renewable resources and prayer

One thing people are clearly grateful for these days is that some resources are renewable. New supplies are always flowin from the sun, moving with the rivers, blowing with the wind, growing in plants. Because of their recurrent or resurgent nature, these resources are ones people can look to for future supplies.

In our lives, though, spiritual resources are the ultimately renewable ones, never seasonal, never dependent on climate or weather patterns, or even on the existence of earth and sun. The origin of these resources is God, so they are exempt from time or depletion. They are qualities -- qualities of the fabric of real, eternal being, which is spiritual. They are always available.

But sometimes the infinite resources of God are not obvious to mankind. Lack appears unavoidable. Discouragement seems reasonable. Depression and insecurity seem common enough feelings for some of us.

This set of attitudes is far from the spiritual truth of being. Christ Jesus pointed out forceably where we must look for the true condition of life, saying, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is with you." n1

n1 Luke 17:20, 21.

The kingdom of God within is a genuinely renewable resource, because we can never actually be separated from it. It is the spiritual consciousness of reality and can be brought into action in human life by the prayerful recognition that god created man as the natural outflow of His unchanging and unending love, reflecting His goodness, spiritually, purity.

Seen in this light, our experience is replete with resources for good. And we find these resources more and more filling our lives by following a command of Jesus: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." n2

n2 Matthew 6:33.

Basic to seeking the kingdom of God is not only adopting a spiritual understanding of man's identity as God's expression but also leaving behind a sense of oneself as a material and mortal being who craves and struggles for physical gratifications. Such a false concept of man's nature leads to deprivation, because it starts from the concept that lacking what we need is normal, that we must scramble for things and enjoy them quickly, while they last.

The Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, writes, using a term for God that describes His profoundly capable and caring nature, "Soul has infinite resources with which to bless mankind, and happiness would be more readily attained and would be more secure in our keeping, if sought in Soul." n3

n3 Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures,m p. 60.

We seek our resources in Soul through prayer. What we look for is not things but the clearer understanding of the infinite outpouring of God's goodness, a boon that is always around us, always within reach of humble and understanding prayer. And we seek the "righteousness" that puts such understanding into action.

Thus we find that experience can change. If we need love, we discover it in the understanding and reflection of divine Love's ever-presence. If we need a clear thought, we find it through knowing something of divine Mind's infinite, ever- present intelligence, and putting that knowledge into practice. If we need inspiration to continue in some difficult situation, our prayer finds it as near and as natural as the air we breathe.

Truly, the renewable resources that bless mankind lie all around us, awaiting our trusting acknowledgment of God's presence and loving provision. God, Spirit , is eternally exempt from depletion. And, thus, so is man. Real restoration for our lives lies in turning to God anew in prayer and renovating our awareness of His unending outpouring of blessings. DAILY BIBLE VERSE Jesus answered and said, . . . the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. John 4:13, 14