Article January 1, 1927 Issue

Overcoming Poverty

MATTIE C. SANDELIN

The problem of supply occupies a great deal of human thought and conversation, and seems to affect many a one's peace and happiness, yes, even health, until it is solved through the comforting light which the study of Christian Science throws upon it. This study turns us unreservedly to God, Spirit, as the source of all true substance, and reveals to us that "it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves," and that He cares for, provides for, sustains, and perpetuates that which He has made. We must watch, therefore, that we look not, primarily, to any person, business, or human circumstance to supply our needs, but always directly to God, who will provide the proper ways whereby these needs will be met, and through which the good that He has prepared for all of His creation will become available.

God has made us all equal: He "is no respecter of persons," as the Scripture says; and our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, points out in her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 13), that "Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals." All, therefore, as His beloved children, are equally blessed, and share equally in His beneficence. It is only human opinion, false theology, ignorance, error, and fear that would make it seem otherwise. We should not, then, feel ashamed if, as the saying goes, we have seemingly been born poor. We are not responsible for conditions which we did not make, but we are responsible for what we make of these conditions. Multitudes have started out in this world with but a bare subsistence, and it is observable on every hand that many have not progressed very far beyond this state. It is cheering, however, to learn of those who, through claiming the good that God has prepared for them that love Him, have risen above adverse circumstances and handicaps.

Impoverishment, then, is primarily a mental condition, and may be attributed to many seeming causes. Occasionally it is the latent, almost undefined belief that to be considered poor is to find grace in God's sight, a belief that poverty enhances spirituality! There may also be a sense of lack resulting from prolonged illness. The habit of arguing for poverty, instead of against it, likewise contributes to this state, as do slothfulness and apathy. Furthermore, fear of reaching out after better and lovelier things, lack of wisdom, lack of fidelity and foresight, lack of gratitude, lack of love—these states of thought all play their part in prolonging the sense of poverty; but they all can be and are being overcome through the study and application of the rules of Christian Science.

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