Prosperity with Motivation Creates Abundance

Creating Money, Prosperity, and Abundance Now (Part 2)

Giving and Receiving

It seems that people generally find it easy to give, but more difficult to receive. Receiving is a very important part of giving. Both keep that energy circulating in our lives. And they keep prosperity flowing in our lives.

I've learned that we should receive with joy and gratitude. Thank the person and thank the Universe. In this way, you keep the doors open to receive even more. And you may even receive money and prosperity from unusual sources. "Creating Money" offers an exercise (one of many) that you can do right now. It suggests that you ask the Universe to send you money through a new channel in the next several weeks and acknowledge it when it comes. Try it and see what happens!

And don't forget to accept compliments. Just smile and say, 'thank you'.

Accept money and gifts only when they're given freely. I've learned that the only times you don't want to accept money or gifts are when there are strings attached, or if someone is trying to buy your friendship.

Giving is an important part of receiving. Giving could come in many forms besides things, such as your time, your skills, your good examples, etc. I've learned that it's important to give gifts that really serve and assist people, something they can really use in their lives. Throughout my life I've enjoyed giving my time and skills doing volunteer work for charities I truly believe in. And I've donated money to organizations I truly believe in. It's such a great feeling to give in this way. And when we give freely, the Universe will give to us freely.

By the way, it's important for us to give to ourselves also, to keep that energy flowing.

Then, there are times when it isn't right to give. That's when we give with strings attached or when we feel obligated to give or when we have expectations about the gift we are giving. Doing this creates a block in our energy flow. We must always give freely, and with detachment.

In my experience, I've learned that giving to people who are always in need, who always need to be rescued from a situation, who are always in the same situation, no matter how many times you've given to them, can actually harm them and stifle their growth. They can become dependent upon you. There is a reason why they keep pointing their magic wants toward lack. Maybe they have important lessons to learn, and if we constantly give to them, they never learn to empower themselves. I've learned that it is best to assist them to create their own prosperity and abundance.

Manifesting Tool # 1

The Magic List

First, I would like to share with you a tool I've used successfully, beginning early in my life. I know that many others have used this tool successfully and authors have written about it, especially in recent years. It's actually very simple and very powerful. I used to call this simply my "List" but now, I call it the "Magic List", inspired by one of my non-metaphysical students several years ago. (More about that later). With this Magic List, you are using the power of the written and the spoken word that is released to the Universe to manifest in your reality.

All it requires are these steps:

1. Take a piece of paper (any kind of writing paper - from a notebook, or your favorite color of paper, etc), and write a numeric list of all of your desires. They can be short-term of long-term desires. State your desires as clearly as possible.

2. After you have written down your desires, at the bottom of the page, write something to this effect: "May all of these desires, or better, manifest for the Highest good of all." This releases any need to manifest your desires in a particular way. It opens it up to the Universe to bring you what you want in the best and Highest way possible, and at the right time.

3. Keep your Magic List with you at all times, in your wallet, purse, etc.

4. Read your list (aloud if possible) just before going to sleep, first thing upon awakening and before going into meditation. Do this every day, and you will soon see profound results.

5. As your desires manifest, cross them off your checklist. Soon, you will want to rewrite it, creating a new Magic List (the old one eventually can look pretty unreadable with all of those lines crossing things off!) on a fresh piece of paper. If some of the old desires haven't yet manifested, you can add them, too. Personally, I prefer to do this on the new and full moons, taking advantage of their powerful manifesting energies.

Several years ago, I studied Native American spirituality from a Lakota medicine woman and learned the ritual of clearly stating my written desires to the Universe on the new and full moons and then burning them, releasing them to the Universe. You'll want to keep your Magic List as a separate list, however, as you'll be using it every day.

6. Finally, do not show your list or talk about it to others. Keep it to yourself. This is a way of keeping your energy totally and directly focused on what you want. Talking about it and sharing it with people only disperses your energy and it may take longer for those desires to manifest.

The Magic List really, truly works. Anyone can do it. The non-metaphysical student (also my co-worker at the time) I mentioned earlier was in one of my prosperity workshops and, as I described what I originally called my "List", he became very pale. After the class, he told me that he had started to write a list just like the one I described when he was a little boy. He said he called it his "Magic List" and never told a soul, not even his brother. He was so amazed to hear me speaking about his secret! And he just had to show me his list, even though I protested. I'm glad that he did in this particular case, because his list was very unusual and it demonstrated how miraculous this tool really is.

This man, then in his fifties, had several hobbies, most centered around finding and collecting unusual, rare, old objects and bottles - some valuable. The items on his list were things most people have never heard of or seen before. His list was well worn, with several items crossed off. He said he kept it in his wallet, looking at his list a couple of times each day. He described to me how each item came to him, just like magic.

Sometimes, it meant suddenly driving down a street for no apparent reason, just to discover that there was a garage sale going on, and then seeing one or several of his desires on the list for sale at the perfect price for him. He would continuously find himself in the right place at the right time. One of the items on his list manifested about three weeks after he had showed his list to me. It was a classic car (I forget the model) in the exact color and year he had specified, and in mint condition. An elderly woman had kept it in her garage all these years and decided to get rid of it. On his way to work one day, he happened to turn onto her street. He saw the 'For Sale' sign, and the price was right. Later, he drove the car to work to show me.

I wanted to share this experience with you to emphasize how the Magic List always works, even for those not familiar with metaphysics.

Manifesting Tool #2

The Magic Wheel

As a teenager, I started to create what I call a "Magic Wheel", learning from people like Catherine Ponder, author of "Opening Your Mind To Prosperity", who calls it the "Wheel of Fortune".

In the years since, I've learned other names from different sources, such as the "Prosperity Wheel", but the main thing is that this is another powerful tool that works for everyone. The Magic Wheel works like the Magic List, except that you are creating pictures of your desires instead of writing them down. Your subconscious communicates to you in pictures and symbols all of the time, mainly through your dreams. Why not communicate directly to your subconscious in pictures? You do so, anyway, with your imagination. This is yet another very powerful way to manifest what you want in a short period of time.

1. First, buy some large poster boards in the colors that appeal to you. For example, if you are working specifically on creating wealth, prosperity, or a new job, you may want to select green poster paper. Gold will work well for this, also. Visually, the subconscious will associate green or gold with money. Remember that color is vibration and energy, also, and what we are doing is working and playing with energy. If you are working on love and romance, for instance, you may want to select a pink shade of poster board. Use whatever color you personally resonate to for what you want to achieve.

2. Cut the poster board(s) into large circles.

3. Search through magazines, brochures and ads and look for pictures, specifically color pictures, of what you desire. The subconscious will more quickly respond to color than to black and white pictures. Then cut them out and paste or tape them to your wheel.

4. I've taught people to use different wheels for different kinds of desires. For example, you'll want the love and romance wheel to only have pictures that represent love and romance to you, such as hearts, pictures of couples, etc. Put pictures representing prosperity and money, or your ideal job or life's work, on your prosperity wheel. You may want to cut out pictures of money in the denominations you want and place them on your wheel. A picture of your new career will show your subconscious exactly what you want.

You can have many wheels, just be sure not to clutter them with your pictures or you'll attract cluttered results. And make sure the pictures you place on your wheel are exactly what you want to see manifest in your life.

5. Once you have completed each wheel, put something on it that represents your spiritual connection, such as a picture of an Ascended Master that you resonate to, pictures of angels, etc. This doesn't have to be a picture; it could be a solid object, like crystals or a cross, for example. In my Native American spirituality class, we learned to also add something that represented our personal totems to our wheels. By adding something that represents your concept of spirituality, you add power, energy and protection to your wheel.

You may want to place a picture of yourself on each wheel, also, so that your subconscious can see you associated with the pictures you wish to materialize. However, your subconscious will get the message very clearly with or without your picture.

6. Look at your Magic Wheel every day, especially when you first wake up and before you go to sleep. And again, you don't want to share your wheel with others. As Catherine Ponder says, "what is sacred is secret".

Manifesting Tool #3

Positive Affirmations

Many of you have heard about the power of using positive affirmations to create what you want in life. If you have beliefs such as those I mentioned earlier in this article, beliefs that have been holding you back from what you want, use of positive affirmations is the key. When used repeatedly, positive affirmations literally re-program your subconscious mind. They are positive instructions that replace those old beliefs with the ones you need, in order to manifest exactly what you want. Using positive affirmations is one of the most powerful things you can do to help yourself.

Positive affirmations are positive statements that you write down and/or read daily, until what you wish manifests in your life. Reading and writing positive affirmations repeatedly about money, prosperity and abundance is another very powerful tool that always works.

1. To start, write down a page of positive affirmations in the present tense. Start with "I" or "I Am". Write down these affirmations several times each, 10 - 20 times. For example, you may want to write, "I am a success", or "I am a magnet for prosperity", or "I deserve to be wealthy", or "I now have a wonderful, new job", over and over. The statements you use must feel comfortable to you. You can write positive affirmations for all areas of your life, including love and health.

2. Read your positive affirmations out loud. The spoken word is very powerful and will create results quickly. It will set certain vibrations into motion that will manifest into form.

3. Say your positive affirmations aloud in front of a mirror. At the School of Metaphysics, I learned how powerful it is to look into your own eyes in a mirror while doing certain exercises such as speaking affirmations. Your eyes really are the windows to your soul, and repeating affirmations while looking into your eyes is highly empowering. The benefits are many, including gaining a greater self-confidence, self-esteem, self-image, self-love, and optimism. Louise Hay, author of 'You Can Heal Your Life," also suggests speaking affirmations in front of a mirror while looking into your eyes.

4. You can also tape your affirmations in your own voice and play them at work or in your car, or anywhere, anytime. The more you use your affirmations, the faster your affirmations become beliefs. And your beliefs will always become your reality. For examples of powerful, positive money and prosperity affirmations, I strongly suggest reading "Creating Money" and/or ordering the affirmations on tape at www.orindaben.com. There are many suggested affirmations throughout the book, channeled from guides Orin and DaBen, which are designed to create major changes in your life.

In Conclusion

These tools are some of the ways in which you can quickly manifest money, prosperity and abundance, or anything you desire. Some other very effective tools you may wish to explore are Feng Shui (which keeps positive energy flowing in your personal and working environment), mudras (yoga hand postures), mantras (word/sound affirmations) and using the power of sound, such as "AH", to manifest while visualizing your desires. All of these tools are ways to keep your magic wand pointed only at what you want. These tools and techniques use energy and spiritual laws that truly create magic in your lives.

It is also important to let go. In my workshop experience, this is where many people get stuck. They want to control how and when something is going to manifest. This only creates a block in the energy flow. After using any or all of the above manifesting tools, directing your attention only on what you want, it's important to let go of the outcome. Just let it happen. Don't worry about it. Allow it to come into your reality. Trust that the Universe will bring it to you in the Highest possible way.

Anytime you want to see or measure just how your manifesting is progressing, just look around at your life. Your life is a mirror of everything going on inside of you. Your life accurately reflects your beliefs, desires and dreams. If you don't like what you see, change it by changing that picture in your head and by changing your beliefs. Make sure your wand is pointing exactly at what you want at all times.

Know that you are never alone. You can always ask for assistance from your Higher Selves, angels, guides, the Ascended Masters, All-That-Is, at anytime. You are really standing on the brink of the Golden Age. Now is the time to remember who you really are. You truly are magicians, shamans, wizards, masters, avatars and creators.

Additional Book Suggestions

Merlin's Message "Reawakening and Remembering"
by Marelin the Magician
www.wizardwonderland.com

Creating Money: Keys to Abundance
by Sanaya Roman and Duane Packer
www.orindaben.com

Do What You Love The Money Will Follow
by Marsha Sinetar

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success
by Deepak Chopra

Ten Thousand Whispers: A Guide to Conscious Creation
by Lynda Madden Dahl

Beyond the Winning Streak
by Lynda Madden Dahl

Money Love
by Jerry Gillies

You Can Heal Your Life
By Louise L. Hay

The Power is Within You
by Louise L. Hay

Open Your Mind to Prosperity
by Catherine Ponder

Creative Visualization
by Shakti Gawain

The Magic of Believing
by Claude M. Bristol

Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life:
How to Use Feng Shui to Get
Love, Money, Respect and Happiness
by Karen Rauch Carter

Feng Shui Design
by Sarah Rossbach and Master Lin Yun

Healing Mudras: Yoga for Your Hands
by Sabrina Mesko Ballantine

Chyrene is the owner of The Isle of Light Inc., a spiritual, metaphysical online spiritual center dedicated to assisting all to become more empowered and enlightened in a wide variety of ways. She is a certified television show producer and co-produced and hosted The Isle of Light television talk show in Denver, Colorado, which continues to air biweekly. Chyrene is also the producer and host of The Isle of Light Internet radio talk show which airs 24 hours each day at Live365.

Chyrene Pendleton’s websites can be found at:

http://www.theisleoflight.com/ http://www.live365.com/stations/avalon22 http://theisleoflight.blogspot.com/

Chyrene can be reached by email at: cap@theisleoflight.com or by phone at 303-859-1556.

State your goal in a positive way.

Remember you will not pay a price for setting goals. You will pay a price for not setting them.
Tips:

Be precise about how you state your goal.
Challenge yourself but be realistic.
Choose performance oriented goals as opposed to outcome oriented goals.
Select a goal that is easily measured.
With extraordinary success and happiness in my own life, I want to share the best information from all of the seminars, Cd's, videos, DVDs and of course all of the books I have read on Self Help.
I used to suffer from depression and thought about suicide often. I just didn't see the point in what my purpose was in life. I purchased a cassette program recommended by a friend of mine Personal Power 2 by Tony Robbins.
This really started to change my life in a positive way. Soon I was a self help junkie and could not get enough books to read.

The Biggest Change in my life was was soon to come, my relationship with other people. I used to look at most people in a selfish way as if they always wanted something from me.
Guess what I always seemed to give them what the needed. :) I changed the way I looked at things and soon the things I looked at changed. I have had a life since then I can only describe as Great.....

To make changes that last, you absolutely must develop positive ones to fill the void so you don't slip back into old patterns of feeling and acting or develop new bad patterns.

Greg Vanden Berge presents an entirely new way of understanding life and the forces that shape it. start living your dreams today is a modern method for personal growth based on ancient wisdom, He has helped people find new meaning, purpose, and direction in their lives.

Prayer Beads

Prayer beads are traditionally used to keep count of the repetitions of prayers, chants or devotions by adherents of religion. Since the beads can be fingered in an automatic manner, they allow one to keep track of how many prayers have been said with a minimal amount of conscious effort, which in turn allows greater attention to be paid to the prayers themselves.
There are three widely accepted uses for prayer beads:

Repetition of the same devotion a set (usually large) number of times. This is the earliest form of prayer beads (the Japa Mala) and the earliest Christian form (the prayer rope). This is also the type of use in the Bahá'í Faith
Repetition of several different prayers in some pattern, possibly interspersed with or accompanied by meditations.

Meditation on a series of spiritual themes, e.g. Islam.

Bahá'í
Bahá'ís recite the phrase "Alláh-u-Abhá", a form of the Greatest Name, 95 times per day, sometimes using prayer beads.

Buddhism
Prayer beads, or Japa Malas, are also used in many forms of Mahayana Buddhism, often with a lesser number of beads (usually a divisor of 108). In Pure Land Buddhism, for instance, 27 beads rosaries are common. In China such rosaries are named "Shu-Zhu" ("Counting Beads"); in Japan, "Juzu". These shorter rosaries are sometimes called 'prostration rosaries', because they are easier to hold when enumerating repeated prostrations. In Tibetan Buddhism, often larger malas are used of for example 111 beads: when counting, they calculate one mala as 100 mantras, and the 11 additional beads are taken as extra to compensate for errors.

Prayer Beads Rosary Beads

Forms of Praying

Muslims at prayerThe great spiritual traditions offer a wide variety of devotional acts. There are morning and evening prayers, graces said over meals, and reverent physical gestures. Some Christians bow their heads and fold their hands. Native Americans dance. Sufis whirl. Hindus chant. Orthodox Jews sway their bodies back and forth. Quakers keep silent.
Among these methodologies are a variety of approaches to understanding prayer:
The belief that the finite can actually communicate with the infinite;
The belief that the infinite is interested in communicating with the finite;
The belief that the prayer is listened to and may or may not get a response;
The belief that prayer is intended to inculcate certain attitudes in the one who prays, rather than to influence the recipient;
The belief that prayer is intended to train a person to focus on the recipient through philosophy and intellectual contemplation;

http://spiritualityinformation4u.com/Prayer.html

Strategic Prayer

by Angela Watkins

Stra-te-gic also stra-te-gi-cal: Importamt or essential in relation to a plan of action.
Without question, prayer is the most important - and potentially the most powerful - tool in a Christian's arsenal.
It's time we learn to pray practical, specific, result - oriented prayers. The earth is our Lord's, the fullness of it, and everyone who lives in it.
Eddie Smith, the author, the cofounder and president of the U.S. Prayer Center, equips pastors and intercessors worldwide.

Michael L. Hennen (coauthor) has served as a pastor, missionary, and church planter to diverse cultures and people. He and his wife spend most of their time in the Middle East.
Eddie's wife, Alice is one who was called at an early age to pray for the nations.
This book addresses the practical need to identify and prioritize prayer targets. Its prinicpal reflect a theology born more out of life experience than the classroom.
The effectiveness of spiritual methods depends largely on the conditions of the spiritual environment and the experience of those employing them. Attentive to spiritual principles, regardless of environment or experience, always bring positive results.
The overriding purpose of Strategic Prayer is to equip you to pray more strategically.
The power of our prayers is resident in the person of God, and our effectiveness as intercessors is wholly dependent on the quality of our relationship with Him.
Effective prayer is faithfully aligning oneself under His authority to speak and to do His word and will.

Wait for the Spirit's leading, through those who cover you, before proceeding with any strategic and corporate prayer initiatives.
There are 1,200 - 1,500 demolition companies worldwide that raze skyscrapers, chimneys, towers, bridges, and other structures.
CDI, founded in 1960 by Jack Loizeaux (retired in 1964), today is a family business run by his two sons, Marc and Doug, and Marc's daughter Stacey.
Each project CDI accepts requires months of precision planning by a world-renowned team of engineering experts to determine the best equipment, materials, manpower, and methods to be used.
What targeted, strategic prayer can destroy in a few minutes, satan has neither time nor resources left to rebuild.
As for spiritual structures, one of the biggest challenges facing any intentional intercessor is knowing how to prioritize prayer. And how can we be certain that our prayer coverage is adequate? Prayer targeting. We must carefully evaluate and select ours.
We use strategic prayer targeting to prioritize our prayer to acheive a specific goal.
In both physical and spiritual warfare, strategic timing is "mission - critical information."
We must engage in thorough research and become well informed of circumstance3s in natural and spiritual realms.

George Otis Jr. has defined spiritual mapping, our reconnaissance of the spiritual world, as "superimposing our understanding of forces and events in the spiritual domain onto places and circumstances in the material world" (Last of the Giants, 85).
In the summer of 1994, while Michael was serving as a missionary in Russia, he was asked by a television crew for an interview. One of his friends suggested that it would be great publicity for their new church, so reluctantly, ignoring the check in with his spirit, Michael agreed.
When their visa ran out, they had to leave the country to get it renewed. Upon returning, they were told that the interview had done more harm than good - because of it some had even left the church.
From that day, Michael banned all recorders and video cameras from the church and never again agreed to another interview. He decided that God doesn't need publicity!
When we leave the doors of our hearts open and unguarded to the world's influences, we can expect unwanted guests.
When the Sunni mosque was being built, Eddie, would drive by and prayer - walk their property.
As it reached completion, he wrote a letter of apology for the medieval crusades in which millions of Muslims were slaughtered in the name of Christ. He had the apology written calligraphically on parchment, took it to the five closest evangelical churches, and asked the pastors to sign it with him. Then he placed it into a gold frame and presented it to the iman. He was moved with tears and asked him to speak at the mosque's grand opening. Since then,he has developed a meaningful relationship with one of his elders. He is very near a decision to Christ.
2 Chronicles 7:13 - 14: Intercessors, we must stand in the gap and "repent the land (turn from and sincerely apologize to god for the sins that have defiled the land, whether our own or others)."
Therefore, I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. (I Timothy 2:1 -2 NKJV)
When we pray for those in authority, we pray for those who occupy positions of leadership in our community.

Our responsibility to pray for our leaders is twofold:
We must certainly pray for our church leaders.
We must also pray for our community leaders.
First, we must identify the leaders in our communities and churches.
But when we cannot know the leader personally, we should pray for those that do. We can pray for them and for their influence in his life.
In the spring of 1988, Michael was about to realize a dream for which he'd prayed for more than a year. He was being sent as a missionary to Venezuela. He had two problems: not enough money and not enough time to get the money needed.
When he arrived at his Messianic Jewish Congregation, he was greeted by his travel agent and handed a ticket.
Finally, the time for his ordination came; he was prayed over and officially sent out. The pastor called him up, gave him an envelope with a check that would cover the cost of his ticket and gagve him eleven dollars besides. He could have shouted!
Money is not a problem for God, and God is always on time!
But by God's grace the riches of heaven are at the disposal of those who have faith to apprehend them, and time is only a hiccup in our eternity with Him.
Ask God to supply the financial resources necessary to expand His Kingdom through our lives.
Several years ago, Eddie attended a national conference on world evangelism in a midwestern city.

There he met Rasheed, from Pakistan. He asked him, "Has anyone this week shared with you the good news of Jesus Christ and His Salvation?" Rasheed shook his head. Eddie took the time to present Christ and His gospel, and Rasheed prayed to receive Christ!
When Eddie arrived at the meeting, a long discussion developed on strategies the American Church might employ to complete the Great Commission. Eddie said, "Gentlemen, the longer we sit in rooms like this, discussing the problem, while ignoring people like Rasheed - the young Pakistani man who manages the gift shop across the hall, who just gave his heart to Christ - the further we will be from the goal."
Strategic positions, high places can also be called "the gates of the city." The basic types are (1) geographic, (2) political, (3) commercial, and (4) religious.
Geographical gates are actual physical locations. It's said that in the world of retail marketing there are three essential criteria: location, location, location.
Political gates are "gates of influence - positions of influence in a society." People need influential favor and blessing for their endeavors.
Commercial gates are gates of financial influencde within a community. God will hold us accountable for the ethical use of the "talents" He's given us, and we should pray accordingly.
Religious gates are institutions that primarily exixst to shape a people's worldview. Because people who accept religious postions influence society's general worldview these "places" can be extremely financially and politically profitable. Therefore, we must not neglect to pray for the righteous of religious leaders.
The four "inner gates" through which all society passes are (1) health and human services, (2) education, (3) mass media, and (4) culture. Those who occupy the inner and outer gates control the communities destiny.

When Michael visited El Vijia, they were able to bring together in one room thiry-two of the city's thirty-six pastors in a historic meeting.
This was the launch of their plan to visit El Vijia to bring a word regarding Israel to its pastors.
Followers of Christ, regardless of denominational affiliation, usually agree that Jesus Christ, who is God, came to earth as a man, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died an atoning death, was raised from the dead, ascended into heaven, and is coming again. This agreement is the basis on which we come together to do Kingdom Business.
We must remain vigilant to the Holy Spirit's voice when establishing strategy. He alone knows which one is best applied at any given time.
The Bible is replete with examples of God's perfect timing.
Consider, for instance, the story of Esther, the Jewish girl who came to a postion of influence with the king at the appropriate time (Esther 2:15).
Targets are timing - critical. There is always an appropriate, strategic time for focusing on any target.
Timing - critical prayer targeting depends on discernment. Discernment deepends on sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. Sensitivity to the Holy Spirit is the hallmark of intercessors and prophets.
The Holy Spirit (called the Spirit of Truth) given by the Father at the request of His Son, is as a Counselor (John 14: 16 - 17).
Tools and Knowledge is worthless until applied.
Paul says, "Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed upon you through prophetic utterance."
God endows individuals, communities, and nations with gifts designed to help lead the nations to Christ.
All authority and power in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus. God will hold us accountable for how we use His power and authority.
Do not try to accomplish His purposes with His power.
SPIRITUAL RECONNAISSANCE:
As a church, is our faith in God sufficiently evident to adequately reflect His glory to the communtiy?
PERSONALIZE IT:
Has God's glory ever invaded my/your life or home and brought with it a spirit of repentance and weeping?

Writer, Web Publishing, Book Reviewer, Freelancer, Christian Freelancer About the Author
Writer, Web Publishing, Book Reviewer, Freelancer, Christian Freelancer http://www.writers.net/writers/21422

Spiritual Thinkers

Learn About Money From Jesus

Parable of the Talents

Matthew 25: 14-30 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money. After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast now strawed. And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For the novel by Octavia Butler, see Parable of the Talents (novel). The parable tells of a master who was leaving his home to travel, and before going gave his three servants different amounts of money. On returning from his travels, the master asked his servants for an account of the money given to them.

The first servant reported that he was given five talents, and he had made five talents more. The master praised the servant as being good and faithful, gave him more responsibility because of his faithfulness, and invited the servant to be joyful together with him.The second servant said that he had received two talents, and he had made two talents more. The master praised this servant in the same way as being good and faithful, giving him more responsibility and inviting the servant to be joyful together with him.The last servant who had received one talent reported that knowing his master was a hard man, he buried his talent in the ground for safekeeping, and therefore returned the original amount to his master. The master called him a wicked and lazy servant, saying that he should have placed the money in the bank to generate interest. The master commanded that the one talent be taken away from that servant, and given to the servant with ten talents, because everyone that has much will be given more, and whoever that has a little, even the little that he has will be taken away. And the master ordered the servant to be thrown outside into the darkness.

The parable is apparently the origin of the use of the word "talent" to use a skill or ability, from the common interpretation of the story to teach that we are under a moral obligation to use our abilities rather than bury them; compare the phrase in Milton's sonnet on his blindness,And that one talent which is death to hide Lodged with me useless... The parable of the talents, as depicted in a 1712 woodcut. The lazy servant searches for his buried talent, while the two other servants present their earnings to their master.The Parable of the Talents (sometimes just the Parable of Talents) is a parable of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 25:14-30). It was told to illustrate the nature of the Kingdom of Heaven, and that diligence in carrying out one's responsibilities is essential for more important tasks in the future.A similar parable, called The Parable of the Minas or The Parable of the Pounds is found in the Gospel of Luke 19:12-27, the main difference being that the master entrusted his servants with equal amounts, and that a mina was of much less value than a talent.Jesus described the Kingdom of Heaven using the perspective of Jewish society at that time.

He begins with the Parable of The Ten Virgins to illustrate, and continues with the Parable of Talents. Talents were used as a unit of currency. It is impossible to be exact about their value, and different kinds of talent were in use. However, even the lowest value for a talent puts it as worth several thousand denarii, and a denarius was the usual payment for a day's labour. So a talent was the value of many years of work by an ordinary person.

Mindfulness and Laughter

Gaining Clarity While Giggling

By: Maya Talisman Frost

Life is funny. Throughout the day, there are plenty of humorous moments that we tend to ignore. We get so caught up in being earnest that we miss opportunities to gain clarity while giggling. Sure, there are times when it is considered inappropriate to laugh, but if we're honest, we'll see that if we're suppressing a smile it's a sign that we're fully present. Not only that, but these are times when we could most use a little laughter to bring levity to an overly-serious situation. The best business meetings--and funerals--I've ever attended included plenty of bust-a-gut moments. Years ago, during a two-week silent meditation retreat, I got the giggles. Oh, I know, you're supposed to be *serious* about meditating for five hours straight, but I couldn't help it. It all started when I was roused from my peaceful posture by a certain "KLUNK!" from across the room. I opened my eyes to see that one of my retreat buddies had fallen asleep and landed with his head against the wall. Momentarily unnerved, he quickly straightened up, closed his eyes and put on his best meditator's face. I, on the other hand, completely lost it.

I managed to stifle the first few giggles, but then they started escaping in little bursts. I tried the ol' coughing technique, hoping to disguise my snorts as expectoration, but I wasn't fooling anyone. Pretty soon, I saw (well, I did have my eyes open) others looking my way. Nobody else was laughing. In fact, nobody else was even smiling. Clearly, I was the only one who had allowed myself to get caught up in that unexpected moment of hilarity. I was chagrined, and then annoyed, and continued to watch my response to this incident shift over the next few minutes. Had it been funny? Of course. Were we supposed to be concentrating fully on the moment? Absolutely. Anything else would be attachment to past regrets or worries about the future. Okay, so we were focusing on watching our thoughts, and this little interruption was not part of what was going on in our heads. But isn't ignoring what's happening around us the same kind of thing that gets us into trouble back in the Real World? We go about our lives, obsessing silently, moving mindlessly, getting things done. We fail to notice the wonder and joy and beauty all around us because we are in full scowl mode about the things in our heads. Well, I'm all for taking time to laugh. Give me a giggling guru over a dour taskmaster every time. The greatest guides--in business, education, and personal success--are those who encourage us to invite hilarity into our lives whenever it happens to appear. Open your eyes to the silliness around you, and laugh out loud. It's good for your heart in every way.

About The Author

Maya Talisman Frost is a mind masseuse offering specialized mindfulness training in Portland, Oregon. She teaches eyes-wide-open ways to get calm, clear and creative. To subscribe to her free weekly ezine, the Friday Mind Massage, please visit http://www.massageyourmind.com/ maya@mindmassuse.com