EVERYBODY is interested in prosperity. The individual usually seeks it through the sweat of his brow, or through the shrewdness of his mental processes. Nation or aggregations of individuals, too, are either on the lookout for means to continue what they conceive prosperity to be or looking longingly or expectantly for its return from wherever it has gone —usually just around the corner. Prosperity is a condition or status which, strangely enough, mankind inherently believes must exist, and to which it considers itself entitled. And yet, prosperity continues to be illusive, unstable, and erratic. There must be some reason for this, and Christian Science presents the answer to the problem.
The writer of Ecclesiastes declared positively the futility of matter and its attributes as a source of prosperity and happiness. He tells that he accumulated gold and silver and lands and servants and maidens and "the delights of the sons of men." And yet he said, "I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun."
The wise author of Proverbs, however, sets forth facts of which he had become convinced, namely, that there is, after all, something worth striving for. He tells us (Prov. 3:13-16, 18): "Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour. . . . Happy is every one that retaineth her."
