What lasts?

WITHIN the span of my life two world wars have ended and the New York Stock Exchange has crashed twice. I have witnessed world changes that would have stunned the imagination of my grandfathers. I have known the breakup of my parents' marriage, the passing of a husband, and the presence, disappearance, and reappearance of sufficient funds. Sometimes I ask myself, ``What lasts?''

God lasts. And God is infinite Spirit. God was the same seventy or seven thousand years ago as He is today -- totally good, incorporeal Spirit, divine Love. He knows only perfect spiritual man and the universe as He created them. His law brings into being and supports only that which is spiritual. And God will be the same seventy or seven thousand years from now.

What doesn't last is anything and everything that is not predicated on a spiritual foundation. Conflict, greed, sin, sickness, death -- these are all fleeting, known only to mortal thinking. This mortal mentality -- or ``carnal mind,'' as the Bible calls it -- is not synonymous with the Mind that is God, Spirit, Love. Therefore it is fraudulent, not actual.

Mary Baker Eddy discovered and founded Christian Science. This Science shows us the spiritual foundation of all reality. ``Spirit,'' she writes, ``is the only substance and consciousness recognized by divine Science.''1 Also, ``The divine understanding reigns, is all, and there is no other consciousness.''2

Since God is divine Love itself, we can count on the fact that Love will never falter, weaken, or disappear. Love as divine Principle cannot vary in its eternal perfection. The Bible tells us, ``We love him [God], because he first loved us.''3 And He keeps on loving His creation, man.

Every unselfed motive, every sincere good deed, every healing achieved through prayer, every reformed character, attests to the operation of divine Love's constant care for all of its children. We have to open our hearts and minds to the presence and power of this Love. We need to acknowledge it and strive to express it -- to reflect its quality in our relations with others. Even the slightest understanding of God's love for us is a very great gift, an unfailing source of hope, comfort, assurance. This understanding of God's goodness acts as a law of progress in the experience of all who express the divine nature faithfully.

So if our bank accounts or stock certificates aren't as valuable in the marketplace as they used to be, we haven't lost any real substance because of this change. Substance is Spirit. When our lives are rooted in spiritual goals and understanding, we will be shown how to handle our financial affairs wisely and how to make the best possible use of our present resources -- both spiritual and material. We will know where and how we can be generous with our resources. We will receive unsought blessings as we endeavor always to have in our thoughts and actions only what will surely bless others. The Bible says very simply, ``Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.''4 There is long-term basic justice in this conclusion -- ready to be proved in the experience of every active Christian.

Let's never stop rejoicing in the unendingness of God's goodness! It is without measure, without partiality. It is ours in the degree we subordinate fears and prejudices to the realization of infinite, universal Love's caring for its creation. You and I belong to that creation, which is the very evidence of God's unceasing, substantial love.

1Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 278. 2Ibid., p. 536. 3I John 4:19. 4Galatians 6:7.

You can find more articles like this one in the Christian Science Sentinel, a weekly magazine. DAILY BIBLE VERSE: The Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. Psalms 100:5