thumb.” Those who are clear about their purpose and who work in sincerity with plant life appear to have a “green thumb.” Of course, the implications of reading 1397-2 go far beyond gardening and into all of life, as we plant seeds in one way or another. The Creative Forces are aware of our purpose and the sincerity and willingness with which we are doing our sowing. The results vary accordingly. In fact, they vary greatly—some get ten or a hundred times as much as others. As always, the results depend entirely upon us.
SEEDS OF FEAR
If you have a great fear of being robbed or having your house burglarized, you’re planting seeds of fear. You’re planting the seeds of “I am going to be robbed.” You may buy numerous devices, such as alarms and locks to prevent a burglary or to warn you and protect you. These devices are of no value unless they enable you to overcome your fears. If so, then you have destroyed the seeds of fear. If you are still fearful, then the seeds are still present and will bring their fruits: a robbery. The greater your fear, the greater the chance it will happen. The reason you fear is because you have faith it will happen. Your increased fear, in effect, gives the negative seeds increased energy. This is implicit in the biblical commandment: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3, KJV) You can make “little gods” of fears and unwittingly pray to them.12
Denise, a member of our study group, lived in a high crime-rate section of the city. Her car, even though locked, had been broken into several times. Finally, she decided she would not lock her car but would leave it to God to protect her and her possessions, and she would no longer concern herself about it. For several years after that decision, she had no thefts. Then one day a friend from New York, who was staying with her overnight, insisted that she lock her car since she wished to leave some items in the trunk. Denise reluctantly locked it. It was broken into that night. The seeds of fear introduced by a friend brought an immediate response.
The ideal would be to develop and maintain a positive attitude of complete faith in the Creator as our protector in all circumstances. Then we would never need to lock our doors. By planting the seed “I am protected,” we can reap that result: we are protected.13
I have known people who have not locked their doors for years, even though they live in heavily populated areas. They have had no problems. To do what they do, you must be sure of your faith, certain that your consciousness harbors no hidden fears or doubts about such a course.
My approach is different, but also adheres to the law. I feel that I, as a co-worker, must do my part with what I have. I lock my door, but I do so knowing that with that act I am planting the seed of protection. But I also plant the seed of knowing that the Universe will give the increase to whatever degree of protection is required. The spirit that I sow and that the Creative Forces multiply is protection, even in case the lock is not enough or I forget to lock it. By using the law of increase this way, I am completely protected regardless of circumstances.
COOPERATION
My approach is one of cooperation. It is based on the knowledge that the farmer must not only plant the seeds, but also do what he knows to do—such as cultivating the crop—to cooperate with the Creative Forces in producing the harvest. Cooperation is necessary for us as co-workers. It is all a part of “as you sow.”
We must recognize that we can only do so much; we do what we can with what we have. Our powers as humans are limited—but as we cooperate as co-workers with the Divine, there is no limit to the power available to us. The Higher Power has no limits and is totally dependable because its nature is to love and care for us. By turning to that source and away from our fears, we substitute truth for illusion or true power for imagined power. As a result, we can be “in the world,” seeing and hearing all its troubles and woes, but “not of it.” In recognizing the higher power of our Creator and using the Universal Laws in that spirit, we are freed from our fears and those of the world because we then recognize we have nothing to fear.14
APPLYING THE LAWS IN THE BEST WAY
Some of us can make that switch in consciousness in a moment. For others the change comes slowly. All of us have been programmed and trained for many, many years to put our faith in others or in materiality rather than in the Creative Forces and in ourselves as creators of what happens in our lives. We need to change those limiting beliefs.
We can begin to move toward faith in the Creative Forces and in ourselves by applying the law in the highest ways through planting positive seeds. There are many wonderful seeds which the readings recommend we sow: faith, hope, patience, gentleness, kindness, and love. These and others—forgiveness, trust, peace, joy, and mercy—are occasionally referred to in the readings as seeds of the spirit of truth. We are assured that “as we sow” them, they will return to us in abundance as fruits of the Spirit and will create harmony in our lives. Obviously, as this law operates through time, such results must come. How wonderful it is to realize such joyous results can be a part of our lives; that it is not up to fate or chance, but is our choice, and as we apply the law the results will, must come!15
MISAPPLYING THE LAWS
The law, “as you sow so shall you reap,” is cited many times in the readings because it applies to so much that we do. Here are two examples of how we can misapply it. A 79-year-old man asked:
(Q) Have personal vices as tobacco and whiskey any influence on one’s health or longevity?
(A) … you are suffering from the use of some of these in the present; but it is overindulgence. In moderation these are not too bad, but man so seldom will be moderate. Or, as most say, those who even indulge will make themselves pigs, but we naturally are pigs when there is overindulgence. This, of course, makes for conditions which are to be met. For what one sows that must one reap. This is unchangeable law.
(5233-1)
The answer was just a polite way of saying: Yes, it adversely affects your health and decreases your life span, and you will have to meet those conditions.
A woman asked this intriguing question:
(Q) Do you see that it is possible for me to straighten out this tangled affair?
(A) All things are possible with God. Though it may bring some heartaches, though there are already many regrets, begin with the spiritual activity. Do not expect results in one day, nor one week. Individuals do not sow one day and reap the next. They reap what they have sown in the periods when that sown has come to fruitage. For what you sow, so shall you reap. Indiscretions, and the sentiments that are based wholly upon material satisfactions, must bring the tares and the weeds in the experience of the body. Those things sown in mercy, truth, justice, will bring their rewards in the same realm, in the same coin as sown. (971-1)AR
The key to straightening out the affair was to “begin with the spiritual activity”—to sow the right seeds of mercy, truth, and justice—no doubt far different than those previously sown.
This reading offers an extremely important precaution to us: “Do not expect results in one day, nor one week. Individuals do not sow one day and reap the next. They reap what they have sown in the periods when that sown has come to fruitage.” The woman, though she planted new seeds, would still have to face—maybe in her next lifetime—what she had created in the past. The change would come later, when the new seeds would begin to mature. However, her change in consciousness represented by the attitudes of mercy, truth, and justice would enable her to deal with whatever came and prevent planting seeds of less desirable nature as she dealt with it. As we make changes in our lives, we need to have patience to allow the new seeds to grow and mature. We also need to acknowledge at the same time that we will still have to deal with that which we have created in the past. How we do this is an important part of the law.
SEEDS I HAVE ALREADY SOWN
If you have sown some seeds in the past which you now wish you hadn’t or you are concerned about their possible manifestations, you can do something about them. There are several possibilities:
1. You may not have to meet them in