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Posts Tagged ‘Law of attraction’

Proverbs 4:16-17: “For evil people can’t sleep until they’ve done their evil deed for the day. They can’t rest until they’ve caused someone to stumble. They eat the food of wickedness and drink the wine of violence!”

“We reap what we sow,” said St. Paul (see Galatians 2:7). But Jesus told a parable of an enemy coming at night and sowing the honest farmer’s field with weed seeds. See Matthew 13:25-29. So it’s true that we attract what we plant—unless others interfere. Then we have problems to deal with in the harvest.

Hundreds of millions of people suffered severely and tens of thousands died horrible deaths during the awful wars of the last century. Why? Our proverb above points out why. Not because of good people’s wrong thoughts—but because of evil people deeds. The Law of Destruction interferes with the so-called Law of Attraction.

As I consider the meaning of Memorial Day, I’m led to the thought that all wars, and many competitive sporting events (types of war) give clear evidence that the Law of Attraction, particularly as propounded in THE SECRET, is a lie. In wars and competitive sports we generally have two opposing sides, both considering theirs to be right and that they will win.

Even in the last few days before his suicide, Hitler still envisioned victory! And when he didn’t achieve it, he blamed the German people for their weakness and Germany’s loss.

We have the NBA finals going on now. With thousands of others, I cheered for the Blazers. A lot of energy flowed to “The Universe” for their victory. Blazer players had confidence that they would win. What happened? Did the Houston Rockets’ fans and players have MORE confidence, send more energy to wherever? Or did they just play a little better with more experienced and talented players? Or did the referees favor the Rockets? [This last explanation isn't supposed to count in the Law of Attraction, according to THE SECRET, because no outside forces can affect the outcome of the energy you send out into the Universe ."]

In THE SECRET, there’s enough truth to trick even discerning readers to believe the whole package. If there’s enough honey on the stale donut, the first few bites might taste good. But when you start to masticate and notice the inner taste, you realize that it’s stale and unappetizing. And the best part of that kind of donut is the hole!

The best part of THE SECRET is what’s been left out—realistic truth.

For your comments on this series, thanks again. You’ve helped me sharpen my thinking.
My blogs from now on will be thoughts more on practical daily life, so I might not refer to the Law of Attraction much anymore. The more I read and re-read THE SECRET, the more upset I became with its errors. It was developing negative energy within me, and I don’t need that!

“I see America, not in the setting sun of a black night of despair ahead of us, I see America in the crimson light of a rising sun fresh from the burning, creative hand of God. I see great days ahead, great days possible to men and women of will and vision.” – Carl Sandburg (1878 – 1967).

Proverbs 27:23: “Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds.”

You might have to do some slanted thinking to tie in my title with today’s lesson of wisdom. I think you’ll get the connection, though. Even the most way-out Law of Attraction teachers would.

A story told often is of the devoted shepherd who cared for his sheep. Even if he had a flock of a hundred, if one sheep were missing, he’d go out in search for it no matter what dangers to himself. “There Were Ninety and Nine” is a gospel song that echoes that image.

So many of the teachers of The Law of Attraction, as found in the book and DVD THE SECRET, focus so much on achieving one’s own goals that they virtually ignore the lost sheep. In short, much selfishness rings through in their teachings.

For instance, in the DVD version, Lisa Nichols, one of the star teachers, says, “It’s not your job to make the world a better place.” What is your job? She says it’s to make yourself a more successful person, attracting the power of the Universe to deliver your wishes to you.

But let’s consider Irena Sendler. If it hadn’t been for her, at least 2,500 Jewish boys and girls would’ve been murdered in the Nazi death camps. Perhaps Irena didn’t think of “making the world a better place.” But she definitely thought about saving children ready to be tortured and killed. [Please see my previous post on this.]

Irena was a Polish Roman Catholic social worker in Nazi-controlled Warsaw in World War II. She and a colleague, dressed in nurses’ uniforms, went into the ghetto of over 500,000 Jews, herded there by the Germans. The two nurses brought food, clothes and a vaccine against typhoid, a great threat to thousands. But the greatest threat was the Nazi grand scheme—to herd most of these Jews to the Treblinka death camp.

Irena became part of the escape network. Some children were transported out of the ghetto in coffins, suitcases, sacks, and even a mechanic’s toolbox. Some escaped through the sewer system beneath the city.

Irena witnessed the heartbreak of parents trusting their children to others. She promised to do her best to reunite them after the war. So she kept a notebook with the children’s names—over 2,500 of them.

Eventually, the Nazis captured Irena, but she would not reveal her partners. For this she suffered beatings, broken limbs, and even a death sentence. Only through the help of a kind guard was she able to escape.

If Lisa Nichols and other self-sufficient gurus of THE SECRET were to counsel Irena, what would they say? “Irena, it is not your job to save these children. They attracted this upon themselves through their thinking. Don’t interfere.”

So, what is the THE SECRET’S secret of removing lint from one’s navel? “Send positive thoughts out into the Universe. The Universe will remove the lint. It is not your business to make your navel a better place.”

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.” – Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, 1960.

THE SECRET unknowingly teaches: It’s not that we live in a world permeated with centuries of evil, but what we call evil is a negative force somehow in the thoughts of the victim. Thus the victim is the perpetrator.

Tell that to a parent who has lost a child to a predator. Tell it to bombing victims in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan. Tell it to starving children all over the war. For people in North Korea: “You’re starving because of your thoughts, not because of Kim Jung Ill.”

So what is the truth behind THE SECRET? Mostly, there is very little true wisdom in it.

Yet, the little truth it may have I’ll examine in coming posts. In the meantime, let the good Lord attract you.

“I never cease being dumbfounded by the unbelievable things people believe.” – Treasury of Jewish Quotations, Leo Rosten (1908 – 1997).

Proverbs 7:1-3: “Follow my advice, my son; always treasure my commands. Obey my commands and live! Guard my instructions as you guard your own eyes. Tie them on your fingers as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart.”

“This is not a chain letter. As seen on Oprah and 20/20. Totally legal.”

You’ve likely seen letters like that, promising you tens of thousands of dollars for mailing out 50, 100 or more letters. These appeal to our need to grow rich without long-term effort.

People who participate in this kind of plan do so with a dream—they send out their thoughts of riches to “the Universe.” Does “The Law of Attraction” work for them? Why…or why not?

For many of us the present economy is really hurting. When we have financial pressures, other cracks in our life seem to get wider. Family members might become tenser, less understanding, more self-centered. We might feel growing unworthiness as we have to cut back on providing well for our families, or by cutting back on our donations to causes we love. And we can become desperate—buy more lotto tickets, get in on more schemes. Of course, things get worse.

So, where do we find strength to keep doing the right thing? There are teachers and writers who will tell you to have faith and confidence in yourself. You try to do that—and you find more brokenness.

Today’s big deal in seeking success is called “The Law of Attraction.” The book and DVD, THE SECRET, have been a worldwide bestseller for several years now.

Does THE SECRET basically agree with the Wisdom of Solomon and the rest of the Bible? That’s a big topic that I’ll explore in the coming days.

So many people seek the kind of “secrets to success” that avoid hard work, daily discipline, long-term plans, and setbacks. Also, many people want “secrets” that skirt God’s principles of total success.

The Proverbs tell us over and over again that “good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty” (Proverbs 21:5).

“The key to realizing a dream is to focus not on success but significance—and then even the small steps and little victories along your path will take on greater meaning.” – Oprah, O Magazine, Sept. 2002.

Proverbs 1:11, 13: “They [sinners] may say, ‘Come and join us. Let’s hide and kill someone! Just for the fun, let’s ambush the innocent!…. Think of the great things we’ll get! We’ll fill our houses with all the stuff we take.”

That proverb just doesn’t sound very positive, does it? We’d prefer this one: “A man reaps what he sows” (Galatians 6:7). That sounds so just, like karma or “the law of attraction” that’s touted by so many western and eastern gurus today.

Like Bob Proctor: “See yourself living in abundance and you will attract it. It works every time, with every person.” This so-called law of attraction permeates the best-selling THE SECRET by Rhonda Byrnes, which has been featured often on the Oprah show.

Solomon tells us that there are other factors that influence what we get in life. For instance, there is something called “evil” by the realists. “Evil” is a force that the new-age and universal-mind teachers don’t take into account. They say: We attract what we get. Even diseases and accidents that happen to us we somehow caused by thinking the wrong thoughts. We “attracted” these results. And they say this is an unbendable, unchanging law. Is there such a law?

Anne responded to my post of January 12 with a sad yet heart-warming story. Please read it in the “comments.” In this personal experience, Anne illustrates that good people suffer because of the works of unjust people. Just think of the thousands of right-living people who are suffering because of unbridled greed by people with their sophisticated schemes, like Kenneth Lay of the Enron fiasco and Bernard Madoff, who stole over $50 billion from regular folks.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of these ripped-off folks will die prematurely because of these thefts. “Let’s hide and kill the innocent” is the motivation by these financial, legal and political wizards who present themselves as being “very nice people” who really care for their clients.

Millions are suffering great distress today because of these crooked, powerful people. What can we do? Anne offers a wonderful insight: Share what you can with someone who needs help and encouragement. By doing so, you will reap what you sow.

In this life, we also often reap what we don’t sow—the weeds that other people sow in our garden. If the law of attraction is true, as Bob Proctor says, then how did we attract those weeds? Or, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

That’s something we’ll need to talk about next time.

“Wisdom outweighs any wealth.” Sophocles (496 BC – 406 BC).