CHRISTIAN SCIENCE teaches that any belief of lack is an illusion. Perfect God, Spirit, has created man in His own image and likeness—spiritual, complete, lacking nothing. Just as surely as God does not sin and cannot be sick, neither does He lack for anything. Therefore man, His inseparable reflection, cannot sin, be sick, or experience poverty of any kind, in any degree.

In human experience the arguments of material sense must be seen for what they are—baseless denials of spiritual reality. Since Spirit is All, spiritual sense is the only true consciousness. Spirit being All, its opposite, matter, cannot exist as a fact, and material sense must be a lie.

The creation of Spirit, Mind, is not made up of matter, but of ideas. Reasoning from this premise, we see that if we seem to lack anything, this means that we are not perceiving some necessary idea or are not accepting it.

In working out problems of lack, sweeping generalizations should not be made any more than they should be made in cases of sickness. Each case is individual. Each incident in anyone's experience is different. The specific, right idea for every occasion is available, ready to bless, and can be spiritually discerned and used to destroy the illusion that would obscure it.

If an individual has worked out one problem of supply through applying the rules of Christian Science, he has no cause to feel disheartened if another problem of supply presents itself to him. When the specific error in the first case has been overcome and there has been no return to it, then the second problem is definitely a different one, probably to be worked out along another line. The student of Christian Science is being called to discern and grasp some new idea of divine Being.

Two experiences of a Christian Scientist may illustrate this point. At one time money was needed for a business project. The family involved owned a piece of rental property which had been for sale for over six months without one prospective buyer.

One morning, while studying "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, a member of the family was newly impressed with the statement on page 512, "From the infinite elements of the one Mind emanate all form, color, quality, and quantity, and these are mental, both primarily and secondarily."

 Pondering this sentence, she accepted the fact that divine Mind is the basic cause and substance of all things and is also the source of all form. Therefore, she reasoned, our substance, or supply, must always be in the form in which we need it. This was a revelation to her which she accepted with great happiness and thanksgiving.

Within a few hours her husband telephoned to tell her that someone wanted to buy the property. The transaction was completed the next day; and the supply was available for the business project, which proved to be successful.

This experience involved the realization that Mind, which is the source of both form and supply, combines and co-ordinates the two perfectly. And a statement in Science and Health had awakened the student to this truth.

At another time in the affairs of the same family monthly payments on the mortgage on a new house seemed to cause a strain. No source of supply to pay off the entire mortgage was evident.

As this same member of the family repeated the Lord's Prayer one day, the words (Matt. 6:12), "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors," stood out as a definite command to her to forgive. She had not been conscious of any particular feeling of resentment or dislike for anyone. But obedient examination of thought revealed many small incidents in memory which needed to be wiped out through love and understanding.

In Christian Science it is seen that forgiveness involves the realization that there is nothing to forgive. Any inharmony between men is the perversion of material sense, a lie about God's creation. The spiritual ideas of God dwell together in complete harmony, able only to bless each other.

Realizing this, the Christian Scientist prayerfully examined and then dismissed from thought each unhappy incident she recalled. She forgave and forgot. This was done with joy, and she felt as though many heavy burdens had been dropped. The sense of relief was almost indescribable. Blissful freedom reigned in her thought. Within a short time after this a way opened so that they were able not only to pay off the entire mortgage but to have an added abundance, which was used to purchase other things the family needed.

In that case, one line of the Lord's Prayer, given by Christ Jesus and recorded in the Bible, held the answer to the human need. The belief had to be wiped out that anyone is a mortal who owes debts to other mortals. The ideas of God do not owe and repay one another. They coexist in divine Mind, functioning perfectly together.

This particular problem of supply was different from the first one, even though each one seemed to involve financial transactions about real estate of some kind. But divine ideas apprehended through the study of the Bible and of Science and Health held the answer to each problem.

It is spiritual sense which discerns divine reality. The belief in lack, as well as in any evil, fades as spiritual sense is gained and cultivated. The spiritually minded person is conscious of the divine substance of things. Through the accession of spirituality, we find that conscious completeness is gradually demonstrated. And anything gained through spiritual unfoldment, not mortal mind outlining, is permanent.

Judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.—Isaiah 32:16-18.