THE thought of ownership is still an unsolved problem with the majority of mankind. Most people desire to own something, but this desire is seldom satisfied. The more they get, the more independent they are likely to imagine themselves to be; but for one and all the day of unrest is sure to arrive, since the more one possesses, the greater are his responsibilities, until the burden of anxious thought-taking and scheming becomes unbearable and the human heart cries out for spiritual rest and peace. Sooner or later there will come from every human being the honest admission that material things fail to satisfy, that "a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." It is then, and not until then, that human consciousness is ready and willing to exchange-physics for metaphysics, and to learn for the first time that God is the sovereign possessor of all things.
It is doubtful whether the secret of the world's mighty unrest is fully comprehended outside of the teachings of Christian Science. It lies in the fact that humanity has reversed the law of ownership, making it human instead of divine. It has ignorantly assumed the right to own God's possessions, instead of attributing to Him the sole right of ownership. In this abnormal attitude of thought man's true relationship to God is lost sight of, and humanity is destined to inevitable dissatisfaction, unrest, and suffering. Christian Science, coming as a law of reversal to all perverted concepts, has revealed the true idea or concept of ownership, acknowledging God as the sole creator, governor, and owner of all things. But when it employs the expression "all things," it does not mean anything material or human. The "all things" of God's creating and ownership are spiritual realities unseen to the outward vision.
God does not and can not lay claim to one atom of evil or matter. He possesses His own vast spiritual creation, and this creation being complete, His own image and likeness, there is nothing else for Him to own; hence the logical deduction of Christian Science that so-called material things or possessions are but shadows, transitory and unreal. Whoever, therefore, essays to own such shadows, is alone responsible for the only seeming reality they may possess. In the sight of God they are nothing; in other words, they have no absolute existence. The all-inclusive Mind of the universe is responsible for its own manifestations of spiritual purity, harmony, and immortality. Matter, having none of these characteristics, cannot lay claim to being any part of God's domain of ownership.
