God vs. The Law of Attraction

Hey.

Are you ready for it? It’s 4 am and I have grappled most of the night with a few questions about God versus the Law of Attraction.

I don’t know where I was when the hype first started, but it’s been nearly two years since I began studying… how do I say this to you?

It’s been about two years since I began studying… quantum physics.

It’s still me. Jami with no e, who took general science 2 years in a row and FINALLY got a D- in summer school sessions one and two… and three.

Still, while preparing to write my third book Well, Girl, I stumbled upon a video on intuitive eating and the subconscious and ended up down a rabbit hole (metaphorical, not spatial) of brain science, science-science, and Jesus come quickly… math.

And I have said a few things that have prompted a few messages that I didn’t know how to address until 4 am this morning.

Here goes.

Question: Are you saying the law of attraction is real? That’s a new age teaching?

My Answer: The Law of Attraction is a philosophy, just as the butterfly effect and gravity can be tested in chaos theories (omg what is happening here???) the law of attraction can be applied and tested in behavioral theories and psychology practices. You have a choice in your response to my response, however, wait just a hot second. Are you sure you are not answering from the habitual belief in “new age” terrors deep in your subconscious?

Furthermore, are you practicing gravity daily? Or are you occasionally having to peel yourself off the ceiling?

Okay, so we are pretty sure about how gravity works.

Now, have you ever been to counseling? Say you have, do you prefer “talk therapy” or cognitive behavioral therapy?

I have a graduate degree in counseling and human development, so those terms mean something to me as an educator. And as a Christ-follower? Well, they don’t seem “new age?” But I mean, I guess, they are newer terms than in the Biblical age?

So are the terms microwave safe, Tylenol Pm, LASIK hair removal, and Starbucks, triple shot, extra hot, mocha, Java, latte.

No, I am not a sorcerer, just a wordsmith.

Question: Are you suggesting the Power of Positive thinking is the only way God answers us?

Answer: Nope. Well, kind of. But not in an ugly way. We are what we believe. But that’s not science or theology. It’s in the Bible. Proverbs 23:7, “as a man thinketh, so He is.”

So you say you are just a “lowly sinner.” You say it enough, profess it in social settings, which earn you acclaim and make you FEEL like a really good Baptist. Meanwhile, back in your head, the subconscious is grappling with church words, your words, Jesus’ words, Paul’s words, and your inner mean girl – oh and it is simultaneously keeping you breathing on the regular and is completely cognizant of your “mindless” chips and salsa consumption.

The freedom that comes from the power of positive thinking or the idea of the law of attraction is complex but also, relatively simple.

Positive, good thoughts stimulate the release of feel-good hormones. Negative, fearful, or hurtful thoughts produce stress hormones. The first, calms the mind and body, making it feel the feelings of belief and safe assurance. The second cause stress, worry, anxiety, heart palpitations… you know the drill. Both are for our benefit. We are gifted with rest. And if a bear is chasing us? We are gifted with fight or flight ninja moves.

Oh! The simple part?

“Focus on what is good, pure, and holy.” Philippians 4:8 And Matthew 6:9-13 “pray… on Earth as it is in heaven.” And finally sisters, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against these things, there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

Talk about the law of positivity!

So if belief is a feeling, something you know in your gut as true, and your mind is a muddled mess of fear and worry (unbelief) what prayers are a good Father most focused on?

“Help my unbelief.”

And the subconscious swings into action – Jesus did that by healing the man’s daughter, so I need tangible proof He answers. Mark 9:20-24

Wait for it….

Crickets?

As a parent, would you give a baby a hunting knife as a teething ring? I didn’t think so. So, if with your mouth (conscious mind) you are begging for money for a down payment on a new house, but your neighbor won the lottery and the next day got hit by a drunk driver and is in a wheelchair for life, and your pastor has been pounding the pulpit about the evils of prosperity, your subconscious is TERRIFIED of financial abundance.

And Love protects.

Yes, I believe Love, God protects.

Sometimes that looks like a miraculous healing or windfall. And sometimes that means waiting or a different answer. My belief in that cannot be proven with scripture or science.

Calm down, I am not saying scripture is like science. But maybe I am. Because what I believe is what I FEEL. I cannot bend spoons, solve for X, or determine what you feel. I feel and therefore believe that scripture is applicable in my life. My history, experience, and feelings determine that. I can hear your testimony, you can hear mine, and our feelings and beliefs are not transferred from prose to ownership.

You get to feel and experience your belief however you please.

I choose and believe that Jesus is my final answer.

He said to love. He said to seek, ask…. And we wound find. In my experience, I am motivated by positivity and gratitude because they have opened my eyes to more of His goodness. In that space I have had miracles take place, His answers appear more clearly, His direction more precise.

So, it’s not quantum or rocket science, it’s neither theory or theology. The reality is I am just a girl who believes and professes her birthright as the Daughter of the creator of the universe. I am only a teacher if a student listens. I am only a student if I am willing to learn.

Those are the things I am positive about.

It’s not a law or a hypothesis. It is my journey as the beloved. I feel it in my bones, which are joined just so, with precision and purpose.

Am I saying God is the Law of Attraction? Am I accusing Him of ignoring us if we are not practicing the power of positivity?

No.

I am just comfortably camped in the seat of His promises in the freedom of an organized mind. Jesus said we could take our thoughts captive. This was well before the days of psychological review and brain mapping.

I believe Him. And since He pegged cognitive science centuries before a new thought was engineered, I guess that makes Him the original New Age teacher.

And I’m with Him.

That’s my final answer.

Jesus be all over your fearfully, wonderfully, made mass of cells and vibrations! Love, J

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