A life worth living!

I am having a 62nd birthday tomorrow, so “Happy birthday to me” - time flies when I am on purpose and having fun!


The term ends on June 3 and so will my look at Eric Butterworth’s book …PosiTrends or Negatrends? My classmates and I have been responding to questions about EB’s books on Rev. Dr. Tom Shepherd’s blog site: http://theologybutterworth.blogspot.com/ . It is worth a look if you have enjoyed this book and/or you would like to grapple with some dynamic questions.

Let us move on to Chapter 6, The Toxic Effect of Words. For negative trends EB points out the obvious, those parts of words we have all experienced. Negative speech is destructive, indulging in pessimism, negativism and fear create those experiences in the speaker’s life, and profanity is destructive to the speaker. The video I used is powerful even though there is not a sound made during the entire video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXTAScGu7Gw&NR=1 .

EB is clear when he states, “Infinite Mind is as impersonal as the soil…The subconscious mind doesn’t discriminate. It can’t tell the difference between your causal and your casual thoughts…the subconscious mind can’t take a joke.” His suggestion is to watch your thoughts and your words carefully to make sure they reflect the world in which you want to live. This is easier said than done as those of us who have tried it can attest. We can also attest to the difference the effort has made in our lives. Try it and see the change for yourself.

In Chapter 7, The Word Is Integrity, EB sees the negative trends as focusing on our image as it appears to others instead of our character and following others when to do so is not in our best interests. Here is a video that represents this very well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHXk5uJgc0s&NR=1

Building our character instead of our image is EB’s solution to the negative trends he saw around him. He thinks we need to be honest with ourselves about what we really believe. He asks, “…can your conscience be your guide?” noting that conscience is what we learn is right and wrong; we learn these values from our culture and our environment. (p. 84) When there is error thinking in either of those areas, we pick it up and use it without seeing any problem with it. EB suggests that we seek a “lofty spiritual awareness” and only when we have that awareness can we be guided by our conscience. (p. 85) EB sums up his view with this quote, “True integrity means meeting life as a mature spiritual being, realizing the importance of living within the bounds of spiritual principle―knowing that even if you can get away with some dishonesty, you can never get away from it, for under the law of compensation, you must always ‘pay the piper.’” (p. 87)

A Heritage of Gentleness is Chapter 8. Here EB cites the violence in America, aggressive business behavior and the common use of profanity as negative trends. This video clip is of a street person responding to taunts from a crowd. It is interesting to see how EB’s negative trends shout out from this short human experience of communication. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZUrj_D13_Y&feature=related

Violence in relationships and in our society in general saddens EB. He cites statistics about gun use here as an illustration of this trend. EB’s figures are from 1997 or so. I checked out these statistics on the internet today and found that the United States is at the middle range among the nations of the world in the use of guns. The shift in gun use in the twelve years since EB published this work is cause for sadness in my view. EB believes that as a species, we are gentle creatures and our greatest strength is our divine potential. When we focus our attention on managing our power through serenity and poise, we allow that potential to manifest in greater degree than through force and fear.

In Chapter 9, Victory Over Excessive Dependencies, EB focuses on the crutches people use to escape their personal responsibility for life. There were so many videos about dependency and the various methods we employ to escape our lives ― alcohol, drugs, sex, shopping, video games, eating, exercise, and anger, to name a few. I had difficulty narrowing it down to one. I choose an authority on drug and alcohol dependency because what she says about the shift from use to dependency applies across the board in my opinion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6dNdl1-Eto&feature=related

From my perspective, EB is very judgmental in this chapter. I do not believe he has ever had to struggle to escape an excessive dependency and although his suggestions are valid, they are not helpful to people in that struggle. He rightly suggests that anything can become an excessive dependency; however, his suggestions for overcoming it seem to me to be naïve and come from the consciousness of someone who has not lived that path. The spiritual awakening that results from honestly looking at our lives and working to release our error thinking is not a onetime experience. It is a way of life and I believe that EB fails to present this view.

Be prepared to chuckle as you watch this video associated with Chapter 10, Entirement in the Golden Age. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_WcFJZ-XJo&feature=related EB talks about in this chapter the negative trends of letting age define us, declining in vitality as we age, and giving up on our contributions to life because of our age.

Go for all you can in life is EB’s suggestion. Change your attitude and your expectations for your life as you age. See all that you can do as you gain maturity and experience. Be interesting, interested, and filled with zest and enthusiasm for living; that is what EB describes as “entirement.”

The final chapter of the book, Quo Vadis, discusses what EB sees as a lack of direction and meaning in the lives of people. Here is a clip from the movie Papillion that I thought spoke directly to what EB describes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGpMLIayQEo

This is a chapter filled with EB’s vision for the future. His reiterates his message about our potential and our ability to create a world that works for everyone. EB becomes an ardent cheerleader for the positive way of life that is Unity throughout this book and especially in this chapter. His message about the principles taught by Unity is timeless and well worth study, reflection and practice.

Thank you for sharing this book with me. I look forward to your comments.