Article October 5, 1918 Issue

Supply Spiritual

ANNA L. WILLS

A Question which looms large in the world is, How will supply equal demand? The demand seems enormous and supply limited. The word demand is defined in Webster's dictionary as "manifested want; a call for a commodity." It is a call for or a want of something that we desire or need. We are taught that God created man in His image and likeness; hence, as God is Spirit, so man must be spiritual; as God is Mind, and Mind is expressed by ideas, man is an idea of Mind. All that is necessary to sustain the idea is in Mind, and Mind and idea are inseparable. In divine Mind there can be no consciousness of need or lack. An idea could not be perfect if it lacked anything.

God is infinite, therefore the only lawmaker; the law of supply is the law of God, and that law is always operative and is enforced by the power of divine intelligence. It can be instantly and continuously applied to every conceivable human need. When men are governed by Truth they cannot be limited in any capacity; but they need to realize how "day by day the manna fell," and to learn each day this lesson of perfect reliance on our heavenly Father for supply. The belief that supply is material shows a lack of spiritual understanding, the acquiring of which reveals supply as spiritual and adequate for all our needs.

When we remove from thought the unreal elements of limitation, such as fear, hate, ambition, greed, dishonesty, and reflect the qualities of trust, love, humility, unselfishness, honesty, and obey the command, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness," all needful things are added as a necessary consequence. When the writer was a very young student of Christian Science and was struggling with a sense of lack and limitation, the Reader announced from the pulpit of the branch church which she attended that the entire loose collection the following Sunday would be devoted to their church building fund. There was an earnest desire to help in some way, but there seemed little she could do in the way of giving money. Upon going home and studying the definition of church in the Glossary of Science and Health (p. 583), she was impressed with the first part of the definition, "The structure of Truth and Love." She decided she could first help by reflecting more truth and love in her own life, and soon the verse from Isaiah came to thought, "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." The voice of Truth said, "You already have five dollars that you can give; "but mortal mind argued, "You have saved that for your Monitor, and if you give that away you cannot have the Monitor." Then came these lines from the article entitled "Angels" in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 306): "God gives you His spiritual ideas, and in turn, they give you daily supplies. Never ask for to-morrow: it is enough that divine Love is an ever-present help; and if you wait, never doubting, you will have all you need every moment."