Article December 5, 1914 Issue

Grace

GUSTAVUS S. PAINE

The idea of grace is so akin to that of gratitude that one may gain a broader conception of both by considering them together. Grace and gratefulness both involve the thought of satisfaction; that is, joy in the recognition of good, or, in other words, the expression of loving intelligence in all activity. Whenever the human thought turns away from its own limited self, it must turn toward the unlimited, the great Giver of all happiness. In the spiritual interpretation of the Lord's Prayer we read, "Give us grace for today" (Science and Health, p. 17). This petition must be a simple desire, and in the very acknowledgment of that desire the human sense must lose just so much of its feeling of lack, and recognize the complete presence here and now of the one divine idea in the one divine consciousness. The expression of completeness, wholeness, is all there is to health; therefore the turning toward the wholeness of grace, gratefulness, is in itself healing.

In John's gospel we read: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, . . . full of grace and truth. . . . And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace." The fulness of gratitude is indeed our daily bread, since the Word, the expression of spiritual truth, is sufficient for our every need. Let us not forget that Jesus, before he fed the multitudes or raised Lazarus, gave thanks and rejoiced in knowing that the Father had heard him always. He knew that all he needed was to reflect Love and the intelligence which was already his unlimited possession. Christian Scientists everywhere are seeing the fruits of the positive assurance that today, as of old, the Word dwells among us, and in accordance with Mrs. Eddy's request (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 127), they are knowing daily that "when a hungry heart petitions the divine Father-Mother God for bread, it is not given a stone, — but more grace, obedience, and love."

Grace and gratitude are the manifestation of Love, — Love so infinitely beyond its poor human counterfeit that we almost hesitate to use the word. Not by words, but only by daily healing, by daily recognizing the healing wholeness which is ours, can we prove in some measure that the loving grace of God has indeed "abounded unto many."

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