A never-ending supply of oil

Like many people, I’ve been thinking a lot about oil lately, and the tremendous influence it wields in our daily lives. Uncertainty about supplies of this important natural resource touches both national economies and individual families, as the price of oil affects manufacturing, home heating, and travel.

Higher prices have certainly affected our family’s budget. And because I rely on prayer for solutions, I’ve been looking for a deeper spiritual understanding of oil.

Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science, included a spiritual definition of oil in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. She described it as “consecration; charity; gentleness; prayer; heavenly inspiration.” I’ve read this definition many times, but I now realize that the qualities within it build on one another.

One definition of consecration is “devotion to God.” Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines charity as “the disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good,” and “it includes supreme love to God.”

These definitions made me think of Jesus’ command, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.” When I’m loving God with all my heart, I naturally love my neighbor.

This deep love for God and man results in gentleness—freedom from harshness, sternness, violence. Gentleness is calming and brings harmony to our lives. This state of thought is prayerful and results in heavenly inspiration.

Heavenly inspiration is so renewing. It’s available to us all as we turn to our Father-Mother God for guidance, and maintain devotion to divine Love.

All of this highlights the importance of keeping a ready supply of spiritual oil.

Jesus’ parable of the ten virgins—five wise and five foolish—provides further illustration. In this parable, the virgins are preparing to meet the bridegroom and to go into the wedding festivities. They all bring their lamps, but only the wise virgins bring oil.

At midnight they learn that the bridegroom is coming; the wise virgins prepare their lamps and the foolish ask them for oil. There isn’t enough oil to share, so the foolish leave to buy oil. While they are gone, the bridegroom arrives and those who are ready go with him. When the foolish virgins return, they find that the door to the wedding is shut and they are not allowed entrance.

I used to think the wise virgins were being harsh because they wouldn’t share their oil. But I’ve come to see that although our spiritual oil blesses everyone, we can’t borrow it from someone else. It takes effort on our part to be consecrated to God, charitable and gentle to our neighbors, and ever-prayerfully listening to God’s direction.

This desire to be charitable also extends to our international neighbors. Sometimes it's easy to assume that “they” are the enemy because “they” control a large part of the oil supply, or because of political or religious differences.

But as I’ve prayed about this, I’ve realized that all of God’s creation responds to the qualities I mention above.

In our prayers, we can perceive all people as infused with “consecration; charity; gentleness; prayer; heavenly inspiration,” no matter where they live or what their religious beliefs happen to be. This exercise helps prevent the hardness of heart that makes it so difficult to find solutions that unify all people. It also builds up an expectation of cooperation and ensures that we're being as respectful of others as we would want them to be of us.

Like the oil in engines, spiritual oil reduces friction, locally and globally. It provides fuel—inspiration—for our daily activities. And spiritual oil, while renewing our lives, is itself renewable. It isn’t something outside of us that needs to be added.

Spiritual oil comes from within. It is ever-available from God; it never runs out. And we can uplift all people by applying it at every opportunity.

One of my favorite Bible stories is about an indebted widow whose one resource is a single pot of oil. Elisha, the prophet she has asked for help, tells her to borrow as many pots as she can and fill them from her single supply. Although her pot can’t possibly hold enough oil for this purpose, she succeeds in filling all the vessels. She sells the oil and pays her debt.

I love the idea that as she pours the oil from the one container she has, the flow continues far beyond what seems possible. The amount she has actually increases.

Spiritual oil always increases as we express it. Heavenly inspiration expands thought and brings healing results. And we find ourselves in a new place, refreshed and strengthened.

Spiritual oil soothes us. As we express the qualities associated with this essential natural resource, the world is renewed and uplifted. Good is perceived as natural and normal; rivalry and destruction, which are motivated by fear, cease to be desirable options. There's no harmful residue on the environment. Healing occurs. And the results bless all mankind.

An everlasting supply of oil:

Science and Health
592:25

King James Bible
Luke 10:27  
Matt. 25:1-12  
II Kings 4:1-7