All mankind has a stake in meeting the world's needs. Are we seeing beyond mouths to be fed, bodies to be clothed and sheltered, to the infinite, ever-present source of wisdom and energy? What is our commitment?

Let's start with gratitude. Gratitude is the recognition of the blessings God has provided for all His creations. The first step in facing up to the question of meeting mankind's needs might well be to recognize the abundance of spiritual good, which is available to all.

It is only through gratitude that we can recognize the presence of supply. A complaining or demanding state of thought and the rehearsal of apparent shortages, either for ourselves or for others, emphasize the lack, and then we may fail to see the possibilities already at hand. We need to be grateful for what we have before we can be fully ready to receive more. Spiritually, what we have is infinite Mind's supply of intelligence and vigor.

All people in their real identity are the likeness of God, and all have equal access to His goodness. There are, in Truth, not various categories of human beings, from the very rich to the very poor. Nor are there, two kinds of community, the haves and the have-nots.

The physical forms of home vary widely. Matter is not really home, because home is a state of thought. In the Bible we are warned that "whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord." ^{II Cor. 5:6;} If this is true, then it must be equally true when put the other way round; we are at home when present with God. What does it mean to be present with God? Surely it means to be conscious of the ever-present goodness of omnipotent Principle, all-knowing Mind. So long as we are conscious of this, we are at home and express our true nature—are refreshed and uplifted and filled with unselfishness and love.

In order to help provide a home for everyone, we need to prove for ourselves and to help others see the true nature of God. This applies equally to those who seem to have all they can want in the way of a material home and to those who have apparently nowhere to live. The need is for a true appreciation of the real fact of Life—the true origin of man as the idea of God. When this is consistently held in thought, a proper sense of home will appear.

We also need sustenance. Christ Jesus had to deal with this problem as the first of his temptations in the wilderness (see Matt. 4: 1 — 4). Later he gave us this promise: "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."^{Matt. 5:6;}

What is this righteousness? It can be defined as right consciousness and its effects in right action. We need the true appreciation Christian Science gives us of the facts of being. The recognition that God made us brings with it the assurance that He cares for us. An example of God's care was His supply of manna to the children of Israel in the wilderness. The recognition of God's constant care means that we do not need to depend anxiously on a store of matter but can share what we have freely, both individually and internationally.

The real answer to the world's hunger is love, based on this spiritual understanding. Mrs. Eddy writes, "The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother's need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another's good."^{Science and p. 518;}

We should not believe man to be an acquisitive animal, whose security can only be assured by an accumulation of matter and an accompanying disregard of the needs of his fellowman. Jesus exposed this belief in two parables, recorded in the twelfth and sixteenth chapters of Luke's Gospel. In one he dealt specifically with covetousness, showing that matter is transient and going on to explain that God is the supplier of nourishment. In the other he exposed the fallacy of selfish materialism and showed that it is doomed to the torture of dissatisfaction. Adherence to the moral code of unselfishness is a basic step in avoiding this torment. We can help mankind by denying this vicious belief that we can gain anything for ourselves at other people's expense. We can become better individuals and better citizens by relying on the understanding that God meets all the needs of all His children.

The Sermon on the Mount, in its challenge to human necessities, touches not only on sustenance but on clothing—an important subject when one considers its mental implications. Prisoners, for example, have sometimes been deprived of clothing or given inadequate or offensive clothing, in order to rob them of self-respect. Spiritually considered, clothing represents God's encompassing presence, and humanly it shields us from cold and heat and wet, from dirt and curiosity. Our real protection, however, is in a mental attitude, not in a physical covering. We can never be deprived of it.

Our immunity from harm is a correct understanding of our true identity. In a sense, faith and understanding are our clothing, protecting us both from the attacks of others and from self-inflicted hurt. Faith in God's omnipresence and goodness and the understanding of His omnipotence will enable us to experience safety and to find adequate means of covering the body, according to our needs. Mrs. Eddy assures us, "The history of Christianity furnishes sublime proofs of the supporting influence and protecting power bestowed on man by his heavenly Father, omnipotent Mind, who gives man faith and understanding whereby to defend himself, not only from temptation, but bodily suffering."^{ibid., p. 387;}

Let's go back to where we started—gratitude for the good that is always being given to us. "Divine Love," Mrs. Eddy says, "always has met and always will meet every human need."^{ibid., p.494.} There are no exceptions.