She was a widow. The creditor had come to collect on debts that she had been unable to pay. She was in desperate straits. So she turned to a family friend for help.

These events could relate to the circumstances of a widow in any number of countries around the globe today—in Ethiopia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Vietnam, Lebanon, or even in one of the more prosperous nations. But the facts are drawn from a narrative in the Bible.

In the fourth chapter of II Kings we read of the widow who turned to her friend Elisha, the prophet of God. In the account Elisha helps the widow in what would still seem to us a miraculous way. The small amount of oil left in the woman's house is multiplied to such a degree that she can pay off her debts. Not only that, there is enough left over to continue to provide for her and her sons.

At one time I was praying daily to God for a better understanding of His provision for my family and me. Each morning I studied this story and others that illustrated God's ability and willingness to provide abundantly for those in need. My needs may not have seemed quite so urgent as those of the widow in the Bible. It wasn't clear, though, where the mortgage payment and food money were going to come from each month. I'd just recently opened my own office and was self-employed. For the first time in my adult life I was not receiving a regular paycheck.

As I pondered the Biblical account in II Kings each day, I sought to perceive what lay behind the abundance that came to the widow when she followed the instructions of Elisha.

Being a student of the Bible and a Christian Scientist, I'd seen many times that understanding the spiritual message in Scriptural passages leads to healing and comfort. In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy writes, "The central fact of the Bible is the superiority of spiritual over physical power." ^{Science and Health, p. 131 .}

In the Scriptures, Elisha asked the impoverished and indebted widow what she had in the house. She replied that she had only a small amount of oil. I asked myself what the spiritual significance of Elisha's question might be. It seemed that Elisha could be calling on the widow to be grateful for what she did have. Instead of focusing on her lack, the woman gratefully acknowledged her supply, small as it was. I saw that I, too, needed to be grateful to God for what our family already had. And I was. Deeply.

Elisha's next request to the widow may have seemed somewhat surprising to her. He said, "Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels."

Again I queried myself on what the spiritual import might be. What came to me was that I, too, needed to borrow "empty vessels" of my neighbors. Not literally, of course. But in a profoundly spiritual manner I needed to empty the vessels. I must see the innate sinlessness of all of God's children. I needed to perceive my neighbors' essential spiritual goodness as the offspring of Spirit, God. I must see them in truth as unstained and untarnished. I must discern them free of anything unlike God's good and perfect creation. And I knew that would take conscientious spiritual discipline. But I was ready and eager to do so.

A passage in another of Mrs. Eddy's books speaks of this work: "The richest blessings are obtained by labor. A vessel full must be emptied before it can be refilled." ^{The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 149.}

It really wasn't that I had to change others' thought or empty them of sin. It was that I had to see every individual spiritual and perfect as the Father-Mother, God, created him. God's own image and likeness is certainly perfect and Godlike. Habakkuk writes that God is "of purer eyes than to behold evil." ^{Hab. 1:13.}

Claiming my true identity as God's child, I could purify my own perception of His children. I could pray to understand the reality of God's man as unspotted from the world. I could know the real identity of my neighbors as pure, sinless, and devoid of evil of any sort. I resolved to do so.

In the Biblical narrative I was studying, the next instruction Elisha gave the widow was to pour out the oil she had into the empty vessels. This prompted me to turn to a study of the word oil. I looked up other references to oil in the Bible by means of a concordance. There were many helpful passages. Some of them brought out the use of oil in anointing and making holy.

I then used a Concordance to the writings of Mrs. Eddy to find references on oil in her books. Of great interest and inspiration was the definition of oil in the Glossary to Science and Health. This Glossary gives the spiritual significance of many Scriptural words. Oil is interpreted as "consecration; charity; gentleness; prayer; heavenly inspiration." ^{Science and Health, p. 592.} Surely being filled with these would make one holy.

From that time on, I was more diligent in seeking to follow what seemed to be the spiritual significance of Elisha's instructions in my own life. After gaining a concept of my neighbor as empty of ungodliness, I then began to see each one filled with the spiritual capacities represented by oil. Whatever someone said, I sought to see and express only love. It was a great discipline to realize that good was the real substance of all those with whom I came in contact. But I began to feel myself more filled with qualities like charity, gentleness, and inspiration as I saw these same qualities in others.

As I continued faithfully in this effort, the needs of our family were met. In many instances there was a reduction in apparent needs. Simplification came about naturally. And supply did not always come in terms of money.

In addition to this adequacy of supply and the greater feeling of love for others that I gained, though, there was another benefit. I learned that God is the only source.

An epistle of John tells us, "God is love." ^{I John 4:8.} Can God, divine Love, be less than bountiful and kind? Didn't Christ Jesus assure us repeatedly of God's unchanging love? In the book of Luke, for instance, he is recorded as saying, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." ^{Luke 12:32.}

Through prayer and a study of the Bible and Mrs. Eddy's writings—and through pondering and practicing what we study —it is possible for us to gain a confident assurance that God is the divine, universal Principle, Love. As this is done we lose a limited, corporeal sense of Him as a beneficent yet erratic sort of super-human. The true spiritual idea of God becomes more real to us. Progressively we then come to see and experience the steady, unfailing outpouring of His goodness to His children.

A sentence in Science and Health that Christian Scientists love and that appears on the walls of many of their churches reads, "Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need." ^{Science and Health, p. 494.} Is not the law behind the promise in the latter part of the sentence indicated in the first part? If divine Love has always met every human need, surely it can be counted on in the future to do so! To understand that all the good, all the supply, that has come to us in the past has come from Love, is to have a sure foundation for believing that it will continue.

The original source of all good is God, who is infinite, incorporeal Love. This Love is what motivates the human expression of love, which comes to us in whatever way best meets our current needs. But the source is always God, divine Love.

Love for God and man fills the empty vessels.