 February,
2004
Money
is a Spiritual
Idea
By Ernest Holmes
T here are no secret doctrines that will tell you
how to make a million in a month. While there is an exact science of gaining wealth,
possibly none of you will ever prove it. Nevertheless, I will
say that it is
an exact Law, a scientific and unfailing Law. There is a law
of perfect supply.
To begin with, we must come to see that the supreme
Intelligence must, in creating man, have also made a way by which
he could
be provided for in harmony and in peace and without robbing anyone
of that which belongs to him. Now this way must be a natural
way; it must be a natural law. Nature is always natural.
Now, we are talking about
money, as that is the evidence of supply. Money is the highest
medium of exchange that
the race has as
yet been able to produce. Jesus knew this, and he told his students
to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. He
knew that money was an idea and a necessary one to the needs
of human life. So there is a law of success, and all who will
can prove it.
Success Isn’t Dependent
on Location
To begin with, does money depend upon location? Can it be made
only in certain places? Let us see. In all places people make
money; in all places there are some who are rich and some who
are poor. Go to the smallest town, as well as to the largest
city, and it is just the same—some are rich and some
are poor. Success, then, does not depend on location.
Is it the kind of business? No. There
may be two men in the same kind of business, equally well situated.
One will make money,
and frequently the other will lose. Does it depend on education?
No. Some very ignorant men make money. Does it depend on a man’s
circumstances? On a man’s bringing up? No. Some of the
wealthiest men in the world began with nothing.
Success Depends on Law
Upon what does it depend? It must depend on a certain, definite
way of doing things. The man who succeeds must have succeeded
through a certain method. The man who failed must have done
entirely different. It must be a certain way of looking at
it. There we get back into the spiritual realm.
There is a way which the Father hath provided by which we may
demonstrate success. The way is there. I cannot go on the way
for you; God cannot do that for you. You must walk the way yourself.
Now, as Browning said, “All’s love, yet all’s
law.” We are dealing with law—a mental and spiritual
law. Now, law is not God; it is an attribute of God. So this
law of success is not God, but it is an attribute of God. Man
is given dominion over all laws, and when he comes to understand
a law, he becomes the master of it. Jesus always referred to
the Law and always complied with it. He so perfectly understood
the Law that he could, with a word, make it work for him. Now
the difference between Jesus and you and me is this: he could
concentrate creation with his word. We do the same thing, only
it takes us longer because of our unbelief.
We plant corn and let it grow, and then harvest it and make
bread from it. Jesus said the word, and bread was made for him
at once.
Both methods are the same, in one respect, for both are natural.
Now, then, what is this natural law that we can use? Is it something
that we can come to understand and be sure of? Let us see if
we can state it in simple and understandable words so that all
may understand.
There is a mental atmosphere all around
us; it is Mind and it is Intelligence; it knows, feels, hears,
sees, and understands
everything. It is universal—that is, it is ever present,
it is always where we are. It is receptive—that is, it
receives our thought; it has power to do anything, to produce
anything, to create anything.
It is a great divine, natural medium and law. I am not going
to try to convince you today that this Mind is a reality, for
we have so often studied it. If you are spiritually developed
enough, you will accept the fact and act upon it, and by so doing
you will most surely reap the benefit of one who believes. If
you cannot as yet accept the fact, you will be the loser. It
matters not who takes it for a fact and who does not take it
for a fact, the Law is there just the same. Happy is the man
who can take it, for he shall reap the reward of the true son
of his Father.
We must have some faith if we are to
live, so why not have a little more faith and live just that
much more? Now, while
this
Mind is and works for all who will work it, to deal only with
it as Mind is to deal only in mental law. This means limitation,
and it is our endeavor to overcome limitation, and this can only
be done through the Spirit. This mental law is an attribute of
the Spirit, and we will get the best results only as we operate
upon it in the Spirit. Jesus simply said, “Have faith in
God.” He knew that that would produce the required results.
But if a thing is true, there is a
way in which it is true, and this is the way: this Mind is
there to be used; it is Mind—and
the only instrument of Mind, the only tools of Mind, are thoughts.
Therefore we must look to thought to get our answer to the problem
of success. The man who is a success is the man who, whether
he knows it or not, is using natural law. I say “whether
he knows it or not,” for all are using this Law all of
the time. Every time we think, we are “starting something,” so
to speak; that is, we are thinking into this Mind and it is doing
the thing for us. Our word is our thought, so our word shall
accomplish.
Thousands of people are today proving
this to be true. Money, then, being the same as all other things,
is a spiritual idea. •
Excerpted from The Philosophy of Ernest
Holmes, Vol. 1 of the Holmes Papers.
By Ernest Holmes |
