Life More Abundantly - Little Light No. 16
How are you feeling today? I hope you were able to have a restful weekend. This newsletter might be a tad different than we're used to, but again bear with me! 🙂
Recently, I've noticed the word manifest placed throughout posts, videos, and captions. I've seen things like, "I manifested this new opportunity" or "all of things I've manifested are coming to fruition" or "how to manifest your dream life." It's a buzzword that a lot of people are clinging to. Manifestation or the larger concept, the law of attraction, has grown so popular that it has also become subtle in messaging.
I remember coming across a post over a year ago where a woman explained how she shifted her thinking to an abundance mindset. She wanted to remind herself that everything will come back around and there is no need to worry about it now. On the surface, that made sense to me. I mentally skipped past the part where she explained how she received a new apartment from doing this. Thinking it was seemingly harmless, I sent it to a few friends.
Later, I did a bit more research and discovered the abundance mindset was a way to manifest more wealth into one's life. It can start as something small like a daily affirmation positioning oneself to receive. Then it can snowball into someone quickly believing if they think something for long enough it will come to them.
This is alarming because manifestation places power in the hands of a person by assuming one can create their desired outcome. I believe this idea became so popular because most people want direct control over their lives. The pandemic took control out of our daily lives because of the rapidly changing situation. According to Google Search data, the word manifestation reached its peak search volume in July of 2020 and has yet to decline to pre-pandemic levels.
Culture has definitely shifted to prioritize a "self-made" mindset, with people quickly glorifying what they think they've created. However, it's easy for any of us to get caught up doing that. Personally, I didn't think much of it before, as mentioned, I shared the video with friends. I didn't realize how I was spreading false and dangerous ideology. My eyes were opened when I listened to a podcast where the host said simply, "Don't praise the creation, praise the Creator."
Abundance comes from what God provides, not what I can provide for myself. Here are some spiritual truths:
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10
" I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in Him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. " John 15:5
"They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen." Romans 1:25
Take this with you
I'm learning to be cautious about what I subscribe to. I am now on guard to this concept that's embedded in our society. I now notice it everywhere. Something small can make a lasting impact and turn into a slippery slope. Guard your hearts and minds. Be careful about concepts that do not align with your values, regardless of how popular it is.
Love you,
Lauren Jessica