EBUP73: Whining or Refining

This is the second of an eight-talk series on how to find self-realization and fulfillment through our work and career. Three of the talks are missing, so I have only five to offer. This one is about personal excellence. A phrase Eric repeats several times was learned from his mother, May Butterworth, also a Unity minister. The phrase is “Good, better, best. I will never let it rest until my good is better and my better is best.” It’s a great affirmation and this is a great motivating talk about how to achieve your best.

This is the first of an eight-talk series on how to find self-realization and fulfillment through our work and career. I have only five of the original eight talks, but these that we have will certainly get us on our way to a new sense of what Eric calls The Great Intrapreneurial Revolution.

Eric Butterworth elaborates in this talk on Matthew 21:21 “If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do what is done to the fig tree, but even if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea, it shall be done.” In fact, he doesn’t just elaborate on the passage, but he explains how that is literally true in today’s world. This is a great talk on faith.

Eric shares several notable ideas in this talk: “get out of the grandstand”, our “acceptance quotient”, working with law, THIO “time has its opportunities”. If you need encouragement to rise up out of a slump, this is a classic Eric Butterworth talk that will get you going.

This is Eric Butterworth’s answer to "Why does God allow evil and suffering?" If you listen, you will find that there are two parts to Eric’s answer. He acknowledges that evil and suffering is caused by what we refer in Unity to “by right of consciousness.” But Eric concludes that we should not ask “why doesn’t God, but why don’t I? ... Let God be the answer through you. Let God be the flow of love, of life, and protection, and you’ll be the channel.” In my opinion this is an example of how Metaphysical Christianity offers a much better story than traditional Christianity.

This talk is so powerful that the audience applauded for a half minute at the end. Eric deserved it. He spoke about how we build walls for protection and how the fortress we build up becomes our prison. This lesson is based on an Old Testament story from Zechariah and Eric concludes "The prophet’s ideal is not a word of fortress cities and societies, but unwalled cities and free and open communication and commerce between nations… Jerusalem should be inhabited as a village without walls." Whew! What a lesson for today!

Eric concludes this talk with "Resolve that never again would you allow yourself to think of your ordeal, your limitation, your handicap. Resolve to think of the constant opportunities provided in life that enable you to deal with the condition, to refine it, and to go throw it. And give thanks for this ability to look at yourself, to see the great potentialities that are yours. Make commitment now that you will stop whining, and commence refining."

Eric says in this lesson "Wherever you are in time and space, be there. Live the moment and the experience completely. There may be regrets about the past, there may be apprehensions about the future. But what about today? What about the opportunity for joy and fulfillment in this moment just where you are. One of the great discoveries, which is somewhat puzzling to many persons, is the truth that now is all the time there is. Now is all the time there is, this moment." Read the full transcript at http://www.truthunity.net/ebup72

This recording is important because it reveals some important things about a state of consciousness known as Solipsism. Solipsism can be a very troublesome philosophical condition, especially in Unity circles. We need to be aware of what solipsism is and how it can be misused. As a side note, this recording also reveals the likely source of Eric’s well-known statement that there is an “Allness in every Illness.” Click through to the link for a lengthy analysis of this talk: http://www.truthunity.net/ebup71

From the content of the talk it is apparent that this talk was given in October 1987, the Sunday after the stock market dropped by 22%. Eric Butterworth served in Manhattan NYC and those who attended his services were highly impacted by the market drop. So this talk is what Eric Butterworth would have said to us in our present situation. Much of what he says is contained in other talks but it is Eric's advice at his best in meeting an overwhelming challenge.