By Rev. Glenn Neil Stocking

We seem to live linier lives. We are born, mature, age and die. If that were the sum total of it linier thinking would certainly be the logical extension of that picture. Oddly, we often use that template as though it were the nature way of things. A preponderance of evidence suggests otherwise.

The Moon circles the Earth and our planet orbits the Sun. The Sun flows along as its Milky Way galaxy spins through space. Our own blood flows through a circulatory system filled with oxygen that gets converted to carbon dioxide, filtered and refreshed countless times throughout our lives.

Even our seemingly linier lives are segments within a cycle. Along the way to our eventual physical demise the majority of us have children who carry forward biological and environmental characteristics influenced by the past, but shaped in their future. Over generations the human race is evolving toward a Spiritual purity known only to Spirit itself before the human experiment was proposed; returning to its starting point.

During our short segment of this evolutionary journey we tend to lose sight or are never aware of the bigger picture. We gravitate toward short term goals and fleeting rewards. More affluent societies consume beyond all proportion to their numbers. Relationships are often shallow and unable to endure the normal bumps we encounter from day to day.

The phrase “He who dies with the most toys, wins,” is taken to be true and deserving of pursuit. We acquire things at the cost of prudent planning or reasonable considerations. We go into debt for houses that are too large, cars that are too fast and accessories designed to be obsolete long before they warrant replacement.

In this bigger picture even our money is cyclical. In the smaller picture our consumerism is dead end spending. On the Spiritual level the time and money we give away expands its impact and returns to us in its natural cyclical nature. The few dollars we release toward charitable goals not only benefits the recipients, but in doing so, stimulates local and global economies. It also establishes a relationship with Spiritual flow.

When we acquire goods for our own enrichment the flow of prosperity is stifled. Funds released without conditions flow unrestricted. Likewise freely given time reaps benefits of unpredictable prosperity returning to the giver. It is said that nature abhors a vacuum so visualize a catastrophic release of pressure from a vessel and the resulting impact of inrushing material to fill the void as an illustration of the prosperity cycle. The more released the greater the return.

Hoarding begets trash, confusion, vermin and a visit from the Health Department. Keeping a clean house, giving away redundant belongings and unlocking our wallets to good causes opens our consciousness to more good flowing through us. Volunteering is a natural human instinct. Before there was commercialism there was a natural need to connect with our fellow humans, pitching in and getting things done for the common good. This is our Spiritual self shining through, our natural way.

We often approach giving as a requirement; that is our segmented self not seeing the full cycle. Giving is the way of Spirit, the force of the Universe that gives us everything we believe we can have. Spirit gives with unconditional love, never questioning or judging our choices. When we hold back we are empowering fear and a belief in limitation. We are greater than that. We are Spiritual beings privileged to be having a human experience and demonstrating our recognition and connection to our origin by kicking down the barriers to our prosperity and letting it flow through us unobstructed. The cycle completes only to start again.

Learn more about the natural flow of prosperity and your Spiritual self at a Center for Spiritual Living in your community or on line starting at CSL.org and CSLFTL.org.