BY RIGHT OF CONSCIOUSNESS

The Eighth Commandment: You shall not steal (Exodus 20:15). The laws regarding theft are well known, but what of spiritual theft? Stolen property or wealth never belongs to the thief. It may be in their possession for a time, but soon moves on. They dispose of it in some way, the items or cash finding its way into another’s hands. When discovered the thief is punished accordingly, the items or money returned if it can be located.

Let’s consider material possessions and wealth. Everything around or on you belonged to someone or something else before it came to you, and one day will leave you. Your car belonged to the manufacturer/dealer before it was purchased and though it may be in your possession, if you are still making payments it “belongs” to the lender until paid off, eventually to be sold, traded in, handed down or scrapped. Your clothes, even if you made them you bought the material and thread from someone else, first belonged to the store where you purchased them and one day will find their way to Good Will, a garage sale or become a rag eventually finding its way to a land fill. Consider the ancient Egyptians. They constructed intricate tombs in an attempt to “take it with them”, to hold onto their possessions and wealth beyond the grave. A visit to a museum quickly demonstrates how well that worked out. Is it any wonder why some refer to archaeologists as “grave robbers”?

Nothing is permanent beyond the soul, the spark of the Divine within each of us, our indestructible connection to the universe, existing outside the strictures of time. The work we do to raise our consciousness stays with us, forever. Those who have tried to demonstrate a connection to God for the sake of material success never succeed in the end. Personal wealth, possessions or false pride never pass beyond the grave. You cannot steal or fake a relationship with God. The difference between secular theft and spiritual is eternity. Even if you succeed in convincing everyone else, in the end both you and God know the truth, so what was the point? As a wise teacher said: Where do wish to build your kingdom? Here, where it is subject to time and deterioration or in Heaven, which is eternal. No one gets out alive. This flesh will fail. The work you have done to raise your consciousness remains with you by spiritual right, forever. Your relationship with a Power Greater than Yourself is forever beyond the reach of any thief or the ravages of time.