“The law also applies to our demonstrations of prosperity. We cannot be very happy if we are poor, and nobody needs to be poor. It is a sin to be poor. You may ask whether Jesus cited any example of poverty’s being a sin? Yes. You will find it in the story of the prodigal son. That is often used as a text to preach to moral sinners, but a close study of it shows that Jesus was teaching the sin of lack and how to gain plenty. It is a wonderful prosperity lesson.” — Charles Fillmore, Prosperity
If, as I’ve said before, spirituality is that which gives life, then there is nothing less spiritual than poverty.
It would be nice to be able to just say to people “Don’t be poor.” And sometimes it seems that’s what people are doing when they are throwing around quotes like “It is a sin to be poor” or this one:
“Whatever may be said in praise of poverty, the fact remains that it is not possible to live a really complete or successful life unless one is rich.” — Wallace Wattles, The Science of Getting Rich
If we stop there, all we’ve done is define the problem, and we can fall into the trap of blaming either ourselves or others for our failure.
But we need to get off of that quickly, and move on to solutions.
Charity Doesn’t Work
According to the two works that I cited above, there is only one long term solution to the problem of poverty: a connection to our Source (God, the Universe, Fred, whatever you want to call It.)
This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t feed those who are hungry – one of the great teachers used his spiritual powers to do just that, and commanded his disciples to do the same.
But then there’s also this story, in which Jesus basically said “F’ em.”
It seems to me that the difference in the situations was that in the first two teachings, the feeding wasn’t just to put food in their mouths, but to do it in conjunction with teaching them, so that they could do it for themselves.
Simply putting food in front of people may keep their hearts beating, but if that is all we do, then nothing changes in the long run. As a matter of fact, giving people food, shelter, and clothing without teaching them the basic principles of becoming prosperous themselves can turn them into slaves.
What You Can Do
There is nothing better that you can do for the world than to become prosperous yourself.
Become an example – of prosperity, of love, of generosity.
Give freely of your excess time, energy, and money – but until you have an excess of these things, don’t feel guilty for not giving.
Do what you can, where you are, right now, for yourself. Abundance will come, and then you can share both the physical and the spiritual fruits of your labor.
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Jesus loves us whether rich or poor. I don’t think its a sin to be one way or the other. It is the character of a person that determines the goodness or evil inside the person’s soul. Be rich and be happy. Be poor and be happy. It is up to you.
Hi Jan,
Of course we are loved.
When Fillmore said that, he was talking about people being out of alignment with their own source. And evil has nothing to do with it… it’s about our connection to or separation from God.
Thanks for the comment!
Lyman said “Become an example – of prosperity, of love, of generosity.”
I Love it!! This is soooo true – We impact others lives by our “Being” not by our “Doing”…..
If I find myself out of sorts – the question I ask me is “What are you Being right now Ellie?”
Being Abundance – absolutely alters our lives as well as the lives around us!
Thanks Lyman!!
Hugs,
Ellie
Hi Lyman
Great post! I especially love the end, “Become an example – of prosperity, of love, of generosity”, this is key.
As Marianne Williamson says “And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.”
I find some people feel guilty about having when others don’t so unconsciously form some sort of poverty-based solidarity which helps no-one at all.
In love, light and abundance x x x
Hi, Lyman;
Thanks so much for putting this out there!
Encouraging people to become prosperous as an expression of life, of Source and of joy is always a great idea in my books. Moreover, you are right in that we cannot help anyone else when we are feeling bereft and empty ourselves…
I would only say that we cannot give away what we don’t have, so even giving a little and focusing on others so that we can ‘get out of our heads’ and realize how lucky we already are, will put us in a state of appreciation and abundance which will attract more. There is never an imperative to do ANYTHING in this life – we each must find our own way, give if it feels good and hopefully live worthwhile and fulfilling lives, by our own definitions. In doing so, especially if we are passionate and true to ourselves, we will shine as an example to others who may need a light on their own paths.
Wow! I guess your post made me go on a little…hope you don’t mind!
Take care, Lyman.
Shauna
@Ellie – “What am I Being right now?” What a great question to ask! Rather than “What am I doing?”, why not go to the source of our doing? Thanks for that!
@Lola – I really hear you on the “prosperity guilt” thing… as a matter of fact, it still pops up occasionally in my own consciousness. That quote from Marianne Williamson is awesome – thank you for sharing it. It really reminds us that hiding our light in “solidarity” does no one any good.
@Shauna – Feel free to go on all you want!
And your point is well taken about giving even a little to help us recognize the abundance we already have. Thank you for bringing that up.
One problem with your reference to the book of John. It seems you misunderstand the passage. It was JUDAS who did not not care for the poor, not jesus. Judas was the purse keeper for the group and helped himself to what was in said purse. Jesus never implied “F’ em.”(‘em being the poor). Judas was only fussing at the woman because he would not have access to the money from the sale of the oil.
I agree with your overall premise. People are better off when they are working honestly and have material prosperity. Feeling guilty about that success is not what was intended.
Thanks for that, J Ray… it’s important to have as much of the source material in there as possible, and I seem to have fallen down on that front.
The “F ‘em” comment was my lame attempt at humor. It wasn’t meant to mean that Jesus didn’t care. The point I was going for with that little story was that, regardless of what Judas’ intentions were, Jesus (being, well, Jesus) could have done whatever he wanted – and chose to allow his feet to be anointed, rather that bitch and moan about better uses for the money. He accepted what many would call a frivolous gift.
Thank you for the clarity, and for helping out my incomplete post. That’s what I love about blogs… when I drop the ball, a someone else can pick it up.
Hi Lyman.
I enjoyed this post and especially the conclusion
“Give freely of your excess time, energy, and money – but until you have an excess of these things, don’t feel guilty for not giving.”
It’s a simple ‘law’ that we can’t possibly give what we don’t have in the first place. Looking after our own well-being first (whether spiritual, emotional, physical or economic) is so important … then we have more to offer the world. I like to use the term ’selful’ for this (instead of ’selfish’). Ian
Thanks for that, Ian.
“Selful” – I like that – since the words selfishness and self-centeredness have gotten such a bad rap (usually from people who want us to do something for them) it’s probably a good thing to have another word to describe what we mean when we are saying “I give, but only after I honestly have something to give.”
I don’t really understand the idea of sin because I see it as a powerful negative force.
It puts people into a negative energy, for them to feel bad about every mistake they make, further driving them to not changing, not growing and just giving up.
Hence, they remain the same and fall further and further.
Mr Lyyman,
Being a Unity Church Member I find your use of Charles Filmore’s and Wallace Wattles’ teachings in the context with which you write to be appalling. One of the missions of Unity Church is to help the homeless, mainly homeless women & children. No where in the Bible does Jesus Christ say or infer F’em. The whole attitude with which you convey your message is and always will be in direct opposition to the docturine of Unity Church and Its’ faithful members. I do not know if you consider yourself a Unity Church Member, However one of the teaching of Unity Church is that you focus on your weaknesses and thereby learn to improve your consciousness. I suggest you try compassion as a start.