"Ask, and it shall be given
you;
seek, and ye shall find; knock,
and it shall be opened unto you."
Matt. 7.7.
MAN is never satisfied. This fact is deplored by many, but God
did not intend that man should be forever satisfied.
The law of his being is perpetual increase, progress, and
growth; so, when on good is realized, another desire for a
greater good will develop; and when a higher state is reached,
another and more glorious state will unfold his vision and urge
him on and on. Hence, the advancing life is the true life, the
life that God intended man to live. TOP
The law of good is universal; for, are we not all seeking GOOD
in some form or another? Science and logic alike declare that
the universe is filled with the essential substance of every
imaginable good that man can image, and that he is entitled to a
full and ever increasing supply of any and every good he may
need or desire. We believe, therefore, that it is right and good
for man to seek to gratify all pure desires and ambitions.
Here is the key to the law as Jesus gave it:
"What things so ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye
receive them and ye shall have them." Every person, consciously
or unconsciously, is operating this law in one or more of its
phases. It works universally and on every plane of life's
expression. We are all daily drawing into our lives the things
we most desire and expect, and whether we attract good things or
bad things, the principle operated is the same. But as we want
more of the good things in life and less of the bad, it will be
necessary to understand the law more perfectly, and so be able
to adapt our thinking to it in a more direct fashion. Thus we
secure the greater benefits that accrue from a conscious,
intelligent use of its power. TOP
We affirm repeatedly that God is our supply, and if we would
think a moment and trace our supply back to its source, we would
agree that the statement is true. The difficulty with some is
that they can more easily look to creature for the source of
their substance than to the Creator. We don't REALLY believe
that God is the source of our substance. We try to think it
true, and may theoretically accept it, yet there is an
uncertainty. It is hard for some to believe in something they do
not see. It is so much easier to believe in what we see. Now if
we can see plenty all about us, we are willing to believe it and
enjoy it. But later, as we are able to believe in the abundance
of good, we shall then see it and enjoy it. Thus at the outset
the question is, which comes first, seeing, or believing? As we
study the facts we shall learn that the latter conies first, and
the law is founded on our belief, which in turn determines our
sight.
People at one time believed in magic. Once they thought material
things could appear right out of the air from nothing and from
nowhere. They also believed that things could be made to
disappear into nothing. Science has long since refuted this idea
and proven such magic to be impossible, except when it is done
through some trick in chemistry, a sleight of hand, or an
optical illusion. NOTHING can ever become SOMETHING, nor can
SOMETHING ever become NOTHING. Substance can be converted,
transmuted, and changed in a million ways, but it can never be
destroyed. TOP
For example, if we plant an acorn in the soil, it will sprout
forth a tree. Each year the tree will bring forth leaves in the
spring and shed them in the fall. The leaves drop to earth and
become a part of the fertile soil. The tree lives for a hundred
years, dies, falls to the earth, and decays. This decomposed
timber slowly becomes part of the earth and is hardened into
peat and coal. The coal is mined and brought into the home as
fuel. Here it is consumed with fire and burned into ashes, and
the heat units thrown off are used to warm the home. The ashes
are again cast upon the earth, supplying food to the soil, which
finally nurtures another seed and causes it to sprout forth and
become in time another great tree. Following the cycle of the
substance of a tree, we find it changing form many times; we see
it giving off gases, heat units, chemicals of many kinds, and
yet if it were possible to be measured accurately, we would find
that not one tiny part has been lost. All the supply there ever
was, still is, and ever shall be, for nothing can ever be wasted
or lost. There can never be a shortage in supply.
Because some people do not see an abundance around them and do
not enjoy plenty is evidence that they do not understand or do
not apply the Law. In their blindness they say that plenty does
not exist, and so far as they can see, they may be right. But
when they learn to see with their mind's eye, they will realize
differently. TOP
There is a phase of the Law known as DEMAND and SUPPLY which is
found in every department of life. Years ago Thomas Edison
resorted to its use when he invented the first electric light.
When his carbon lamp was brought to the people as a new kind of
lighting, far superior to any method then known, did they
readily accept it? Many thought it ridiculous and too expensive.
They were using candles, oil lamps, and a small percentage of
gas lamps. Such light was plenty good enough. Hence, quite some
time elapsed before the public was educated to the advantages of
electricity over the old ways of light, heat, and power. Not
until the people were convinced of the advantages of this new
power did they invest in its future, build power houses, set up
poles, and string wires all over the town to factories and
homes.
How was all this accomplished? When there was a demand for the
need of electric power, the supply was forthcoming. Where did it
all come from? Out of the earth, out of the air, from water
power, steam power, gas, oil, and a thousand and one other
sources. It comes directly from Nature, whose foresight created
these materials in the earth. TOP
Once our forefathers were in style when they rode the stage, a
hack, or a carriage. It has not been so long since one was the
talk of the town if he owned a fast team of horses and a rubber
tired victoria or gig. Where are they now? Gone and almost
forgotten. The automobile has supplanted them. How did it all
happen? When people demanded a means of traveling with more
speed, greater comfort and luxury, necessity gave man an idea.
He thought of building a horseless carriage. He worked on the
plan, slowly developed it, and slowly educated the public to
accept the modern mode of transportation. One outstanding man
dreamed of the world rolling on wheels and set out to build a
car that the poor man could afford. Today the automobile has
become such an important factor in man's life that we wonder how
he could have ever progressed without it. You see, whenever man
has needed a certain thing in life, an idea has been first given
him in mind. He was inspired to develop the idea and then
materialize it by converting a piece of mud or metal into a
usable form. TOP
Why did people live so long content with the horse and carriage
and not enjoy the automobile? Because they could not imagine it.
Their minds were not trained to demand such a thing. Was the
supply available to build such a machine? There was as much
supply at hand then as now, in fact the supply has always been
there since the beginning. Thus, it was not God's fault that the
auto was so late in coming to man's need. It was man's fault
because he had been so long realizing the need. Where there is
no demand, there will be no evidence of supply. Our parents who
had a horse and buggy consciousness could not attract the new
mode of travel until they were able to enlarge their minds to
conceive the necessity of the automobile.
The secret of the Law lies in one's consciousness. A man's life
consists not in the abundance of the things he possesses, but in
the consciousness of that which he has. Man possesses the whole
world and all its wealth, yet is only able to enjoy what his
consciousness permits him to discern. Somewhere I read a story
of a man who lived outside of Pittsburgh and operated a small
farm and dairy. Day in and day out he worked laboriously to earn
a meager living for himself and his family. One day several men
who had been surveying some adjacent land walked across his
pasture land. When they were crossing a stream of water that ran
through the field, the farmer noticed them stopping, stooping
down, and studying the slime and scum that had collected against
the crude footbridge he had laid there. One man had scooped up
some water in his hand and apparently drank it. Another
collected some water in a canteen he carried attached to a
buckle on his belt. The farmer was puzzled and wondered why
anyone should be interested in that stuff; even the cattle had
no taste for it, for they pushed the scum aside to drink the
clear water. TOP
Some weeks later a man called and offered him a fabulous price
for the farm. Why, the man must be crazy, he thought, he could
never get his investment back by farming that ground had he not
tried it for years he was joyful at the prospects of getting
such value, and readily sold the farm. lie moved to Canada to be
near his brother and bought another farm. It wasn't long,
however, until some queer contraptions were set up on the field,
and word spread like wildfire that they had found oil. In a few
years that farm of less than one hundred acres produced millions
of dollars in oil for its owners. The farmer remained poor and
worked hard because he knew only how to scratch the surface and
till the soil. Nature had supplied an abundance for the man, but
he could realize only a scanty portion. He could see the farm
only as acres of stones and dirt. The Law is not at fault
because the man was poor and had to work so hard to earn a
living. Man will ever be poor as long as he demands of life a
meager living and sees in it a struggle, toil, hardship and
limitation.
The thing we dare not do is to fret and worry about supply or
about where our next dollar is coming from. Fretting and worry
tend to restrict and limit the supply at hand. They tend to
close off the outflow of substance, whether that flow is small
or large. Instead of lifting us out of limitation, instead of
improving our conditions or increasing our supply, they drag us
deeper into the throes of doubt and fear. Instead of expecting
more to follow, we grow tense and anxious, which increases our
fear and brings us less and less Instead of tightening up in our
thinking, we must relax and be more expanding. We must educate
our minds to a larger state of thinking. When we can think and
realize more abundance, we shall receive more abundantly. This
does not mean that the engineer is destined to be rich while the
farmer remains poor. There are poor engineers and rich farmers.
It is not the vocation that determines riches, but the demands
we make of our vocations that determine riches. As we are able
to think and to realize more abundance out of what we already
have, we shall not only expand our thinking, but receive more
abundantly. This is the basic principle of the Law. TOP
The magnet was not charged of itself, but had to be charged with
an electric energy by one who understood the operation. A magnet
in the hands of an untrained an would be little changed, but in
the care of a trained engineer it could become a strong force of
attraction and do a great good. Likewise the mind magnet of a
person can be stimulated to a strong force of attraction, if it
is possible to get help from one who already has a full
understanding of the Law and can give him a good start. Of
course the mind magnet can be charged with constructive
thoughts, but it will take some time for these to be effective,
and the student who lacks perseverance may too readily become
discouraged before the work is accomplished. I always advocate
that it is better to get a good start when possible by getting
help, rather than to come over the slower and more arduous path
of self education. Then the student, knowing that the Law does
work, will be able to make rapid progress in his development and
practice.
All the poverty in the world arises from a poverty
consciousness, whether it be collective or individual. Why do
millions suffer lack, and millions more die yearly in India from
starvation? I am told that many of them have never in a whole
life time enjoyed a full meal. Surely it is not because Nature
has underestimated the need for so great a people. Surely it is
not because there is not enough food to go around. It is because
the vision of the people has been limited to such poverty. TOP
Ask the farmer about his crops. He will tell you his problem is
not scarcity, but oversupply.
Ask the miner, no matter whether he mines for gold, silver,
diamonds, coal, or iron, he will tell you that the supply is far
greater that the demand. Ask the scientist, and he will tell you
there is food a plenty. There is more food in the air yet
undiscovered than we can use. There is more power in a single
drop of water or in a lump of sugar than man can realize at this
moment. The supply is greater than the demand, and the demand is
determined by man's own thinking.
The proposition with most of us is that our power of attraction
is too weak to meet the demands. Our mind is like a magnet which
draws unto itself its own like, type, and kind. A magnet can
draw to itself in proportion to its power of magnetism that is
generated or collected within itself. Our mental magnet is
greatly reduced in strength by our worries and fears, and our
inflow of good is slowly closed off. If our mental force becomes
too weakened, we may even repel what little good that is trying
to reach us. As we can charge a magnet with electric energy to
build up its power of magnetism, so can our mind be charged with
a mental energy that builds up a power of attraction. TOP
Like Nature, we must follow a natural Law. Nature never builds
down hill, always up. To receive prosperity, we, like Nature,
cannot per form magic or miracles. We cannot make health or
happiness or dollars out of nothing. Nature shows us how we can
convert much or little of the available substance into a usable
material. The available substance is our thought, and we charge
our minds with CONSTRUCTIVE thoughts. Like Nature, to accomplish
good our thoughts must always be building upward, must be
constructive. If, for example, a drone bee in a hive has decided
to lay down on its brothers and only do a half job, does Mother
Nature agree and find a part time work for the special bee? She
does not. She impresses the other bees, who are working hard to
collect the honey and fill the hive, to send their soldiers
after the drone. It is politely marched outside and stung to
death. Nature destroys a lazy bee.
If thoughts enter our minds that are not full strength, are not
wholly positive, like Nature, we must comply with the Law and
destroy them. We dare not entertain a half truth or a lazy
thought without weakening our power of attraction and reception.
Right here is an excellent place for us to begin with an
inventory. We should sieve our thoughts carefully to separate
the strong thoughts from the drone thoughts. The drones must be
cast out and destroyed by refusal to accept them any longer.
Then we must carefully guard every thought so that another weak
one cannot unconsciously or consciously slip through to play
destruction with others that are trying to do good. TOP
A man came to me one day late in the fall and expressed his
fears pertaining to his job. He had been employed for many years
in a hotel that for the first time had felt the effects of a
dull season. It was rumored, he said, that the management was
going to close down the house and let out the employees until
spring. He said, "I feel these folks know there will be a shut
down, they are in the office of the Manager. What do you think I
can do about it?" "There is only one thing you can do," I
answered. "Go back to your work and realize the Law. If the Law
determines your supply and position, then no one but the Law can
change it for you. If you will realize this and keep it
constantly in mind, I shall help you keep the Law at work. If
the Law has another position for you, there will be a door open
before this one can close. Go back to your work and ignore the
rumors. Let the others fear and fret, but don't let yourself
come under their thought. To prove your faith or confidence in
the Law, prepare to enter another year's business on your books.
Get ready to carry on, and expect your work to increase and
improve."
He went back and did as he was told. When rumors grew to
realities, he held firmly to the thoughts of increased work and
business; thus, he was retained during the slack times. He was
kept in the office to handle the business, and because of the
increased work and responsibility placed upon him, he was given
an increase in salary. If he had been allowed to entertain the
fears and thoughts of loss and lack, he would have suffered with
the rest who were laid off. This is according to the Law, and
the Law is no respecter of persons. If he had allowed his
thoughts for good to become adulterated wit thoughts of lack, he
would have weakened his mental magnet. He could not have
attracted any more than his mind was able to receive. It matters
not how much we pray or how loud we pray, our prayers can only
be answered as we work the Law. The Law will serve us in
proportion to how well we serve it. TOP
Robert Collier in one of his books tells of an incident that
happened in Chicago. A young man while in the elevator of a
large business house was asked the question, "What is your
religion?" He promptly answered, to the surprise of others, that
his religion was "Sears, Roebuck & Company." That young man is
one of the executives of the same company today. Why? He touched
the Law of Supply in that he thought solely in terms of his
interests. His firm s success was his success. His concerted
interest enabled him to become a part of the firm. Today he has
a tufted seat, a handsome office, and a fine salary. If your
need is supply, then your religion is the same. Like the young
man, your single thought must be abundance. As abundance and
supply are one, then to use the Law you must think supply, talk
supply, and live supply with every thought. Keep your thoughts
so occupied with ideas of plenty that any and all the drone
thoughts of lack or loss will be destroyed.
Remember not to confuse money with supply. Money is but one of
the numerous means of supply. Money is not the root of evil, but
the love of money is. If you concentrate upon money alone and
use every means to gather it and hoard it, you are forcing the
Law to close out other good. If you concentrate on a part and
not the whole, you get only a small part. If you concentrate on
the whole, you enjoy all its parts. If you love money, use the
Law solely to amass riches, you may gain riches, but you will
also lose so much more that is good that your life will be quite
empty and lonely. I knew a man who determined early in his life
to concentrate on accumulating money. He attained his ambition
and became an influential power in his town. He confided in a
friend before he died, saying, "I did everything I knew to
become rich; I gained riches, but I lost the love and
companionship of my wife and the joy of being a father to our
children. I lost my health and am spending my wealth to regain
my health, but somehow it doesn't respond. Yes, I learned how to
get rich, but I never learned how to live." TOP
If we love the Law, use the Law to gain supply and use it
wisely, we will satisfy every desire. We will learn how to live
wholesomely, freely, and wisely, and there will be no losses.
Our lives will be as complete as God, the Law, designed them to
be.
There may be many of you who are trying to follow the Truth
ideas and who have earnestly affirmed and thought statements for
supply, but somehow it has only come in small amounts or not at
all. This may be due to the fact that your senses are yet too
strong for your mind to control. You must see first before you
can believe. That is, you are so used to seeing just so much
supply or money that in spite of your statements, you believe
more in what you see than in what you are trying to think. To
you it is necessary first to train your senses to come under the
control of the thoughts which you know you must think to conform
with the Law.
Florence Shinn gives a clear example of this in her book, "The
Game of Life." She tells of a man who was seeking a new
position, and having a limited amount of money, was debating in
his mind whether to buy a new coat or to hold tight to the money
in case he was long in getting employment. He was advised to buy
the coat, and it was an expensive fur coat. This reduced his
bank account considerably, but it increased his confidence and
stimulated his faith to such a degree that his prospective
employer caught the spirit of it and gave him a splendid job.
The coat served to enable him to feel prosperous, and the
venture strengthened his courage and confidence, so the Law
proceeded to satisfy the demand. If such a condition arises,
wherein one feels better for seeing some evidence of prosperity,
then it is wise to do that which makes it easier for the person
to draw prosperity to him. Certainly it is not helpful to work
for prosperity and see a stack of bills before you or a
condition of limitation and squalor around you. It is better to
come away from such a sight and go where the view is more in
keeping with the desire of the mind. When I desire to work for
prosperity for myself or others, I try to stay in an environment
where there is plenty and beauty and where the people around me
are not in limited straits. TOP
It follows, therefore, that you can steadily draw into your life
any and every form of good you may truly desire, as it is the
"will" of God that you should enjoy every good that will promote
happiness and progress. All desire is an expression of the will,
while to expect good is to demand good, so that both are
necessary to attract supply. Therefore, seek to adjust your
desire with God's plan, the Law, and expect that every good and
only good can reach you; then nothing but good can come.
An abundance of all needed good is the natural heritage of every
man, woman and child. That is a vital truth. It is wrong for one
to dwell in poverty when there is plenty for all. It is wrong
for one member of the human family to accumulate vast wealth at
the expense of his fellow man; wrong for one to dwell in
conditions of war and chaos when peace may prevail; wrong for
the strong to take advantage of the weak; wrong to lack in good
of any kind that may be essential to promote the welfare and
happiness of the individual.
So, whatever falls short of giving satisfaction, harmony,
growth, and increase is abnormal. Nature originally intended
that the real needs of man should be adequately supplied; not
his surface wants, which are often impulses, but the normal
specific needs of the individual, which would be abundantly
satisfied were man to live in closer harmony with the
fundamental law of supply.
Nature is a prolific producer of blessings which she gives
freely to mankind, ever producing all things for a good and
useful purpose. Every individual, therefore, has a natural right
to a full supply of every good that he can use or enjoy. Owing,
however, to the artificial means man has been taught to use and
to depend upon for his supply, he has lost sight of the basic
truth upon which this lesson is based. At the outset, let us
realize that the material world in which we live is a sphere of
effects, and that behind these effects is a world of causes.
Then recognize that when you desire any particular effect, it is
because that specific "good" is already in existence in the
sphere of causes. Then recognize that when you desire any
particular effect, this desire is an appearance of an underlying
cause. TOP
This is the Principle upon which our definition of the Law of
Supply is based; and, when you learn how to operate it in the
proper manner, you will be able to draw into your life more and
more of the good in whatever form you may need or desire.
Everywhere in the world is an omnipotent Principle of Good. We
touch it in countless ways. Each thought of good is a seed for
the production of good. You are entitled to all the good you can
appropriate and use, and the more good you realize and enjoy,
the more you live in true accord with the purpose of this ever
present Spirit of Goodness. Learn to understand how to tap the
Source of all Supply for there is no limit to the good that may
be developed and enjoyed in your life.
In truth, man embodies every law of Nature relating to his
highest welfare and orderly growth. He is not, therefore,
separated from any good thing he may need to enhance his
happiness or further his progress. But whether he shall lack or
possess that which he needs or requires will be largely
determined by the use he makes of his present endowment of
intelligence and power. The more man grows in true knowledge and
the more he use's his powers in constructive ways, the more good
he will create in the circle of his expression, in his own
little world.
THE PROMISED LAND
No more shall I look to the far skies for my Father '5 loving
aid;
Since here upon earth His treasure lies, and here is His kingdom
laid.
