Article July 26, 1952 Issue

ANTIDOTE FOR INFLATION

LAWRENCE EDWIN WOOD

In the thirteenth chapter of Genesis the story of Abram and Lot is told in a way that presents to the thought illumined by spiritual understanding a picture of the reality of being. It is related that as they journeyed with their considerable flocks and herds strife broke out between the herdsmen because the land could not bear so great a burden. Abram, whose name was later changed to Abraham, adjusted the matter in a most remarkable way. He said to Lot: "Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left." Where did Abram get such confidence in the omnipresence of good that he was able to say in effect, "Take your pick; I shall be satisfied with what you leave"?

Christian Scientists gain much inspiration from the divine truths which the Bible characters and narratives illustrate. Mary Baker Eddy defines "Abraham" in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 579) thus: "Fidelity; faith in the divine Life and in the eternal Principle of being. This patriarch illustrated the purpose of Love to create trust in good, and showed the life-preserving power of spiritual understanding."

A dictionary definition of "fidelity" is "faithfulness; adherence to right; careful and exact observance of duty." Abraham's faithfulness to his understanding of the omnipresence of God, so evident in his actions, enabled him to speak to Lot as he did without any fear whatever as to the outcome. After Lot's departure he was inspired to lift up his eyes to see the land, northward, southward, eastward, and westward, which may be said to typify the infinite supply of good, which is the heritage of every one of the children of God. Each of us is free to claim the same inheritance of Love's beneficence that Abraham made his own.

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