In the book “As a Man Thinketh,” James Allen relates how usual it is for people to say,
“Many men are slaves because one is an oppressor; let us hate the oppressor.” He
then goes on to note the increasing tendency of people to say, “One man is an oppres-
sor because they are slaves; let us despise the slaves.”
The real truth is that both the slaves and the oppressor are co-creators in ignorance,
lack, and limitation. While it seems that they are victimizing each other—in reality, they
are each victimizing themselves.
Prosperity and human dignity are both based upon value received. An oppressor can-
not sustain prosperity because he is exacting more than he returns, and will ultimately
bankrupt his own consciousness. A slave gives not enough value to himself, and like-
wise ends up in a state of spiritual bankruptcy. As the Course in Miracles teaches, they
are no victims, only volunteers.
A person will remain weak, dependent and miserable by refusing to raise his or her
consciousness. A person can reject servitude, conquer limitations, and achieve great-
ness by raising his or her consciousness. To quote again from Allen’s book:
“Astrong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is willing to be helped, and
even then the weak man must be strong of himself; he must, by his own efforts, devel-
op the strength which he admires in another. None but himself can alter his condition.”
It’s tough to develop the strength to be prosperous, if you’re being continually pro-
grammed that it’s spiritual to be poor. Especially if you’re not even aware you’re being
programmed and it’s on a subconscious level.
To experience true spiritual prosperity, you have to be manifesting prosperity in ALL
areas of your life. Yet if you’re doing ok in most areas, but you don’t have much
money—it’s easy to fall into the trap our note writer did.
You want to believe that somehow your reward is coming later, heaven perhaps, and
that you will in some way be compensated for living your current life of limitation. After
all, who among us wants to believe that we are suffering needlessly, or have riches at