things around in the outer world may gain you temporary success or success that requires all your energy to maintain. Real change starts from within.
Making permanent changes in one’s life is not complicated. However, it is an arduous journey. It requires the synchronizing of your thoughts and feelings to be in alignment with your desired goal. We often allow one or the other to be in charge of our decisions, which inevitably creates an imbalance.
Most of our journey entails recognizing the erroneous beliefs we hold about ourselves and our place in the Universe so that we can replace them with a higher understanding. Most don’t believe in the power each of us possesses, not only to make a change within ourselves, but by that change to contribute to positive changes in the Universe.
If you’re tired of just surviving physically, emotionally, financially, creatively, then you should take the time to go to your spiritual bank and learn the procedures for accessing the abundance that is yours.
Like everything else, there is a process involved. We all have a lot of erroneous thinking to overcome, and it rarely happens with a snap of the fingers. Simply shuffling things around in the outer world may gain you temporary success or success that requires all your energy to maintain. Real change starts from within.
Making permanent changes in one’s life is not complicated. However, it is an arduous journey. It requires the synchronizing of your thoughts and feelings to be in alignment with your desired goal. We often allow one or the other to be in charge of our decisions, which inevitably creates an imbalance.
Most of our journey entails recognizing the erroneous beliefs we hold about ourselves and our place in the Universe so that we can replace them with a higher understanding. Most don’t believe in the power each of us possesses, not only to make a change within ourselves, but by that change to contribute to positive changes in the Universe.
If you’re tired of just surviving physically, emotionally, financially, creatively, then you should take the time to go to your spiritual bank and learn the procedures for accessing the abundance that is yours.
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