Working with the Workable Prosperity Law

With the national unemployment rate at 9% in October 2010, and in some states up to 12% (according to U.S. Dept. of Labor statistics), I imagine that many of us are wondering how to experience the flow of prosperity in our lives.  Eric Butterworth addresses the prosperity law as a major theme in his writings. 

In Unity: A Quest for Truth, EB presents the prosperity law, one of Unity's main Truth teachings.  He states that "when you understand the law and work within it, you not only begin to draw prosperity and success to you, but you can't keep them away." (p. 61-62)  EB is clear that this is no "get-rich-quick scheme," but a way of thinking and living. (p. 61)

The prosperity basics introduced in UQT are: to acknowledge God as our Source of supply, express gratitude that within us is the potential of "opulence and fulfillment," and "condition our minds to receive and express this infinite possibility." (p. 62)  We do this through affirmations, such as the one he shares on pg. 62:  I am a rich and healthy and dynamic child of God.  I think rich and healthy thoughts, and I expect rich and healthy results.

This introduction to prosperity is reflective of EB's statements that "the entire Unity teaching might well be summed up under the headings of 'prayer' and 'right thinking.'" (p. 52) As I mentioned in an earlier post, what is missing is action.  EB delivers what I consider this missing element of action in his subsequent writings on working with the prosperity law.

In Spiritual Economics, EB shares positive actions to take in order to "resign from enlistment in the 'army of the unemployed.'" (p. 121)  EB states that many people who are unemployed actually become unemployable because they have firmly established in their consciousness "the idea of lack and inactivity." (p. 121)  The thing to do is to first change your self-image. See yourself as "ready to work," rather than unemployed.  When you do this, you can stop identifying with Labor Department statistics, and realize that you do have a job.  This job is to get work.  EB suggests that you get up early every morning and go about your important task of finding a job, including packing your lunch and dressing for work.  This change of approach is in line with EB recurring theme that life is lived from within-out.

EB reminds us that we each have something unique to contribute, and that somewhere there is a need for exactly what we have to offer.  We live in an orderly Universe, and we are "an individualized expression of the creative flow." (p. 122)  When we understand the order of the Universe, we know that for every job seeker, there is an employer looking for the right person with the gifts that job seeker has to offer. 

According to EB, the reason why we feel "fear, self-pity, and a sense of insecurity" when we are unemployed is because we have subtly accepted that this condition is permanent. (p. 123)  The way to change this thought is to remember that recurring scriptural statement: "it came to pass."  EB assures us that you will feel "oneness with the divine flow" when you hold the thought of this Truth, and your confidence will be restored. (p. 123)

I also found helpful EB's action step of approaching a career challenge as a project rather than a problem.  Problems bring on ideas of burden and self-pity, but projects invigorate us to tune in to the awareness that the answers are unfolding from within.  This involves making the choice to see a challenge as a growth opportunity, and putting our faith in the principle that "all things work together for good." (p. 128)

In The Concentric Perspective, EB offers a term for the process of living from within-out: concentrics, which he defines as continually returning to the center.  In this book, he includes another action step in the process of working with the prosperity law: the art of giving yourself away.  When your goal is only your paycheck, you are out of the receiving flow.  EB suggests that you "think of work as a giving process." (p. 63)  When you allow your work to "be an outworking of the creative flow, engaged in through the sheer joy of fulfilling your divine nature," you will prosper because you will be in the consciousness of giving. (p. 63)

When you give less than your best to whatever you do, you lack fulfillment in life.  Even if you don't like your job, EB emphasizes that "if your work is essential to anyone, it is ennobling to perform." (p. 70)  When you change your approach to your work to think "give," new opportunities become available.  If you are unemployed, this "give" technique will help make you employable because you will cease looking for work solely for a paycheck and will be "eager to serve, to give yourself away." (p. 71)  When you take this approach, "you will draw to yourself or be drawn toward the kind of work opportunities where you can be blessed and be a blessing." (p. 71)   

This is just a small selection of EB's action suggestions for working with the prosperity law.  These two books are excellent resources for further growth in experiencing true prosperity, and their timeless wisdom is just as relevant now as it was when they were first published.  If you are approaching the job market, change your outlook from being unemployed to "ready for work," and remember to begin with the concentric perspective, knowing that it is in giving from within-out that we become open to receiving.