Self-help has been declared an American religion. You need look no further to know the validity of this statement than the massive amount of literature published on the subject and the number of people taking positive thinking and affirmations to a maniacal level. When you go up to someone who will not even let you say something bad that is happening in the world because it might mess up their resonance with the universe, you know they are fully indoctrinated into the cult of self-help. On the other end of reality, you have fundamental Christianity. These lovely folks deem all things good and bad to be attributed to God, and God alone. They had nothing to do with it. Granted, this provides the perfect scape goat when life takes the inevitable direction downward. Back in the self-help camp, if something goes wrong, the extremists will say people joined in some sort of negative collective consciousness that drew calamity upon their lives.
So, maybe you are a Christian who is intrigued by self-help ideas like the Law of attraction? How can you, like most middle of the road individuals, find common ground between two seemingly polarized ideologies? I believe you can find some solace by viewing both ideologies through the basics and perception.
First, lets look at the basics. The root of self-help's positive thinking and prosperity teachings is the Law of attraction. Basically, the Law of attraction states that one attracts whatever positive or negative things the mind is projecting through predominant thought patterns. Now, on the self-help side, this can lead one to conclude such things as: I can create my own future, my thoughts will lead me down paths of either light or darkness, through affirmation and meditation I can focus to realize my true potential.
Christianity, on the other hand, depicts man as having been created in God's own image, therefore being the only creature with the innate ability to create (speaking outside of procreation, which all life can do). Furthermore, Christ himself instructs that you should ask and receive by faith. Christ and the apostles also warn to focus the mind on the goodness of God, for lack of focus will lead one into darkness. As you can see, the basics of Christianity are dramatically opposed to the Law of attraction because the basics of Christianity state: I can create my own future because God has enabled me to create, my thoughts will lead me down paths of either light or darkness, through affirmation of what I am in God and meditation on His greatness and love for me, I can realize my true potential in this life.
Now, if you still think that these two beliefs are opposed, I would strongly encourage you to read the above paragraph one more time. As one can see, it is simply a matter of perception. The Law of attraction depicts the universe as being composed, at the fundamental level, entirely of energy. And energy, as we know, has no beginning and no end, flows through all of life and never goes away but is simply transferred. Christianity states that God is in the universe because He created it. God has no beginning and no end, flows through all of life and is eternal (another way of saying never goes away).
There you have it. This is simply a summary of what it truly means to be a Christian and an observer of the Law of attraction. I believe that so much of what makes up our reality, good and bad, has been brought into reality by our own thought patterns and our actions based on those thoughts. God created us to create, so why not create the best possible life you can while you still have time on this earth?
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