“If the current decline in church attendance were the medical case history of a hospital patient, the diagnosis would read: “Chronically ill; resistant to change; on life support; likely terminal.” The church itself is the one institution most in need of the very thing it proclaims to the world — salvation.”

That’s an excerpt from “The Enoch Factor: The Sacred Art of Knowing God“. There’s more. 34 million Americans have given up on organized religion. Yet, for many of these dropouts from churches, synagogues, temples and so on, spirituality is still a vital part of their lives.

As for me, I grew up in the church, the son of a Southern Baptist minister. When I graduated from college, I went to seminary, and after several years of study, I began my career as a professional minister. It wasn’t long, however, before I discovered that the church was more lost than the world it was trying to save.

Go into many churches today, for example, and, instead of finding an institution interested in saving the world, what you will likely find is an institution vastly more interested in saving itself.

Without question, the church is desperately ill. I should know. I have worked in literally hundreds of them for the last two decades — everything from Baptist to Lutheran to Presbyterian to Episcopalian to Methodist to Roman Catholic… you name it. I’ve been there. What gives some reassurance is that, here and there, I see glimmers of hope like single lights on a string of burned out tree lights, still burning.

The grim fact remains, however, that the overwhelming majority of churches in America are in a major decline mode. In the US alone, more than 35 million people, many former churchgoers, want nothing to do with the church anymore. Yet, if you listen to church leaders, as of course I do, you get a very different interpretation and explanation for the church’s decline. The most frequent explanation for the decline is the “secularization” of our culture.

Here’s the reality, however. Most people have left or are leaving because of one or all of the following reasons:

1. They are so beyond being told that science is evil and suspect and that things like the Genesis account of creation are to be taken, not as a spiritual explanation for the origin of the universe, but as a scientific explanation. They’re also beyond being told what to think, how to live, the choices they must make, and the beliefs they must subscribe to in order to be approved.

2. Many churches are trapped in traditions that have died or are dying along with their aging populations. Traditions are good but, when traditions harden into institutions, as of course they almost always do, the traditions die with the people who cling to them. What’s left are like pyramids of what used to be, mere objects to admire for their magnificence and beauty, but hardly for their relevance.

3. Others have left the church, or are leaving, because they’ve had it with the conflict, the almost incessant bickering, backbiting, disagreements, debates, and, as a consequence, the division that is church life in most congregations today.

4. The church has created a world of make-believe enemies and so has blinded itself to the fact that the church is its own worst enemy. Churches are patently disconnected to reality. It’s as if they are no longer “in the world but not of it,” as Jesus instructed. Instead, the church is increasingly obsessed with its-self — its collective ego — as well as its own survival. In many churches, worship has become the declining weekly gathering of prejudiced, narrow-minded, frightened people who seek temporary solace in their increasingly neurotic preoccupation with matters of little or no consequence. The sane are leaving this insanity.

5. In many respects, the church is still the most segregated place in America. Where I grew up, some 40 or so years ago, most of my neighbors attended, or said they did, the Baptist church my father served. That is, if they were white Baptists; the black Baptists attended their own church. Even though the civil rights movement made a difference in America, it has made little difference still in most churches in America. This, in spite of the fact that, today, your neighbor is just as likely to be black as white or Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or atheist, as Christian. Such is the real world and it’s increasingly the-place-of-the-work world, too. So, my suspicion is, people are leaving the church because they’ve rightly decided it makes more sense to live in the real world — a desegregated one.

Of course, there are a plethora of other reasons people have left or are leaving the church — greedy, materialistic leaders, leaders who are sex offenders, leadership that glosses over wrongdoing by church leaders, and the preoccupation of many churches with the end of the world. Unbelievably, there are many churches that are actually praying for and seeking to elect political leaders who wish to usher in the end of the world and hasten the return of Jesus. You’ve likely noticed the wags on religious television with their endless predictions of the end of the world. I’ve always found this curious thing and have wanted to ask these people, “if you actually know when the world is going to end and you truly believe it’s going to occur at any moment, why would you keep asking people to send you their offerings? Wouldn’t you instead be giving away everything in preparation for the end?”

If people used to go to church to find hope, they’re leaving the church because many of them are tired of worshiping with neurotic and, in some cases, even psychotic people who have, for all practical purposes, given up on the world. Since their evangelistic efforts have failed to convert the world to Christianity, leaving it is easier. So, while many are leaving the church in hopes of making a difference in the world, many within the church are looking to simply leave the world. What kind of twisted insanity is this?

Now, if you were to conclude from this brief analysis that I’ve totally given up on the church… well, let me set the record straight. I have not. At least, not yet. I actually hold membership in several churches. I’m a Baptist by upbringing and training and I’m a member of Highland Baptist Church, in Louisville, Kentucky. It’s one of those rare — and I do mean rare — bright lights. It’s a Baptist church that truly seeks to live out the teachings of Jesus. And, because the church does, it has become, among other things, an LGBT friendly church. It is known and respect across the city as truly a Christ-honoring church. What makes it so rare is that the congregation truly seeks to “love enemies,” “to do good to those who are evil” and so forth.

I’m also a Roman Catholic by choice, an associate member of the Episcopal church, as well as a member of a local Unity congregation. As I find a light, I seek to unite. I realize how unconventional it is, but it’s my way of encouraging them to keep shining, to continue modeling the hard teachings of Jesus. For example, I like the Unity Church’s emphasis on spirituality and their positive affirmation of all people regardless of the spiritual path they’ve chosen to follow.

Yes, I hold out some hope for the church — a hope that the church will move beyond its collective insanity — where the interest is only in what separates it from others; where the obsession is, as I describe with The Enoch Factor, the madness of insisting, “We’re right! You’re wrong!” “We’re the chosen ones; you’re not!” or “We’re in; you’re out!” And, instead, affirm and defend all people, whoever they are, whatever spiritual path they’ve chosen to follow as they seek to discover themselves, connect with Transcendence, know and spread peace and happiness, and live an ethical life.

In the end, what could possibly matter more than this?

2.  As a matter of practice, make sure you say “Thank You” for member support at least three-times as often as you say things like, “We need your help.” Send quarterly “thank you” letters to members that are addressed to them personally (ie., “Dear Bob and Mary…”), along with their statement of giving for that quarter. Make sure the letter highlights a specific ministry/mission accomplishment for the previous quarter (ie., faith conversions, new members, a facility that just went “green” or was painted, updated, or the number of households served by the church’s food pantry, a mission team report, etc.). People give to people and to projects they deem worthy in serving the cause of Christianity. Put a “face” on these letters so that members are reminded that their generosity is making a difference in someone’s life.

3.  Make use of “generosity testimonies” throughout the year, not just a budget promotion time. Listen for those stories from members who are facing hard times but remaining faithful in their giving and finding God’s presence and provision to be adequate. Enlist them to share their story. Guide them in preparing and delivering it to the church/parish. Be sure their story is shared, not only in worship, but through church publications, the church’s website, etc. A spirit of generosity is caught more often than it is taught.

4.  Many churches report their giving totals for the previous week/month in their parish bulletin or newsletter. These churches typically report the AVN “Average Weekly Need” as well (AVN is the total annual budget need divided by 52 weeks or 12 months). As a consequence, often the weekly/monthly receipts appear to be short of the average weekly/monthly need.

In time, this reporting method creates the perception that the church is always behind in its giving. Most churches have the best quarter of giving during the final quarter of the year and will often “catch up” and close out the year at or near budget projections. However, by reporting weekly receipts against the average weekly need, the perception is nurtured that church is always behind. And perceptions, once fixed in people’s minds, are hard to change.

Here’s what to do. Church expenses are not equally distributed throughout the year. The utility bills, for example, are likely to be higher during those months of intense cold or heat than at other times of the year. Instead of reporting the average weekly receipts against the average weekly need, why not calculate the average weekly expenses based on the last five year’s expenses for that same week?

This will take a little time. Once set up, however, in an Excel spreadsheet, or some other program, it will be easy to maintain. Simply average all weekly or monthly expenses for the last five years. This will give you a weekly/monthly average of expenses that is much more realistic and accurate. Then, when you report the weekly receipts with THIS average, the receipts will more often meet or exceed the weekly average need. In time, the perceptions, as well as the congregational attitudes, will change and become more positive, accurate, and optimistic about the church’s financial health.

5.  Teach generosity, and do so regularly. Consider opening a Financial Counseling Center. Most churches have one or more lay persons who have skills and training in this area, as in bankers, accountants, investors, insurance and financial advisors, etc. Offer classes in financial planning, debt and money management, and planned giving. Invite a speaker who specializes in motivating people to live beyond fear and anxiety and more by faith and generosity. It is true that generous people are the happiest people. Teach and preach on Biblical giving. Consider a teaching series or a series of homilies/sermons designed to expose the myths about giving prevalent in virtually every church in America.  Try reading the book by that title: The Giving Myths.

6.  Ask the right questions…

Since people give to vision, or human and spiritual needs; What is your church’s vision? How well are you communicating it? If it is unclear, or cannot be stated by most members in the pew, it may be time to lead them to discover a new vision for the future, a re-defined mission and vision for the church’s future.

Is your financial support declining, or flat; Why? Do local unemployment and other economic factors explain the decline or are there other reasons for it? (ie., No vision? Low Vision? Fear? Internal conflict? Distrust, suspicion, or a lack of confidence in leadership?)

Whether real or perceived, are more of your church’s resources being spent within the church walls than on missions and mission projects beyond the church walls? According to Empty Tomb, Inc., an Illinois-based Christian research organization, most churches spend 85 percent or more of their financial resources on salaries, utilities, and brick-and-mortar maintenance. If so, this trend will likely be protested, either verbally or quietly, and a turn-around necessary if giving trends are to ever change.

What counsel, guidance, and active prayer support is your church offering to members, as well as those within the community, who are unemployed and/or under-employed? What about debt counseling or financial counseling? Has your church hosted a “Jobs Fair,” or a “Resume-Writing” Seminar? Does the church offer guidance to those completing applications for unemployment assistance? In other words, how do your members “perceive” the level of your concern as a church for the difficulties they are facing?

7.  Before undertaking a new building or expansion campaign, renovation project, or capital campaign, it is imperative to conduct a pre-campaign readiness assessment (or, feasibility study) by a third-party professional firm. This will help church leadership evaluate whether members are willing support the effort (that is, how they really feel about it beyond any church vote) and, equally as important, whether their financial support will be great enough to prevent the church from mortgaging its future with an unmanageable debt.

8.  If your church has a large debt, it would be wise to consider conducting a capital campaign for debt reduction/elimination, even if you have just completed a capital campaign for new construction. Why? Remember, people are becoming more and more debt conscious. At first, the suggestion of “another” capital campaign for debt reduction will meet with resistance from some. But, this is due mostly to campaign fatigue. Once members see that, if the church does not reduce debt, it will pay $________ (this amount can be calculated from the amortization schedule on the church loan) in interest money alone over the next three years. Merely seeing this number is generally enough to lead them to reconsider. Interest money spent on debt service is really ministry money the church is needlessly throwing away.

9.  Normally, a capital campaign for debt service will yield only about one to one-and-one-half times a church’s annual budget in three-year commitments. In other words, a church with an $800,000 annual budget will likely receive $1.2 million in revenue for debt elimination/reduction over a three-year giving period. This example assumes the church is using the services of a professional fundraising firm. Normally, those churches attempting capital campaigns for debt reduction without the assistance of a professional fundraising/stewardship firm will not do as well. They can guide you in avoiding pitfalls and in designing a successful campaign for debt reduction/elimination that will make sense – even in today’s economic climate.

9.  If your church/parish has conducted a capital campaign in recent months, when was the last time information on the status of the campaign, as well as the progress of the worthy cause, was shared with members? While many churches conduct successful annual and capital campaigns, too often what happens after the campaign concludes could be summarized in one word: Nothing. In an annual stewardship campaign, for example, some aspect of the church’s ministry accomplishments should be shared at least every six weeks.

Generally speaking, all that most churches do is post in the weekly/monthly bulletin the giving totals from the previous week (or, month). In capital campaigns, there are few churches that successfully implement a Follow-Up program that keeps members abreast of campaign/project progress. These same churches often do little to introduce and encourage new members to participate. Good communication will keep the campaign momentum and contributions going forward.

10.  In the end, make sure that the church, and its lay and professional leadership, is practicing what it preaches. Jesus said, “Seek first the Kingdom…and these things will be given as well” (Luke 12:32). Know that the Kingdom is not the church. Nor is it some future place or destiny. The Kingdom, as Jesus referred to it, is within you (Luke 17:21); that is, within each follower of Christ. In other words, it is that deepest place within every follower, where none other than God himself dwells. So, what does this mean when applied to the economy?

The central thought in a capitalist economy is the “principle of scarcity,” where it is assumed there are not enough resources to produce all the goods and services people need and want. The central thought in a Kingdom economy, however, is the “principle of abundance.” Where God is, there is plenty.

The problem in today’s world is not a deficit of resources but the distribution of resources. On one hand, a scarcity mentality creates fear and competition. This, in turn, fuels greed, ego-based decision-making, and a misguided, competitive bigger-is-better philosophy. This collective leadership ego has led churches to over-build, over-extend, and mortgage their future in excessive debt. A Kingdom mentality, on the other hand, creates trust. It nurtures sound, God-based not ego-based decision-making. In this leadership environment, there is confidence in the church’s leaders, joy among its members, and a spirit of generosity.

Since there is no such thing as scarcity in God’s Kingdom, members should feel the church’s decisions are not being dictated by the economy but by leaders who are wise, spiritual, in-touch with the God within, and interested only in building the “real” Kingdom—the Kingdom within each follower. Where this prevails, the church prospers.

Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is within you.” In spite of this rather clear clue as to where to look to find God, many mistake their inner feelings of discontent, restlessness, or desire for happiness and fulfillment as an indicator they need to do something.  Our culture’s answer to this inner dilemma is to find the right career. Or, to find and fall in love with the right partner.  But even these events – as meaningful as they may be – fail to grant anything more than a temporary, impermanent peace.

Now, what happens in most religions, Christianity notwithstanding, is that people go to church looking for God, thinking she might be found there.  And, the church perpetrates, as well as perpetuates, the illusion that God can be.  How so?  By suggesting to people, “We have the answer. We alone have the answer. What we believe is right or, at the least, a little more right than anyone else believes.  So, attend our church, believe as we believe, think as we think, do as we do, live as we live and, of course, give us your money, and all will be well with your soul.”

But it isn’t so. Over time, this nonsense has created in people the expectation that, if they’ll do all these things, they’ll find God.  Instead of helping to know God, however, these expectations, rules, dogmas, doctrines, and beliefs have sucked the spiritual life right out of their souls.  The church too frequently confuses beliefs for faith and, in fundamentalist churches, the beliefs are then imposed on believing and unbelieving people alike. In fact, that would be a pretty accurate definition of religious fundamentalism – the confusion of beliefs for faith and imposing those beliefs on others.  That’s what’s happening today in both Islam and in Christianity – the difference is only the degree with which the imposition occurs.

The American Religious Survey tells us that as many as 34 million Americans today have left organized reIigion.  For the majority of these, it is the Christian religion they’re leaving or, more accurately, the church’s dysfunctional version of Christianity that they are leaving.

And, that’s the point.  People can leave the church—they have, they are, and more will, as long as the dysfunction and insanity I’m describing goes on. What people cannot leave, however, is their inner feeling of discontent, emptiness, or the longing to cultivate a deep spiritual union with the Divine.  So, in recent years, as westerners have had greater exposure to eastern religions, many have turned to other religions. What many of these seekers do not know is this:  the dysfunction they met and left in the western church is the same sort of madness they will likely find in many other religions as well.

So, it is important to understand, I did not write this book as a disgruntled former minister looking to attack either Christianity or the church. I wrote this book to tell people what took me half a lifetime to figure out.  There has only ever been one place you will go to find the deepest desires of your heart fulfilled – and that is within yourself.  That’s what Jesus meant when he said, “The kingdom is within you.”   The Buddha said this, too.  Even the Jewish rabbis have a saying that goes, “God has but one synagogue – the human heart.”  I wrote this book, The Enoch Factor to show people where to look—the human heart—to find what they’re looking for.

For example, what difference do you see between the values on Wall Street and those on Church Street?  There is no difference.  In both, there’s an obsession with money, wealth, and the symbols of power and success – they go by different names, but it’s the same obsessions.

There is a surplus of preachers today defending and preaching a gospel of prosperity. While they live in palaces themselves, their subjects, known as church members and television audiences, make personal sacrifices to enable them to do so.  It is madness but it’s happening in spite of the fact that their spiritual leader said, “Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Explain that anomaly to me. Further, in the last decade alone, churches in America have spent billions and billions on buildings even as 400 million people have starved to death.

And, what of the sex scandals?  Almost daily now, you’ll read or hear about the church condemning gays and lesbians and doing everything within their legal power to drive them back into a closet. And this while hiding clergy pedophiles in their own closets.

But, there’s more. In the last several decades, the church has become insanely obsessed with what I call the “We’re right, you’re wrong” syndrome.  Listen to almost any Christian or church leader and about all you hear anymore is that “We’re different,” by which, they really mean, “We’re right, everyone else is wrong.”   “We’re in, they’re out!”  “We’re God’s chosen ones, they’re not!”

The consequence of this madness has been disagreement, debate, and eventual division. Wouldn’t that describe much of Christian history? Today, for instance, there are more than 20,000 different Christian groups, each obsessed with its version of truth, believing that its beliefs are just a little more “right” than the beliefs of 19,999 others. Tell me this is not madness!

What the church has forgotten is that its purpose is not unlike the purpose in any religion – and, that purpose is to make God known.  That’s it. Nothing more; nothing less. But, instead of staying with this purpose, the history of the church has been to argue, debate, defend, and, until recently when laws were enacted to limit the powers of the church, it was not uncommon for the church to persecute and kill anyone who disagreed with its doctrines, dogmas, and declarations.  In this regard, the history of Christianity is not entirely unlike the radical fundamentalism we encounter in some Islamic groups today.

So, the bottom line is this: Until the church and indeed all religions, return to their central purpose—to make God known, the church will continue to be marginalized and eventually disregarded and ignored altogether.  Many churches have achieved that status already.  And, strangely, the only people who don’t seem to know this are Christians themselves. They think they’re still a vital voice across the cultural landscape. What they do not know is that today, the church is little more than a faint whimper in an urban forest.

I even had a few questions I wanted to ask Dad, too. Like, “Where are you?” “Are you dead or alive?” “If you’re alive, where are you?” “Will I ever see you again?” “I tried all my life to talk to you, to feel you were listening to me and, on the day you join my church, you up and die? What the hell is that?” “Is this whole thing a cosmic joke, or just an illusion?” “What was it like to die?” “Painful?” “Fearful?” “What will death be like for me?” “Will I be afraid?”

I lived in a kind of spiritual limbo for several years following his death. It was not until the afternoon of my awakening that I began to see how his death, indeed how everything in my life, had been a portal into Presence. The words of Jesus would finally make sense: “I am the door.”

Though at first we typically resist them, a crisis, any crisis, is a doorway Life opens to us. Given the nature of our conditioning, however, it often takes a crisis to awaken us. For some who are deeply entrenched in conditioned religious thought and expectation, or whose egos are fixed and strong, it may take a series of crises to wake them up. You have perhaps known someone who experienced a crisis, only to have it followed by a series of additional crises of equal or greater severity. Who knows but what they needed them. Yet, even with crises, some people never get it.
Pam, my wife now of several years, insists on setting her alarm clock to wake her up at 6 A.M. She seldom plans to get up, however, until 7 A.M.

I have often asked her, “Why not set the clock for 7 A.M., instead of being awakened several times, only to hit the snooze again and again?”

Her typical response is, “Because it takes four alarms to fully awaken me.”

Next time you hear of a four-alarm fire, you will know that the severity of fire is so great that more than one truck and one team of firefighters is needed. You will also know it took both the death and the resurrection of Jesus for those closest to him to wake up to his spiritual identity and to that of their own. Although he had said, perhaps over and over again, “I am the light of the world,” and “You are the light of the world,” none of this began to dawn until the darkness of his death.

As my own eyes began to open, I noticed a profound difference in how I responded to every event in my life, no matter how inconsequential. For example, I used to resist anything I interpreted as an obstacle upsetting my happiness or interfering with the pursuit of my goals. Shortly after the awakening, however, I boarded a commercial airline destined for Atlanta. It was 7:45 A.M and we were behind schedule by thirty minutes already. Presently, the pilot informed us, due to an electrical problem, the plane would be delayed even longer and could possibly be grounded altogether.

Before the awakening, I would have been frustrated by this kind of minor disruption, even inclined to take it personal, as if airline officials were plotting a way to complicate my life. The resistance would have manifested itself as complaints to myself and to passengers seated around me. If none of that was sufficient, I would call someone on my cell and complain.

This time, however, I didn’t resist. Nor did I complain. I was noticeably surprised at myself. I saw it as an opportunity, almost as if it was supposed to happen, the reason for which was mine to discover. So, I watched and listened. I became present, so to speak, and looked for the message from beyond, or a stranger I was supposed to meet. I reached for my notepad and began writing of my experience. You are reading its results. Perhaps this happened to me for no other reason than you might read about it now. If you watch, you are likely to see what you’re destined to see. Who knows? If you are awake, you will know.

Where could you possibly go to find a healthier, happier, and more stress-free way to live than this? If you have not yet awakened, it is understandable why many of my words seem odd to you. You perhaps feel inner resistance to some of them, too. But, as you awaken, you will know for yourself the truth in these words. You will cease to resist what is given to assist you in knowing God.

By resistance, I am not suggesting that you lie down and let life step on you. Nor am I saying you pretend to be happy about everything that shows up, although the New Testament does say, “In everything give thanks.” Some things are difficult to accept and a few things are very difficult. But, on the spiritual path, you will begin to instinctively know, since nothing is ever accidental, anything may serve as a portal into Presence. Your destiny could not unfold without the appearance of these things. In other words, everything serves a higher purpose. There is a beautiful way Eckhart

Tolle makes this same point in A New Earth. He writes: “Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at this moment.”

More profound words have seldom been spoken. When you remember them, as well as apply them to your life, they have the power to transform both how you receive and how you respond to everything. No less equal in beauty, and more familiar to Christians, are the words of Saint Paul, “All things work together for good to those who love God.” If this is true, why resist anything?

The sudden and unexpected end of my father’s life was the surprising and unanticipated beginning of my own. How could I resent something as amazing and perfect as this? The self-confusion, as well as the questions and doubts, have disappeared. Sure, I still question things, but there’s none of the background cynicism, the latent resentment, or existential fear like before. There is only a profound awareness of Presence and, with it, gratitude and joy. These remain to this day.

The Law of Attraction has its roots in quantum physics. Simply put, the law states that your thoughts dictate your reality. Like everything else, thoughts are made up energy waves that attract like energies in return. Positive thoughts, for example, operate at higher energy or vibrational frequencies. So, when you think positive thoughts, you both broadcast and receive, or attract, positive results. Conversely, negative thoughts vibrate at lower energy frequencies. When your thoughts are charged with negativity, you get negative results.

Essentially, Saint Paul pointed to the same spiritual law in his Letter to the Philippians. Although he knew nothing of either quantum physics or the Law of Attraction per se, he wrote:

“I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.”[1]

In other words, today’s thoughts manifest tomorrow’s realities. The Buddha himself said, “All that we are is the result of all that we have thought.”

The Law of Attraction operates in this world with as much reliability as the Law of Gravity. The former is a spiritual law, the latter a physical. While neither can be seen with the naked eye, their effects are witnessed and even somewhat predictable.  For example, the Law of Gravity makes it possible to predict with uncanny certainty what will happen if you leap from the fifty-fourth floor of high-rise in Manhattan. The Law of Attraction makes it possible to predict the kind of life you will live by the kind of thoughts you think.

If you think angry thoughts, for example, it shouldn’t surprise you to frequently find yourself in volatile, even hostile situations.  You’ve heard of “road rage?” Angry motorists triggering or, you might say, attracting a similar rage in other drivers.

Take another example. If you think your life is not going to work out for you, why would you be surprised when it doesn’t? What you expect, you experience.  When you begin to realize that this is how life works, you’ll get real cautious about the kinds of thoughts you think. Why? Because, as Wayne Dyer puts it, “You’ll get what you think about whether you want it or not.”

The Law of Gravity makes possible life on this planet. But, it’s also the law that brings down a plane whenever there’s a loss of power. There’s an equally unattractive side to the Law of Attraction, at least where the ego is involved. Some practitioners of this law, for example, make the mistake of believing it guarantees that, whatever they want and are willing to give their undivided attention, they will get.  They believe, if they hold the thought of what they want in their minds with resoluteness and have no doubt whatsoever, what they want is on its way.

Just as no Christian can use Jesus’ name to get anything he or she wants, you cannot use the Law of Attraction to land a career, the house of your dreams, the career position, the income you desire, and so on. While there’s nothing wrong with wanting to improve your life or your life situation, whenever ambition is driven by ego, then the desires usually become self-serving, self-centered and self-obsessed. Neither God nor God’s laws can be so manipulated.

“What is ego?” you ask.

The ego is a little monster who resides within the psyche of every person. No one is without one.  It is problematic and dysfunctional—problematic because it is the principal cause of human unhappiness and discontent; and, it is dysfunctional because it is only interested in its-self.  In its more extreme forms, ego manifests as insanity.

It was not that many years ago when religious people were prone to label persons who had very dysfunctional egos as either insane, even demon-possessed.  Since they had no other way of explaining strange and aberrant behavior, they assumed these people were under the control of an evil power they called Satan, or the Devil.  We know now, however, that Satan is really a kind of alter ego or the dark side of one’s personality.

This alter-ego, or the Devil, has many other names, too.  In Islam, for example, it is called Iblis.  It was Mara over whom Siddhârtha Gautama finally prevailed at his spiritual awakening under the Bodhi Tree.   Because he successfully triumphed over his own alter-ego, The Buddha, which means Enlightened One, has been the source of spiritual inspiration to millions of people.  What many believing people in my own religious tradition do not know is that they, too, have an alter-ego, a little demon inside each of them, and it is dysfunctional, too, even insane. The difference is only in the degree of insanity.

So, here’s the bottom line.  Whether it’s something you “wish to attract” as a pseudo-religious person or “pray to receive” as a person of faith, whenever your ego is present, and it is present more often than it is not, the Law of Attraction is interrupted.  That is, it is corrupted and the law ceases to operate as you might desire.  The same happens to the efficacy of prayer when those who pray do so in an attempt to manipulate reality.

James, author of a New Testament book that bears his name, understood this. While he did not know to use the words ego or Law of Attraction, he was well acquainted with the realities beneath and beyond those terms. He wrote, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives.[2] He might have put it this way: “When you want something and believe you’ll get it, either through prayer or focused thinking, but you do not receive it, there’s a simple reason why: it is because your wanting and craving is only for yourself.”

“Then, how can I know when ego is present?” you ask.

This and a host of other questions related to the ego, I’ll answer very soon.

[2] James 4:3, NIV