The beauty of renewables, such as wind, is that they help us realize an immense supply of useful energy that is already available. As explained in a recent Monitor feature, we have good reason for optimism about these new technologies and can be excited for the benefits of energy transformation.

Nonetheless, talk of new energy also conjures up a lot of worries. For instance, many fear that a transition to renewables will imperil access to reliable and cheap energy.

A spiritual approach allows us to reject fear and limitation, drawing instead from inspired concepts about God and the limitless resources that the Divine bestows on mankind. A spiritual approach to energy recognizes God as the all-powerful prime mover, the one true power source in the universe, capable of providing for all of the needs of humanity effectively, efficiently, reliably, and harmlessly right this instant and on a consistently replenishing basis.

This approach is not just platitudes. It’s a way forward validated by the experiences of centuries of spiritual thinkers contemplating how to overcome material lack.

King David was familiar with relying on God when faced with heavy lifting. Perhaps this recognition inspired him to write the psalms attributed to him, including this line recognizing all that God provides: “my cup runneth over” (23:5). This passage conveys the immense blessing of God’s beauty shining, dissolving burdens and improving our capacity to do good work.

A few thousand years later, Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, wrote: “Let us feel the divine energy of Spirit, bringing us into newness of life.... Let us rejoice that we are subject to the divine ‘powers that be’ ” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 249). With words like these, Mrs. Eddy inspired a way of thinking, carried on today, that proved the potency of spiritual thought brought to bear on societal and individual challenges.

While recently attending a scientific conference, I caught up with several friends who were pursuing business ideas aimed at solving energy challenges. These conversations made me grateful for the work that is being done already. However, it also made me recognize the opportunity to pray to support visionary thinkers everywhere as they seek to implement systems that will meet our energy demands and lessen their impact on our climate.

Expanding on a spiritual source of energy won’t just help society obtain cheaper and cleaner electrons, although this is certainly a high priority. It will also send ripples of inspired thought to meet the challenges we face individually and collectively.

Energy, spiritually conceived, sheds light on situations. It helps those who feel overworked to accomplish their tasks more efficiently, and provides those who struggle to find work with rewarding employment. It removes obstacles of fear, exhaustion, intermittence, and insufficiency that block pathways to success. It brings renewal and empowerment. A spiritual understanding of energy will demonstrate that, as Paul puts it in the Bible, “God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work” (II Corinthians 9:8).