IN "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mary Baker Eddy writes (p. 468), "Substance is that which is eternal and incapable of discord and decay." And Paul in the eleventh chapter of his epistle to the Hebrews says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." What is this invisible, indestructible substance which is realized through faith and spiritual understanding?

Man embodies and continuously expresses the qualities of Mind, the substance of good, some of which are purity, integrity, justice, mercy, holiness, and love. Man's true selfhood or individuality includes God's qualities by reflection; they are unseen to physical sense, but eternally active and indestructible in Soul. In a very helpful article entitled "Angels" Mrs. Eddy says: "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" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 307).

Angel thoughts flow uninterruptedly from God to mankind, sustaining, protecting, and directing those who listen in the ways of Truth; and the receptive individual finds them unfolding in consciousness. These truths seem rather intangible to the man in the street who needs food, clothing, and shelter, and who believes that these necessities may be obtained only through the medium of money. Matter seems to him the only real thing, and the things of Spirit seem impractical and negligible. That his conditions could be improved through spiritual concepts, which cannot be physically seen, heard, or handled, seems to him improbable if not impossible.

On page 561 of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy shows us how these spiritual ideas are rendered practical. Here she writes, "John saw the human and divine coincidence, shown in the man Jesus, as divinity embracing humanity in Life and its demonstration,—reducing to human perception and understanding the Life which is God." And our Leader also points out in Science and Health that the divinity of the Christ was manifested in the humanity of our Master, in his great love for mankind.

Through the understanding and demonstration of the divine qualities in individual experience the human need is met. God's demand is for these qualities to be not only understood but expressed in daily living; and our true supply is manifested through obedience to this demand. Jesus summed it up in his Sermon on the Mount in these words (Matt. 6:33): "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

Man reflects God's qualities; he does not possess them independently of God. These spiritual qualities cannot be humanly circumscribed; they remain complete in Mind. The sunshine is shared by all. Each individual may be warmed and benefited by it, and he avails himself of as much or as little as seems necessary and agreeable to him. His brother is not depleted because of this. His need also is met. The sunshine is never depleted or lessened, however many share its beneficent rays.

Principle, divine Love, pours out its affluence upon all. Each one draws his supply direct from Love and never from another personality. "Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine," the father's loving assurance to the elder son in Jesus' parable of the prodigal, is God's promise to all His children. Returning prodigals, as well as steadfast, loyal workers who have not deviated from the straight and narrow way of obedience, have access to the Father's goodness.

A student of Christian Science remembers a time when lack was apparent in her experience. Although she shared freely the supply of spiritual ideas and rejoiced in the knowledge of the affluence of our God, there was insufficient money to meet legitimate demands. Reasoning about this from the standpoint of Principle, she discovered that fear, through a false sense of economy, had caused her to hoard resources and had produced a state of inactivity. The immediately available money was put into circulation, and within a few hours three outstanding accounts were paid to her.

In warning Timothy, Paul challenges a world belief in these words (I Tim. 6:10): "The love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." The apostle does not state that money, as such, or the use of money is evil, but that the love of it brings temptation and sorrow. By common consent mankind has accepted money as the medium of exchange, a symbol of value for services rendered or goods obtained. If a mistaken sense believes that money itself is substance, a fictitious value is placed on it, and a stumbling block is thus put in the way of the demonstration of supply.

Man, the complete expression of Mind, is forever at one with Mind and infinite good, which it includes. The son is forever in accord with the Father, and all that the Father has is the son's by reflection.

In Revelation we read (3:8), "Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it." There is, in reality, no material belief which can close or annul one's moral or spiritual right to enter through this open door to the realm of reality, where spiritual ideas abound in all their beauty and completeness. In the universal harmony of being, the abundance of God's love is ever present and ever available. Man, made in His likeness, reflects and rejoices in that abundance.