Mankind’s deepest hunger is spiritual. Whether it’s a longing for peace and security, a yearning for freedom, a simmering desperation over finances, or wanting to be healthy and happy—many of us are searching for something whose source is not found in the conventional view of life. We are, often without knowing it, seeking God. We are seeking the abundant goodness of ever-present Spirit, the comfort of unchanging divine Love.
Material systems look to matter as the source for health, happiness, and security because matter seems to be the source and controller of our lives. Yet many people’s hopes still go unfulfilled. The book of Jeremiah in the Bible poignantly describes what many encounter: “We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!” (8:15).
Mary Baker Eddy speaks to the underlying problem in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “A mortal, corporeal, or finite conception of God cannot embrace the glories of limitless, incorporeal Life and Love. Hence the unsatisfied human craving for something better, higher, holier, than is afforded by a material belief in a physical God and man. The insufficiency of this belief to supply the true idea proves the falsity of material belief” (p. 258).
