“For as man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (KJV) is the most frequently quoted Bible verse by those talking about positive thinking. The actual reference is rarely specified which is Proverbs 23:7a. If one reads the context of the surrounding verses one may have reason to speculate as to how an entire philosophy could have resulted from this one partial verse taken out of context.
But that is exactly what James Allen did with is very popular little book, As a Man Thinketh which came out in the early 1900’s and as is stated in the opening paragraph of the book, “The aphorism, ‘As a man thinketh in his heart so is he,’ not only embraces the whole of a man’s being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.”
It is possibly from this same idea that Earl Nightingale, often considered to be the founder of modern day personal development, recorded in 1957 the message, The Strangest Secret, which became the most frequently played audio message of its time. The secret of that time was “you become what you think about” and was considered strange based on Earl’s title.
Now 50 years later we have from the movie and book The Secret which is the Law of Attraction = ‘whatever is going on in your mind is what you are attracting’ = ‘thoughts become things’ = ‘All that we are is a result of what we have thought.’ and many other similar phrases are used by the various teachers that appear as weel as the other luminaries that are quoted in the movie. These are all further restatements or refinements of this same idea.
Some of these teachers in the movie The Secret make a special point of mentioning specifically that what they are saying is not simply positive thinking – that it is far more than that. James Ray, one of the teachers make a special point of saying that the Law of Attraction is much more than simply “thinking”. He states for the results mentioned in the movie to happen one must go three for three. By that he means that thoughts are only one third of the “formula” and that ones feelings must also be aligned with the thoughts; that still nothing happens until proper action that is also alignedoccurs. It is also important to point out that there are other factors also involved in this whole process.
The principle of sowing and reaping is something ever farmer is well aware of and is mentioned in the Bible and referenced in the movie The Secret.
Almost all of the teachers in the movie make specific mention about the importance of gratitude. In fact one segment of the movie goes into this in depth. Similarly, gratitude or being thankful is mentioned many many times in scripture and is very important.
There are also ideas regarding money, prosperity, abundance, healing and relationships that are mentioned in the movie and which have considerable scriptural references concerning in the Bible. Interestingly enough, money is one of the most frequent subjects found in scripture and the Bible has far more to say than the frequently misquoted verse found in I Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is the root of all evil.” and the verse goes on to say, ”which while some have coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”(KJV)
To be continued.
