In her groundbreaking work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy includes this passage as part of her answer to the question, “What is man?”—meaning all men and women: “Man is idea, the image, of Love; he is not physique. He is the compound idea of God, including all right ideas; the generic term for all that reflects God’s image and likeness; the conscious identity of being as found in Science, in which man is the reflection of God, or Mind, and therefore is eternal; that which has no separate mind from God; that which has not a single quality underived from Deity; that which possesses no life, intelligence, nor creative power of his own, but reflects spiritually all that belongs to his Maker” (p. 475). The repetition of the word all particularly strikes me. Eddy never describes man as being limited in any respect; he reflects God completely, without limitations of any kind.
I could rely on my understanding of God to support the development of the human skills I needed for right activity.
Each idea of God is an individualized reflection of the one God, divine Principle. Eddy writes, “The one Ego, the one Mind or Spirit called God, is infinite individuality, which supplies all form and comeliness and which reflects reality and divinity in individual spiritual man and things” (Science and Health, p. 281). Man is complete in all respects because God is complete and man is His reflection. When we think of ourselves materially, however, we may identify ourselves by accomplishments, but also by failures or short-comings. There is nothing wrong with developing a human interest or talent for a particular right activity. The problem is in thinking of ourselves as limited, confined only to certain talents.
We don’t have to excel at everything humanly, but we can turn to God as we work to develop the human skills we need when we need them. In First Corinthians, we read: “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts.” (12:28–31).
It’s important to rebut the material claim that excellence in one area means we can lack needed skills or talents in another. Such suggestions are based on thinking in terms of mind being in matter, rather than Mind being God. Matter is always limited, finite, and imperfect. But as ideas of God, we are complete and have everything we need.
I had an experience that illustrates this. In high school, I found myself struggling with math. My junior year, I was transferred into a class for mathematically challenged students, and I struggled there as well. My best buddies were both math whizzes, already taking calculus. This added to my sense of failure. Yet I was continuing to do well in my social studies class and found a talent for public speaking. I began to think of myself as like a fiddler crab. Male fiddler crabs have one gigantic claw and a much smaller one. I came to identify myself as good at social sciences and public speaking (my “big claw”), but just unable to do math (my “shrunken claw”).
I didn’t worry about this as I entered college, as it was possible at my university to graduate without taking any college math. But along the way I decided I really wanted to go to graduate school for political science. To be successful in such a program, I would need a facility with statistics.
It was time to rethink how I saw myself. Fortunately, I was familiar with the previously cited passage about man—a favorite of my mother’s—and I turned to it then. I prayed to recognize my heritage as God’s perfect, spiritual offspring. I knew I could express all Godlike qualities completely, fully, and without exception because I reflect Him, who is All-in-all. I could rely on my understanding of God to support the development of the human skills I needed for right activity. As Mrs. Eddy writes, “The human capacities are enlarged and perfected in proportion as humanity gains the true conception of man and God” (Science and Health, p. 258).
Recognition of our relationship to God allows us to see that we express infinite good.
My application and acceptance to graduate school for political science went so smoothly—which I knew was the result of prayer—that I knew it was a right step. So I agreed with my graduate advisor to take a series of courses in statistics and computer science. I had a newfound confidence—not from any human, material basis, but from Christ Jesus’ teachings: “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise” (John 5:19).
I received A’s in all the math and computer science courses I took in graduate school. Both my master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation involved statistics. I have published journal articles using statistics and testified in court cases, explaining statistical data to federal judges. And I taught a course on research methods with a substantial section on statistical analysis. It turned out that I had what I needed to succeed in my chosen field.
Does this mean that I am now ready for the Nobel Prize in mathematics? Well, no. What it demonstrates is what Eddy writes in Science and Health: “Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need” (p. 494). I had a human need, and divine Love was there to meet it, because Love has already met mine and everyone’s need for completeness. I am not a crab with one good claw and one lesser one that can’t be developed when needed. An understanding of man as the spiritual, perfect offspring of God enables us to develop all the abilities we may need humanly. A radical reliance on divine Mind and recognition of our relationship to God allows us to see that we express infinite good.
As Eddy affirms: “God gives you His spiritual ideas, and in turn, they give you daily supplies. Never ask for to-morrow: it is enough that divine Love is an ever-present help; and if you wait, never doubting, you will have all you need every moment” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 307).
