How few of us know "what we most need"! It is generally believed that we need material possessions more than anything else. For example, a young man said to me some years ago, "I shall never be happy until I have a lot of money." This friend is today a man of wealth and distinction, but he is no happier than he was when he made this remark.
Men are learning, as did this friend, that true riches are not in material possessions, which are subject to change, but in virtue and contentment, which endure. Paul told us that those who covet money and riches suffer "many sorrows" and that we should "flee these things" and seek "righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness" (I Tim. 6:10, 11).
Mrs. Eddy expresses the same idea this way: "What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds" (Science and Health, p. 4). As we express these graces of Spirit, we are indeed abundantly satisfied, immensely rich. We find the calm of patience, the beauty and nobility of meekness, the bliss of love, and the joy that comes from doing good deeds. These are the riches that are substantial and enduring, while material possessions, state honors, and fame are ephemeral and perishable.
