Editorial January 20, 1923 Issue

Heavenly Treasures

Ella W. Hoag

Jesus makes it very plain in his Sermon on the Mount that "treasures in heaven" are the only ones that can be relied upon. He states clearly that earthly treasures may be stolen or destroyed, and are at best but transitory; while heavenly ones are safe from every form of depredation. And then he goes on to say, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

It is acknowledged that one's deepest interest is always with that which he considers most valuable. Humanity may be willing to assent to this, but it does not so readily admit that it is always working for what it believes is most desirable. Mankind is so imbued with the belief that existence is material and dependent on materiality that it thinks little of any treasure but that which belongs to matter, and spends most of its time endeavoring to lay up more of it. From the one who has least of it to the one who thinks he has much, the thought of getting more is generally foremost. This sordid sense becomes less dense when the individual awakens in some degree to the illusive and disappointing nature of such effort. Then he begins to inquire if there are other treasures to be found which are of more permanent value.

The Bible has always told of heavenly riches, and has urged the need of looking to God for them. It has also shown that these riches can only be obtained as men give up that which did not come from God. Christians have been praying and longing for centuries to understand how to apply these teachings properly. The usual interpretation of them has, however, placed the heavenly treasures largely in a future state, and has left men still floundering in a present belief in matter and its necessities. To humanity, thus submerged in the beliefs of materiality, Christian Science comes with its God-given explanation of the Scriptures, proclaiming the possibility of reversing all this illusive, unsatisfactory effort. It opens the way for men to turn squarely around, and shows them how to start in exactly the opposite direction towards the attaining of all that is everlasting.

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