The time it takes for the materia l world to reflect our shift from fear-based
to miracle-mind ed thinking is symbolized in the Old Testament by the forty
years it took for the Israelites, after fleeing their slave condition, to reach
the Promised Land. It is expressed in the New Testament by the three days
after the crucifixion before Jesus rose. In the biblical stories of both Moses
and Jesus, the mind of one close to God became a cond uit for the
reconstruction of the mortal world. We, too, through the power of our
thinking, can radically shift our experience of the world. God loves us the same when we do the wise thing as when  we make
mistakes. His love for us is based not on our behavior but on who we are,
and He knows who we are—innocent within—because He made us thatway. When we make a mistake, it’s because in the moment we make it we
forget who we are, and His response to that is not to punish us but to correct
us. This doesn’ t mean you don’t have to do anything to make things right; in
fact, any lesson you might have failed to learn before, you will have to learn
now. The mercy of the universe lies in the fact that you are given the
opportunity to do that. You might not get a bigger paycheck right away; you
might have to humble yourself and make do with less for a while. You
might not be Mr. or Ms. Big Shot in a new position; you might have to be
brought down a few notches before you can make your next big move up. But you will see the handwriting of God in all of it, if you participate in—
rather than resist—the balancing of the spiritual scales. You will know in
your heart that this is a good thing, and you will be glad to earn your way
back into the abundant realm . Once you have reclaimed your inner
prosperity , the universe will begin the process of reclaiming it externally . You are internal ly programmed to rise to your highest creative possibility . Nothing you do can erase the yearning of your soul to achieve it, or the
yearning of the universe to give it to you. No deviation from love—on your
part or anyone else’s—can keep the universe from its divine intention that
your life be one of fullness and joy . According to A Course in Miracles,  any miracle you might have deflected
is “held in trust for you until you are ready to receive it.” The universe has
an inbui lt insurance policy . Whatever you have lost is programm ed to return
—in another form, in another situation, in another town, or with other
people, perhaps, but through the power of atonement, it will return. Dear God,
I feel that I have failed. I feel that all my efforts have come to naught. I feel shame at the way my life has turned out. I do not know what to do or wher e to go. Please, dear God, r epair my heart,
Heal my mind, and change my life. Pave a way for me out of darkness into light. I atone for my err ors, and I pray for for giveness.Please do for me what I cannot do. Thank you, God. Amen. OceanofPDF .comChapter 7
Facing Our Prejudice
Another way we deflect wealth is through the unrecognizable belief that
it’s not really okay  to have  money . Just as some  people are prejudiced
against the poor , some are prejudiced against the rich. I suppor t the Occupy Wall Street movement, because over the last few
decades there has been a systematic dismantling of the appropriate
guarantees of economic justice in the United States. But I noticed, among a
few of the Occupiers I met, that their passion seemed to be less an
enthusiasm for the rights of all people to participate in the engine of
economic prosperity and more a knee-jerk criticism of anyone who does. This then leaves the movement open to all kinds  of erroneous criticism—
that supp orters of Occupy are anti-rich, and so forth. That’ s hardly the case. The message isn’t that people shouldn’ t be able to get rich in America; it’s
that the playing field should be so level that with enough hard work anyone
can! And money should be able to buy a lot of things in America; it just
shouldn’ t be able to buy our government. As long as we’r e making money righteously , we’r e not
only r eceiving a blessing but also extending one to others. No matter how much we strug gle for financial abundance, we’ll have a
hard time attaini ng it if we disapprove of those who have it. If we’re saying
one thing but thinking another , we’ll always end up with confused results. Many people set themselves up to lose, working hard yet giving anambivalent message to the universe about whether or not they really want
money . Thoughts like “I want it, but I shouldn’ t want it, so I guess no, I don’t
really want it; but actually I do want it, but I don’t want to admit that I want
it” indicate ambivalence. This confusing mix of thoughts inevitably brings
forth a confusing mix of experiences. Many people fail to manifest money
because on some deep level they don’ t think they should. Having been taught that pover ty is holy, perhaps they think that rich
people are therefore not holy. Having been taught that wealth is a finite
resource, some people think that to manifest money for themselves is, by
definition, to take money away  from someone else. Whatever their reason
is, many people don’t think it’s okay to desire money . And if you disown
the desire, you literally disown the money . THIS BOOK  DEALS  not only with how we attract miracles, but also with how
we deflect them. Judgment is one of the biggest barriers to our own
miraculous breakthroughs. If we judge someone else for having wealth,
then we’ll subconsciously sabotage our own. If we have the idea that
somehow it’s more pure to be poor, then that’s most probably what we’ll
manifest. I once received a letter from a woman named Judy, who ran a business
called Café Joy. She told me she was despondent because her café was
getting ready to close. She owed her landlord money , and a neighboring
business was making an unfair play for her space. She wrote:
 
We’ve been working hard for four years to keep this place going. This
place is so speci al, and I would be devastated to lose it all. Not only do
we serve healthy food, but we created what many people say is a
beautiful, peaceful place. We also created a community and supported
and brought together artists, as well as neighbors and colleag ues, . . . becoming a very special, important place to people in our neighborhood. It was never a venture for money—the importance was always on
fellowship and good health—so I’m feeling sad and confused about why
it’s being taken from us  . . . and especially upset to lose the space to
people who are simply able to pay more. When Judy and I spoke, I loved her passion and vision for the café, but I
also noticed that she had some interesting attitudes about money , business,
and capitalism in general. As a business owner , she needed to make a profit
in order to stay afloat, yet she said things that made it clear she didn’ t
respect the effort to do so. She spoke of profit with a subtle disdain. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, as an operator of a small business
she was a capit alist; yet she also seemed to project onto all capita list
ventures that they’re an unethical rip-of f of the 99 percent! Judy was giving mixed messages to the universe, her conscious mind
saying  one thing and her subconscious hearing  another . In talking to her
further , I learned that she had both a degree in social work and a
background in the nonprofit world, as well as excellent business skills. Integrated, her past experiences  could have been a marvelous marriage of
values and mate rial aptitude. But those things were at war with each other
inside her. Judy  was operating in conflict with herself: she was a business
owner , yes, but it was almost as though she was ashamed  of the fact. It was
like she didn’ t want to admit to herself that the business had to make money
in order to survive, because somehow that would make the venture unholy
or impure. Judy’ s challenge was to make peace with the fact that her café required a
profit. And she could do that only by looking more deeply at why she’d
ever thought it shouldn’ t.
“I’ve never wanted to have more than the next person,” she told me, as
though her having more than other people somehow made less abundance
available to them. This picture of the financial world, in which we assume
that there are only so many pieces of the pie and if I have a slice then
there’ s less available to you, is called a zero-sum game . If I feel that by
asking you to pay me I’m ripping you off, of course I’ll feel guilty about
charging you money! This will then confuse the universal programming and
deflect my abundance. But if I feel that I’m providing an honorable service, asking for an
equitable and fair pay in return , then I can feel good about the exchange
because I’m increasing abundance for both of us. Fair exchange is a
spiritual, not just an economic, principle. As long as we’re making moneyrighteously , we’re not only receiving a blessing but also exten ding one to
others. The spiritual universe does not operate as a zero-sum game. In the realm
of spirit  there is infinite abundance, and my creativity does not take from
yours; in fact, it adds to yours. I provide energy through a service or
product, and you provide energy through the money you pay for it. With an
equitable exchange, both parties profit. Judy told me she’d prayed to be released from any resistance she had to
making money , and during our conversation we looked deeply at where the
resistance came from. Deeply embedded core beliefs, when they cause a
problem, aren’ t magically removed for us when we pray that the problem be
solved. Such beliefs are brought to consciousness  when we pray;  then it’s
our responsibility to surrender them and ask that they be removed. The
Holy Spirit will take from us only what we’re willing to release. Judy mentioned that she had a habit of saying to her customers— she even
had it written on the menu! —the words, “Thank you for your support.” I
tilted my head when I heard that, asking, “Why wouldn’ t you say, ‘Thank
you for your business’?”
She began to recognize what her resistance was—namely , her
unrecognized belief that there was something unfair or unrighteous about
making money . On one hand, she needed to make money in order for the
business to thrive, and she was well aware that she and those she employed
worked very hard and provided a beautiful service to the community . On
the other  hand, she had ambivalent feelings about receiving money. The war
raged within her , and so it raged at her café. Once again, everything we experience in the world is a reflection of our
thoughts. If you feel ashamed about celebrating money , don’t expect money
to celeb rate you. If your making money is a rip-of f of others, an
exploitation or unfair reach into someone else’s pocket, then as a righteous
person you won’ t feel good about it, nor should you. But Judy’ s café is what free-mar ket capitalism should be. There is nothing
there to be ashamed  of. (Many people don’t realize  that capitalism has
different faces in different industrialized societies. A critique of unethical
business practices is not an inherent critique of capitalism itself.) I asked Judy why she felt the need to hold her clientele in such a pitiful
light—as though  they were orphans in Oliver Twist rather than abundantadults. Was that really doing them a service, almost infantilizing  them in the
name of econom ic fairness? As a social worker , Judy had come in contact
with many peop le who were down and out and needed a helping hand;
perhaps she had brought into her work as a café owner an energy that had
been appropriate in her social work but was not necessarily appropriate
here. Her custom ers weren’ t coming to her for help; they were comin g to
her for her coffee! The Law of Divine Compensation would bring about every miracle she
needed: a way to settle righteously with her landlord, as well as a way to
reopen Café Joy. What Judy needed more than anything was to align her
thinking with the natural patter ns of the universe, and for that we prayed. She adopted a dif ferent attitude and opened herself to new beginnings. I’ve heard it said that prayer doesn’t change a situation for you so much as
it changes you for the situation. It changes the effects in your life because it
changes you on the level of cause. Heisenber g’s Uncertainty Principle states
that when the perceiver changes, that which is perceived then changes. The
fact that Judy achieved a new attitude meant— literally , not just figurati vely
—that opportunities she would not otherwise have experienced  would now
appear . If she’d stayed in “Ain’ t it awful,” “I hate my landlord,” “Damn the owner
of the business next door,” and “There’ s no hope now,” simply adding the
event to her “victim résumé,” the universe would absolutely have proved
her right. If we convince oursel ves that there is no hope, our subconscious
mind edits out of the picture any evidence that might prove otherwise. Hopelessness and negativity could have led to many different things for
Judy, none of them miraculous: depression, anxiety , bitterness, resentment,
anger , an attitude of victimizatio n, and many other forms of suffering. The
landlord had been a jerk, after all; the neighbor had been unethical; and the
customers at the old café had taken advantage of her. There were many
places where she could have tarried, had she chosen; fear has many
addresses. But Judy  wanted a miracle, and she was ready to receive one. In A Course
in Mirac les, it says that we can have a griev ance or we can have a miracle;
we cannot have both. Judy’ s job was to heal her mind, no matter how
difficult that task was, of false beliefs, anger , and resentment—and to
remember , as it says in A Course in Miracles,  that “there is no order ofdifficulty in miracles.” Those things she did assiduously . She looked at the
mistakes she had made in the past, she was open to correcting them, and she
was ready to move forward from a higher state of mind. Another thing Judy was being asked to give up was her attachment to
form. She had always been attached to the particular  neighborhood and the
particular  physical space of her old café. But the universe will never
support us in an attachment to form. Often we say, “I want my good to
come in this specific way”— this money , that job, this place to live, that
person, and so forth. But love is not form; it is content. God’ s promis e is not
that we will always get what we want. It’s that in all thing s love will
ultimately prevail. As a reflection of the Mind of God, the universe intends  that you self-
actualize, and sometimes that means not getting what you want in order  to
realize that you’re fine without it—which counterintuitively then paves the
way for you to attract that or something better! The universe was invested not in Judy’ s café, but in Judy’ s enlig htenment. Self-actualization involves detachment,  not attachment  to form; it
acknowledges that form is limit ed, but spirit is not. And that is why we let
go: we release our attachment to form so that universal substance can
rearrange it. We pray, “Dear God, I surrender . I’ve tried to control this
situation—I’ve worked as hard as I can—and now everything has fallen
apart. All I have left is to pray for a miracle. Please guide my thinking to a
higher place. Amen.” Spiritually , that’ s not the end, but the beginning. It’s almo st amus ing when doctors say, “We’ve done everything possible. All we can do now is pray,” as though God were simply our last resort, the
one we go to when all the really  powerf ul thing s have failed. After all,
what’ s the infinite power of the universe compared to our science and
technology and so forth? We activ ate our spiritual power  by praying from the first moment that an
idea presents itself:
 
Dear God,
May this business idea be of service to the gr eater good of all. If it is not the best use of my talents, please cast it fr om my mind. If it is the best use of my talents, please pave the way for its success.Guide all my thinking and my actions. Amen. Pray each day that your work be of service to the healing of the world:
 
Dear God,
May this business be a blessing on everyone who works her e and everyone
it serves. May it both bring and attract pr osperity and love. Amen. Remember: You are not asking that a force outside of you magically
change external circumstances; you are asking that a Divine Guide within
you change the nature of your thoughts. And when something in your
business goes wrong? Say this:
 
Dear God,
I know that Y ou ar e bigger than my business pr oblem, but by myself I
cannot fix this. Please guide my thinking, open my heart, and send me a miracle. Amen. Before Judy left my apartment that day, we walked out onto the balcony
and looked at the view of the city below . Looking into the distance, we
could see where  her café was, but we could also see other streets and other
neighborhoods. The point was obvious: God is not bound by form. Then changes began to happen as the shifts in her thinking bore fruit. It
wasn’ t too long before Judy found a perfect new location for her café. She
was able to make a decent settlement with her old landlord; a relative
impressed by her hard work and positive attitude  provided financing for her
move into the new place; and other forms of support came “out of the blue.”
All of this broug ht energy back to her personality , a smile back to her face,
and form back to her beloved idea of a café that was in service to its
community . Judy’ s internal abundance—her willingness to work hard, her
integrity , her love of her mission, her vigilance about her own thinking, andher faith—invoked the Law of Divine Compensation. What once appeared
to be a lack in her life turned into an even greater good. Our circumstanc es can shift, and they often do, but God’ s love is fixed and
unalterable. Love’s compensatory response to lack or limitation  of any kind
is built into the patterns of the universe. No matter what our problem is, the
universe is on it. Judy absorbed her loss; or more specifically , the Holy
Spirit absorbed it for her . OceanofPDF .comChapter 8
Spiritual Surrender
No one likes to worry about money . No one likes to lose their job. No one
wants to face the possibility of being broke. But these things happen. And,
when they do, they’re not random incidents. The Law of Cause and Effect is the building block of the unive rse. Every
effect has a cause, just as every cause has an effect. And the original,
primary level of cause is though t. In other words, thought is the initial cause
of everything that happens, and thought is the initial cause of any effort to
change it. We read in the book of Genesis that the world began  when “God
spoke.” His thoughts created the universe, and continually recreate it. Thoughts of love are cause with a capital C; thoughts of fear are cause
with a little c. C thoughts have dominion over c thoughts, because love is
real and fear is not; love comes from God, fear does not. Any appearance
produced by fear-based thinking is happening only within the worldly
illusion, and illusions cannot stand in the presence of love. We experience who we r eally ar e, and what it is we’r e
meant to do, in any moment when we pour  our love into
the universe. Your natural state is external prosperity , because your intern al state is
spiritually prosperous. By extern al prosperity I don’t necessarily mean great
wealth as the world defines it, but a level of material sustenance that does
not include lack or fear .Beyond the veil of illusion that is our perceptual framework lies a
universe of miracles. That universe is not a dream world. It is our spiritual
home to which we are destined  to return—not at some later date, after we
die or after many  lifetimes of effort, but every instant of our lives. Our heart
is the compass that leads us there. The universe of miracles is where our
soul truly lives, even in our mortal forgetfulness. It is not a meta phor, but an
actual dimension of consciousness. It is the holy grail of the spiritual quest. A shift in think ing from fear to love is the miracle. A miracle is not a
supernatural event. It is metaphysical. (“Meta” means beyond:  thus
metaphysical reality refers to a reality that is beyond the physical.) There is
nothing supernatural about love or its effects; in fact, love is our true natural
state of being. The thinking of the world is simply upside down, with the
naturalness of love feeling almost unnatural at times and the unnaturalness
of fear feeling natural. The most powerful, liberating thing we can do is to
break from the fear-based thinking that dominates the world—to surrender
the mind-set the world has taught us and accept a new one instead. THERE ARE TIMES  when what we thought was our very best thinking drove us
straight into a ditch. Sometimes, though we played what we thought were
our best cards, we still went bust. We did what we thought we should do,
and we still lost everything. We tried our best, and we still ended up with
disaster looming. That’ s when we’re ready to do the one thing we’ve been terrified to do:
admit to ourselves that we’re  out of ideas, that we need help we’re
incapable of providing for ourselves. Then we find—somewhere around the
time when our knees hit the floor—that this isn’t when it’s all over;  this is
when it all begins . What begins? Our awareness of who we really are, Who
walks with us, and why we’re here. We experience who we really are, and what it is we’re meant to do, in any
moment when we pour our love into the universe. That’ s the moment when
we finally “arrive,” cultivating an attitude in which we see ourselves as here
to serve a greater plan than our own, as vessels through which the love that
is the heart of all things flows through us to bless the world. This isn’t
something to announce to every one we meet, obviously , but it’s something
that any of us can think about and act on.Opening oursel ves fully to love is much different than the “success
mentality” taugh t by the world. No taking the bull by the horns, no trying to
push other people out of the way so you can be number one, no desperate
struggling to get to the top of the heap. As children of God,  each of us
already is at the top of the heap. The only real top of the heap is love, and
love is what we are. In recognizing that you’re here only to love, you realize that as long as
you do that, you’re already a success. And love doesn’ t have to be
something grand . As Mother Teresa said, “There are no great deeds; there
are just small deeds done with great love.” It might be a kinder  greeting to
the checkout person at the grocery store, or an apology to someone whose
feelings you’ve hurt, or a simp le expression of kindness, compassion, or
forgiveness. The point isn’t just what you give when you love, but also what you open
yourself to receive. As you send love out, the universe will send love back. It’s simply the Law of Cause and Ef fect. WHEN WE THINK  of ourse lves as channels for the infinite creative energy of
the universe, we think higher thoughts than “How will I get a job?” We’re
lifted to a realm of consciousness where questions like “How  can I best
serve the world? ” take precedence over “What can I get out of this?” Within
that realm, we naturally do get a job, we naturally do create money , and we
naturally do produce an outer prosperity that reflects the prosperity in our
hearts. This doesn’ t mean we don’t have to do the footwork. But our feet
become guided by a wisdom we might not have even known we had. We do this not just to make money or even to get employment; we do this
in order to live in the flow of a meaningful, joyful life. In a very real way,
money is the least of it. We’re here to do work that exists on a higher plane
than mere money . That doesn’ t mean money isn’t to be respected, or dealt
with appropriately , responsibly , and with moderation. It is, and we will
suffer accordingly when we fail to remember that. But money itself is
neither good nor bad. It is a material thing that, like all material things, is
infused with holiness if created righteously and used for holy purposes . The way to abundance is to surrender our abilities and talents, asking that
they be used by God to help heal the world. Too many people feel that theyhave talent but simply don’t know where to put it. We’re not raised in a
society that asks, “What are your gifts, and how can they make the world a
more beautiful place?” We’re usually asked something more like this:
“What will you do to make a living?” This knocks us out of our natural
rhythm, because  the soul simpl y doesn’ t think that way. There  is no more
natural proclivit y than to serve  love. Something very powerful happens
when we pray, “Dear God, please use me.” Making ourselves available to
the universe for its loving purposes, we are taken up on our offer
immediately . When anything—money included—is separated from our natural
proclivities, the miraculous universe is thrown off course. As long as we
make love our bottom line, then our lives will naturally prosper . Sometimes,
what will later make us a fortun e arrives first as a creative impulse that no
one would necessar ily think profitable at the time. Do something not
because you think it might make money; do it because it makes your heart
sing. The biblic al injunction “Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and all
else will be added unto you” means “Embrace the realization of your
oneness with all things, and everything that could contribute to your good
will emer ge from the power of that thought.”
One day, you might find yourse lf called to a task that makes no money at
all. But if it contributes to your stature as a human being, to your character
and integrity; if it teaches you about yourself and the world; if it provides
you an opportunity to show up fully for life—then it was a prosperous
activity . Another  day, you might  find yourself in a job you don’t really love,
and yet if you’re honest with yourself you realize it’s teaching you
discipline, or humility , or responsibility—necessary lessons in order to
attract and manage money correctly . Money comes from the universe and will arrive when it’s created, not just
by a material cause but by the energy of righteousness. Righteousness
means “right use” of the mind, and the only right use of the mind is love. The universe knows what our needs are and is programmed to provide for
them. When you start asking, “Have I provided for love’ s needs?” more
frequently than you ask, “Has love provided for my needs?” then the
miracles that occur naturally in the presence of love will fall at your feet
and into your hands.To the ego mind, surrender means giving up. To the spiritual mind,
surrender means  giving in and receiving. Once we’re there, inside the holy
place where all is inner riches, the outer gold of worldly prospe rity appears
in a miraculous way. It comes inviting us to use our wealth responsibly and
to share it generously , as the universe so shared it with us. Dear God,
I surr ender to Y ou who I am, what I have and what I do. May my life and talents be used in whatever way serves Y ou best. I surr ender to Y ou my failur es and any pain still in my heart. I surr ender to Y ou my successes, and the hopes that they contain. May the Light of Y our Love shine deep within my heart,
and extend thr ough me to bless the world. Amen. OceanofPDF .comChapter 9
Transcending Fear
None of this “love and it will all be okay” stuff sounds attractive , or even
sane, to the ego mind. Yet our spiritual task in life is to overcome the ego. The ego is the mind of
fear. It is our own mental power turned against ourselves. It is the part of us
that thinks that we have to struggle to get ahead, that we must compete with
everyone else, that there is only so much success to go around. But the ego mind is not the truth of who we are, and what it says is not
true. It is our own self-hatred masquerading as self-love. The ego purports
to help us while actually luring us into the anxious hell of confused and
confusing thoughts. The ego consi sts of—and perpetuates—the chronic, self-destructive
patterns by which we sabotage ourselves, blow opportunities, destroy
relationships, and undermine ourselves in a myriad of ways. Yet these self-
defeating patter ns don’t announce themselves as such. The ego is very
seductive. It comes in the guise of responsible considerations, telling us
something is reasonable that only later we realize wasn’ t reasonable at all; it
just seemed, for some insane reason, like a good idea at the time. The ego, or  fear -mind, is the false belief that we ar e
separate fr om God. The egoic fear-based thinking of the world (which is 180 degrees away
from the thinking of God) falls like a veil in front of our eyes, obscuringwhat is real. So how do we transcend the ego and lift the veil? This veil of
illusion is automatically lifted when we remember who we are and why
we’re here. The key to power in any situation is to be clear  about two
things: Who am I, really? And why am I here? Those two questions,
answered correctly , give you the power to work miracles. Your mind is holy, because it is a creation of God. It was created for the
purpose of extending His love into the world. Your work is geared to
success to the extent that it is dedicated to love’ s purposes. Remember this,
and your mind will be filled with an impenetrable power . Until and unless we align oursel ves with spiritual truth, we are vulnerable
to ego thoughts. According to A Course in Miracles,  with every thought we
are either host to God or hostage to the ego. I remember years ago telling myself I didn’ t have to worry about the devil. I had realized that there was no evil force out there stalking the planet for
human souls, that that idea was all in my mind. But then I realized that this
is the wors t place it could possibly  be. It’s not like good news or something
that the only place darkness exists is inside your head. The ego is a constant temptation , dwelling in all of us, to perceive without
love. It creates a limitation; then it would have us believe that the limitation
is insurm ountable. It manufactu res a problem; then it would convince us
that the problem is intractable. The fact that the ego is inside your mind in
no way means that it’s your friend. On the other hand, the fact that it’s
inside your mind means that you yourself can change it ! A MAN AT one of my lectures once told me that he’d lived a happy life as a
piano teacher , but with the recession hitting people so hard, he wasn’ t
teaching enough  students to be able to make a living. Dan said he had
prayed for a miracle. So far, so good. Not long afterw ard, he received notification about a job
that had opened  up in an educational institution near where he lived, a job
that seemed to fit his qualifications. He had been highly recommended for
the position and felt certain that he had a good chance of getting it. Okay . Still so far, so good. The Law of Divine Compensation seemed to
be doing its thing. But then the ego went to work.Here is how Dan described his process of thinking: The problem, he told
himself, was that such jobs as this are too political, too fraught with
institutional drama, and he would have to play a certain kind of game in
order to vie for the position. After much consideration, he decided not to
apply . Notice how the ego wormed its way into his thinking: Yes, I prayed for a
miracle, but I decided that what came my way wasn’ t good enough. If it
were really a miracle, it would look exactly as I had imagined it. Judgme nt
set in, and the miracle was blocked. Notice how sly the ego is here, deflecting the opportunity in the name of
values . It would have him think that his fear-based choice was somehow
ethically superior . What would a miracle-minded process look like instead? First, once you
pray for a miracle, consider it done. Second, be alert for the universe to
show you an opportunity , even if it doesn’ t look like what you’d expect . The
fact that a possible solution to your problem comes in a form that your ego
hadn’ t planned is usually more rather than less of a sign that it’s coming
from God. I asked Dan how he could be sure politics would actually be involved. The
scuttlebutt on the street that the situation was “political” was based on past
situations that didn’ t even pertain to him. It wasn’ t necessari ly true, and
even if it had been, it didn’ t have to apply to him in the present. How could he be certain of what this situation might be befor e he even
opened himself to the experien ce? He was like someone whose doorbell
rang and who, without even opening the door, presumed to know who was
on the other side, what that person was wearing, and what he or she was
there for—so he decided not to open the door! It’s not enough that miracles are always coming at us; we must be
receptive, or “miracle-ready .” To receive miracles, we must have an open
mind as well as an open heart. The ego would close both. Being open to miracles is a discipline and an art. We should beware of
thinking that we’ll know what a miracle will look like, what shape it will
take, or what form it will come in; in fact, the very nature of miracles is that
they represent the interruption of a pattern, a discontinuation of the status
quo. The Law of Divine Comp ensation forges a new trajectory , one that
isn’t based on the past but rather only on God’ s love for you. God does notknow of limits, nor bow before  the ego’s dictates of scarcity and lack. He
doesn’ t share the ego’ s shabby assessment of you, and neither should you. How do we get rid of our menta l intruder? The ego isn’t something to get
rid of, because in actuality it doesn’t exist. It’s simply a mortal hallucination
that we’ve all bought into. It is the absence of love, the same way darkness
is the absence of light. When we turn on light, darkness disappears; and
when we turn on love, the ego disappears. Whatever we devote to truth will
be able to withstand lies. ACCORDING TO A Course in Miracles,  we think we have many different
problems, but we really have only one: our separation from God. Several years ago, after one of my talks, a man came up to me and said,
“All this ‘lean on God’  stuff isn’t me.” I told him that, in my own life,
whenever I haven’ t leaned on God,  I’ve found myself leaning on something
or someone I’d have been better of f not leaning on! It is not a weakness to lean on the power of the universe that resides
within us. It is a myth that we can be the lone hero, not depending on
anyone or anything else. The soul leans . That is part of its nature. Idolatry is when we lean on something or someone that is not in fact the
source of our ultimate good, thinking for some insane reason that it is. This
is an almost inevitable temptati on for all of us, living as we do in a world
where the material plane is deemed the only true reality . This mistaken thought—that the material world is our salvati on—is the
insanity at the heart of all error . It is the ego’s central delusion. In our work
lives, this delusi on can lead to various errors: fear masquerades as humility;
irresponsible behavior masque rades as reasonable risk; overspending
masquerades as an attitude of abundance; unethical advertising
masquerades as “no big deal;” financial shenanigans masquerad e as merely
“how things are done.”
Our connection to the spiritual plane is the antidote to the ego’s insanity . It
gives us a sense of wisdom, scale, and righteousness. It gives us confidence
and power . It is the prayer that our work be used by God to make the world
a better place. Bob Dylan captured this truth in his song “Gotta Serve Some body”: “It
may be the devil or it may be the Lord / but you’re gonna have to servesomebody .” Not serving someone or something is not an option. Pray to
serve the universe, and the universe will serve you. That which is proactively place d in the service of love is prote cted from
the grips of fear. That which is proactively placed in the service of deep
sanity is protected from the grips of neurosis. That which is proactively
placed in the service of what is good, holy, and beautiful is protected from
the forces of destruction. Take yourself, your work, and the God within you seriously—dedicate
yourself daily , hourly , even moment by moment to love’ s purposes—and
the ego won’ t have a chance. It knows a holy mind when it sees one. Dear God,
I dedicate to Y ou my talents and abilities. May they be used in a way that serves Y our purposes. I surr ender to Y ou my business and finances. May my work be lifted to its highest possibility ,
As a blessing on all the world. Amen. OceanofPDF .comChapter 10
Positivity
Most people realize the deleteriou s effects of negativity in the workplace;
whining, comp laining, anger , and general nay-saying create obvious
barriers to accomplishment. Whether it’s an individual complaining that the
system “won’ t let me succeed ,” or someone piping up to insist that a
creative idea “simply can’t be done, so let’s not even talk about it,” negative
attitudes stop miracles in their tracks. While the power of negativity is clear to most everyone, the power of
vigorous positivity receives short shrift in comparison. Positiv ity is more
than the absence of the negative ; it is the presence—through thought, word,
and actio n—of the positive. In other words, simply not being negative is not
enough. If we’re interested in creating miracles, in invoking the most
powerful creative manifestation, we must proactively be positive . There are
three types of positive attitude that make all the difference: positivity about
other people, positivity about possibility , and positivity about ourselves. LET’S BEG IN BY looking  at positivity about other people. After all, few of us
achieve anything by ourselves. An array of employers, employees,
colleagues, associates, customers, and so forth form a matrix of
relationships at the heart of any worldly success. Think of your  work life, ther efore, not as separate  from
your  spiritual life but as central  to your  spiritual life.Whatever  your  business, it is your  ministry . Every relationship either gives energy to us or withholds energy from us,
according to what we give to or withhold from it. And it’s not only our
behavior toward  others, but our very thoughts about them, that builds and/or
destroys relationships. Since all minds are joined, everyone subconsciously
knows everything. Thinking positively about those we work with (or would
like to work with) has a miraculous power . When we think of someone with
love, we are making soul contact, thus invoking the express ion of that
person’ s highest  self. That in turn increases the possibility that he or she
will meet us on the level of our own highest self, bringing greater chances
of high-level syner gy and creativity between us. Thinking lovingly about someon e is a far more sophisticated measure than
simply visualizing a positive outcome of a business relationship. In fact,
that’s not even so positive, necessarily , unless our core intention is service
to the other. Thinking positively  about someone spiritually means blessing
that person, praying for his or her happiness, and praying that we be an
instrument of greater good in that person’ s life. No matter what situation brings people together , on the spiritual plane
every relationship is an assignment. We’re brought toget her by an
intentional universe for one reason only: the enlightenm ent of all
concerned. Whether our conne ction is through work or family , a casual
encounter or a lifelong involvement, the purpose of every relatio nship is the
healing of the world. The ego would separate our thoughts of work from our thoughts of the
sacred, positing that work is material and God is spiritual, and therefore the
twain do not meet. Since the world itself is merely a projec tion of our
thoughts, howev er, there is no ultimate separation between our spirit,  i.e.,
loving thought, and anything that we do. Separating our thoughts of work
from our thoughts of spiritual devotion is thus personally disempowering,
because it throws us out of the spirit mind and into fear. In fear, we forget
who we really are. Forgetting who we are, we forget Who lives within us. And in forgettin g Who lives within us, we lose conscious conne ction to our
power . Through remembering Who lives within us, and dedicating
ourselves to His purposes, we achieve miraculous results.Think of your work life, therefore, not as separate  from your spiritual life
but as central  to your spiritual life. Whatever your business, it is your
ministry . Every relationship, every activity , every circumstance is part of
your ministry , to the extent that you think of it that way. Such devotion
uplifts the vibration of your thinking, thus improving the experience that
others have of you and that you have of them. Through our physical eyes, a group of people working together are seen as
discrete and separate entities, related only through the sheer coincidence
that they happen to all be working at the same place at the same time. Indeed, if this were a random universe, then that would be so. But it is not a random universe, and everyo ne is wherever he or she is
through divine assignment. That assignment does not necessarily mean that
the situa tion should remain as it is: sometimes love’ s lesson is learning to
say no. But one way or another , there is meaning to everything that occurs. Lessons come in many different  forms, and for everyone in a situation, the
lesson is different. For one person, the lesson might be to contribute more. For another , the lesson might be to be kinder . For one, it might be to listen
more. For another , it might be to speak up more. For another , it may even
be to leave. No matter what the circumstance, however , working  together is
an oppo rtunity for growth for everyone involved. And all growth is a
conduit of miracles. I once attended a business meet ing with a group of people trying to get a
new project off the ground. The conversation centered on money: Where
were they going to get money? How would they raise money to fund the
project? How could they get people to invest? Sitting with the group, I kept thinking how much hidden gold was right
there at the conference table. The gold was simply not mined—in fact, no
one seemed to realize it was even there. Every person at the table carried
within them priceless treasures in the form of ideas and creativity . How do I
know this? Because as children of God, we all do . Modern civiliza tion hasn’ t scratched the surface of truly liberating our
human potential , because an overly secular worldview doesn’ t recognize  the
deepest human potential. As a consequence, we continue to project onto
external sources —money and what it can buy—the idolatrous notion that
we need those sources in order to create success. In fact, it’s the other way
around. It’s when we open the doors to true success—sharing our passionand ideas in service to a higher good, each person invited to express his or
her unique contribution to the whole—that any material means necessary to
support the work will be miraculously brought forward by a self-or ganizing
universe. Once the energy is potent enough, the business deal will arrive by
itself. Energy can create wealth, but wealth of itself cannot create energy. No
amount of money , technology , or strategy can equal the value of passionate
people brainstorming new possibilities. Material wealth emer ges from the
nonmaterial source of human imagination and passion—passion for an idea,
a purpose, a possibility of something as yet unseen. Such passion cannot be
bought, but only inspired. A salary alone does not generate human
enthusiasm, at least not for long. Human enthusiasm isn’t created  by money
so much as it creates  money . Yet there was no container at that conference table into which people
could pour their hearts, much less their ideas. No one was asking them
about themselve s, or their deeper creative visions. What was missing,
ironically , was something that costs no money at all: the consciousness of
genuine concern. That concern is the essence of true leaders hip. A real
leader is not the top dog who merely shouts down orders. A leader is one
who holds the space for the brilliance of others. Many years ago, a young man who worked for me spoke about his job this
way: “We’re over there across the street, making the audiotapes, and no one
ever comes over to ask us how we are or even notice that we exist.” I was
stunned. An elephant had been sitting next to me that I hadn’ t even realized
was in the room. What had I been thinking, exactly? If someone on my team could be that
unhappy , that untended to, how could I think that this enterprise was really
going to produce  in the world? In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “the end
is inhere nt in the means.” No company or organization filled with unhappy
people will ultimately rise to its highest potential. We’re all selective with our application of spiritual principles until we’re
not, and for years I failed to see the ministry aspect of the workp lace itself. I
had a profound concern for my audience and their needs, yet a twisted view
of what I owed or didn’ t owe to people who were there to help me serve
them.Our workplace can be the ego’s lair, or the spirit’ s sanctuary . It can be an
easy home for attitudes of disrespect, entitlement, arrogance, laziness,
exploitation, disloyalty , and greed. But the workplace can also be a
beautiful home for the most positive energies, should we proactively choose
to expre ss them. Our egos are more vigilant in monitoring the sins of others
than in identifyi ng our own; we’re quick to point out where we think others
are making mistakes and someti mes slow to look at our own. The employer
finds it easier to blame the employee; the employee finds it easier to blame
the employer . The seeker , on the other hand, seeks no blame at all, but
simply understanding and transformation. As for the young man who told me I didn’ t seem to care whether or not he
existed, his comment opened up a floodgate of realization on my part. I had
failed him as an employer , and I knew it. It took me years to understand that
every workplace should be a positivity team. Every employee has a right to
feel appreciated for his or her gifts, and every employer has a right to
expect the highest standards of excellence. How might the leader of the business meeting mentioned above have
mined the gold of his employees? Before he went into the meeting, he
might have said a prayer for everyone who was going to be at the meeting,
or salute d them  internally in whatever way was true for him. During the
meeting, he could have looked at everyone in turn, thinking, “The love in
me salut es the love in you.” (Obviously , it wouldn’ t have been appropriate
to say such a thing aloud!) No one would have known, on a conscious level,
that anything at all had occurred. But on an invisible, miraculous level,
everyone at the table would have been lifted into a higher psychological and
emotional alignment. Having been inwardly saluted, the group members
would have felt invited to share their gifts. If you’re interested in building a positivity team, let’ s start now:
Write down on a piece of paper every person with whom you’ve worked
in your past—em ployees, employers, coworkers, customers, agents, clients,
and so forth. Closing your eyes, allow them to appear in your imagination
like a queue of people waiting in line at a movie. For that’s exactly what
they were, except that they weren’ t lining up to see a movi e; they were
lining up to be in  a movie: the movie of your life ! As you think of those individu als from your past, remember that every
relationship is an assignment, in which people are drawn together becausethey represent a maximal and mutual opportunity for soul growth. Whether
you liked particular individuals or not is irrelevant; whether they liked you
or not is irrelevant. What is relevant is that you see now whatever lesson
you might have failed to learn before, so that you will have no need to
repeat it. Within the inner  space of your mind, bow before every person standing in
the line. Within your heart, bless, apologize, and forgive wherever
necessary . And complete forgiveness is necessary , if we’re to attract and
produce miracle s. Thank each person for the blessing he or she gave you,
even if the blessing was in the form of a lesson learned. With each one, ask yourself, Did I do my best? Could I have done better? Could I have acted differently? And then place each relations hip into the
hands of God. Now see anothe r line of people, some of whom were also in the first line:
everyone you’re working with or could be working with now. Inwardly ,
bow before the spirit of each one. Acknowledge their gifts and thank them
for what they have done for you. Fill your heart with an attitude of
appreciation. Pray to be a vessel of love that invokes their fulfillment and
joy. Now imagine the people you would like to work  with: people you would
love to collaborate with or work  for. Know that they may or may not be the
actual ones who are meant to be on your path in life; they may simply
represent an image of the kinds of people who are doing the kinds of
projects you yearn to be part of. Whatever the vision, honor it and surrender
it to God. Pray that your energy expand to such an extent that it would be
natural  for you to find yourself in a room with such people, working and
creating with them. The only barriers that exist are the barriers within your
mind. Seek to remove your barriers to love, and miracles will replace them. The barriers will disappear into the nothingness from whence they came. Perhaps you can pray with your work team, but perhaps it wouldn’ t be
appropriate. Either way, you can pray each day for the happiness and
fulfillment of everyone you work with or wish to work with. Having done
that, you will have done your part. Miracles will follow . THE SECOND TYPE  of positivity concerns how we view possibility . A man
named Jonathon came to me one day quite depressed about money
problems. He always seemed to just scrape by, he said, and he wasn’ t even
doing with his life what he really wanted to do. He worked as a carpenter ,
yet he longed to be a musician. He was always putting out finan cial fires—
in fact, he was now facing a tax bill larger than he could pay—and he never
seemed to get it together as a musician. He said to me numerous times as we spoke, “I have an issue about being
taken care of. I never think that there will be enough.” My eyes usually
glaze over when I hear such explanations—first, because they’re self-
fulfilling prophe cies, and second, because the miracle is never in the past
but in the present. In God’ s universe there is always enough. The more I inquired about Jonathon’ s circumstances, the more I
discovered that he was not just a carpenter , he was considered an excellent
carpenter; yet he turned down most jobs he was offered. He did this, he told
me, because he really wanted to be a musician and he didn’ t want to give
the universe the wrong messa ge. He figured that if he did too much
carpentry work, his possibilities of a musical career would dry up. I pointe d out that from what he was telling me, there were no musical
opportunities at the moment, yet there was a tax bill! Metaphysically , it
didn’ t make sense to argue that if he worked to make money to pay his bills,
the universe would reward him by closing doors. Quite the opposite: any
time we show up for life with integrity and impeccability , doors open. The part of the story that most caught my attention was the fact that while
he had been praying for money , he had been turning down work! It’s like
the old story of the man who found himself in a storm, with floodwater
rising around him, and prayed to be rescued, yet turned down offered rides
in a car, a boat, and finally even  a helicopter , claiming, “God will take care
of me.” Soon he drowned and went to heaven. Upon meeting God he
upbraided Him,  complaining that in his hour of need God had not been
there for him. To which God responded, “What do you mean, I wasn’ t there
for you?! I sent a car; I sent a boat; I sent a helicopter  . . . !”
Jonathon, it seemed to me, had an odd concept of “being taken care of.”
We are taken care of, but as the sayin g goes, “God helps those who help
themselves.” It’s a cliché because it’s so often said, but it’s so often said
because it’ s true.Native Americans recognized that wherever there was a poison in the
forest, an antido te to the poison could be found within several feet. Usually ,
what we’re looking for is on some level right in front of us. The universe is
wired to give us what we need,  yet we have to show up for the experience
of life with a positive attitude  in order to experience its gifts. I’ve known
people who seemed to think that waking up in the morning, driving to work,
and show ing up at their desk should be enough. Well, it’s not. Our attitude
—a willingness  to bring all our emotional, psychological, material, and
intellectual resources to a job—makes all the difference. It’s not just what a
job brings to us that matters, but what we bring to a job. “I’ll do whatever it
takes”—and yes, even sometimes “I’m willing to do windows”—is the
attitude of a winner , not a loser . Jonathon saw carpentry as somehow beneath him, not recognizing what
seemed to me to be an obvious gift that had been laid in front of him. His
succeeding as a carpenter wouldn’t limit his possibilities as a musician;
carpentry was a way to make money , pay off his bills, and have some cash
so he could supp ort himself while he pursued whatever dreams  were in his
heart. By disparaging his own work, he was limiting the possibilities in
front of him. That shift in perception would be his miracle. It doesn ’t matter whether we’re contributing to the universe as a carpenter
or a musician, a teacher or an artist, a janitor or a caretaker , a parent or a
salesperson. What matters is our consciousness while we’re doing it: our
willingness to be of service in whatever way is presented, seeing nothing as
either above us or beneath us, yet important because it’ s in front of us. We should never say yes or no to anything without reflection and
contemplation. For the higher purpose of a situation is not always obvious,
but it is always there. In a universe where God’ s handwriting is everywhere,
we never have to worry that life will lead us away from our greater good. It
will always lead us into our greater good, as we proactively and positively
bring to it the fullness of ourselves. THE THIRD TYPE  of posit ivity concerns how we look at ourselves. A Course
in Mirac les tells us that all the children of God are special, and none of the
children of God are special. We’re all imbued with the same potential
brilliance, becau se we’re all imbued with the spirit of God. Thinking thatyour talent or your abilities make you special will produce fear, because
such thinking posits a separation between you and others. Separation
between you and others means separation between you and God, and
separation from God produces not power , but rather a hidden hysteria. “I’m
better than anyone else” is not actually a success-oriented thought form;
“I’m personally no big deal, but I’m here so I guess I’m the one who’ s
supposed to be channeling the genius of God in this particular situation” is
better . It’s humble, not arrogant, to realize that the genius of God lies within
you. Just remember that the genius itself is not in you any more than in
anyone else. Our job isn’t to create our geniu s—we couldn’ t, by the way—but to make
ourselves availa ble to God’ s. Yes, we must work at what we do, make
efforts to improve our skills and so forth, for spirit can channel only through
a prepared vessel. But once we’ve made the preparations we’re called to
make, we can surrender the ultimate performance of a task and allow the
Holy Spirit to flow through us. Our power as miracle-workers in the workplace is to pray that we be used
—that our hand s, our feet, our minds, and our behavior be of service to a
greater good. That we be empty vessels through which God will produce
His extraordinary wonders. We’re simply here to serve a higher plan for the
enlightenment of the world, and therein lie our happiness and success. A friend of mine is a brilliant television writer . I’ve read her scripts and
I’m blow n away  each time. But when she talks about having to pitch one of
those scripts to a TV network executive, you’d think she was about to get
twenty cavities filled with no Novocain. It’s one thing to work like the
consummate professional she is, on the writing itself; that, I admire greatly . But the angst and nervousness before every pitch meeting; that, I question. For the One who sourced the writing will also lead the meeting, if she will
let Him! In A Cours e in Miracles,  it’s written that we should be less
concerned about our own readiness, and more consistently aware of His. There is a story in the Gospel of Thomas in which Jesus tells his disciples
to go into the countryside and “teach the gospel” (by which he meant
simply , “demonstrate love”). Wanting more specific direction, they ask him
what they should say, to which  he responds, “I’ll tell you when you get
there.”Think about that story in light of my scriptwriter friend. Her most
powerful preparation for a meeting with a TV executive would be,
obviously , to write the best script possible. But after that? Surrender the
meeting. Pray for whoever is going to be there. Ask that everything that
happens in the meeting serve  the highest creative possibility for all
concerned. Know that she doesn’ t have to decide in advance every word
she’s going to say at the meeti ng, because He Who lives within her will
reveal all things with a miraculous quality she can’t possibly formulate with
her rational mind. Her greatest power lay in empty ing her mind of all thoughts— aiming for
the Zen “beginn er’s mind”—and  praying that they be replaced by His. Once
she’d done her work and had all the information she needed in her
conscious mind,  her subconscious could take it from there. Her mind could
formulate a pitch, but only her spirit could be inspired and inspire others. In summation, there are four rules for miraculous work creation: Be
positive. Send love. Have fun. Kick ass. Amen. OceanofPDF .comChapter 11
Job vs. Calling
One of the most positive transitions you can make is from viewing your
work as a job to viewing it as a calling. A job is an exchange of energy in
which you do a material task and someone provides money in exchange. A
calling, however , is an organic field of energy that emer ges from the
deepest aspects of who you are. It is the fulfillment of what God has created
you to be and do. Approaching your work as a job versus appro aching it as
a calling makes all the difference in whether or not you dwell in the
miraculous universe. You have a calling simply because you are alive. You have a calling
because you are a child of God. You have a calling because you’re on this
earth with a divine  purpos e: to rise to the level of your highest creative
possibility , expressing all that you are intellectually , emotionally ,
psychologically , and physically in order to make the universe a more
beautiful place. As you do this, your entire life becomes your ministry—a way to serve
God and to serve the world. The best way to summon your  true calling is to put
yourself in service to God. If you’re thinking of money only as something you get in exchange for
doing a job, then you’ll never be free of limited thought forms surrounding
money . We are heir to the laws that rule the world we identify with. If youidentify only with the material  plane, you place yourself at the effect of
pretty severe economic realities of scarcity and lack. If you identify with the
spiritual plane, you’re under no laws but God’ s.
“I’m looking for a job,” “I’m trying to figure out what I should do,” and “I
don’t know how I’m going to make ends meet” are sentences that confuse
the universe. A child of God doesn’ t have to “look for a job”; a child of God
doesn’ t have to “figure out what to do”; a child of God doesn’ t have to
worry about “how ends will meet.” A child of God is simply a magnet for
all things good. The you who thinks of life as a struggle , or a place where
you’re on your own, is not the real you. The real you already  has a God-
given function, and the universe is set up to support it. The best way to summon your true calling is to put yourself in service to
God. The following daily prayer is from A Cours e in Miracles:  “Where
would you have me go? What would you have me do? What  would you
have me say , and to whom?”
While a job is separate from the rest of our lives, a calling is a fulfillment
of the rest of our lives. By striving to be the best we can be, we create the
internal blueprint by which we do the best we can do. On a soul level, we
want  to work , we want  to creat e, we want  to be productive  and serve others
and share our gifts with the world. Often it is not external forms of obstruction that hold us back, but rather
internal ones. And nothing relea ses us internally more than the desire and
the willingness to serve. The world can give you a job, and a job can be taken away . But a true
calling puts you in a career zone that cannot be taken away . It reflects your
willingness to do what you feel inwardly led to do in order to help heal the
world. The universe then registers your true substance, your true
seriousness, and your true purpose. Some things you do will bring forth worldly wealth; other things you do
will not directly  bring forth wealth at all, but—being the right things to do
—will summon wealth miraculously from other sources. Losing a job does not mean losing your calling, because as a personal
ambassador of God, you have been given a permanent assignment. You are
here to represent Him who sent you, and He does not change His mind
about you. You are never unemp loyed by God. And that’s true not just about
you; it’ s true about all of us.Anything that appears to separa te us from each other is not the deepest
level of our identity. We all have  different jobs, but the same ministry . Some
of us are technic ians, some of us are mathematicians, some of us are writers
and artists, some of us are salesp eople, some of us don’t even work as work
is define d by the world—but our value, individually , is determined not by
what we do but by the consciousness with which we do it. We’re all here to be available channels for the love that heals all things. A
job takes a form,  but our ministry is content . Even if you lose your job, you
still have your ministry , because it is part of who you are. Your life has no
less value if you’re not employed as the world defines it. If you’re kind to
people, if you’re compassionate , if you pour your excellence into whatever
you’re doing, then you’re doing the job God sent you to do. From that will
emer ge the next form that’s needed to host the energies you’re bringing
forth. Does that mean you don’t have to “look for a job” as the world defines it? Of course you do! But you do it with a different consciousness. You don’t
show up for a job interview thinking, “How do I impress them? I really
need this job.” Rather , your process goes more like this:
1. You place your need for work in God’ s hands. Surrendering a situation to God means surrendering your thoughts  about
it. You’re programming your mind to think thoughts that are the most
creative, positive, insightful, and beneficial. You’re not giving up
responsibility or turning your power over to something outside yourself;
you’re taking the highest  respons ibility for your circumstances, asking God
to make your mind a literal touchstone for miraculous breakthroughs. You
walk forward in confidence that God provides. 2. While alert to every opportunity that presents itself, you put
enthusiastic  ener gy into brainstorming and creating new
possibilities. You remember that the universe is infinitely abundant, like an orchard
filled with fruit that’s just for you. But if you’re hung ry, you can’t simply
look at an orcha rd from the side of the road! The universe brought you theorchard; you yourself have to pick the fruit. You are willing to meet
opportunity with positivity and faith. 3. You pray and meditate, asking for internal guidance as to whom
to call, what to do, and so forth. When you meditate and pray, you literally emit different brain waves. You
receive impulse s of insight and creativity that do not flow easily into an
anxious mind. You enter the internal temple, the engine room from which
you generate the probabilities of success. “I’m too anxious to meditate” is
one of the most self-sabotaging  things we can say. When we meditate, we
stop being  anxious. 4. You realize that you can’ t know what or where your next job
should be. You trust that there is a perfect plan for the unfolding of your highest
good, which your rational mind cannot formulate. God’ s plan works, and
yours doesn’t.
_OceanofPDF.com_The_Law_of_Divine_Compensation_-_Marianne_Williamson.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        The time it takes for the materia l world to reflect our shift from fear-based
to miracle-mind ed thinking is symbolized in the Old Testament by the forty
years it took for the Israelites, after fleeing their slave condition, to reach
the Promised Land. It is expressed in the New Testament by the three days
after the crucifixion before Jesus rose. In the biblical stories of both Moses
and Jesus, the mind of one close to God became a cond uit for the
reconstruction of the mortal world. We, too, through the power of our
thinking, can radically shift our experience of the world. God loves us the same when we do the wise thing as when  we make
mistakes. His love for us is based not on our behavior but on who we are,
and He knows who we are—innocent within—because He made us thatway. When we make a mistake, it’s because in the moment we make it we
forget who we are, and His response to that is not to punish us but to correct
us. This doesn’ t mean you don’t have to do anything to make things right; in
fact, any lesson you might have failed to learn before, you will have to learn
now. The mercy of the universe lies in the fact that you are given the
opportunity to do that. You might not get a bigger paycheck right away; you
might have to humble yourself and make do with less for a while. You
might not be Mr. or Ms. Big Shot in a new position; you might have to be
brought down a few notches before you can make your next big move up. But you will see the handwriting of God in all of it, if you participate in—
rather than resist—the balancing of the spiritual scales. You will know in
your heart that this is a good thing, and you will be glad to earn your way
back into the abundant realm. Once you have reclaimed your inner
prosperity, the universe will begin the process of reclaiming it externally. You are internal ly programmed to rise to your highest creative possibility. Nothing you do can erase the yearning of your soul to achieve it, or the
yearning of the universe to give it to you. No deviation from love—on your
part or anyone else’s—can keep the universe from its divine intention that
your life be one of fullness and joy. According to A Course in Miracles,  any miracle you might have deflected
is “held in trust for you until you are ready to receive it. ” The universe has
an inbui lt insurance policy. Whatever you have lost is programm ed to return
—in another form, in another situation, in another town, or with other
people, perhaps, but through the power of atonement, it will return. Dear God,
I feel that I have failed. I feel that all my efforts have come to naught. I feel shame at the way my life has turned out. I do not know what to do or wher e to go. Please, dear God, r epair my heart,
Heal my mind, and change my life. Pave a way for me out of darkness into light. I atone for my err ors, and I pray for for giveness. Please do for me what I cannot do. Thank you, God. Amen. OceanofPDF. comChapter 7
Facing Our Prejudice
Another way we deflect wealth is through the unrecognizable belief that
it’s not really okay  to have  money. Just as some  people are prejudiced
against the poor, some are prejudiced against the rich. I suppor t the Occupy Wall Street movement, because over the last few
decades there has been a systematic dismantling of the appropriate
guarantees of economic justice in the United States. But I noticed, among a
few of the Occupiers I met, that their passion seemed to be less an
enthusiasm for the rights of all people to participate in the engine of
economic prosperity and more a knee-jerk criticism of anyone who does. This then leaves the movement open to all kinds  of erroneous criticism—
that supp orters of Occupy are anti-rich, and so forth. That’ s hardly the case. The message isn’t that people shouldn’ t be able to get rich in America; it’s
that the playing field should be so level that with enough hard work anyone
can. And money should be able to buy a lot of things in America; it just
shouldn’ t be able to buy our government. As long as we’r e making money righteously, we’r e not
only r eceiving a blessing but also extending one to others. No matter how much we strug gle for financial abundance, we’ll have a
hard time attaini ng it if we disapprove of those who have it. If we’re saying
one thing but thinking another, we’ll always end up with confused results. Many people set themselves up to lose, working hard yet giving anambivalent message to the universe about whether or not they really want
money. Thoughts like “I want it, but I shouldn’ t want it, so I guess no, I don’t
really want it; but actually I do want it, but I don’t want to admit that I want
it” indicate ambivalence. This confusing mix of thoughts inevitably brings
forth a confusing mix of experiences. Many people fail to manifest money
because on some deep level they don’ t think they should. Having been taught that pover ty is holy, perhaps they think that rich
people are therefore not holy. Having been taught that wealth is a finite
resource, some people think that to manifest money for themselves is, by
definition, to take money away  from someone else. Whatever their reason
is, many people don’t think it’s okay to desire money. And if you disown
the desire, you literally disown the money. THIS BOOK  DEALS  not only with how we attract miracles, but also with how
we deflect them. Judgment is one of the biggest barriers to our own
miraculous breakthroughs. If we judge someone else for having wealth,
then we’ll subconsciously sabotage our own. If we have the idea that
somehow it’s more pure to be poor, then that’s most probably what we’ll
manifest. I once received a letter from a woman named Judy, who ran a business
called Café Joy. She told me she was despondent because her café was
getting ready to close. She owed her landlord money, and a neighboring
business was making an unfair play for her space. She wrote:
 
We’ve been working hard for four years to keep this place going. This
place is so speci al, and I would be devastated to lose it all. Not only do
we serve healthy food, but we created what many people say is a
beautiful, peaceful place. We also created a community and supported
and brought together artists, as well as neighbors and colleag ues,. becoming a very special, important place to people in our neighborhood. It was never a venture for money—the importance was always on
fellowship and good health—so I’m feeling sad and confused about why
it’s being taken from us. and especially upset to lose the space to
people who are simply able to pay more. When Judy and I spoke, I loved her passion and vision for the café, but I
also noticed that she had some interesting attitudes about money, business,
and capitalism in general. As a business owner, she needed to make a profit
in order to stay afloat, yet she said things that made it clear she didn’ t
respect the effort to do so. She spoke of profit with a subtle disdain. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, as an operator of a small business
she was a capit alist; yet she also seemed to project onto all capita list
ventures that they’re an unethical rip-of f of the 99 percent. Judy was giving mixed messages to the universe, her conscious mind
saying  one thing and her subconscious hearing  another. In talking to her
further, I learned that she had both a degree in social work and a
background in the nonprofit world, as well as excellent business skills. Integrated, her past experiences  could have been a marvelous marriage of
values and mate rial aptitude. But those things were at war with each other
inside her. Judy  was operating in conflict with herself: she was a business
owner, yes, but it was almost as though she was ashamed  of the fact. It was
like she didn’ t want to admit to herself that the business had to make money
in order to survive, because somehow that would make the venture unholy
or impure. Judy’ s challenge was to make peace with the fact that her café required a
profit. And she could do that only by looking more deeply at why she’d
ever thought it shouldn’ t. “I’ve never wanted to have more than the next person,” she told me, as
though her having more than other people somehow made less abundance
available to them. This picture of the financial world, in which we assume
that there are only so many pieces of the pie and if I have a slice then
there’ s less available to you, is called a zero-sum game. If I feel that by
asking you to pay me I’m ripping you off, of course I’ll feel guilty about
charging you money. This will then confuse the universal programming and
deflect my abundance. But if I feel that I’m providing an honorable service, asking for an
equitable and fair pay in return, then I can feel good about the exchange
because I’m increasing abundance for both of us. Fair exchange is a
spiritual, not just an economic, principle. As long as we’re making moneyrighteously, we’re not only receiving a blessing but also exten ding one to
others. The spiritual universe does not operate as a zero-sum game. In the realm
of spirit  there is infinite abundance, and my creativity does not take from
yours; in fact, it adds to yours. I provide energy through a service or
product, and you provide energy through the money you pay for it. With an
equitable exchange, both parties profit. Judy told me she’d prayed to be released from any resistance she had to
making money, and during our conversation we looked deeply at where the
resistance came from. Deeply embedded core beliefs, when they cause a
problem, aren’ t magically removed for us when we pray that the problem be
solved. Such beliefs are brought to consciousness  when we pray;  then it’s
our responsibility to surrender them and ask that they be removed. The
Holy Spirit will take from us only what we’re willing to release. Judy mentioned that she had a habit of saying to her customers— she even
had it written on the menu. —the words, “Thank you for your support. ” I
tilted my head when I heard that, asking, “Why wouldn’ t you say, ‘Thank
you for your business’. ”
She began to recognize what her resistance was—namely, her
unrecognized belief that there was something unfair or unrighteous about
making money. On one hand, she needed to make money in order for the
business to thrive, and she was well aware that she and those she employed
worked very hard and provided a beautiful service to the community. On
the other  hand, she had ambivalent feelings about receiving money. The war
raged within her, and so it raged at her café. Once again, everything we experience in the world is a reflection of our
thoughts. If you feel ashamed about celebrating money, don’t expect money
to celeb rate you. If your making money is a rip-of f of others, an
exploitation or unfair reach into someone else’s pocket, then as a righteous
person you won’ t feel good about it, nor should you. But Judy’ s café is what free-mar ket capitalism should be. There is nothing
there to be ashamed  of. (Many people don’t realize  that capitalism has
different faces in different industrialized societies. A critique of unethical
business practices is not an inherent critique of capitalism itself. ) I asked Judy why she felt the need to hold her clientele in such a pitiful
light—as though  they were orphans in Oliver Twist rather than abundantadults. Was that really doing them a service, almost infantilizing  them in the
name of econom ic fairness. As a social worker, Judy had come in contact
with many peop le who were down and out and needed a helping hand;
perhaps she had brought into her work as a café owner an energy that had
been appropriate in her social work but was not necessarily appropriate
here. Her custom ers weren’ t coming to her for help; they were comin g to
her for her coffee. The Law of Divine Compensation would bring about every miracle she
needed: a way to settle righteously with her landlord, as well as a way to
reopen Café Joy. What Judy needed more than anything was to align her
thinking with the natural patter ns of the universe, and for that we prayed. She adopted a dif ferent attitude and opened herself to new beginnings. I’ve heard it said that prayer doesn’t change a situation for you so much as
it changes you for the situation. It changes the effects in your life because it
changes you on the level of cause. Heisenber g’s Uncertainty Principle states
that when the perceiver changes, that which is perceived then changes. The
fact that Judy achieved a new attitude meant— literally, not just figurati vely
—that opportunities she would not otherwise have experienced  would now
appear. If she’d stayed in “Ain’ t it awful,” “I hate my landlord,” “Damn the owner
of the business next door,” and “There’ s no hope now,” simply adding the
event to her “victim résumé,” the universe would absolutely have proved
her right. If we convince oursel ves that there is no hope, our subconscious
mind edits out of the picture any evidence that might prove otherwise. Hopelessness and negativity could have led to many different things for
Judy, none of them miraculous: depression, anxiety, bitterness, resentment,
anger, an attitude of victimizatio n, and many other forms of suffering. The
landlord had been a jerk, after all; the neighbor had been unethical; and the
customers at the old café had taken advantage of her. There were many
places where she could have tarried, had she chosen; fear has many
addresses. But Judy  wanted a miracle, and she was ready to receive one. In A Course
in Mirac les, it says that we can have a griev ance or we can have a miracle;
we cannot have both. Judy’ s job was to heal her mind, no matter how
difficult that task was, of false beliefs, anger, and resentment—and to
remember, as it says in A Course in Miracles,  that “there is no order ofdifficulty in miracles. ” Those things she did assiduously. She looked at the
mistakes she had made in the past, she was open to correcting them, and she
was ready to move forward from a higher state of mind. Another thing Judy was being asked to give up was her attachment to
form. She had always been attached to the particular  neighborhood and the
particular  physical space of her old café. But the universe will never
support us in an attachment to form. Often we say, “I want my good to
come in this specific way”— this money, that job, this place to live, that
person, and so forth. But love is not form; it is content. God’ s promis e is not
that we will always get what we want. It’s that in all thing s love will
ultimately prevail. As a reflection of the Mind of God, the universe intends  that you self-
actualize, and sometimes that means not getting what you want in order  to
realize that you’re fine without it—which counterintuitively then paves the
way for you to attract that or something better. The universe was invested not in Judy’ s café, but in Judy’ s enlig htenment. Self-actualization involves detachment,  not attachment  to form; it
acknowledges that form is limit ed, but spirit is not. And that is why we let
go: we release our attachment to form so that universal substance can
rearrange it. We pray, “Dear God, I surrender. I’ve tried to control this
situation—I’ve worked as hard as I can—and now everything has fallen
apart. All I have left is to pray for a miracle. Please guide my thinking to a
higher place.
Abundance and prosperity are not just about material wealth, but about being a vessel for God's love and serving the world.
What is the spiritual concept of abundance and prosperity, according to the author?
The author supports the movement, but notes that some supporters are misguided in their criticism of those who have wealth, and instead, they should focus on leveling the playing field.
What is the author's message about the Occupy Wall Street movement?
The author emphasizes the importance of self-actualization and serving a higher purpose, rather than just seeking external success.
What is the author's view on the concept of "success"?
The author argues that idolatry is when we lean on external sources or things, rather than the power of the universe.
What is the author's stance on the concept of "idolatry"?
The author emphasizes the importance of positivity, forgiveness, and humility in all aspects of life, including work and relationships.
What is the author's advice on how to approach work and relationships?