A Matchstick a Horse and Man: Chapter Six

The Invisible Market

Once upon a time there lived a man named Nigel Gatling. He worked in a factory stamping out a small metal part for an unimportant metal tool. He lived in a small terrace house in an unimportant district. In fact, he did nothing of any importance at all and found life very drab. He had a wife and four children and, although his wife was a hardworking woman, the children were hard playing and they wore out their clothes and boots so fast that at times Nigel insisted on seeing the tattered remains before he would believe it was true.

One day, after he returned from the factory Nigel’s wife had told him at supper all the things which she needed for herself and the children; consequently, when the meal was finished, Nigel felt very subdued.

He left his wife washingup (though he usually helped her) opened the door of the small front parlour which was only used on Sundays, closed it behind him, locked the door and crossed the room to a battered looking desk. This had been a schoolboy possession and was still stained with ink. There was a secret drawer which was known to Nigel only for he had cherished this tiny spot of privacy for years. He manipulated the concealed spring, the drawer flew open and he took out his hidden hoard.

Alas, it was only a pound note, one solitary pound which he had scraped together coin by coin, and changed into a note only the week before His face was sad as he looked at it. He had hoped to buy something special with it one day, but he could not forget the long list of wants his wife had given him at supper. It must go

Having come to this unhappy decision, Nigel’s head drooped onto his hand and, being very weary, he was soon fast asleep, the pound note still between his fingers …

Nigel dreamt he was walking along a brightly lit street. Surely it must be high summer, for the sun was very
bright and so mellow, too. He had never enjoyed sunshine so much before. Presently he came to a great door and, overhead in very large letters were the words: ” The Invisible Market.” The name seemed so very extraordinary that Nigel walked in.

There were little stalls where people were sitting; others were walking around; some were engaged in earnest conversation. While he was passing one stall he was surprised to see that it had nothing on it. A hurried glance showed him that the other stalls were likewise empty A man smiled at him from the stall and he was thereby encouraged to ask:
“Why is there nothing for sale in the market?”
“But there is,” the man assured him”only it is invisible.”
“What good is that?” Nigel was astounded.

“All things come from one Invisible Substance,” explained the man. ” Everything that exists, and everything that has ever existed comes from this Invisible Substance and it is brought into visibility by thoughts. The world was created by thought. As the Creator’s heirs, we inherit His creative power and we too can shape the Invisible Substance by our thought.”

“It sounds too good to be true,” stammered Nigel. ” How can I know that it is true? ”
” Why not try it?” smiled the man. “That’s the best argument What is it that you want? “Immediately Nigel thought of all    the things his wife had wanted for herself and the children and he told the man all about them.
“You don’t need to manifest shoes,” explained the man helpfully, “because there is a woman over at that stall opposite who is always manifesting shoes by her thought. She is interested in them. And as for the children’s clothes some of those you will need to manifest for yourself but I can manifest the boys’ suits for you … Tell you what ! Can you manifest a couple of bicycles?

“My two kids are keen to have them then we can do an exchange.”
“I don’t know,” Nigel said doubtfully. “It seems so extraordinary.”
“It isn’t extraordinary at all. People are always manifesting something by their thoughtwhether it’s good or bad. You can’t even move your foot without thinking about it first It’s just a natural thingso natural that lots of people haven’t noticed it. By manifesting through thought we are harnessing a power that has been there alwaysjust as electricity was there always and noone knew before. When we think in pictures or feelings we make a shape for the Invisible Substance and it manifests. That’s all.”

“If I think or picture bicycles, then, will they appear on this stall?
“No; they come gradually, attracted into our lives; the actual arrival of the bicycles will seem to be most ordinary as though it had nothing to do with thought at all. But it has!”

For a while there was silence, while Nigel pictured two bicycles very clearly indeed, deciding on their type, colour, size in fact, he knew a thing or two about bicycles and he put his best into them. Then the man broke the silence by saying:
“Good. You can expect the suits and I can expect the bicycles. But the value you are giving me is greater than that which I am giving you, so I must give you a note to that effect.” He wrote on a slip of paper and Nigel exclaimed:
“But what good is it? It’s not real money at all !”

“It’s a symbol,” the man explained patiently. “A symbol that you have thought built something of more value than you have received and so you will receive the extra value at a future time. You’ll call it a bit of luck, I expect. Money, real money, as you call itis only a symbol, you know.”

“Is it?” Nigel looked puzzled.
“Of course. In return for money you receive something which has been made out of the Invisible Substance just as everything has because it is the only Substance. There are plenty of people who think that money has a power in itself, but this is not so. When the world was created, money was not created. Money was an invention or creation of man’s so money is man’s servant.

“When a people can see clearly that money is a symbol of thought building and that in the measure we thought build from the Invisible Substance, so we will receive all our needs, we will never love or fear money again. It will have become our tool and he will have become its master. From that moment, we will create deliberately with our God given thought power whatever we need. We will ask confidently because we are God’s heir and we will receive. All that we need comes to us quietly, without sensation or strain. Some of our needs will come directly, but often through the symbol of money. Looking at this money we will see it as a kind of ‘receipt’ for our thought power That is all money is, my friend,” said the man impressively.

“True riches are in the Invisible Substance, waiting for us to shape it by his confident thought. And as the Invisible Substance has existed always and will always exist, and as it is limitless, you will see that once you know you have nothing to fear. How could we be heirs of the Creator if we did not inherit His creative power of thought? That is His legacy to us don’t you see?”
“I do see,” Nigel said fervently and straightway he awoke.

He glanced around the front parlour in bewildered fashion for a moment and then his eyes fell upon the pound note.
Lifting it up between his two hands, he laughed silently at it. “Just a symbol ” he exulted. “A symbol of my thoughtshaping of the Invisible Substance. Why, I’m rich I’m the King’s heir, just as we all are His heirs, only we don’t realise it. From now on I shall indeed remember that ‘all things are possible to him that believeth.’ I shall look beyond the symbol of money to the reality, the limitless Invisible Substance and, as my faith, so shall it be unto me.”

Closing his eyes, Nigel began happily to do his first real praying in that parlour for at last he had faith.

– Bernard