Out of the crowd around him, according to Luke's record, a man asked Jesus to tell his brother to divide the inheritance with him. Jesus' answer was direct and penetrating (Luke 12:14): "Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?" One lesson we may learn from this is the indivisibility of good.
By parable and example Jesus taught the very antipodes of the popular belief that good is divisible. In the parable of the prodigal, the younger son's request was similar to that of the man in the crowd (Luke 15:12): "Give me the portion of goods that falleth to me." The belief that the inheritance had to be divided in order to be shared, sprang from a limited, finite sense. This false sense of substance soon spent itself. The elder son saw only loss for himself through his brother's return, and so became resentful. But the correct sense of substance was voiced by the father in the priceless words, "Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine."
Majestic declaration of inseparability and indivisibility: not a portion, but all! This is the Father's message to each of us. Because one has abundance, another need not lack. There is no room for envy, since each has all good by reflection. One sunbeam shines no more brightly than another; nor does it struggle for position or jostle another to obtain more of the sun. In the platform of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy writes (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 335), "Spirit is the only substance, the invisible and indivisible infinite God." An indivisible God manifests Himself in indivisible good, in oneness and allness. Oneness cannot express itself in dualism. Since substance is Spirit, it is inexhaustible; never depleted, it may be drawn upon constantly.
