A prayer for the economy
Economics has often been called “the dismal science,” and a quick scan of newspaper headlines, Internet articles, and TV news certainly reinforces this view.
Lately, though, I’m starting to realize that we don’t have to accept a dismal view of the economy any more than we have to accept a dismal view of our bodies. After all, the economic “body” has just as much to do with human thought as our health does—it’s just that the apparent size of the issue at hand may be different. And in the end, both need to be evangelized; in other words, we need to preach the “good news” to ourselves about the Christ, Truth, that governs all aspects of our lives.
In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy writes something that really grabbed my attention as I thought about the economy: “Christian Science brings to the body the sunlight of Truth, which invigorates and purifies” (p. 162 ).
“Wow!” I thought when I first read this passage. If you add the word economic just in front of the word body, you have a superb treatment for the economic ills that are facing the world today. Who wouldn’t agree that today’s economies are in need of being invigorated and purified by “the sunlight of Truth”? Certainly an economy that is stagnant, depressed, or mordant needs to be infused with productive activity. And thought trends that are fearful, greedy, or corrupt need to be purified.
So how does this work? How does Christian Science bring the sunlight of Truth to this economic body to invigorate and purify it?
Christian Science treatment always begins with God’s allness. It doesn’t start with a problem, nor does it try to fix a material situation. In the primal and eternal fact of God’s, Mind’s, ever-presence and all-power, only His nature exists. And His nature is spiritually rich, morally pure, perfect in production and distribution of ideas, whole in affection, completely employed, satisfied with results, totally good. Nothing can be added to or taken away from the fact of God’s allness. Nothing can enter His presence that is troubled, inharmonious, fearful, lacking, or corrupt.
In the allness of God, good, there is really no material economy—bull or bear, sick or well, in good shape or in bad shape, depressed or elated. There is only infinite, divine Mind and its infinite, divine manifestation—seamless, perfect, abundant, whole, and undisturbed. And there are no limited mortals in this economy—rich or poor, in good moral condition or bad, spiritually troubled or at peace. There is only one, infinite God who has created all and is All.
A spiritually educated point of view enables us to replace in our thinking a sick body or a dark economic picture with the real picture: one of wholeness, freedom, and enlightenment. From an absolute standpoint, man (a term that refers to all men and women) is not a mortal made to “till the ground” (Genesis 3:23 ). Man is immortal, made by God to have dominion (see Genesis 1:26 ). And there are countless examples in the Scriptures that prove this—see, for example, the spiritual insight which sustained the widow of Zarephath (see I Kings 17:8–16 ), Jesus’ feeding of the multitude (see John 6:3–13 ), and Paul’s doctrine of social fairness (see II Corinthians 8:13–15 ).
Christ Jesus, who so perfectly exemplified the real relationship between God and His creation, gives us the moral foundations on which to build a sound economic body in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew, chaps. 5–7). He summed up his teaching by saying, “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12 ).
The spiritual impetus to create a chess board is the same spiritual impetus that can impel an idea for a business.
Expanding on this idea, Eddy states a scientific law by which economic dominion is possible: “God gives the lesser idea of Himself for a link to the greater, and in return, the higher always protects the lower. The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother’s need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another’s good” (Science and Health, p. 518 ). This idea helps us put our economic focus on giving, rather than getting—on wanting to discover what our brother’s need is so that we can supply it. This is true, scientific economics.
There was a time when I was living in New York City and squeezing every nickel to make ends meet. One evening as I was walking on 57th Street, I was silently praying with the ideas above, knowing that I was receptive to God’s leading. As I passed the street window of an art gallery, I noticed a set of beautiful, modern-looking chess pieces sitting on a common-looking piece of paper with lines drawn in pencil. I thought that this needed fixing, so I approached the gallery owner with the idea that I could make a chess board worthy of such a fine set of pieces. He agreed and suggested I come back to him with a solution.
Continuing my prayer, I affirmed that the same divine Mind that gave me the idea in the first place would guide me to the best solution in the second place. I was then inspired to buy a piece of clear plastic and section it off into the 64 squares on a chess board. I then sanded every other square so that each one sanded took on a frosted look. These frosted squares, together with the squares that remained clear plastic, resulted in a chess board that expressed elegance and simplicity. Certainly worthy of a fine chess set!
When I took the finished piece to the gallery owner, he was surprised—and happy! He asked me to name a figure for what I thought my time was worth. I named an amount that I thought was fair, and he replied that it was worth far more than that and gave me a check for nearly twice the amount I had stated.
This may seem like a small example of God’s law of economic supply and demand at work, but it hints at the larger picture. Just as 2 + 2 is always 4, the same principle of math applies to 2 billion + 2 billion. A string of zeros doesn’t affect the underlying law that governs how the numbers interact. And the spiritual impetus to create a chess board is the same spiritual impetus that can impel an idea for a global business, or another creative and practical economic solution. In my case, the work on the chess board introduced me to the whole idea of craftsmanship—something I’m still involved with as a home remodeler, carpenter, and furniture designer.
God is the only power and presence. His divine laws guide and govern each of His ideas in their divine activity, and there can be no room for greed, apathy, dishonesty, cupidity, fear, doubt, or discouragement in this all-presence. Such mistaken concepts cannot and do not govern man. Man is God’s obedient reflection, and responds to divine wisdom. His every motive and act is invigorated and purified by the sunlight of Truth.
