* * Timely Thoughts From Our Archives * *
Money, Money, Money
By Rev. Dr. Jane Claypool, (1933-2014)
Founding Minister of Center for Spiritual Living Carlsbad
We celebrate a prosperity program in my church at this time of year. The results are always fun and often amazing. This year the signup box is decorated with my artwork so I am especially happy about it.
The program works simply. People sign up and promise to donate ten percent of any unscheduled income they receive during the time of the program. Our ministers and practitioners pray daily for “extra” or unscheduled money to come to those who have signed up. We've done it for years and it is always a success.
It’s a nice fundraiser for the Center and it also teaches a great lesson on how prayer treatment works. The prosperity program demonstrates that money can come in many ways because God is really the only source of our supply. God is our Source and God is all around us.
There is no charge for the program except the tithe you promise to pay when you benefit. No risk and no charge makes it easy for people to sign up. It’s also easy to promise to donate part of the unexpected money before you see it.
I love the program because it is so much fun. Mostly I love to hear the “God works in mysterious ways” stories. Over 25 years, I have heard some wonderful ones – big and small. Here are a few I remember…
One woman inherited $5000 because her sibling found some fifty-year-old war bonds in their parents’ attic. Someone else was repaid a real estate debt of over $120,000. They decided it was unscheduled because they’d written the debt off 20 years earlier. They said they had almost forgotten about it.
One year, I received a gift of several thousand dollars from a long-term member of the Center. She sent the check and thank you note saying it was for services I rendered during the past years.
Not all the best stories are about large amounts of money. Someone found an old embroidery sampler in the garage and sold it. She sent the church $50 and showed us photos of the pioneer sampler.
Small amounts make delightful surprises even though they are not dramatic. For example, I was cleaning out my closet and found $100 in a jacket I hadn’t worn for at least five years. That was found prosperity and I was delighted.
Most amounts are relatively small but that doesn’t matter since the point is to open up our minds to accept the truth that all money comes from God. Whether large or small, the stories about the surprises help prove that Creative Mind is a great river with many tributaries.
Our Center teaches that God is always the Source of our supply. We are well funded and, while the prosperity program tithes are welcome, our goal is primarily educational.
The “pay off” for participants is lifelong. Once we really get it that God is the source of our supply, we can transfer our reliance from a nutty boss to God working through predictable spiritual laws. We can also release any belief in being stuck or locked into bad situations. We can have peace of mind and faith in solutions to life’s little puzzles.
If you trust the news, economic terror is widespread but it need not be contagious. We can train our minds to be immune. We simply have to change our thinking to change our economic life. Usually that means letting go of old ideas and accepting new ones.
Let's not hang on to old ideas around money. “Not enough” thinking needs to be discarded. Once we get it that all money comes from God and God is unlimited supply, our minds open up and greater prosperity arrives. Prayer works. The Unscheduled Income program can help people accept more and more financial Good.
Another aim of the program is helping people understand they don’t need to limit their avenues of prosperity to a job, or one person’s kindness. We don’t need to build such narrow fences around the ways we accept money.
A favorite story is about the woman who asked her minister to pray for her prosperity. Next Sunday, when the minister asked her how well the program worked, she said, “Not good at all.” Then she added, “My son wanted to give me a money gift but, of course, I couldn’t take it from him.”
If she understood that all money comes from God, she wouldn't turn her son down so quickly. She would allow her son to experience the joy of giving and know that the Universe would find a way to pay him back.
As a part of my personal spiritual program, I have learned to accept as well as to give. Whenever someone offers me a gift, I take it. It is good for the person offering to give and my acceptance completes the circle. If I don't need it, I give it away. Whether it is theater tickets, lunch or cash, I say yes. If we are to be more prosperous, we must learn to say yes and we must also learn to be generous.
New Thought churches and centers teach that money is good to have and to circulate. We help people learn to attract more Good. Many centers have prosperity programs. You can find many excellent tools to increase your prosperity in New Thought churches. There are programs like the unscheduled income, classes, and wonderful books, such as Spiritual Economics by Dr. Eric Butterworth.
Basically, raising your prosperity level depends on the idea that your individual mind is always sending messages to Creative Mind about finances. You must change your thinking so your life will change. Prayer changes your thinking and so do other activities. You can learn to live with an attitude of expectancy rather than “not enough.”
Signing up for the prosperity program is a statement that you are open to accept more.Go to the center for Spiritual Living Carlsbad for more about this 10 week program if you are interested.
I like to think of money as fluid. Sometimes I imagine a financial waterfall. This trains my mind to stop believing the only way we can get more money is to get a raise. The best news is that God can easily find myriad ways when you are open to recieve. Unfreezing your waterfall is the tip of the iceberg but it is a good way to begin.
Raises are only one way to increase the cash flow. There are great fortunes built on good ideas. And then there are gifts, found objects, found money, your talents, inheritances, investments and inventions.
You don’t have to sign up for our program but I hope you will make an attempt to open up your thinking during these next few weeks. Begin to change your beliefs by using affirmations such as, Money flows to me from many places. or. I am a money magnet.
As you change your thinking, your life will change.
Ask Yourself
What ideas about money would I like to have?
How might I attempt to change my thinking?
What steps might I take?
