Article August 21, 1909 Issue

THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN

M. G. INGLIS.

What and where is heaven? All have a hope of heaven in the dim recesses of their consciousness, for all certainly have a great unrest within them, an unrest which the world cannot satisfy, and which perforce leads them to seek for something that will give peace and lasting contentment; yet how few there are that search till they find. St. Augustine said, "Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds rest again in Thee."

What we are all seeking is harmony. In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy has given us the true definition of heaven: "Harmony; the reign of Spirit; government by divine Principle; spirituality; bliss; the atmosphere of Soul" (p. 587). All through the Bible God is spoken of as inhabiting heaven,—that is, dwelling in harmony,—and we are also told that the kingdom of God is within man. As we study our text-book and begin to realize more clearly that God, good, is the only power and that He rules now,—"a very present help,"—we shall experience the joy of bringing to others the glad tidings that good is the only reality and is here now, and that evil has neither place nor power. All space is filled with the presence of God; therefore, in spite of the seeming discord, there is an unchanging harmony, and all space is in reality filled with harmony. In proportion as we cling to the understanding of the omnipresence of God in our consciousness, we shall attain to harmony,—be attuned to the infinite Mind.

We read in Malachi: "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." What are the tithes that God, divine Mind, asks us to bring to Him? St. Paul says, "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God." Full of meaning is this word "holy." We cannot present hearts surcharged with error or clouded with thoughts of self; a belief of life apart from God, lived according to material laws, which leaves God out of His own temple. Each one of us knows what part of our all is being withheld. To the young ruler, it seemed difficult to lay his riches on God's altar. To some that particular demand might appear easy of fulfilment; to others, material sense in all its alluring forms might be the stumbling-block, and assume such a density that the divine law of Love would be lost sight of.

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