Is It Luck? or Is It Law?
St. Patrick’s Day Musings

Ah…yet another opportunity to continue the ritual of digging out prosperity lessons in my metaphysical interpretation of a holiday.

Luck of the Irish, shamrocks, wearing of the green (pinches if you don’t!), parades, and one of the busiest days of the year for bars and restaurants.

Originally, St. Patrick’s Day was a religious holiday in honor of Ireland’s most famous patron saint, but has gradually become a celebration of Irish culture. In 1991, the U.S. Congress proclaimed the month of March as Irish-American Heritage Month. Unusual traditions have emerged, such as the Chicago River being dyed green each year in celebration of the holiday!

So, What About This Irish Luck?

A little research shows that historically, the Irish have been a very unlucky race. When they migrated to the U.S., they were treated badly. However, during the exploration for gold in the West, a high number of Irish people got lucky and found their “pot o’ gold” in the fields of California or prospered in silver mining. Since Americans at the time didn’t think the Irish were capable of any success, it was called the “luck of the Irish.”

Let’s look at the dictionary definitions of LUCK:

1. The force that seems to operate for good or ill in a person’s life, as in shaping circumstances, events, or opportunities

2. Good fortune; advantage or success, considered as the result of chance

3. A combination of circumstances, events, etc., operating by chance to bring good or ill to a person

4. Some object on which good fortune is supposed to depend

Luck is obviously attributed to accident or chance — unpredictable and beyond our control.

When we delve into the area of mental and spiritual laws and the practical laws of manifestation, we come to understand that there is a very sound explanation for what appears to be “luck.”

Among the important prosperity laws I teach is this one: The subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between a real and an imagined act. When we visualize and focus our mind on a specific desire, the subconscious mind will accept it as fact and begin the creative process of attracting it to us.

Even a charm, talisman or object thought to have occult powers is nothing more than a tangible symbol that convinces the subconscious mind that you are manifesting your desire. It creates heightened expectation and results follow.

But in order for a tangible symbol to work most effectively, I believe one must be grounded in an understanding of the laws that support it so that the subconscious mind will be open and receptive to the change — and new manifestation — to occur. Once the laws are understood, it will prevent subconscious resistance. The subconscious resistance to change is the reason we do not attract many of the things we desire most. In my Feel Free to Prosper program, I explain all about this and teach you to overcome the resistance that keeps your desires beyond reach.

Ok, so what about those people who are not grounded in prosperity laws but experience a strikingly “lucky” incident in their lives — the kind of manifestation most people dream about? Winning the big lottery, for example…

You may be aware of the staggering statistics of lottery winners who win millions – and lose all of their money within a short time.

I recall a news story a couple of years ago about one of the biggest lottery winners in history who not only lost all the money within a couple of years but was embroiled in criminal circumstances. Another MSN news story featured eight more “lucky” winners who lost it all in short time. A quick google search will reveal many similar accounts.

This boggles the mind, doesn’t it? With all of the financial expertise available, even referred by the lotteries these days, it’s amazing that this can happen to any reasonable person. The message here, in my opinion, is that through the subtle influences of our thought forms, desires, momentary faith or prayers, we CAN conjure up a major manifestation that we can attribute to “luck.” But…

Without the “container” and “infrastructure” (consciousness) to hold it

Without the mental and spiritual “foundation” (knowledge of the laws) to support it

And most important of all — without our alignment to the universal “designer and supplier” (our real source of supply, the giver of the gift) — the tangible, physical structure (manifestation) cannot remain.

So much for luck…and lack…in the eyes of this prosperity teacher.

Some Favorite Quotes About Luck

Being deeply learned and skilled, being well trained and using well spoken words; this is good luck. —Gautama Buddha

[Buddha taught his followers not to believe in luck. His view states that all things which happen must have a cause, either material or spiritual, and do not occur due to luck, chance or fate.]

Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered. —William Shakespeare

Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.  —Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wearing the “Green”

Legend has it that wearing green (symbolized by a shamrock) on St. Patrick’s Day makes you invisible to leprechauns, fairy creatures who will pinch anyone they can see (not wearing green).

Let’s remember in our study of the laws that green is the color of prosperity. Green is the color of nature, environment, life, growth, renewal and abundance. You are an individualized expression of life and therefore under the jurisdiction of the laws of nature and the laws of abundance.

Your growth, renewal and abundance depend upon your alignment with the natural laws and the spiritual laws of the universe. If you will cultivate and wear a “green” (prosperity) consciousness — every day of the year — you will manifest the “green” (monetary substance) you need and want and you will no longer live a “pinched, narrow existence.”

“Why should you deliberately open your mind to receive? Because most of us have endured a pinched, narrow existence for no good reason. We have blocked our good from getting through to us in the process.

“There’s nothing divine about a pinched existence. There’s nothing divine about a narrow, limited way of life. It proves nothing but the foolishness and ignorance of man who actually lives in a universe of lavish abundance. Anyone who leads a pinched, narrow existence is not expressing his true nature.

—Catherine Ponder, Unity Minister and Prosperity Author

Watch out for those leprechauns!

Getting the “Green”