As unlikely as it might seem to some, the abolition of poverty was begun over nineteen centuries ago. A spiritually-minded young man left the carpenter's trade to heal all types of problems. Preaching the immediate presence of the kingdom of heaven, of abundance and perfection, he told his fellow citizens, "It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."Luke 12:32;
That long ago, this young man was doing things as yet unequalled, such as providing food for multitudes through purely mental, spiritual means. He had no bank account or unemployment insurance, no storage reserves or relief agency. Yet he possessed a mental dominion and a wealth of spiritual understanding as yet unsurpassed, for this Soul-demonstrator named Jesus drew from the infinite resources of divine Love, or Mind. He assured his fellowmen that they had the same heritage he claimed for himself, the same Father. His works were based on spiritual foundations.
The Christian Science textbook, Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, explains: "We cannot build safely on false foundations. Truth makes a new creature, in whom old things pass away and 'all things are become new.' Passions, selfishness, false appetites, hatred, fear, all sensuality, yield to spirituality, and the superabundance of being is on the side of God, good."Science and Health, p. 201;
Here some may say, "Look at all the wealth acquired by many who are not really 'on the side of God, good.' I'd be happy to have even a small part of that wealth." Many individuals resort to asceticism or slovenliness in protest against the wealth they associate with hypocrisy and injustice. Some of them grow hateful and even violent as they view the inequities around them.
Certainly Christ Jesus deplored inequities and was deeply concerned for the plight of the needy. He instructed the rich young man who wished to inherit eternal life to sell what he had and give to the poor, that he might have treasure in heaven (see Mark 10:17-31). He had strong words for the man "that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."Luke 12:21;
As truth and justice become more evident, the false foundations of the world's disposition of supply will surely crumble away. Christian Science brings to light the true foundations by maintaining the fact of the spiritual, real man's heritage of "the superabundance of being" as the offspring of infinite, divine Love. It "makes a new creature" of us by expanding our comprehension of good as infinite Mind and of the real man as the reflection of this inexhaustible Mind. It reveals the reality of substance as Love, or Spirit.
Christian Science teaches that the human realization of the kingdom of God includes spiritual dominion over all earthly discords or limitations, includes boundless ability to think and act intelligently and progressively.
The kingdom of heaven can never be depleted, because it is entirely mental and eternally present. In fact, this kingdom, the reign of Soul, infinite Mind, expressed by the real, spiritual man, is always demonstrable by mankind. It precludes anyone's having to take from someone else to benefit himself, for spiritual abundance and mental dominion can be claimed and proved by people of every race and occupation.
Jesus once remarked to his disciples, "Ye have the poor always with you."Matt. 26:11; May he not have been speaking of barren mortal thinking? Though we may be unaware of harboring poverty-mindedness, it is part and parcel of the human belief in a finite God, a limited, mortal man, and life and substance in matter. We may seem to have learned from others to think in a limited way, but this tendency can surely be remedied to the degree that we turn away from the mortal identification of ourselves. Mrs. Eddy insists: "Mortals must emerge from this notion of material life as all-in-all. They must peck open their shells with Christian Science, and look outward and upward."Science and Health, p. 552;
The basic point of Christian Science is that God, divine Mind, is the only reality. It is not enough merely to agree with this fact. Through spiritualization, thought needs to yield to the ever-present reality of Mind; then infinite good is humanly manifested. The understanding of good's ever-presence cannot fail to bring evidence of supply. The real man's abundance is not the result of chance but of divine law. Having no foundation in infinite Love, lack is impossible.
The acceptance of a true foundation lifts us from lack of confidence in ourselves as mortals to confidence in our immortal reflection of Mind, from a limited outlook on life to an unrestricted perspective of possibilities, from the physical aspects of poverty to the metaphysical proof of the allness of good. Understanding infinite good to be the native state of God's creatures can bring success and fulfillment into our human experience to the degree that it erases the mistaken sense of ourselves. Striving to live in accordance with man's true status does indeed annihilate "passions, selfishness, false appetites, hatred, fear, all sensuality" —all that would limit our spiritual progress and manifestation of abundance.
Other traits that contribute to poverty-mindedness are envy, self-justification, self-righteousness, greed, lukewarm devotion to achievement. All these false characteristics stem only from a latent belief in lack of some kind, even among many of the so-called wealthy. Wealth gained by human will to compensate for a sense of inadequacy can be lost by human will and pride. On the other hand, envy of a wealthy or successful man often intensifies one's sense of lack and failure; it steals from one the ability to realize God's endowment of true abundance and fearless being.
Claiming our heritage of abundance does not obviate the necessity for abundantly expressing the Godlike qualities of integrity, constructiveness, diligence, appreciation, and orderliness. Truly abundant living necessarily includes generosity, honor, thought-fulness, spiritual sense, as well as intelligence and ability. The spiritually-minded individual finds every need met by maintaining and consistently applying his sense of at-one-ment with God, good.
Supply is not in matter. It is not essentially in property, money, salary, or investments, but in our humble acceptance of the ever-presence of God, Spirit, and our unselfish reflection of His infinitely abundant qualities and ideas inherent in the real man. Truly that kingly ex-carpenter taught, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."Matt. 5:3;
This former carpenter told his friends of numerous mansions in his Father's house, unseen from their limited viewpoint. Where his disciples saw only five loaves and two small fishes, Jesus saw the presence of infinite good, and so fed five thousand hungry people. And when he directed Peter to obtain tax money from the fish's mouth, this was no gamble but a directive that must have in some degree awakened Peter's thought to the ever-availability of supply, seen in Christian Science as the omnipresent infinitude of right ideas.
By cultivating the desire to give we can harvest the conviction of having an abundance of good for further giving. To sow greed is to reap limitation and lack. Might this not be the import of the Saviour's parable of the talents? (See Matt. 25: 14-29.)
Through her phenomenal growth in the things of Spirit, and because of her desire to share with mankind her understanding of the kingdom of God, Mrs. Eddy went from poverty to abundance. In Unity of Good she points out that "Jesus required neither cycles of time nor thought in order to mature fitness for perfection and its possibilities. He said that the kingdom of heaven is here, and is included in Mind; that while ye say, There are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest, I say, Look up, not down, for your fields are already white for the harvest; and gather the harvest by mental, not material processes."Un., pp. 11, 12.
