One generally uses his income either for expenses or for investments. The former he marks off as consumed—expended. The latter he expects to bring him a good return—a multiplication of supply. Take, for instance, a good education. This should be looked upon as an investment rather than as an expense. Through education the student becomes enlightened on specified subjects and is thus equipped for a useful and prosperous career. Ignorance could not attain for him what education does in the right use of knowledge. Ignorance would only leave him in a position of inability and ineffectiveness.
Any wise investment calls for intelligence and judgment, qualities which are never absent, because they come from God. And man, whom Christian Science reveals to be God's perfect expression, embodies these desirable qualities. Identifying oneself as God's expression, Mind's likeness, one acts invariably with wisdom. He recognizes a good investment and takes full advantage of it. He does not confuse investment with expense.
The Christian Scientist must decide whether he is taking care of an expense or making an investment when he considers having class instruction from an authorized teacher of Christian Science. He must make the same decision in regard to attending his annual association meetings, which often entail a journey. Both of these provisions are educational in nature and are decidedly good investments. They open to thought the treasures of Truth; and a spiritually actuated consciousness progresses in understanding and power.
One who invests in these modes of education finds his human limitations breaking down. His present sense of life expands and thus illustrates that his real life in Spirit is a perpetual unfoldment of good. He knows better how to share the truths of Life which he learns, and he has more to give. One should remember the recipe for prosperity which Christ Jesus gave. He said (Luke 6:38), "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom." But one must first have in order to give.
Anything spent for the purpose of learning how to help others to find their true identity in God's kingdom can be rightly considered an investment rather than an expense. Subscribing for the Christian Science periodicals is such an investment, because these periodicals are instructive in their intent. The Christian Science Journal, the Christian Science Sentinel, and The Herald of Christian Science were founded by Mary Baker Eddy to establish her system of healing and to instruct the public. They convey to the reader a knowledge of the Science of Christ and its application to the problems of the day. They cover current situations and show one how to meet the challenge of our rapidly changing times.
These periodicals relate instances of healing that illustrate the way in which individuals have made practical application of the truths of Science to specific problems. They record inspiring unfoldments of Truth, which uplift the reader and help him go forward in the living of the truth he professes. Undoubtedly the Christian Science periodicals should be considered a sound investment and not an expense.
The Christian Science Monitor is included in Mrs. Eddy's educational system, and many of its readers declare that they have become better educated, better informed citizens of the world, and better equipped to progress in usefulness because of their consistent use of the Monitor.
One businessman who began his career with only a rudimentary education, but who became very successful gives the Monitor credit for that success. His library contains many shelves filled with boxes of clippings from this paper, carefully catalogued according to subject and extending over many years of publication. This businessman is one who has proved that a subscription to the Monitor is a sound investment, since it has enriched his experience by making him more useful, alert, and prosperous. He has used the information gained through its columns to enlarge his vision and expand his knowledge of world affairs.
Giving generously to the church is also an investment rather than an expense, and one can look for a good return on the investment. What could be more productive of good than the establishment in a community of a church which stands for the presence and power and affluence of divine Love? Mrs. Eddy says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 206), "In the scientific relation of God to man, we find that whatever blesses one blesses all, as Jesus showed with the loaves and the fishes,—Spirit, not matter, being the source of supply."
Money spent for a well-located and attractively furnished Reading Room or for a generous number of lectures should never be considered an expense, but the best investment church members can make. This investment is certain to redound to their own good. Their city or town and the whole world will be better for this investment, and the blessings accrued will touch all humanity.
Whatever the student of Christian Science does to further the plan of salvation which Mrs. Eddy outlined for the race is helping to establish the kingdom of heaven on earth. His contribution is helping to make known divine metaphysics, which includes all reality. And true metaphysics enriches mankind with health and joy and all the gifts which God provides eternally. Mrs. Eddy says of the metaphysics she teaches (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 38): "It is a Science that has the animus of Truth. Its practical application to benefit the race, heal the sick, enlighten and reform the sinner, makes divine metaphysics needful, indispensable."
In Christian Science one's most important investments bring spiritual dividends, and the student looks for spiritual rather than for material returns. Taking every advantage to bring reality first to oneself and then to mankind brings a multiplication of good that knows no limit.
