THE sense of lack or limitation is a subtle thief that would rob the young Christian Science student of man's God-given birthright,—dominion over all the earth.—and thus, if this error be not speedily detected and summarily dealt with, delay his progress. Shakespeare says, "Sweet are the uses of adversity." This is very true when mortals are driven through great tribulation to put off worldliness with its Meeting joys, and to put on regeneration, which is life eternal. After this first great lesson has been learned, however, and the student has advanced beyond the first steps on his upward climb in Science, adversity does not always prove to be "sweet." Indeed it often hampers his efforts to aid the Cause he holds so dear, or to discern the need of humanity and meet it from the great fountain-head of unlimited supply.
We read in the Scriptures that "God is no respecter of persons," and that He "giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not." Do these words mean what they say, or are they to us but as sounding brass and tinkling cymbals? The apostle tells us that there must be "first a willing mind,"—willing to lay down all for Christ,—and any student who lays down all that he once thought constituted wealth or fame, will prove for himself that these weigh not one jot nor one tittle in the divine balances. He will prove to a certainty that while he is taking on ever-increasing spiritual proportions, his shadow of material things will not grow less.
There is no spiritual poverty, and the student who would not be caught napping beside the pool of mental stagnation, will not need to hoard anything away from the truth. When the call for help comes from any source, he can prove beyond a doubt that God is always pouring out from this living fountain more than human beings can ask or think. If the student's motives in seeking and giving are pure, his assets will increase proportionately to his fidelity to Principle; his liabilities will decrease in like ratio, and failure in his chosen field of labor will be an impossibility.
