After 15 years of marriage, Tori and her husband decided to divorce. Their settlement negotiations went well until the final sticking point—their pension plans. Tori wanted to continue their marital agreement that when one of the couple died, the surviving spouse would be the beneficiary of the other partner’s pension plan. Her husband did not agree. The two went round and round about the issue a long time, with no resolution in sight. Finally Tori decided that it was not worth fighting with her husband over the money, and she felt better to simply let go and trust. She signed the settlement as her husband requested.
A week later, Tori received a phone call from her elder friend Deborah, who knew nothing about Tori’s divorce agreement. “While I was praying this morning, I asked Spirit how to formulate my will,” Deborah began. “My guidance told me to make you the sole beneficiary of my estate.”
Tori was floored! Deborah was a wealthy woman whose assets included two homes, an apartment, a car, and a financial portfolio—the sum of which far exceeded what Tori would have received from her husband’s pension fund. “In that moment I realized that faith is always justified,” she told me.
When we worry about having enough money, connecting with the right relationship, or finding a skilled health care practitioner, we often confuse the avenue with the source. There is one Source –God, Higher Power, the Universe, Light, Life Force, Love—or whatever you choose to call it. That Source is capable of reaching and helping us through an infinite number of avenues. We get balled up when we believe that our income, for example, should come through a spouse, our family, a particular company, or the government. If one of those avenues dries up, we might freak out, “Now what am I going to do for money?
Yet the universe has ingenious ways to take care of you. If you can release your focus or demand on one avenue, Source can find you in a new and often better way. In medieval times, buildings were constructed with concrete gargoyles at the corners of the roof. The rain poured through a gutter and out the open mouth of the gargoyle to the ground below. While it appeared that the gargoyle was supplying the water, it was simply the last outlet through which a far vaster source was sending life-sustaining water. If one gargoyle’s mouth got stuffed up with leaves, the water would find its way through another gargoyle’s mouth.
My client Greta loved to do humanitarian aid work in third-world countries, for which she received very little money—not enough to pay her bills. Greta’s mother, who had financial resources, supplemented Greta’s income every month. “I feel guilty because I am taking money from my mother.” Greta told me. “She is happy to give it, but I think I should be earning it.” I laughed and told Greta, “You are on God’s payroll. You are being sustained for your good work. Accept it graciously— you deserve it.”
Early in my career I presented a workshop for a holistic health center, for which I was to be paid $1300. We had a good turnout, and then the owner hedged on paying me, citing that the center was not doing well. Finally she told me that she had gone bankrupt and closed the center. A few months later she opened a new center that was thriving. I grew angry, reasoning that my program had generated significant income, and she could have easily paid me from those proceeds. Now she was thriving, hiding behind bankruptcy to avoid paying me. I drafted a strong letter asking her to pay me. Yet something inside me said, “Don’t bother.” I did not like the idea of chasing this woman around for the money. I deleted the letter, and decided to trust the universe.
A few months later I presented a program at Unity Village, where I was contracted to be paid a certain amount for each person in the audience. I counted the audience, and calculated my due to be $3,000. When I received a check for $4300, I told the sponsor that perhaps they had miscounted. “No, that is the correct amount we wish to pay you.” My good came to me through a far easier and more peaceful door.
My friend Ken Honda teaches, “If you lose money, or receive an unexpected large bill, imagine the amount you lost or overpaid goes into your spiritual escrow account. The funds will come back to you in some other way.”
Sometimes people want to attend one of my more expensive programs, or program by another teacher, but the fee is a stretch for them. But they really want to come, so they register and trust. I hear the most amazing stories about how they are funded! One fellow found some saxophones in his attic, which he sold. A woman’s church put on a fundraiser for her. Another lady received an unexpected large tax refund. Another fellow came to the retreat, where another student gave him a stock market tip. He followed up on it, and earned precisely the amount equal to the program’s tuition. The universe is brilliant at taking care of business!
2025 would be a great year to let the universe take impeccable care of you through any healthy means it can devise. When you are clear on the “What,” the universe will take care of the “How.”
