Spiritual Energy

WHAT is your first thought when you wake in the morning? Do you confidently look forward to a fresh, productive day? Or do you doubt your ability to cope with yesterday's situations, and even doubt you have the energy to handle today's responsibilities? How do you think of energy? Maybe you look at it as electricity. Or perhaps you believe that energy is what the human body generates.

Well, these forms of physical energy are unpredictable and exhaustible. When electrical power is shut off, normal activities are blocked. In a similar way, sadly, many people suffer from physical and mental exhaustion. Is it too much to hope that there's an answer to the human need for abundant energy? No it's not.

The life and teachings of Christ Jesus tell us all we need to know about energy, and how to have greater strength ourselves, today. As Jesus did, we must begin by finding God to be the source that generously supplies all human needs. The final line of the Lord's Prayer establishes God's supremacy: ''Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever'' (Matthew 6:13). And note that word forever. How radically this changes the conventional, limited view of energy. And how plainly this shows that true energy begins in God and is forever sustained by Him. As we accept God as man's only source of energy, we open our lives to unrestricted, spiritual power. This does not come from physicality. It comes from spiritual knowledge.

Christian Science teachings, based on the Bible, prove with practical results that man's energy is given by God and sustained by God. To make this spiritual fact valid in daily life, you must understand that you aren't separate from God, or ever unknown to Him. Why? Because you are God's reflection and therefore must be inseparable from Him. As the Bible says in the book of Second Timothy, ''The Lord knoweth them that are his'' (2:19). The understanding of this truth that man is inseparable from God was the divine power and authority that Jesus lived by. St. John says Jesus declared, ''I do nothing of myself'' (8:28). This eternal unity with God is the spiritual fact that ensures your possession of unlimited energy. God is constantly expressing divine energy in you, His son or daughter.

We can have sufficient energy. We only need to know God, better and better, as the provider of all that is essential to our well-being. As we come to realize that God is true intelligence, we won't hesitate to draw on the divine Mind when we need more animation, sparkle, enthusiasm, or fervor to accomplish what we should in a given day. In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures is found this statement: ''Knowledge that we can accomplish the good we hope for, stimulates the system to act in the direction which Mind points out'' (p. 394). And as we come to know God to be Truth itself, it is possible to understand more and more fully that energy is a spiritual fact to understand, not a physical force to muster. This book by the founder of this newspaper, Mary Baker Eddy, also says, ''Christian Science silences human will, quiets fear with Truth and Love, and illustrates the unlabored motion of the divine energy in healing the sick'' (p. 445). Spiritual understanding is what energizes, animates, and heals. Existence is neither physical nor exhaustible. Boundless energy is divinely ours! We don't have to qualify for it; we only need to accept it as a spiritual birthright, a gift from God.

What are some of the practical effects of realizing that you exist to express the divine energy of God? You can discard mistaken beliefs about your ability to accomplish goals. You can develop the mental and physical strength you need, because you understand that God amply supplies all energy. If you are working long hours, you can feel the power of God's love. You can glorify God through your work, spiritually understanding that everyone is divinely entitled to abundant energy, now and forever.

There is none like unto thee,

O Lord; thou art great,

and thy name is great

in might.

Jeremiah 10:6