Is New Thought on Life Support?

Is New Thought on Life Support? Ideas are forever...Swedenborg's allegorical approach to scripture, Emerson's oversoul and awareness of being part of god, Spinoza's monism, Bishop Berkeley's subjective idealism, Fox's Inward Light, Yogananda's belief that the soul is the individualized consciousness of god...they were around before the new thought movement and are well ensconced in the movement. I don't worry about ideas and principles...they've been with us always and will be available to us always. And properly understood and faithfully applied they will improve lives. Where I get concerned about New Thought is when we become arrogant ('what I understand and have found to work must be the only real way'), or when we lack compassion ('if you had the consciousness for health or prosperity your dreams would come true'), when we seem selfish ('I tithe so the universe will give me more money but I don't want to give you too much help because it might make you dependent and would stunt your spiritual growth'), or when we turn away from difficulties and heartaches in the name of "not wanting to give them energy" or "not wanting to make them seem real." I don't suggest that these attitudes come from animus or that they are never appropriate at least in some measure. But sometimes we make New Thought into an excuse to deny our humanity. I have honestly known people who deny grieving because they know the "truth" that their loved one is fine and god is all and pain is an illusion, etc. I hope I never become so enlightened that I can't admit when I'm sad. My fave Zen story is about a disciple who finds his master crying. The student asked why his master was crying and the great old teacher said, "because my wife died this morning." The disciple said, "but master, you've taught us that everything is an illusion." and the zen master replied, "Yes, but my wife was my favorite illusion." I am very inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh's engaged buddhism. Jesus' was an engaged spirituality...involved in justice, health care, family dynamics, community activism, food relief, counseling (exorcisms). we can learn the principles and apply them to healing injustice, systemic oppressions, inequities, etc. And thoughts and attitudes make a difference and Treatment can work wonders and the one Power is everywhere evenly present...AND, poison killed buddha and socrates, Jesus and Paul were executed, Moses (though possibly mythical) did not enter the promised land, Bahaullah spent years in prison. Enlightened folks, Truth students suffer too and there shouldn't be shame in that. We can all manifest abundance, but I might do so more easily if I don't also have to deal with racism, sexism, homophobia, struggling economies, natural disasters, etc. Prosperity Consciousness can work for everyone, and, some have to face more obstacles than others which makes the manifestation all the greater but also might delay it a bit. The "isms" (and the challenges in life) are very much in the realm of experience and they are deleterious. I can "know" nutrition for you, but I can know it while making you a sandwich. It's usually wise to tether one's camel even while trusting Allah. That's my concern...that if NT seems myopic or uncaring or doctrinaire, then it will repel more people than it attracts and the principles won't do much good if people aren't willing to hear them because the presentation seems unkind or detached from the complexities of life. The organizations, like most religious organizations right now, may decline or stagnate or need to reinvent themselves to serve new cultural and social patterns, but if the Teaching helps people feel loved and empowered and worthy and gives them tools to improve their lives without feeling judged for needing to improve their lives...then the teaching will live on forever. Will we always call it new thought, will we always have boards and schools and retreat centers?...maybe. I'm not as attached to that as I am to the message that has enriched (and a time or two even saved) my life. That message is going to be fine. And people will find it one way or another. Whether it looks like Unity-DivineScience-SOM et al remains to be seen. I think it will be fine either way...as long as the message reaches hearts and uplifts the human spirit. THIS is a particular moment in history where just such a miracle is needed. Once it occurs, few will care what we called the "magic" that brought it about.