Eric Butterworth - In the Flow of Life

Unity Village, MO 64065-0001

Also by Eric Butterworth

Discover the Power Within You

Spiritual Economics

Unity: A Quest for Truth

Celebrate Yourself!

The Concentric Perspective

Breaking the Ten Commandments

The Universe Is Calling: Opening to the

Divine Through Prayer

Life Is for Living

Life Is for Loving

It is impossible to say how many thousands of people Eric Butterworth influenced to change their lives for the better. His Sunday lectures filled Carnegie Hall and then Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York for more than 30 years. His messages were broadcast nationwide for more than 50 years. His book Discover the Power within You was an influential best-seller even before Oprah Winfrey promoted it on her television program.

Erics influence spread far beyond his local ministries and radio audience. He mentored many successful Unity ministers who in turn touched many lives. Practically every Unity minister of Erics generation and the generation after was influenced by his thoughts and has taught from his books.

The first time I saw Eric Butterworth was at a conference for Unity ministers in the early 1980s. He was held in such high regard by his peers that he was given a special time allotment to address them on an important controversy that was under discussion at the time. No one else at the conference was given such an opportunity, nor can I recall a similar case at a conference. He spoke eloquently on the matter at hand and even the ministers who disagreed with his position listened respectfully. I was impressed that what he said was centered in and consistent with the spiritual principles he taught.

Some 20 years later Eric came to Unity School to speak to the ministerial students. This was not long before his passing. He still maintained the special dignity and presence I remembered from 20 years before. His message was again centered in the same principles, now specifically applied to the vocation of ministry. I knew these students were generally more interested in modern methods for church growth and the newest popular ideas than in the old principles. Yet many were moved by Erics emphasis on consciousness rather than the latest popular ideas. He got them in touch with what originally made Unity a dynamic spiritual movement.

Eric Butterworth was a man who lived true to spiritual principles and clearly saw the practicality of those principles for every life situation. His dedication to Truth, rather than personality or fads, was the source of his spiritual powerhis power to influence others to live from a spiritual perspective.

Eric was a shy person, clearly an introvert. As often happens with shy people, some people may have thought him aloof. I found him impressive in the way that a profoundly spiritual monk can be impressive to people who are sensitive to such things. His wife Olga told me on a number of occasions that Eric was not charismatic. I wonder if any husband after many years of marriage can seem charismatic to his spouse. What Olga frequently spoke of admiringly was Erics integrity. She also told me that toward the end of his life he still would say he had one more book in him. Many of us would have liked to read that last book.

Eric seemed to think of himself more as a lecturer and especially a writer than as a clergyman. His personal introverted and almost professorial orientation makes his accomplishments as a minister and leader all the more remarkable. The principles by which Eric Butterworth attained his success pervade all of his writings and are particularly clear in In the Flow of Life.

As Eric Butterworths successor in the New York ministry, I met many of the people whose lives had been touched by Eric. They found in his teachings new ways to see themselves and their lives. They found ways to live happier, healthier, more successful, and more liberated lives. They all called him Ericnot Rev. Butterworth or by any title. They spoke his name with a mixture of affection and reverence. Erics students regarded him as both a great man and a special friend. They thought of his message as the standard for spiritual teaching.

All of Erics books are well worth reading. Discover the Power within You, his most popular book, is a practical and mystical interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount. Spiritual Economics, probably his second most popular book, provides a spiritual perspective for successful and prosperous living. In the Flow of Life is quintessential Eric. It distills Erics perspective and feeling for spiritual living into an accessible guide for being in the flow of the universe. In the Flow of Life may well be the most profound and useful of Erics books.

Eric was always conscious of connections between spiritual traditions. In the Flow of Life especially captures the spiritual kinship between Jesus and Lao-Tzu, founder of Taoism. Although Eric also draws upon the writings of Emerson, Thoreau, Shakespeare and others, In the Flow of Life is not an intellectual exercise but a practical guide for living life here and now. It provides effective anecdotes about ordinary people to illustrate the power of the deceptively simple idea of being in the flow.

This book shows how being in the flow can positively effect every important aspect of life. It describes how getting in the flow of life puts us in the healing the stream of life, the flow of the creative process and the illuminating guidance of life. Going with the flow helps us get along with people. It helps us find meaning, cope with adversity, and move more easily through grief. It truly is a simple yet powerful philosophy for living life to the fullest.

Eric observes Nothing stays; all is change; it comes to pass and shows why adopting this perspective can be uplifting.

In Chapter 7 (my personal favorite), Eric writes Life is a flowing experience, and the only certainty is change. Isnt that truer than the old saying nothing is certain in life but death and taxes? The chapter expresses a calm and liberating philosophy for life: Life goes on, and we can find new opportunities for love and happiness if we move with it. Because life is an ever-changing flow, we can look at every circumstance and affirm, as Eric suggests, I accept the reality of this situation, but not its permanence. Eric somewhat playfully suggests another meaning of it came to pass when he writes, The experiences of today are simply grade levels in the ongoing process of life. We are not here to fail; we are here to pass.

In the Flow of Life contains practical spiritual wisdom for daily life. No matter what circumstances you face, you can find helpful insights in this book.

Rev. Jim Gaither
May 2012

About twenty years ago a word came into vogue In scientific treatises, psychological journals, and conversations of people in the street. The word was flow. It was used in many contexts, from the more esoteric idea of a Universe in "flux," to the personal comment on the human condition "I am really in the flow!" And it reached a high point in whimsy in a cartoon in The New Yorker, depicting two grand ladies standing beneath a life-sized portrait of an obvious "gentleman of distinction."

The caption read: "And I said to my husband, 'Go with the flow!' and he went."