Dr. David Walker, a New Thought Leader who passed away several years ago introduced me to the difference between a requirement and a need. There is a big difference. I have incorporated this into my life and it has made all the difference in the world. When I am needy, I am stating to the Universal Law that I do not have something that I want. As we might or might not know, the Law of our being in order to be fulfilled works from our feeling. Yes, we have an intention, but it is the feeling that brings the experience back to us. I must believe I already have the thing I say I want. I must feel it in my very being. I am merely revealing within myself the space to accept what I say I want.

Just wanting something is not enough. I could state I want this and I want that, and the Law of my being is just saying yes to me. “Yes, you want that or this.” I continue in a state of want.

But a requirement makes the world of difference in how I feel. When I require something, I am feeling from a place that knows I already have whatever that is and I am merely living as that thing or experience. I would never doubt that it could be here. I believe wholeheartedly.

Have you ever been with someone who just lives their life as if they have everything? It is exciting and inspiring to me to be with those people. They are very generous people also. My mentor used to say, “You can’t outgive God.” He lives that way.

When Dr. Walker first brought this thought to my mind it was through a story about coffee and cream. I’m paraphrasing, but it goes something like this. The waitress had brought him some artificial creamer for his coffee. He sent it back and said, “I require cream in my coffee.” His friend dining with him was a bit put off by his statement to the waitperson. Can’t we just be satisfied with what we have, was his friend’s thought. But, Dr. David didn’t pull back. He turned to his friend and asked what are your requirements? I require cream in my coffee.

I’m asking myself the same question now. It is a good way to state to myself what is important to me in life. It lets my inner being, the Law of my being know that I mean business. It builds the faith within me to trust that when I make a demand upon the Universe, the Universe will meet that demand. Dr. Ernest Holmes, the Founder of Religious Science would call it Emergent Evolution. When we require something, it appears. Ernest Holmes used the example of “when we require fingers, we would grow them.”

Ernest Holmes wrote, “Before our prayer is framed in words, God has already answered, but if our prayer is one of partial belief, then there is only a tendency toward its answer; if the next day we wholly doubt, then there is no answer at all. In dealing with Mind, we are dealing with a Force we cannot fool. We cannot cheat Principle out of the slightest shadow of our most subtle concept.”

What do I require? Just a few things are: to feel fulfilled when I wake up in the morning doing what I love, to have a healthy body to do my work, to see my children when I want to, to have a deep relationship with my husband, to express my creativity, to experience financial abundance. These are just a few of the ways I express myself.

What I know is that I could never require these things and experiences if they weren’t already a part of me. How can I know what is outside of myself? It’s impossible. Everything we require is already a possibility in the one Infinite Mind and as Emerson would say,

“There is no great and no small To the Soul that maketh all:

And where it cometh, all things are;

And it cometh everywhere.

I am owner of the sphere,

Of the seven stars and the solar year,

Of Caesar’s hand, and Plato’s brain,

Of Lord Christ’s heart, and Shakspeare’s strain.”

There is nothing separate from us, but it can only appear to us when we believe it is. It’s like the Room of Requirement in Harry Potter: “The room had the unique ability to provide or transform itself into anything that a witch or wizard required of it at that moment in time.”

The way this Law works is simply in the unseen. It is total and complete vibration and we are the ones who hold the wand of vibration in our hand. However, if we get stuck in the world of appearances of what is, we will never see what truly is. There is always more behind everything. This year, 2024, we have declared that Love opens the door to more in 2024. Do we believe this? Love cannot be seen; we only see what it does. The power behind a rose cannot be seen, we only see the rose.

There is something powerful and great within each of us ready and open to meet every one of our requirements. What do you require today? Do you believe you already have it? Can you open up to receive it? Do you believe you deserve it?

We come from an Infinite Intelligence that doesn’t wait to keep the planets spinning or delay gravity from keeping us on earth. It is current and instantaneous at all times and meets every demand made on it. Its name is Life and that is what its mission is. Life Now!

Love and Aloha,

Rev. Rita Andriello-Feren, Author, Teacher, Artist and Spiritual Director of Center for Spiritual Living Kaua`i