Always enough in Spirit

Many patients who come into my practice are struggling with beliefs of lack. They fear lack of health, lack of funds, lack of love, lack of understanding or some other form of deprivation. This fear of lack is rooted in the belief that their supply is matter-based—some worldly contrivance or arrangement that they’ve been taught they need to survive.

To break this mesmeric and hurtful hold on thought, I strive to help them see their supply is coming from Spirit. That they do not lack at all if they look for their supply, or help, in the right form and in a spiritual place.

The effort to find abundance in matter—in things, in money, in the body, in self, in drugs, and in time—is what leaves one feeling empty handed. But to dig deeper into Truth, and discover the infinite riches of Spirit, taps into the wellspring of Life that truly satisfies and blesses.

The following story of “The Aquifer” illustrates how a matter-sense-based life can turn in upon us and make prospects for health and happiness pale, shrivel up and poof away when we don’t look beyond the obvious.

The Aquifer

Once there was a group of people who lived in a dry desert land. Life was challenging for these people. There was little food or water; in fact, the community only survived by clustering around a stream that ran though the land. Although it was meager, the stream offered fresh water to drink and irrigate a few crops. The people who lived by the stream managed to survive.

However, one year the stream began to run weaker than it had before. The following year, the water levels dropped even further. The people began to panic – after all, this was their only source of sustenance.

One evening, an argument broke out as one person accused his neighbor of siphoning off extra water. A few weeks later, there was another argument. The people began to live in fear of one another. Was that person stealing extra water? Did those people think that we were stealing? The sense of suspicion grew as the water continued to drop.

The community experienced great strain; neighbors eyed each other warily. When people drew drinking water from the stream, they did so surreptitiously. The townspeople barely spoke to each other, worried about sparking a conflict.

Finally, the stream dropped to a trickle. There was no longer enough water to sustain the community. A few people became belligerent, and accused others of causing the water to drop. Hostilities flared. Someone was injured in a conflict; this sparked a violent retribution. Soon thereafter, the community collapsed and disappeared.

Many years later, a new group of people stumbled upon the site of the old town.

"Curious," one of them said, looking at the remains of buildings. "I wonder why these people left."

"Look," said another, "there's no well anywhere. Perhaps these people never realized they were sitting over an aquifer. All they had to do was dig ten feet down, and they could have found enough water to last for lifetimes. It looks like they never realized how much they had."

The “dry desert land” in this story is mortality.

The land of mortality is always lacking and will always be depraved and desolate in some way. When we believe we are material and that we live in this land and must rely upon its meager resources, we might become suspicious of our neighbor, become self-protective, and self-defensive. We fear lack, and eventually see lack. To preserve our existence, we compete with our neighbor for resources, and that leads to potential conflict. It seems, there is never enough, and we fight over what little remains until nothing is left for anyone.

Have you ever seen this scenario played out in a marriage, at the office, between children, amongst countries?

The cure is to dig deeper into the well-spring of Spirit. Spirit is the aquifer that never dries up and never leaves us wanting.

Spirit is Love, and Love is infinite.

To reach into the well of Love is to rely upon a fountain that never fails and always has enough for everyone. Drawing upon Love for supply wipes out fear and suspicion. We are no longer fighting over limited material resources and time. We’re abounding in joy, gratitude, forgiveness, compassion and love—all riches of God that multiply in our experience the more we use them.

Christian Science gives us the tools we need to dig deeper into the aquifer of Spirit. Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, wrote,

The nature of Christianity is peaceful and blessed, but in order to enter into the kingdom, the anchor of hope must be cast beyond the veil of matter into the Shekinah into which Jesus has passed before us; and this advance beyond matter must come through the joys and triumphs of the righteous as well as through their sorrows and afflictions. Like our Master, we must depart from material sense into the spiritual sense of being.

So, if you’re fighting with someone today, remember the parable of the aquifer. Ask yourself some probing questions, like, why are you fighting? Is it worth it? Is the conflict necessary? Or are you looking beyond the material sense of things and seeing the unlimited possibilities of Love that can bless everyone? Are you willing to forgive? Are you willing to give up a puny concept of Love and immerse thought in the unbounded ocean of Love where there is enough benefit to go around for everyone?

The same rule applies to health. What are you fighting over? Is it a material limited concept of health in the body that you fear losing? Are you willing to see beyond the body, beyond physicality, beyond matter, to the health of Mind which never fails or disappears? If so, the freedom you desire is yours to find. Divine Mind possesses it—and it’s found in the deep aquifer of eternal Life.