God's Gifts

Albert F. Gilmore

Mortals commonly give little heed to the source of their manifold blessings; least of all do they attribute them to God. They quite overlook the familiar statement of James, although in unmistakable language he contemplates God as the munificent bestower of the infinite blessings of which mankind is the recipient. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above," declared the apostle, "and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." No statement could be more definite; none could be plainer. In the final analysis, whether or not mortals take cognizance of this signal fact, God is the source and giver of all good.

Among the so-called necessaries of life, food is regarded as an essential. Is God the source of our food supply? one may ask. Mrs. Eddy was definite in her statement. "The earth, at God's command," she writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 530), "brings forth food for man's use." Since God is infinite Life, there can be no manifestation without Him, no existence without God; and while God knows not material food in the sense of being conscious of materiality, it is assured that since God is infinite Life, our present sense of right supply must result from the actuality of this infinitude of good. Because of this great fact, Christ Jesus could say, "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink," since trust in God, trust born of understanding, brings mortals whatever they have agreed upon as necessary to their well-being. How contemplation of God as the infinite Giver turns our thought to Him in gratitude and thanksgiving! All good that has entered our lives, supplied our needs, enriching and enlarging our experience, has had its source in the infinite Father-Mother God, in whom Paul declares "we live, and move, and have our being."

Furthermore, we learn in Christian Science that the material blessing is but the shadow of the things to come, since the counterfeit by reversal points to the reality. How wonderful must be the reality, the beauty and glory of God's bestowal upon His beloved! Paul was so sure that the necessaries of life, so called, were but symbols of the spiritual realities that he described them as "a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." Manifestly, he saw reality as spiritual, of which the material is but the counterfeit.

How to possess ourselves of this munificence of God's gifts to man is a problem facing all who are striving for spiritual attainment. Our Leader has pointed the way, making quite clear the sure rewards in terms of the spiritual blessedness which accrues to all who seek holiness. These rewards of spirituality are not to be gained through seeking the material, but, rather, through striving above all to gain a clearer understanding of God and man. To seek directly the things needed, whatever their character or use, has the tendency not alone to lower our standard of demonstration, but directly to violate our dear Leader's admonition. Strictly, without reservation and without hesitancy, did she adhere to the Master's injunction. To seek first "the kingdom of God, and his righteousness" was her constant endeavor, and this seeking was in the full assurance that the needed things would be added—everything, in fact, which mortals believe to be necessary to their well-being. "God gives you His spiritual ideas, and in turn, they give you daily supplies," she writes on page 307 of "Miscellaneous Writings." Our need, then, is for spiritual ideas, which will in turn supply our needs.

How far is this from material seeking! Spiritual ideas! What are they but emanations from the Father, expressions of that unchanging divine Love which maintains its offspring, man, forever in his primal state of perfection? These ideas are God's greatest gift to man, and in fact they constitute the sum total of His direct bestowal. Since these ideas are infinite in variety, and perfect in quality, expressions of the divine attributes, what a precious heritage they constitute!

Mortals, at best, have but a slight understanding of the character, meaning, and importance of God's wondrous gifts to man. But we are assured that as we draw closer to Him, striving constantly to conform our thoughts and acts to the divine,—to the pattern seen in the mount,—these ideas will be unfolded to us and we shall gain new visions of celestial beauty. How our gratitude overflows as we witness more of God's glory and incomparable munificence! Shall we not strive to increasing our receptivity, that we may partake in ever increasing degree of His wondrous nature? To Christian Scientists the way has been made plain. In respect to our Leader, and in justice to ourselves, we can do no less than to walk in it.

Albert F. Gilmore

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Awakening to the Facts of Existence

July 17, 1926

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