Article July 23, 1921 Issue

"The substance of good"

BLANCHE M. COLLEY

Since the beginning of the Adam-dream, when man was first condemned to till the soil, one of the greatest problems of mankind has seemed to be that of supply. Out of the multitudinous illusions and false concepts of mortal mind, gradually there took form the belief that a man could not possess all that he needed to live happily and successfully. A neighbor or fellow man seemed always to have what one lacked or desired; hence the natural way to attain a desired object was to exchange with or take from the neighbor. From such simple beginnings have been evolved the vast and varied business activities of our own time. From the very first, men have striven to attain, have sought better things, reached out for good, according to the individual concept of what was good or most to be desired. In a vast majority of cases, the goal sought is wealth and the road thereto is called successful business.

Upon entering the business world one may be beset by fears and doubts and laws of limitation. A change of political régime may cause great uncertainty; it may be feared that another firm may in some way undermine the business, that some individual more keen may force one out, or one may outgrow his usefulness and be shelved; and so on and on through innumerable phases of fear and dread of failure. Since the day when Cain, jealous of Abel's manifestation of higher attainment, favor, and success, slew his brother, the zeal to obtain and retain material wealth and power has often developed and revealed the animal propensities of human nature,—greed, selfishness, malice, envy, jealousy, and dishonesty,—which one must overcome if he would climb the ladder of fame or success. The cause of all this is suppositional mortal mind. What is the remedy for it? Surely there is but one, namely the recognition of Mind as infinite Spirit, God, Truth, Life, and Love.

Men are standing in their own light and beating the air! The thought that human beings constitute man and in and of themselves are something, when in reality they are nothing, is back of every discord and sense of lack encountered in the course of human experience. In other words, a false concept of God and man or the belief in material man and material substance or supply is the Pandora box of all ills. Christ Jesus plainly declared God to be Spirit. In his first recorded words we find him declaring that he must be about his Father's business. Throughout his life he proved, absolutely and beyond all dispute, that the same law which raised the dead and healed the sick was operative in providing for the human need of the moment in all places, under all circumstances. His whole mission was to teach men that to have a true knowledge of God, the Father of all, was to have life, and have it "more abundantly."

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