Editorial July 22, 1911 Issue

HUNGER AND THIRST SATISFIED

Annie M. Knott

When the psalmist said, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. ... the living God," it was no mere fervid fancy of the poet which he uttered, it was truly the cry of the human heart for the unknown source of being. So far from condemning this desire Christ Jesus said, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." The pity is that so few discover, until they have suffered long and become well-nigh hopeless, what it is that can satisfy every longing and make hope spring up anew, to unfold quickly into faith and understanding. Mrs. Eddy knew what this meant when she wrote, as the spiritual interpretation of the petition, "Give us this day our daily bread," "Give us grace for today; feed the famished affections" (Science and Health, p. 17). The pity is that mortals have ever looked to matter for the supply of all their needs and to mortal mind to satisfy the heart's deep longings when nothing less than divine Love can do this.

We may, however, often remind ourselves that hunger and thirst are indicative of a healthful human condition, if the desire is for good, but in Christian Science we learn that desire can never be truly satisfied until it grasps spiritual reality. In the forty-second Psalm, already quoted, the writer pours out a deep sense of sorrow—tells of tears by day and night, while the senses seem to say mockingly, "Where is thy God?" And yet he tells us that he had gone with the multitude to the house of God, "with the voice of joy and praise." He had, however, to learn the lesson which is for all humanity, that until soul, spiritual sense, is satisfied in knowing God as the very Life of man, and the health of his countenance, the children of men faint and fail by the way; yet the Master said, "He that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst."

Here we may well ask ourselves how often we really "hunger and thirst after righteousness" with the ardent desire which impels men to toil for their earthly food? If we have not a keen desire for the truth, and an equal relish for its bestowments, we may find it worth while to discover whether we are in a healthful mental condition. Thoughtful physicians often pass by drugs in prescribing for patients who complain of poor appetite and loss of strength, and recommend exercise, sometimes even hard work. This should furnish a hint to the Scientist that greater spiritual activity may be his need; not alone the study which is so essential to his health of mind and body, but the work which may mean arduous labor for the advancement of the cause of Truth, and for the "healing of the nations." A homely proverb has come down to us from Paul's day to the effect that he who will not work should not eat. This is easily applied in Christian Science to mean that he who will not work spiritually, for himself as well as for others, will miss to a large extent the bread which cometh down from heaven and giveth life and health unto the world; and this, too, largely because his spiritual appetite is poor.

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