Article October 9, 1954 Issue

KNOW WHAT YOU POSSESS

WILLIAM M. SELLMAN

In one of his essays Emerson tells of a naturalist who knew far better than his farmer neighbors what could be found in the woods on their farms. "Sometimes," wrote Emerson, "he brought them ostentatious gifts of flowers, fruits or rare shrubs they would gladly have paid a price for, and did not tell them he gathered them in their own woods."

Similarly, many people are unaware of valuable possessions in the realm of divine consciousness which need only to be recognized in order to be utilized. Speaking of the spiritual consciousness possible for everyone, Christ Jesus declared (Luke 17:21), "The kingdom of God is within you." By his words and works he clearly showed that health, abundance, joy, and success are available to all who seek them in Spirit, God, rather than in matter or the flesh. Both in precept and in parable the Master taught that the real, spiritual man possesses, by reflection, all the qualities of divine Mind, including wisdom, love, purity, and perfection.

The farmers Emerson refers to were unaware that they already had such prized possessions on their land as were presented to them by the naturalist; they had not fully acquainted themselves with the riches of their woods. Christian Science enables everyone who studies and applies its teachings to acquaint himself with the abundant good which man possesses as the image, or expression, of divine Love, Truth, and Life. This Science reveals that man already has available to him, in his true being as Mind's idea, all the resources of Mind. Our happiness, therefore, does not really depend on others or on a mere change in circumstances, such as more satisfying employment or added wealth.

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