Article January 8, 1977 Issue

Inspiration Is from God

OLIVE HALL SHADGETT

Inspiration for good may be found in the most unexpected places. Shakespeare speaks of discovering "sermons in stones, and good in everything,"^{As You Like It, Act II, scene 1;} and this good is apprehended by the receptive thought at the time and in the manner in which it is most needed. The actual source of good, however, is always God, who is good.

When the disciples asked Christ Jesus why he spoke in parables to those who thronged him, he answered: "Because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.... But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear."^{Matt. 13:13, 16;} Most of those who followed Jesus were simple folk, and Jesus spoke to them in terms they could comprehend. They knew about sowing and reaping, about vineyards, and shepherds, and leaven. They were familiar with lamps kept trimmed and filled with oil. These might seem simple, everyday things, but Jesus used them in his parables to make inspiration and some degree of understanding easily accessible to the people.

Mrs. Eddy, too, was keenly aware of her surroundings and of important lessons to be learned from everyday things. In her writings, for instance, she refers often to the beauties of nature, and she draws analogies from these to point to underlying truths of God and His spiritual creation. In Science and Health she writes, "Whatever inspires with wisdom, Truth, or Love—be it song, sermon, or Science—blesses the human family with crumbs of comfort from Christ's table, feeding the hungry and giving living waters to the thirsty."^{Science and Health, p. 234;}