“As this Treatise is not concerned with material treasure, we will not explore the dimensions of physical treasure except to say that the feelings that cause one to think that any physical thing is capable of being a treasure or being treasured are of the ego. We will instead assume that you have moved beyond these ego concerns and explore the realm of internal treasures.” (ACOL, T2:1.3)
This passage is a direct answer to the popular book, The Secret. Although Rhonda Byrne did not mean just material treasure, material treasure is used by way of introduction to her idea, an idea gleaned from extensive historical research. Perhaps Rhonda can “hook” us into the law of attraction by enticing our materialistic longings. She herself has written later books that indicate that she well knows that the material is not all that is important.
We need to go beyond the material, as we who have read this far in A Course of Love realize all too well. We may have been hooked time and again by a materialistic toy that we thought would satisfy our longing for treasure, only to find that it turned to dust in our hands. We were not, in a word, satisfied for long. So Jesus is leading us here to internal treasures, those that time does not destroy. Our internal treasures will satisfy us by turning into abilities, and then simply part of what we are, our very identity. This is the flow that treasures take.
We don’t want egoic nonsense in our lives any longer. That does not mean that we will eschew the material, for we live in a physical world. We have physical needs, of course, and we still can be caught by the glittering gold of a physical object. But if we realize that these external treasures are fleeting in their ability to satisfy, we will put our heart where the real treasure is—internal joys, internal pleasures. We will focus on intangibles rather than tangibles, the physical. We will know that the intangibles of joy, harmony, peace, goodwill, serenity will give us what we long to have above all else—and this is the peace of God. We may not fully realize this desire yet, but we are getting there. We will soon know that the only things worth having are things that cost nothing at all. These valuable things ask only that we put first things first, that we turn to God to satisfy our legitimate needs, and that we spend at least a part of each day in gratitude for all the blessings that we indeed do have.
This way of internal treasures is the ultimate in personal satisfaction, the ultimate way to happiness. Let’s march forward with that insight today.
Prayer
You know that we all need the material, in our material world. But You also know that we need the formless more than the material, and that it is the formless, the intangible, that will satisfy us for long and satisfy us fully. I would find the peace that emanates from harmony with all things today. I would enjoy those things that don’t cost anything, and yet their worth is incomparable. Your day, given to all, is beautiful whether it is raining or sunny. Birdsong costs nothing, and when we walk outside, we are privy to that beautiful trilling without doing anything special.
I know that my material needs will be taken care of, so long as I listen to Your guidance as to how to take care of the physical. You don’t deemphasize the physical; you just put it in proper perspective.
Thank You for another beautiful day in Your world. The world that we will create anew when we have assumed Christ-consciousness and are ready for a new day on earth.
Amen.
MIRACLES EACH DAY 