YouTube: The Prospering Principle
“This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.”
Mark 4:26-28
It is not difficult to see that a central New Testament theme involves the kingdom of God. As to the nature of this so-called kingdom, however, we find conflicting views. Consistent with the principles of oneness, it is on the one hand presented as a subjective spiritual process. On the other hand, consistent with the mainstream narrative, the kingdom is presented as an objective, coming event.
This parable from Mark portrays the relationship between an individual’s consciousness and the way their life unfolds. The type seed sown determines what sprouts and grows. How it sprouts and grows is a mystery. It is sufficient to know it happens.
I can easily see this passage as something a mystic like Jesus would teach. We are told that his main audience was comprised of the common people, most struggling with poverty. The gospel, the good news that he brought is that you can alter your life’s conditions by changing the focus of your belief system. “Consider how the wild lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these” (Luke 12:27).
People had made the connection between a person’s actions and their life’s condition, but only in a negative way. “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2). Jesus was presenting the positive counterpart to this idea. If you focus on the good, the good will manifest. If you ask for a fish, you will not get a serpent. If you ask for bread, you will not get a stone (Lk 11:11).
The mainstream version of the kingdom of God is an ambiguous future event. Seeing God as a present reality gives us the ability to align with the natural prospering principle that opens our life in beautiful ways.