Eric Butterworth Speaks: Essays on Abundant Living #106
Delivered by Eric Butterworth on December 12, 1975
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From time to time it is wise to examine the tendencies of our daily habits and practices that cause problems in the lives of us all, and we all need to question in this regard hurry and worry and anxiety. Certainly we are living in an age characterized by speed. Out everday existence is beset by hurrying, resulting in all sorts of physical and psychological difficulties.
One portion of the Sermon On the Mount ought to be the constant companion of all who try to keep their balance in this hectic time, this harried period. “Be not anxious, consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But, if God so clothed the grass of the fields, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, 0 ye of little faith?” Jesus is saying to us all as we hurry and scurry around, “Why so hot, little man!”
When I was a regimental adjutant in the army, a southern officer in my battalion, as I was charging across the parade ground in the hot, noontime sun, called out to me, “Slow down Butterworth, you always get yourself all het up.” Heed this, relax, let go of tension and rush, of the conviction that you alone have to reach places faster and get things done faster and more thoroughly than anyone else. Get away from the frenzy to accumulate, to push and pull and drive yourself, to compete automatically with others, to use yourself up in order to obtain security. We need to place value on keeping our balance, as we rush toward deadlines which often have little relevance to genuine requirements of reality.
Actually, the furious pace of contemporary life indicates a subconscious fear, which springs from a lack of understanding of what is called time. We have been mistaken in thinking of life as a journey between fixed points on an endless highway, In this consciousness, it is felt that of course we must hurry along and cram everything possible and impossible into the trip, that “it’s later than you think.” The matrix of life for many is regarded as essentially chronological. How frequently we glance at the clock, or consult the calendar, in order to locate ourselves! But, time does not come into existence moment by moment, second by second, and then pass on into nothingness. Time is relative; time is the creation of human consciousness. “God’s time is now,” we are told.
In the new discipline of astro-physics, the study of outer space, reference is frequently made to the “time and space dilemma.” Mankind for ages has measured time and distance, but hours, days, and years, inches, yards, and miles are quite inadequate when contemplating the distances of the vast universe. So, the term light years is used, meaning the distance in which light, which travels at 185,000 miles per second, can reach in a year. A spiral nebula, a hundred million light years away from earth, or five hundred quintillion miles away, is not a star but an entire galaxy, containing hundreds of millions of stars comparable or much larger than our sun. As we gaze at this thrilling display, we can almost hear the entire universe coming back at us with, “Why so hot, little man!”
Ouspensky holds that time is not a passing phenomenon but an unfoldment of the infinite possibilities of an expanding universe, and that every single moment contains the entire possibility of the whole universe. This is a vital key, that we live in eternity now. One second is always exactly one second, yet when we realize that one second is immersed in all of time, we gain a different meaning of time. One second is immersed in eternity, in other words. This is a universe in which every thing exists as a whole, in which everything exists as a perfect expression of an almighty, creative process. In this Kingdom you exist as a perfect expression of God, and all that you do and seek to do is complete and perfect in God mind. With man it takes time, but in God it is now done.
Remember Jesus said, “You say it is six months to the harvest, but I say lift up your eyes, for behold the fields are now white unto harvest.” In mind, the harvest is in the seed, even before it is planted, even before it has matured from the blossom. In Ecclesiastes we read, “He hath set eternity in their hearts.” Eternity is not something you are headed for; eternity is now. You are living in it; you are unfolding your creative genius that is complete and whole in eternity now. There is a point where we can and must let go, get off the treadmill of time and step into eternity, and at this point we will begin to get our tasks done, as we say, “in no time at all.”
The Psalmist decries the human inclination to stew and worry, “Fret not thyself, trust in the lord and do good. Delight thyself in the Lord,and He shall give thee the desires of thine own heart.” We do fret over things don’t we? Politics, wars, finances, health, our work, our loved ones. Cease dwelling on your problems and commence to think about God. Don’t fight with the error or the wrong answer; get back to the principle, and it will send you the right answers. Stop fretting and start letting. God is in charge. Let God and the activity of God have its perfect way. Never forget that the key to Jesus’ power was in his willingness to let go of his human self, saying, “I can of myself do nothing.”
We too can let God take charge of our lives, but first we must let go of our worries, our frustrations, our fears. If our mind is filled up with anxiety or other negative thoughts, there is little room in it for God. Make room, be still, let go, let God! No matter what the problem over which you may be concerned, the first real step for you is to let go, to get your mind off the side of the problem and onto the side of the solution.
Sometimes our tensions are caused by the burden of life’s responsibilities and the pressure of time. One man who held a position that called for the constant making of decisions, each of which was extremely vital to the company, was most of the time in a cold sweat, so to speak, and was headed for a breakdown. One day he let go and turned to God for guidance, feeling that he simply could not make one more decision on his own; then, suddenly, there was an inner assurance that he did not have to. Suddenly the man knew just what to do, with no qualifications or indecision or fear, he knew exactly what was right. It was a turning point in his life. From that moment on he has never had a qualm over decisions he was required to make; he went, so to speak, into a partnership with God, and now he makes no decisions without taking time to feel his unity with what he calls D.G., divine qui-dance, without taking a moment to let go and know his oneness.
Jesus says, “The Father knows what things you have need of even before you ask.” You can be free from tension and stress and strain; you can be receptive, if you will say to yourself, “Why so hot, little man or little woman.” Step into the room of eternity where you are one with the allness of the infinite, free from time that ebbs, free from the pressures that have beset you. All is good, and you are at peace. Turn to divine guidance, and get tuned in and turned on, letting the flow manifest in you.
© 1975, by Eric Butterworth
