Catherine Ponder’s classic book, “Open Your Mind to Prosperity” is our theme for the month of August. It is also being studied by our Book Club this month so we’re getting a double dose of its wisdom.
Ponder defines prosperity as: “You are prosperous to the degree that you are experiencing peace, health, and plenty in your world.” Who doesn’t want more of all that? The mystics had a three-point formula for success: 1. Purification or cleansing 2. Illumination or receiving guidance on how to be prospered 3. Union with God and His good.
The Bible is filled with cleansing symbolism: sacrifice, renunciation and repentance. Life is a constant purification process. We must get rid of what we don’t want in order to receive what we do want. Look around just in your home. Look at the number of pieces of clothing in drawers and closets you haven’t worn in over a year. Get rid of them! Take a look at cupboards, file cabinets and desk drawers. Important papers can be digitized if needed for posterity sake. These are outer cleansings.
We also must do inner clearing and cleaning. Order is the first law of the Universe, so start with your own thoughts. Clear mental thinking is the first step. Make a list of what you want to eliminate from your life – not just physical things, but mental, emotional, and even relationships. Practice the art of forgiving – of yourself and others. When you hold resentment toward someone or something you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link. By forgiving you are set free.
Say with me: “I now let go worn-out things, worn-out conditions and worn-out relationships. Divine order is now established and maintained in me and in my world. And it is so.”
— Rev. Gay Beauregard, Alpine Church of Spiritual Living
