So rebellious have some young people become about the grasping materialism of our times that they consider prosperity a sin. Christian Science does not teach that poverty is a virtue, although it decries the piling up of material wealth for its own sake. The point that this Science emphasizes is that freedom from limitation can be and should be proof of the individual's understanding of God's infinitude, which man in His likeness reflects.

Lack is an experience of the finite, material senses; but these senses are false since they give no evidence of God or of His spiritual man. These senses are only individualizations of the one evil, the mortal, or finite, mind, and they perceive all things in a finite way. So poverty is a mortal way of looking at supply; it is not an actual condition but a misconception of something God created.

In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Mary Baker Eddy says, "In league with material sense, mortals take limited views of all things." ^{Science and Health, p. 255;} But look at the concept of supply through spiritual sense, and the infinite nature of supply will become apparent. The true concept will force the false concept to yield up its false view, and prosperity will appear in practical interpretation.

According to Christian Science, mortal existence is a mesmeric, dream state, and the purpose of healing through Science is to awaken people out of this false mental condition so they may know themselves as God creates them. They often need healing of poverty as well as of sin and sickness, and knowledge of the true situation in Science brings about that healing. Mrs. Eddy states this truth, which can be used in the healing of poverty: "Wholly apart from this mortal dream, this illusion and delusion of sense, Christian Science comes to reveal man as God's image, His idea, coexistent with Him—God giving all and man having all that God gives." ^{The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 5;}

The more experienced the student of Christian Science is, the more clearly he recognizes what God gives—not hard matter but joyous and consistent spiritual activity. The student who accepts the instruction of Christ Jesus on the subject of supply never worries about God's bounty. The Master was stating the law of supply when he said, "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom." ^{Luke 6:38;} Here is the prosperity that all men should seek.

If every business, every corporation, every institution, as well as every individual, followed Jesus' counsel, there would be no poverty. Seeking God, putting integrity above material advantage, unselfed love above greed, and service above success, would always bring prosperity, because such a procedure would express obedience to the unfailing law of supply. This attainment of prosperity would be valid, for it would be the result of uniting effort with the constant action of infinite Mind. God blesses what He makes, and it is He who provides the Godlike qualities that prosper human affairs. It is He who impels generous giving.

Any willful demand to divide matter arbitrarily is fruitless, for such getting is not connected with spiritual giving. A better way than demanding wealth is demanding of oneself the willingness to give. This act opens the channels of supply that never fail as long as they are kept open. Wealth honestly earned and wisely used to help those who need help on a human level until they can learn to connect with the source of all good invariably blesses the giver. In the proportion that those who are helped are willing to exercise man's God-bestowed abilities, they demonstrate the opportunities they need to better their lot. But to demand what is unearned is poverty-producing. Matter is ephemeral. Supply soon vanishes if it is not supported by the utilization of intelligence and love.

Abundance is a form of freedom, whereas lack is restrictive. There is always something to give the world, if it is nothing more than appreciation of the service of others. The less we think about what we are getting and the more we turn thought to useful service, the more quickly will the restrictive concept of supply fade from our experience.

Instead of thinking of remuneration as coming from outside, from one's employer, for instance, one should realize that both his intelligent activity and his reward for it rest with divine Mind. Isaiah declared of God, "Behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him." ^{Isa. 40:10.}

This sequence is better understood when we grasp the fact revealed by Christian Science that all being is subjective, that we embrace our experiences in our thought, that we see what we believe. We are either accepting the finite concept of the corporeal senses or we are letting spiritual sense determine our idea of supply. If we let the true, unlimited elements of supply, such as intelligence, skill, diligence, integrity, gratitude, and humility, well up within our consciousness, these elements of substance will be in control and poverty will disappear.

When prosperity is the effect of our demonstration of God's infinite concept of spiritual supply and our genuine implementation of that concept, we are in no danger of materialism, and we need not despise prosperity.

Helen Wood Bauman