A ritual as defined by Meriam Webster is…
1. of or relating to rites or a ritual
2. according to religious law
3. done in accordance with social custom or normal protocol.
We have developed a ritual here whenever we have money to deposit. We, the ministers and the administrator, take a couple of minutes to be grateful for all the givers who are represented by that deposit. That includes our tenants, our members and friends who have given a donation, our friends who have purchased a book or piece of jewelry or any other way money has come to us. Together we hold the deposit bag as I offer a spontaneous affirmative prayer or spiritual mind treatment. I go on to speak an intention that the money, being love in action, does good work for us in our spiritual Center as well as in our business. Almost always, I say that every dollar, given in love, returns to each giver increased, pressed down and running over. Then we put multiplication signs all over the outside of the bag. We have done this ritual for at least 14 years. Even when I am not here, we do this ritual. Sacred giving is one of our beliefs. In order to experience sacred giving we need to also experience sacred receiving.
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| Blessing the Bank Deposit The Holy Hands of Dr. Heather, Rev. Pattie, Rev. Karyn and Diane |
It made me wonder what people would think if they knew that we blessed all money that comes to us. Most people don’t know we do it. My hope is that people will feel as if they are participating. Indeed, their dollars are very important for all our programs to continue.
I LIKE the ritual of blessing our money. When I am finished praying and we have all added our multiplication, there is a feeling of pure love in the room. It feels great! Gratitude is a multiplier of good. There is so much for which to be grateful — our health, our friends, our families, our understanding of Divine Mind and our relationship with Spirit.
You could join us in this ritual if you are in the Center when Rev. Karyn is ready to take the deposit to the bank. But you could also participate by taking a moment of gratitude for all the good that you have given and received; and see yourself opening up to an expanded awareness of prosperity in all the forms it takes. You could see all the money, that you have given in love, returning to you “pressed down, multiplied and spilling over.”
Remember the powerful words of Emma Curtis Hopkins, “There is good for me, and I ought to have it.”
You ought to have more of every good thing.
It has reminded me of one of my favorite videos about gratitude featuring the photography by Louie Schwartzberg and the narration of Brother David Steindl-Rast.