Any attempt to live from the outside, in is fruitless. We must first change our inner thoughts---and then the outer experience will automatically reflect those thoughts. A change in consciousness is always a prerequisite to increased prosperity. Without it, you are just “fund-raising.” And any increase in funds will automatically be wasted or lost without the consciousness to support it.

Chris Michaels
Your Soul’s Assignment


In what ways have you measured your worth by what you own? Can you imagine what value you would bring to a group of people stranded on an island with no money and assets? Can you imagine what your best qualities are and why they are so valuable to the world?

If you haven’t already done so, consider making a list of characteristics in you that are valuable.

There is nothing in the universe that wishes evil to anyone; indeed, it is only as we experience good that God is expressed through us. The more completely we realize good, happiness, and success, the more perfectly do we express God and the more of God we become; that is, the more does God become personified through us.
Ernest Holmes
The Hidden Power of the Bible

As time goes by, if you continue dwelling on this idea of a friendly universe that works for you, slowly your understanding of your place in the universe grows and you become aware that you are home, exactly where you are supposed to be.

There isn’t anywhere else to be. There is only this place and time and the opportunity to express it as fully and as richly as possible. What does it mean to you to more fully express Life?

Your World

The best way to put the Law of Giving into operation---to start the whole process of circulation---is to make a decision that any time you come into contact with anyone, you will give them something.

Deepak Chopra
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success

One of the most important ideas that have to do with prosperity is that of the apparent reciprocal nature of the universe. Giving is the other end of receiving and one without the other is a dead end. In what ways have you been generous with your time, money and attention this year?

Prosperous people give and look for new ways to give. They also have a comfortable and easy relationship with receiving.

Eric Butterworth wrote in Spiritual Economics "There is no way you can really begin to understand “spiritual economics,” or make it work in your life until you are free from the sense of God, “up there,” and on fire with the awareness of the Presence."

Your relationship to the world around you and its holiness is the starting point to your Spiritual awakening. As you look deeper into the role you play in life, you begin to notice that there is no power over you, but a power within you.

It is the source of the ideas for a Prosperous life. It flows outward from within you. It is what makes you dream and grow. It is your own life wanting to express itself.

A Vision of Happiness

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.
Denis Waitley

A Vision is the ability to have an idea, a picture of how you see yourself a little down the ways. Not a picture of what is going on right now, but of how you might see your world and yourself in your world living prosperously. For example, you would try to imagine what is going on in such a vision. How do you see yourself and who is present.

Here is something to consider about developing such a vision. It is not so much about simply imagining what you want, or how much money you think you need or what kind of objects, cars and houses you might have. There is nothing wrong with that kind of vision, however, taking an expanded definition of prosperity can introduce something new into the vision.

Try this. Ask yourself: When I am feeling generosity of spirit, and when my heart is open to receiving, and when I’m having an experience of connectedness to all life, THEN what does my world look like? What am I doing? How do I feel?

Seriously

Er…

We’re doing it.
We’re going to go for it.
We’re going to try new service times.
Seriously.
Starting First Sunday in June.
That would be June 1st, 2008.
Yup.
We are.

New times:
8:30 a.m.
10:00 a.m.
11:30 a.m.

Where are you getting your images?

Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy -- because we will always want to have something else or something more.
Brother David Steindl-Rast

Where are you getting your images and ideas about living a prosperous life? Every day we are bombarded by millions of images of how we are supposed to live, look, eat and think. Television, radio and magazines project the items we are supposed to desire and the lives we are supposed to aspire to. What impact do you think these messages have on your prosperity awareness?

It is possible that you may find yourself from time to time having an idea of not being enough, of needing to change, or of having to get and own more if you pay too much attention to media messages around you.

A valuable prosperity practice is to imagine that you are being featured on prime time television as an example of a life lived prosperously. What would your story be? What in your life right now is an inspiration to live prosperously? How would you advise others to develop an abundance awareness?

Inifite Value

Every second is of infinite value
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

In his famous “Sermon by the Sea” the founder of Religious Science, Ernest Holmes, said these words: “Our religion is not something to be lived merely here at Asilomar, as much inspiration as we receive from it, but rather to take that consciousness which we have arrived at here back with us into whatever activities we may be engaged in. I do not believe Life is separated from Its living, anywhere.”

This is a reminder that thinking about something such as “abundance” during study or meditation is valuable, it becomes even more valuable when that thinking carries with us into the ordinary activities of our day. Taking one single idea, such as “The Universe is Infinite” and using it as a guide through one day of activities, you could devise a question such as “How is what I am doing right now an example of the idea “the Universe is Infinite?” and apply it as frequently as you remember it.

I have experimented with a timer set at random times to remind me to consider the idea I am working with for the day. When the timer goes off, I pause in my mind to see how close or distant my thinking is from “the Universe is Infinite.”

William and Choeleen

Yay, I love having my own blog...... :)

Gay marriage ban rejected by state Supreme Court
By GUY KOVNERTHE PRESS DEMOCRAT

(Comments in green from Ernest Holmes' Creative Mind - added by me for interest)

The California Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the state ban on same-sex marriages, a ruling hailed as a victory by gays, lesbians and their advocates.

http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080515/NEWS/859358414/1033/NEWS&temp

“I am proud of the court for realizing and honoring the commitment that gay people have to each other,” Santa Rosa City Councilman John Sawyer said minutes after the ruling was announced.At the request of Sawyer, who is gay, the city filed a friend of the court brief in the case.Sebastopol and Cloverdale also were among the 15 cities and four counties that filed friend-of-the-court briefs supporting same-sex marriage.

This little book is an attempt to explain what each soul must discover for himself, that he stands in the midst of an eternal creative power which presses itself around his own thought, and casts back to him glorified all that he thinks. If it awakens within the consciousness of one single individual the realization that the mind of the Universe (which is the only mind that there is) is his own mind; that the creative power of this mind is his also; that the manifestation of this mind is his own individuality; that the love and power and peace of this mind is within himself, it will not be written in vain. May it then do much in simplifying and bringing to light some of the deeper mysteries and meanings of life.
ERNEST SHURTLEFF HOLMES,
October 1, 1918.

The high court ruling said “we cannot find that retention of the traditional definition of marriage constitutes a compelling state interest.“Accordingly, we conclude that to the extent the current California statutory provisions limit marriage to opposite-sex couples, these statutes are unconstitutional.”

Never struggle, Mind makes things out of Itself, there is no effort made. Don't think that there is so much to be overcome. Have only a calm sense of perfect peace as you realize that God is all, and that you are using the perfect law and that nothing can hinder it from working for you. Many people are learning to do this, and no one has yet failed to demonstrate who has been steadfast, using the law in a consistent and persistent trust.
All that we have to do is to provide the right mental and spiritual attitude of mind and then believe that we already have, and the reward will be with us. We shall see it.
ERNEST SHURTLEFF HOLMES,October 1, 1918.

The court’s ruling came on a series of lawsuits seeking to overturn a voter-approved law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.It makes California the second state after Massachusetts where gay and lesbian residents can marry.“What happens in California, either way, will have a huge impact around the nation. It will set the tone,” said Geoffrey Kors, executive director of the gay rights group Equality California.

The cases before the California court were brought by the city of San Francisco, two dozen gay and lesbian couples, Equality California and another gay rights group in March 2004 after the court halted San Francisco’s monthlong same-sex wedding march that took place at Mayor Gavin Newsom’s direction.The state Legislature has twice passed laws to make gay marriage legal. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed them both times, citing the ban approved by voters in 2000.

A coalition of religious and social conservative groups is attempting to put a measure on the November ballot that would enshrine California’s current laws banning gay marriage in the state constitution.

WE find that in the Universe every separate idea has a word, a mental concept behind it, and as long as that word remains the thing is held in place in the visible world; when the concept is withdrawn the idea in the visible melts away, disappears; it ceases to vibrate to the word, which is the law behind it, for when the word is withdrawn the condensation of the ether that forms the word melts again into the formless.

The secretary of state is expected to rule by the end of June whether the sponsors gathered enough signature to qualify the marriage amendment, similar to ones enacted in 26 other states.

Writing Ideas

For your journaling consideration ...


· Imagine that you have just won a million dollars. What would you do with it, and why? Does your choice for using your money determine whether or not you are a caring person?


· Describe the most caring thing anyone has ever done for you. What effect did that have on you?


· Write a thank you note to someone who did something very caring for you or someone else.

Golden and Platinum Rules

· The golden rule: Treat others as you would have them treat you.

· The "platinum" rule: Treat others as they would have you treat them.

The golden rule requires no awareness of the other person’s mode of experiencing caring, the platinum rule requires a commitment to listening and discovering what is needed, wanted and cherished.

How do you feel when people show that they really care about you?
How do you feel when you do something really caring for someone else?
To what extent would you inconvenience yourself for another person?
Is “activating caring” a choice, or are some people more naturally inclined towards caring behavior?

How do you know when people really care about you?

Dr. Gary Chapman, author of “The Five Languages of Love” has the following 30 Second Assessment on his website:

· I feel especially loved when people express how grateful they are for me, and for the simple, everyday things I do. (Words of Affirmation)
· I feel especially loved when a person gives me undivided attention and spends time alone with me. (Quality Time)
· I feel especially loved by someone who brings me gifts and other tangible expressions of love. (Receiving Gifts)
· I feel especially loved when someone pitches in to help me, perhaps by running errands or taking on my household chores. (Acts of Service)
· I feel especially loved when a person expresses feelings for me through physical contact. (Physical Touch)



It's tricky just chosing one category. Sometimes different modes in different situations, don't you think?

Are you a caring person?

Caring is both a feeling and a way of acting. What makes a caring person is not so much what s/he talks about or knows, rather it is what s/he does and how s/he does it. Caring people have a style of being and acting in the world that probably includes kindness, generosity, compassion, etc. How does caring feel to you? How does a caring person act in the world?

Try completing these sentences:

Sometimes I am caring when I …
I contribute my time for the well being of others in the following way(s)….
Sometimes I am uncaring when I….
I can be insensitive sometimes when ….
Sometimes I can be generous when I….

What did you discover about yourself and your ideas about caring from these questions?