Perhaps we all need to reconsider our views about money. The Bible unequivocally states, “the love of money is the root of all evil” (I Tim. 6:10). So, world society today will do well to ponder: Is one human economic system superior to another?
Mary Baker Eddy stated that “Christian Scientists must live under the constant pressure of the apostolic command to come out from the material world and be separate. They must renounce aggression, oppression and the pride of power” ( Science and Health, p. 451). This command flies pretty solidly against the prevailing views of both eastern and western society, especially in financial and business circles. In practical terms, it means that we won’t be in concord with “the party line” (or conventional wisdom) on many issues. The more each individual recognizes that which is Christlike in his or her consciousness, the greater the desire to see goodness shared. Finding our own good in the common good is a concept greatly needing reenforcement.
I like to think of Principle as being all the laws of the universe. Nothing exists without a divine law—a divinely instituted principle—to govern its existence and action. There is no imbalance of supply and demand. Demand implies that something isn’t there or is being used up, consumed, and thus must be replenished. In reality, God’s spiritual creation consumes nothing. It reflects. This is the basic truth of God’s creation. The demands of God are not about a medium of exchange or the marketplace, but rather are about what we are to do as we individually “work out the problem of being” (Science and Health, p. 262)—the essence of what Jesus was telling us. Among other things, Jesus told us to love our fellow man. His story about the good Samaritan was one direct example of how we need to go about expressing that love on the human scene. The love of money would turn a blind eye to the lesson of Jesus’ parable about the good Samaritan by fostering indifference to suffering—arguing that the good Samaritan didn’t have the money to spare to help the injured man and that besides, it wasn’t his problem anyway.
