Homeless? No!

For those facing the challenge of homelessness, there may seem to be no answer. Yet there is a source of help, and not just a theoretical one.

The Bible record tells us that after their release from bondage in Egypt, the children of Israel led by Moses wandered for forty years before they came to the Promised Land. In the long trek through the desert wilderness, they were guided and sustained by God. Step by step they progressed through dusty, desert land. Food was provided, and their clothing did not wear out. Under Moses' untiring leadership they were brought to a strong faith in God's presence and might, and through the one God their daily needs were met.

Christ Jesus, humanity's Way-shower and incomparable benefactor, gave the world powerful proof of God's care for every need. And yet he once remarked, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head."

Was Jesus homeless? No, not in the truest sense, for he had established his real shelter and home in consciousness, knowing himself to be God's beloved Son. From this spiritual standpoint he was demonstrating that wherever human necessity led him, he could expect to be cared for day by day.

The many people in our contemporary world who suffer from homelessness—thought-weary, lonely wanderers in the midst of society's sometimes lush benefits—can find hope in the one God. At the same time, our prayers, from the enlightened standpoint of understanding God's care for all His children, can be a good way for us to cherish and help these individuals.

Mrs. Eddy knew what it meant to be homeless. She was forced to relocate her meager home eight times in one year during the period when she was writing her major work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. With profound under-standing she could write in that book, "Pilgrim on earth, thy home is heaven; stranger, thou art the guest of God."

What can prayer do for those who today walk the streets feeling abandoned, homeless? What direction does Christian Science offer in this severe predicament? It shows us God's nature as everlasting Love—all-knowing, all-acting, all-wise, all-caring and man's actual selfhood, inseparable from God as His spiritual likeness. It shows us that we can find our true home in God.

We may feel that we're victims of the economy, of discrimination, of a variety of factors that would deprive us of a place to live. Yet the conscious effort to establish an atmosphere reflecting Godlike qualities can help, despite circumstances. It can bring to light the tangible evidence of home we're looking for.

Our search for a place to live could well include the understanding that although we dwell humanly in a house, the idea of home really dwells in us. When the spiritual idea of home is better understood and expressed, the human evidence must inevitably take solid form in our experience.

We might search within for those God-derived qualities which will make our thought homelike. We can make a home in our thought for such comforting qualities as love, compassion, forgiveness, tenderness, gentleness, intelligence, stability, purity, moral strength. These qualities are always right at hand to be expressed. And they will enrich others as well as us while helping to establish home within us.

Our conscious exercise of spiritual capacities can lead us to a warm, grateful grasp of God's power and willingness to direct us to that situation which will best care for our individual need. Then we will agree with the Psalmist that we truly dwell "in the secret place of the most High...under the shadow of the Almighty."

Let's look more closely at some of the qualities we have to build on. For instance, the foundation of a true sense of home is surely selfless love, reflecting God, divine Love. A house bereft of love can never be a home in the true sense. As we seek to elevate our concept of home to a full expression of selfless love, an atmosphere of quiet contentment will bless us.

Purity is also vital. The daily effort to put off sensual, materialistic thinking will lead to a wholesome place to live as a reflection of God's provision for "the pure in heart."

Moral strength, too, is a Christly quality that we need to claim as our own. It can lift our experience out of degradation and despair.

Intelligence is not a personal gift to a few but an attribute of man as created in the image of perfect Mind. Through prayer, then, we can find the intelligent direction we need in our search for the right spot.

Forgiveness is a gentle attribute that all must come to express along the course of human experience. It's founded on a deep assurance that God's wisdom will always prevail in a satisfying expression of justice.

Do we yearn for a feeling of security? Not only safety from physical danger but release from fear of human actions or reactions can come as we see God, Mind, in full control of our home and our experience. As Science and Health says, "Security for the claims of harmonious and eternal being is found only in divine Science."

Are we short of funds? In Science, in the spiritual reality of being, our supply is constant because it comes to us from God. This truth is practical in our lives now, and we can see it expressed as useful ideas that are adaptable to our present need.

A hymn in the Christian Science Hymnal tells us, "Pilgrim on earth, home and heaven are within thee." And, assuring us of God's care, that verse concludes, "Walk thou with courage each step of the way."

We can walk with courage because our prayers to God are never in vain. Our Father-Mother never abandons us. We can prove this in our search for the home God has already prepared for us.

PSALMS

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge
and my fortress: my God; in him will
I trust. ... He shall cover thee with
his feathers, and under his wings
shalt thou trust. ...He shall give his angels
charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

Psalms 91:2,4,11