Editorial April 13, 2015 Issue

Never—and always—satisfied

Margaret Rogers

It’s a sign of progress that in many areas of the world there’s heightened attention not only to what enables people to survive but to what causes them to feel satisfied. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) surveyed life satisfaction in 36 countries, measured by factors of health, education, income, personal fulfillment, and social conditions. While it’s important to note that the most war-torn and impoverished countries aren’t included in OECD’s Better Life Index, one significant finding is that 76 percent of people across the OECD countries reported having more positive than negative experiences in an average day (see www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/topics/life-satisfaction/).

That’s encouraging, and even more so if it prompts deeper thought about what actually satisfies and how to attain it. A psalm attributed to King David, evidently besieged by negative experiences at the time, answers directly, “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness” (Psalms 17:15). To that, Mary Baker Eddy added the pithy comment, “All men shall be satisfied when they ‘awake in His likeness,’ and they never should be until then” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 358).

To be satisfied in this way would be to know pure Spirit as the good and all-powerful creator of all that exists. It would mean awaking from the false concept that both evil and good are realities, and actively demonstrating that the right knowledge and living of good destroys evil.

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