Do we have to wait for good? No! Are solutions to problems right at hand? Yes! Why? Because God is All-in-all, the source and substance of all true being. His ongoing wholeness is forever being demonstrated right here in our lives and needs to be claimed now. The Scriptures tell us, "Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."II Cor. 6:2.
Limitation seems so much a part of mortal existence. Mankind is generally plagued with fear of present or future depletion, whether it be lack of retirement funds for the elderly, inability to cope with ever-increasing expenses, wearing out of our bodies, or some other phase of mortal concept and worry. Such concepts are based on the restricting assumption that passage of time and the limitations of matter govern our lives. The difficulties associated with needing more time and supply are frustrating and baffling, but they needn't be and must not be left unresolved.
Might not a solution begin by our turning to the forever now of God's unfolding spiritual ideas, which are always immediately available to be claimed and reflected in our lives?
It is reassuring to realize we do not have to relive or salvage a discordant past for correction, nor are we required to wait out an uncertain, dreaded future before we can enjoy divine Love's fullness. What we can do now is draw near to God in thought and life and remain there. We can come into oneness with God and His ongoing love for us, because divine Love is infinite and ever present. As we begin to understand the present power and unfailing love of God, we'll come to see that there is no accumulation of limitation or fear left over from yesterday, nor is there any carry-over of error into tomorrow. Why? Because the only reality we can have is the current, ongoing, unfolding substance of God, divine Truth, Life, and Love.
Mrs. Eddy writes in The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, "We own no past, no future, we possess only now." And further on she explains, "Faith in divine Love supplies the ever-present help and now, and gives the power to 'act in the living present.'" Miscellany, p. 12.
At this very moment we live under the supreme control and authority of God's love, wherein man's completeness as God's spiritual reflection can be understood and demonstrated. Our acceptance of divine Love's ever-present divine law is basic to our happiness, safety, success, and immortality. Truly to live and think only in the present eliminates the frustrating measuring points of a past beginning and a future unpredictable end. To the degree we accept God's presence and control, we can recognize this nowness in our lives and bring the ever-operating divine law right into our daily experience.
False pressures, stemming from the fear that we don't have enough time, disappear as we understand that the reality of infinite God and His creation is not subject to time. Hurry or irritation, based on mortal perceptions of time, can be replaced with the peace that is natural in the unfolding realm of divine Mind. There need be no nagging anxiety for the future or fear of depletion if we begin today to align our lives with God's infinite love. Man, forever God's reflection, can never stop expressing God or become useless. The only actual existence is what is truly going on in God's revealing of Himself through His wholly spiritual reflection, man.
What we materially seem to be right now may not be very comforting. To correct this deception we must lift thought into accord with the spiritual ideas that continuously flow from God. As we subordinate the testimony and will of the material senses to God's law, we'll unite our thought to the Truth that is God; our present experience must conform to divine Love's ongoing expression in man of grace, beauty, and health.
How do we accomplish this? How can we discover and utilize these spiritual ideas? We begin with the spiritual fact of God's infinite ever-presence and reason from that basis in all that we think and do. Mankind falsely believes that life is measured by calendar days and years. This incorrect basis leads to the penalties and failings that we see in the material world; it would squeeze existence into a narrow, fleeting slot of the present, caught between the past and the future. But the divine fact of being is established: God's spiritual, immortal nature is reflected in the measureless eternity of spiritual existence. God is perfect; therefore His idea, man, is in truth unlimited, exhaustless, and complete.
We cannot hoard or accumulate time, and we don't need to in order to feel secure. We don't use it up or consume it. We don't possess it. Man expresses measureless infinity by reflecting God, his infinite source, and he does this in the eternal now. The same is true of supply.
There is Scriptural authority for claiming man as coexisting with God, expressing His spiritual perfection and completeness. This coexistence is the essence of God's love, and it is in this divine assurance of God's love for us that the continuity of our being is maintained. In I John we learn of the nature of God's unfailing love: "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." I John 3:1-3. As the sons of God we live in God's eternal present, in the presence of God. This Scripture also assures us we can, right now, express and enjoy our oneness with Him in the infinitude of His love for His creation.
Every individual as God's idea reflects the wholeness of God's nature. God's love is forever present and available in our present experience. Our growing understanding of this oneness in God as His beloved sons brings us into unity with His love. As God's reflection we can express His completeness today. It can take shape in our lives as the appearing of practical, fresh, new ideas. Whatever the human need, we can begin anew each moment.
In demonstrating the spiritual ideas that bring us the supply we need, we can acknowledge and confidently trust God's direction as we take whatever steps are necessary to enable us to perceive the ongoing appearing of divine Love's provision for us. Contrary to the limited concepts of mortal, fearful thinking—which always erroneously begins reasoning with a material demand—the correct understanding of our eternal relationship to God enables us to begin our reasoning with the infinite, exhaustless nature of the spiritual supply of right ideas that comes from divine Mind.
Supply and demand are simultaneous as expressions of one complete unfolding idea. Neither appears separately without the other because they are one. Supply or demand left to itself is only half an idea. Supply requires demand to fulfill it. In like manner, demand requires supply to carry out its completeness. Each includes the other in the nowness and oneness of the whole. When we recognize that each demand is already existing within its own infinite spiritual supply, this fact can be demonstrated right now, bringing out the completeness of God's total idea. As we gain this understanding we will part with the timidity that holds us back from relying completely on divine Love to meet our every need.
We cannot hoard or accumulate time, and
we don't need to in order to feel secure. We don't
use it up or consume it. We don't possess it. Man
expresses measureless infinity by reflecting God,
his infinite source.
God's love is available for every one of us to know and express. To mortal sense, infinite Love doesn't appear to be all there is. But right at that very moment, just as Christ Jesus trusted that a few loaves and fishes—combined with an acknowledgment of God's ever-present power and love—would be adequate to feed a famished multitude, we can yield the conviction of limitation to the spiritual truth that we're never separated from God's care and infinite love.
This wouldn't mean, of course, that something like a savings account would be wrong. But our savings do need to result from our present demonstration of freedom and dominion— not simply be an accumulation of matter in the fearful expectation that there will be a time when divine Love won't or can't supply what we need.
At one time I was led to reexamine my motives regarding a retirement program. I had to exchange concern for the future for trust in the ongoing presence of God's love in operation. I redirected some of the funds into a more useful and currently productive source of activity, which has since proved to be a right decision. A stagnating fear for the future can be replaced with security based on continuing spiritual activity and anchored in spiritual standards. We will prosper in trust and obedience to God's direction.
We have a moral obligation to be responsible for ourselves and demonstrate our ability to live the truths we are claiming. Demonstration isn't mere day-to-day existence. Bringing our lives into accord with God's law brings dominion, security, self-respect, and will result in a more permanent sense of self-reliance and capacity. Each day gives new opportunities to affirm a more complete, practical sense of the substance of God's love, and we can embrace such opportunities with joy.
In every daily activity and decision, whatever the human need, we can prove God's, Spirit's, wholeness, moment by moment, in tangible ways that all can understand. That quality of divine completeness is ours as God's reflection, to claim and enjoy here and now and forever.
