Prosperity Part 4
October 9, 2025
Prosperity Part 4
I am not a Trekkie, but I recall Mr. Spock’s Vulcan motto: “Live long and prosper.”
What a wonderful line from someone who supposedly repressed his emotions. As a Vulcan, Mr. Spock lived from logic and made decisions based on rational thought. Yet being only half Vulcan, he still had access to feelings, even if he did not outwardly express them.
The unemotional Vulcan who says “Live long and prosper” makes an emotional greeting. First, it is a positive declaration. Next, it takes the form of a blessing. And finally, it offers care and hope for the person’s longevity and prosperity. It is, at the heart, a gift to whomever receives it.
Why would we want someone to prosper? Do we wish them prosperity because they need it? Or do we wish them prosperity simply because we want the best for them, whatever the best might mean in their life? In any case, genuinely blessing someone with long life and prosperity is an act of love.
Yet sometimes, if we are honest, we withhold this blessing. We do not like the person, so we do not bless them. Or perhaps we may not be intentional, but it does not cross our mind to wish prosperity for certain people. We think they already have enough, or maybe their prosperity has surpassed our own and we withhold our blessing. In such cases, blessing them might feel to us like a poor person blessing a king or queen, or a victim blessing their aggressor. And again, in all honesty, in our most unhealthy and distorted ego, we may even wish harm and lack for those we despise.
But how are we truly affected when others prosper more than we? Some of us are glad for others. Some are glad for others until their good fortune threatens our territory or ego. Yet the truth is, no one else can diminish our prosperity, financially or spiritually. Our spiritual worth is a sacred matter between ourselves and the Divine. It is not measured by how we compare to others, but by how faithfully we live our ideals.
A way another person can lessen our sense of prosperity is when we compare ourselves to them and then judge our own worth by that comparison. In that case, the wound comes not from them but from us. Comparison on the spiritual level is a contradiction. Comparing ourselves with others is to conflate spirituality with competition. On the Enneagram of Soul, comparison with others fosters desolation, not consolation.
When it comes to the unhealthy ego’s hatred of its enemies and the wish that harm come to them instead of a long life, there is a problem on the most rudimentary level of our existence: our hatred ends up harming us, and the negatively affects everyone whose lives we touch. Jesus spoke to this situation directly,” But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.” Luke 6:35.
Truly wishing another person prosperity keeps the flow of abundance alive for all. It is an act of goodwill toward anyone, regardless of their position in life. When we bless another with long life, we strengthen life itself. And when we wish them to prosper, we awaken the blessing that lives in us all.
Spiritual practice: Is there someone you might withhold a wish to prosper? Have they prospered in some ways beyond you? Or do they continue to prosper, although they inflict harm on others? Try blessing them and sending love their way. What is the effect on your heart? In that we are all connected on some spiritual level, what may be the effect on them?
Self-inquiry: What are the reasons why we may be jealous of another’s prosperity?
Prayer: Dear God, Keep my eyes and heart on real prosperity.
