Article February 21, 1931 Issue

"One thing thou lackest"

CUSHING SMITH

One of the best known of the recorded incidents in the career of Jesus is his encounter with the rich young ruler who asked him what he should do in order to inherit eternal life. That he was an estimable young man was shown by his statement that he had kept the commands of the Decalogue since early boyhood; but when the Master bade him sell all his possessions and give to the poor so that he might indeed have "treasure in heaven," the requirement was more stringent than he was willing to accept, and the sacrifice appeared to him greater than he was prepared to make.

In contemplation of this impressive scene, the ordinary Bible reader may see little relation between the dilemma of the young ruler and his own problems in human life. But for the student of Christian Science there is a priceless significance in the fact that, after listening to the protestation of the young Isrealite of his fidelity to the commands of Moses, Jesus said, "One thing thou lackest." These words have a bearing upon every problem of prolonged sickness, lack, or sorrow. What more can I do? is often the discouraged question of the harassed one; and the answer is, "One thing thou lackest." Not that one must literally sell all he has in order to give to the poor, but that he must overcome some material belief, one perhaps that may have seemed too inconsequential for consideration, too small to be a possible stumblingblock. God's law cannot be annulled; but its operation in human consciousness may be obscured by some opacity to Truth which has escaped the attention of the seeker after salvation from sin, sickness, or sorrow.

Mrs. Eddy writes, "Man's harmony is no more to be invaded than the rhythm of the universe" (Retrospection and Introspection, p. 61). Man is the image and likeness of God, his creator; therefore sickness, sin, or unhappiness is no more possible to man than to God, for a good fountain sends forth only good water. The belief in lack is not a concomitant of true religion, since the Father knows the things we have need of and requires only that we seek first His kingdom and the righteousness of obedience to Him in order to find ourselves possessed of all that is needed for our proper requirements. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect," was Jesus' enunciation of God's law for all time. To acknowledge that He who "saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good," maintains His universe at the point of perfection, is to come into harmony with God's law and see its operation "in earth, as it is in heaven."

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