Goodness that’s never in short supply
Especially at times like this, it can seem there just aren’t enough resources to go around. But as a woman found during a financially difficult time, the light of God’s healing, saving goodness and love shines on all of us.
Challenging times like these may suggest that resources are finite and insufficient, or that some individuals gain while others are left out by chance or by lack of opportunity or access. The outlook can appear bleak, limited, and unfair.
A kinder, more gentle, and principled view is offered by divine Science, the law of God, which is rooted in the foundation of one infinite God, good. This God is the Mind, or intelligence, of the universe; and this Mind, which is also Love, is universal and impartial. Divine Love never compromises. It does not give to one and take away from another. It is the only real source of goodness and cannot be in short supply.
Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science, writes: “Love, redolent with unselfishness, bathes all in beauty and light. ... The sunlight glints from the church-dome, glances into the prison-cell, glides into the sick-chamber, brightens the flower, beautifies the landscape, blesses the earth” (“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” p. 516).
Infinite Love has no boundaries. And each of us is an idea of this Love, of divine Mind, reflecting the unending grace of God. As we begin to see that spiritual reality, we experience the very real dimension of spiritual sense. It’s as gentle and natural as the dawning of a new day. Here, dark predictions and limitations are displaced by divine light.
Some years ago, I moved to another country to go back to college. Before I left, a friend I deeply respected took my hand and said, “Love’s work and Love must fit.” I recognized this as a line from a hymn that describes the spiritual identity of man (meaning all of us). To me, it felt like a mother’s loving counsel, to bear in mind that I am God’s idea, child, or pure reflection. The hymn also describes our identity as God’s child this way:
Man is the noblest work of God,
His beauty, power and grace,
Immortal; perfect as his Mind
Reflected face to face.
(Mary Alice Dayton, “Christian Science Hymnal,” No. 51)
Embarking on this new adventure hadn’t been a rash decision. Yet things weren’t easy, to say the least. Although I had a reasonable sum of savings to last me a little while, it was limited. Things were uncertain, and I couldn’t work on a student visa. During one semester, everything seemed to fall apart.
But I had a strong conviction I could trust in God and His Christ, Truth, as my “good shepherd” (see John 10:11). I had faith to do God’s will, which could only reflect divine goodness. Divine Love was the “sunlight” nourishing me spiritually when I felt helpless and imprisoned by fear, bringing a conviction deep within me that Love’s gentle presence and power, constant and active, would guide and care for me.
As I looked for opportunities to serve on the college campus between classes and on weekends, I was offered a very modest but interesting position in the international student affairs office. My gratitude was boundless when, without my asking, the office applied for a work visa for me, which then opened up many avenues of opportunity to be of service to others.
It can be tempting to think that opportunities are dependent on circumstances or chance. But I’ve noticed that it is the supply of spiritual ideas from God – expressed in qualities such as compassion, kindness, love, cheerful willingness, confidence, trust, intelligence, generosity, humility, and joy – that uplift hearts. And they multiply, manifesting themselves in tangible blessings.
This experience is such a modest example, but it showed me something important. When the sun shines, it lights up the whole landscape. It doesn’t stop shining, and no one is left out.
This unity of man with God, good, is what Jesus saw so vividly, despite what appeared to be lack, limitation, disease. He understood God to be the true cause and substance of us all, and this spiritual understanding enabled him to heal so naturally.
God supplies us with spiritual ideas. These are infinite resources, and we’re made to express and share them with each other. We can all recognize the indivisible wholeness of our relation to God, limitless Mind, and experience renewed health, supply, harmony, and progress.
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