Article July 26, 1958 Issue

GRATITUDE, HEAVEN'S LIGHT AND LENS

ANN CLARK OOSTING

What is this quality called gratitude that possessing it, one is rich beyond measure, and lacking it, one is poor in all things? What is this powerful healing force that ushers in the kingdom of heaven, even in the face of despair and hopelessness?

Gratitude is the awareness of the presence of God, good. "In thy presence is fulness of joy," sang the Psalmist (Ps. 16:11). We find gratitude, hence joy, in proportion to our consciousness of the presence of divine Mind, God. Love, purity, holiness, inspiration, and goodness characterize His presence, and when we express these spiritual qualities, we are in the presence of divine Mind; more specifically, we have the presence of Mind.

Mortal thinking would obscure our perception of the omnipresent and omniscient One. To keep our vision clear is the demand of the first two commandments (see Ex. 20:3-6). Having no other mind but the divine Mind, having no other consciousness but Mind's knowledge of its perfect creation— spiritual man and spiritual universe —is having singleness of vision.

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