Why Not Be Rich? by Martha Giudici

Lesson Four — Money Grows On Trees

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Martha makes a profound statement in this lesson—that will power is no match for the images we harbor in mind. From that Truth, we understand the importance of using imagination to bring change into our life.

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How to make a Treasure Map:

Decide what you want -- what qualities you need; how you can improve yourself and your circumstances; what you want to become, to do; what you are grateful for.
Select a sheet of paper or cardboard large enough for a background and paste your clippings on it. Don’t clutter, rather establish divine order in your desires.
Clip words, titles, and pictures from magazines or newspapers to represent your desire and help you to achieve it. Make it as colorful and positive as you desire life to be.
Place your treasure map where you can see it often, but not where others might ridicule or question your desires.

Do’s and Don’t of Treasure Mapping:

DO read your map at least once daily and see yourself living according to it.
DO accept and use the related ideas that come to you as you go over the images on your map. Follow through with these ideas if at all possible.
DO give treasure mapping a fair test. Be sincere and try faithfully to work with your pictured prayer.
DO make a new map if necessary. If your map no longer expresses your desire, don’t be afraid to discard it and make a new one. The old one will have served its purpose.
DON’T treasure map for things you will receive anyway. Picture desires that may be difficult to attain, but that you truly want.
DO map for what you really want. DON’T ask for an old car if yo really want a new one, or a housekeeping job if you want to be a secretary.
DO place the words, “This or something better” and “Thank You, God” at the bottom of your map. This insures only the highest good for all concerned will be forthcoming.

Lesson

069 Lesson 4 Introduction

This is lesson four in the series, Why Not Be Rich? It is entitled, "Money Grows on Trees." Join us now for our lesson and our powerful prospering declarations.

070 Review of affirmations

“It is my father’s good pleasure to give me the kingdom of all good.”

It is my father’s good pleasure to give me the kingdom of all good.

Let’s move on to number three. This is a favorite of mine. “I am the rich child.” Together,

I am the rich child of a loving father, and I dare to prosper now.

Again. “I am the rich child of a loving father, so I dare to prosper now.”

Good. Let’s move onto another one that we’ve been speaking. Let’s take number five right at the top of the sheet here. “I am prepared for unlimited.” Together:

I am prepared for unlimited increase of good now.

Again. “I am prepared for unlimited increase of good now.” Now, let’s recognize that we have to eliminate those old states of consciousness. Let’s speak number seven, “I quickly.” Together:

I quickly release all mental limitations, negative emotions, and physical accumulations that keep my good from me. I activate the free flow of my good now.

When? Now. Good. Let’s move onto another one that we’ve been using. Let’s use number 10. “I expect a miracle of God’s rich abundance.” Together:

I expect a miracle of God’s rich abundance to manifest in my life now.

When? Now. Good. Number 13, “My constructive, uplifting, fulfilling words.” Together:

My constructive, uplifting, fulfilling words prosper me now.

Then let’s move onto some new ones for today, the new ones that we’ll be taking today. First of all, “I’m rich in mind and manifestation.” Together:

I’m rich in mind and manifestation.

Again. “I’m rich in mind and manifestation.” Get the feeling of that. Number 16, “My mind is filled.” Together:

My mind is filled with rich images that prosper me now.

Again. “My mind is filled with rich images that prosper me now.

Our final statement for this morning, “Picturing power prospers me.” Together:

Picturing power prospers me.

Once more. “Picturing power prospers me.” Again. “Picturing power prospers me.” Again. “Picturing power prospers me.” Picturing power prospers me.

Hey, that feels pretty good. “Picturing power prospers me.” That’s an absolute truth that picturing power does prosper each and every one of us.

071 Creative imagination

Summary: Whimpering Willie asked, begged and cried for money, but didn’t get to the letter “I”. Creativity is the product of imagination; the author of size, shape, form, color. It is sometimes called “the scissors of the mind.” We all have creativity.

Our lesson today concerns “money grows on trees.” We find that a friend of ours, whom you haven’t met yet but we all know, is Whimpering Willy. Whimpering Willy was sitting on a park bench with a friend underneath a tree. He was bemoaning the fact that money didn’t grow on trees. He was bemoaning the fact that he just couldn’t seem to prosper, he just couldn’t seem to get money to come to him.

He said, “I’d ask for money, I begged for money, I cried for money,” and his friend said, “Have you ever tried working for money?” Old Whimpering Willy said, “I’m going through the alphabet. I’ve asked, I’ve begged, I cried, and I haven’t gotten to W yet.” So he’s not gonna try W until he gets to it.

But we really wish that Whimpering Willy had gotten to the letter I because he would’ve then discovered that money does grow on trees. Money does grow on trees because trees are symbolic of creativity. Creativity is the product of our imagination, that God-given power of mind, which is our ability, our faculty to create anything that we want in the outer through our creative imagination.

For that power is the power that authorizes form. Anything in the universe that has ever come forth has been created by the creative imagination of mankind. Imagination is the author of size, of weight, of shape, of color, of everything that is formed in the universe. It has often been called the scissors of the mind for it is imagination that shapes and forms the radiant invisible substance of the universe. Creativity is something that we all have. We all have a creative imagination.

072 Barriers to creative thinking

Summary: Five barriers to creative thinking (from Kansas City Star) are lack of knowledge, failure to understand the problem fully, not remembering all the components of the problem. Later, the problems are overshadowed by fear of failure (shame) and clinging to rules that worked in the past, but no longer work.

I always think it's very nice of the Kansas City Star to always publish something when I'm about to speak on a subject. In the paper on the weekend, let's see, October 13th, which was just yesterday, they had a Flex Your Creative Muscles At This Fair. They had a fair on creativity. It's an everybody's art fair and they said about this, that we all have creative muscles but that we have all let them go to sleep because of certain influences in our life.

He said that there are five barriers to creative thinking that people have unfolded. What he says is these come early in childhood and the first is lack of knowledge, the second is failing to understand the problem fully, and the third one is not remembering all of the components of the problem. Then they say as you get older, these three obstacles are overshadowed by two others, the first is fear of error or failure and the shame and humiliation that might come with it, and then the second one is that you cling to rules that worked in the past rather than searching for a new but equally correct solution.

We find this idea of creativity being hampered and being hindered by the past. We've been talking about the idea that you have to get rid of, let go of all of the things that are in the past that seem to be blocking the flow of your creativity.

073 Shaping substance with conscious picturing

Summary: We have to give clear direction to our creative imagination. We must consciously be picturing what we want; else we are unconsciously picturing whatever is in the imagination. Imagination always outpictures.

The ancients knew that we needed to shape and form what we wanted in our world by using this creative imagination constructively. The ancients, such as the Greeks, knew that if they wanted to create something that they had to surround themselves with the idea that they wanted to bring forth. Moderns, such as Napoleon Hill in his teachings on successful living and other success teachers, will tell you that what we really need to do is to picture life as we want it, to surround ourselves with the images of our desired good.

In other words, we have to give clear direction to our creative imagination. For we are constantly imaging ourself, imaging our world, the world that we live in, and we are imaging our affairs. We are shaping the rich substance that God has provided in abundant measure, and it is coming forth according to our imagination and being brought forth by the law of mind action.

The thoughts that we hold in mind are producing after their kind in our world. We really need to discover that if we do not consciously picture what we want, we may be unconsciously picturing what we do not want. That’s a real important idea because we say, “I’m not picturing that in my life.” You say that because you’re not picturing it on a conscious level, but in the unconscious realm, which manifests at all times until you change or erase the image that is in the unconscious, will keep out-picturing the same old conditions until we begin to change them.

074 Teachings on thoughts by Charles Fillmore

Charles Fillmore had a lot to say about this in the book Prosperity and in his other writings. In Prosperity he says this, that:

No disease, poverty, or any other negative condition can enter into our domain unless we invite it nor can it remain with us unless we entertain it (Prosperity 96).

In other words, it can’t come into our life and affairs unless we accept it, unless we invite it in, unless we form and shape the image that we are holding in our mind, and then it can’t stay there unless we entertain it, unless we keep saying, “I’m going to keep playing that picture over and over again,” just playing that same old picture over and over again, out-picturing as my life, out-picturing as my world. We fail to change the real, we fail to change the picture that’s being imaged through consciousness.

Charles Fillmore also went on to say this:

“If we have not been successful in forming substance into the things we have needed and wish for, it is not because of lack of substance but the lack of understanding of how to use our imagination.” (Prosperity 95-96)

075 Imagination is more powerful than the will

Summary: When things keep coming back into our life, it is because we have not changed the images we are holding in our mind. Imagination will always overpower something we are trying to create by will.

We really need to recognize that we have to begin to use our imagination constructively rather than using it in an unconscious way, destructively. A lot of times in our lives, we think that we can force things in the outer to change, that if we can just manipulate things, if we can manipulate people, and events, and certain circumstances in our life, then everything is going to come out all right.

But imagination has a way of bringing that same condition back into our life if we do not change the image that we are holding in our mind. It may not be the exact same condition, but it will be so similar that it is very little change until we begin to change the image. The person may not be the same person, the condition may not be exactly the same, but the similarities are very noticeable.

Have you ever noticed things coming back in your life over and over again or persons who keep coming back into your life? Different shape, different form, but really the same challenge, they bring it with them? It’s because in our mind, we have not changed the images that we are holding. We often try to change them through force.

You know that imagination is always going to overpower us when we try to bring something through by will. The best way to prove this is, have you ever been walking down the street late at night when it’s dark, the street lights are not very visible, and all of a sudden, the wind begins to rustle? You’re gonna whistle your way and you’re not gonna be afraid. I’m not gonna do it, I’m not gonna be afraid, and I’m going on down the street. The wind whistles a little more and the leaves rustle. The shadows begin to move on the sidewalk and guess what? Imagination takes over and all those old images that we hold in our mind take over and we’re running. We’re running down the street because our imagination, which is invested with old feelings, comes to the fore and we find ourselves at the mercy of imagination.

076 Images and prosperity

Summary: Old images we hold in our mind about prosperity are determining how we are expressing prosperity. We can get in touch with these images by looking at conditions in the outer. We need to build new images of what we wish to bring forth into our life. Picturing power hastens your good.

So too is it with prosperity. The old images that we are holding in our mind about prosperity, about ourself—Remember, prosperity includes not only money and financial good but peace of mind, health of body, and right human relationships, harmonious human relationships—all of these are the things that are included in prosperity. Our images that we are holding in our minds are determining how we are expressing or experiencing prosperity in all of these areas.

If we’re holding onto some old images, we really need to get in touch with it. One way we can do that is by looking at the conditions in the outer. We talked about that and how we can take a look at those conditions and we can begin to get rid of old conditions. We can begin to write them down and burn them, eliminate them from our consciousness. We can begin to get rid of all of the accumulation, the clutter that we’ve accumulated in the attics, in the basement, in the drawers, that are all symbolic of these old images.

We need to build new images of what it is that we want to bring forth in our life. We can truly picture our way out of problems into success. Isn’t that great? You can really picture your way out of problems into the successful life that you want to live. That by picturing the things that you want and giving Spirit a clear image to fulfill, to fill with rich substance, then you can bring forth the prosperity, and health of mind, health of body, prosperity in all of your affairs, right relationships, and just general good in every way into your life. When you picture your good, you hasten your good. Picturing power hastens your good. It prospers you.

077 Picturing power

Summary: Peter Prosperous personifies picturing power. We need to picture our desires. Conveys a Catherine Ponder story about she and her son both wanting a new car, but her son had greater picturing power.

This morning, we’re gonna deal with a little gentleman. His name is—There’s a little static electricity up here this morning—Peter Prosperous. That’s old Peter Prosperous. Peter Prosperous personifies picturing power. Peter Prosperous personifies picturing power. Get that? Peter Prosperous is gonna teach us some lessons about picturing power. What he’s going to teach us is that we need to picture our desires.

We need to picture our desires. We need to get clear images about what it is that we really want in our life. If you do not get a picture of what you really want, you come under the influence of those around you who have clearer images of what they really want. Did you know that? If you do not get a clear picture of what it is that you want in your life, then you will come under the influences of those persons around you.

I love the story that Catherine Ponder tells on herself and about her son. She was really wanting a new car and her son was also wanting a new car. They both began to picture what they wanted in the way of a new car, but hers were really vague. They were really a general idea of a car, but her son had a very definite idea about what he wanted in the way of a car. The next thing you know, she was looking out the window and there were two hyped up super sports cars sitting in the driveway. She had come under the strong influence of her son’s imaging power. She really didn’t want a super hyped up sports car. She wanted a nice conservative car that would serve her well, but she did come under the influence of her son’s imaging power.

078 Treasure mapping

Summary: The easiest way to employ picturing power is treasure mapping. Since a treasure map is a prayer, treasure mapping is a “highly accelerated” form of thought.

You had best, if you really want to use picturing power effectively, to begin to picture what it is that you really want. The easiest way to do this is through the act of treasure mapping. All of you received a yellow sheet this morning, which you can take home and read at your leisure. It’ll give you all the how-tos and the details, but I’m gonna give you a little insight into this idea of picturing power through treasure mapping by giving you some insights into this.

Treasure mapping is a pictured prayer. What is prayer? Prayer is a highly accelerated form of thought, the most highly accelerated form of thought (RW, Prayer). When you use a treasure map and the treasure map says, “This is what I want to have expressed in my life,” then we are experiencing or picturing in our mind, which we are also then bringing forth into manifestation, the prayer, that highly accelerated form of thought that we want to be filled by Spirit.

079 Mistaken notions about prosperity

A lot of people think that treasure mapping is a manipulative sort of a thing. They think that treasure mapping is trying to manipulate God and get God to do something for you. I got news for you. God isn’t going to do anything for you except that which he does through you and that which he does through your imaging power.

A lot of people who think that you can manipulate God don’t realize that God only acts according to whatever vessel, whatever condition, whatever thought form you place before it. Therefore, you cannot manipulate God. You can only offer to God the thoughts of your mind as the vehicles for manifestation in your life.

Also, a lot of people feel that if they treasure map or something, that they’re not gonna get it. It’s an unconscious fear that God won’t give them what they really want in their life. They need to find out that deep inside of them, they’re still holding onto an old fear thought. An old thought that God, the great affirmative whose only action is to give, God never and can never withhold.

God can never withhold. God is the great affirmative, the great flow of the universe. Only I am working through I will or will not can stop the flow of Spirit, and that’s the activity of our own mind. We alone choose the vehicles of thought through which Spirit will manifest.

We have to understand that the law of mind action works on all levels. Thoughts we are holding in our mind are producing after their kind and if we don’t like it, then we have to change our thoughts. That’s the only place that we can do it.

A lot of us feel that we don’t deserve to have the good. We’re almost afraid to say, “God, this is what I really want. This is what I really want in my life,” because our self image is so poor. But the I Am image that is the truth of our being is the Christ. That Christ is our abundant supply of every good thing and the substance that we need to build a life that is prosperous.

080 Start a treasure map with a large board

There are a couple of rules if you begin to do a treasure map. First of all, the how-tos of treasure mapping. First of all, you need a large board or you can use colorful sheets of any size. It can be folded. I made one like this, colorful sheets about that size that I can keep folded. I can put all of the ideas that I want on this little sheet. Then I can keep it and I can look at it at my own leisure.

Or you can make a notebook. A lot of people like to get a large notebook and put everything on sheets in the notebook so that they can just carry it with them. That would be an eight and a half by 11 size notebook. They can put all of the pictures that they want and they can make a section of pictures exactly what it is that they want in a particular part of their life.

You might have a whole section on nothing but what you want in your life in the way of financial good, opportunities to serve, opportunities to express your talents. You might all want that. You might want a section in there strictly on your hobbies and your leisure time, the things that you want to experience and express in there, pages on what you want in the way of health, pages on what you want in the way of human relationships. All of these things can be put on different pages or on different sections of your treasure map.

I remember in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, we had been there for a little while and everything in our center had been moving along kind of steady, just a steady kind of pace, until we began to do two things. We began to teach prosperity to the people and we began to help them understand that they were intended to prosper. Suddenly, things began to grow for us in the Pittsburgh center.

One other thing that we did is we made a huge prosperity map for the center. We put it on the wall and no sooner had we put that on the wall than many of the things that we had pictured on that particular treasure map began to happen for the center because we began to give Spirit a clear picture of what it was that we wanted to demonstrate in our lives.

081 Next clip words and colorful pictures from magazine clippings

Summary: The reason why clipping pictures from magazines works is because we begin to distinguish what we really want. It’s a selective process of finding “just the right picture” and we are using our “whole being.”

The next thing that we need to do is to learn to clip words and pictures from magazines. There’s a rule in the computer industry that says, “Garbage in, garbage out.” There’s a rule that applies to treasure mapping, “Lazy in, lazy out.” Casual types of things bring casual results. The person who puts a few pictures on a treasure map, takes out a pen and writes little words all over it, is going to get very mediocre results most of the time, or is going to get very vague and very casual types of results. The advantage of clipping words and pictures from magazines is this, is that you bring your faculty of judgment into play, you begin to look at pictures and say, “I don’t want that, I want this. I don’t want that, I want this.” You begin to discriminate between the things that you want and don’t want. You give it a very clear picture. Another thing that you really do is when you begin to look for words, you also do that selecting process. You clip out words that you really want and you find your whole being involved in this activity of trying to find just the right picture, just the right words, and surrounding them all over your treasure map. You really are beginning to involve your whole being. You’re using your judgment faculty effectively by clipping out words and pictures from magazines.

082 Be sure to use colorful pictures

Summary: Martha explains why our pictures need to be big and colorful.

When you’re clipping out those pictures from magazines, be sure to make it colorful. Do you want a drab life? Put drab pictures on there. Do you want a less and colorful life? Put dull words on there, and you’ll experience just that, but if you want a colorful, full, vibrant life that is using your creative imagination effectively, put big colorful splashy. If you want a big, colorful, splashy life, put them on there and really get things active through the creative imagination.

A friend of mine caught this idea and she wanted to have a treasure map that she could look at all the time. She took a huge sheet of material and she made a wall hanging for her front room. She framed it and on that wall hanging, she put, made out of felt and other materials, symbols of each and every thing that she wanted to bring forth in her life. She had some musical score because she happened to be a musician. She had a small piano that was on there in felt representing the piano that she wanted to demonstrate. She had this all out right before her eyes at all time. She had made a very colorful picture and you better believe it. She demonstrated everything that was on that treasure map quickly, peacefully, and just the right way that she wanted it.

083 Review it daily and impress your subconscious

Summary: Several pieces of advice from Martha about treasure mapping: use definite words, dare to desire the best, don't clutter your treasure map, review it daily and keep it secret.

Another thing that you need to do is use definite words. Dare to desire the best. Dare to desire the best. Dare to desire what you really, really want.

I remember when my oldest daughter was getting ready to go to college and we were filling out all of the forms for college. One of the things that came up was the fact that she needed an additional $500 to fulfill the total that she needed to sustain herself while she was in college. I said, “Janelle, it’s gonna come, don’t worry about that,” and we put it on our treasure map. The $500 was going to come, that there was $500 in the universe especially for her experience in college. We began to affirm this and to know this.

Just before she was ready to graduate from high school and go onto college, I received a phone call. Janelle had already been awarded a scholarship to the University of California, which took care of all of her tuition, and books, and all of those things that come in, the registration fees, and all that. When the telephone call came, the gentleman had asked us if we had received a notification in the mail from the University of California. I said, “Yes, we had.” He says, “Do you know what it was?” I said, “Yes, it was Janelle’s notification of the receiving of her scholarship and we have acknowledged it and we have already sent it back.” He says, “That’s what I thought you thought it was, but that’s not what it is. You see, there were two other people on a scholarship list for alumni scholarships from the alumni association of the University of California, and those two persons took other scholarships, and Janelle was next in line for a scholarship. That scholarship is for $500.”

It came through in ways that we really didn’t expect, in ways that we didn’t know were forthcoming. Use definite words, dare to desire what you really want, but when you’re making your treasure map, don’t clutter it. Keep your desires clear. You want a cluttered life? Clutter your treasure map. You want a nice, orderly, clear life in through which Spirit can flow in an orderly fashion? Keep your desires clear.

And then the other rule is view it daily, impress your subconscious. View it daily, impressing your subconscious with what you really want. You may have a challenge in that you say, “Should I keep this where everybody can see it or should I keep it where nobody can see it?” If you’re surrounded by people who are liable to throw cold water on your desires, then I would say keep it where they cannot see it. I used to keep mine behind the closet door and then I’d just close the closet door on the inside when anybody else was around and I’d open it up and leave it there right exactly where I can see it.

I’ve always been a firm believer in treasure mapping and it’s always really worked for me because it gives my mind clear direction of what I really want.

084 Protectors for your treasure map

Summary: Martha describes some "protectors" for the treasure map—practical things that prevent unintended consequences of treasure mapping: include a spiritual symbol, include money, and include a “the divine equivalent” at the bottom, “this or something better.”

There are always some protectors, as I call them, that you need to put on your treasure map. Whenever you’re treasure mapping, you can put all of these things that you really desire all around the treasure map and be specific. Give Spirit exactly what it is that you want to bring forth, but always put a spiritual symbol that acknowledges the true source of the good that you desire in your life. Put some Unity wings, a picture of Jesus Christ, a picture of a light coming down from the heavens, if that’s what is a spiritual symbol for you. Whatever is a spiritual symbol for you, put it right in the center of your treasure map to acknowledge the true source of all of the good that you desire in your life.

Also on your treasure map, be sure to put money. Put money on there. It can be play money or it can be real money, but always put money on your treasure map because you can get what you want, but you can get it with a debt incurred if you do not put a symbol on the treasure map for the good that you want. Put money on there for debt-free receiving. On mine, I put real money and play money. This is one where I have a perpetual supply over here and I have lots of real money here with a calendar when the time I want this to come about. It is something that we need to learn to do. Put money on it for debt-free receiving.

And then finally, always at the bottom, this is what I call the divine equivalent. “Father, this or something better. Thank you, God.” This or something better. Always put that on the bottom because if you’re so specific as to what you want and don’t put this kind of protector on there. When I mean specific, is that we live at 502 East Ash and if you say, “I want the house at 502 East Ash,” you’re gonna have to do an awful lot of hard praying to get that house at 502 East Ash. I may not be very open and receptive to that idea. If you say, “This or something better, Father,” then you will find that you are led to a house exactly like having all the qualities in the same type neighborhood and all of that sort of thing that will be fulfilling to you. Do not covet something that belongs to someone else already, but always leave yourself open for the desires of your heart to be fulfilled in a way that is good and proper for you.

085 Picturing Power Prospers Me

You can use the picturing power of your mind to shape the rich substance of the universe into the desires of your heart. Picturing power prospers. Remember that. Picturing power prospers. In closing this morning, let’s just say that together. “Picturing power prospers me.” Together: