Article August 11, 2008 Issue

'THEIR SOUL SHALL BE AS A WATERED GARDEN'

BARBARA VINING

THIS VERSE at the end of the Responsive Reading in this week's Christian Science Bible Lesson, titled "Soul," invited me into the study of the Lesson with great eagerness. To be "as a watered garden" (Jer. 31:12) was a promise of refreshment and revitalization I couldn't resist.

A quick overview of the Lesson revealed satisfaction as a dominant theme, and I thought of how illusive satisfaction can be to the human mind. Section I points out that we find real satisfaction "only by losing the false sense of Soul" (Science and Health, p. 335, citation 6). It makes reference to God, who is Soul, as being "satisfied with His work" (cit. 1, p. 519) and confirms that we will be satisfied when we awake to realize that He made us in His likeness (see Ps. 17:15, cit. 2) and cares for our every need.

Two contrasting stories in the Lesson (of a worldly man, and of a humble woman) show clearly the differing results of seeking satisfaction from a material view of life as opposed to seeking satisfaction from a spiritual standpoint.