OUR true possessions are always spiritual; they are never material. Material things, however abundant, of themselves never actually satisfy. What are called material possessions are temporary, although they are needful and helpful in human affairs when subordinated to intelligent usage and supervision. The writer of Ecclesiastes, whose material possessions were vast, as were the privileges made possible by them, summed up the matter very concisely when, after enumerating the indulgences which his wealth permitted, he declared all to be 'Vanity and vexation of spirit." Finally, he advised. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man," adding, "For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."
The wisdom which looks to God in every human need is true riches, for wisdom is a spiritual quality. True wisdom, when manifested in human affairs, is always productive of practical results. Christ Jesus knew this better than anyone who ever participated in human conditions, and he summarized it very clearly, after rebuking excessive concern for material food and clothing, by saying, as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew: "Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."
Christian Science, insisting with Biblical authority that man is spiritual, the image and likeness of Spirit, God, shows clearly how true possessions also are spiritual and eternal. Mortals, believing that life and possessions are material, suffer the consequences of such mistaken belief until thought awakens to the true and real sense of good, as explained in Christian Science. The individual is able to rise out of the false beliefs that argue for lack, and experience the glorious freedom that God bestows on man, because mortality is a myth, never a fact; and envisioning the Christ, Truth, the reality of being, each individual may put off lack— lack of health, supply, friendship, companionship, lack of harmony, opportunity, and courage—and have evidence of the good, the illimitable real.
