Harmony is the omnipresent idea of Mind. It is inseparable from the Principle which governs it. The real man is the image and likeness of God, Mind, and is in consequence established in that harmony which means at-one-ment with God, from whom he is inseparable. Were there a separation, there would cease to be an image and likeness, for the image and likeness, the reflection, is dependent upon its oneness with that which it reflects in order to exist. Fundamentally, only that which is real exists, so that it quite obviously follows that the harmony in which man lives as the idea of Mind, being real, is permanent and indestructible, never subject to discord or inharmony, which are clearly outside of infinite, all-inclusive living governed by Principle.
All Mind is indeed God; therefore all the knowing there is dwells in and emanates from this Mind, which is the only consciousness there can be. All that really knows is conscious, is real, self-existent, self-creative, and harmonious. Since man's business is one with him in consciousness, it partakes of the nature that he is expressing, so that as he recognizes harmony as his inalienable right as the idea of Mind governed by Principle, he claims for his business, his undertaking, his home, his family, in fact his all that same harmony in proportion to his understanding of his at-one-ment with Principle.
This man who is one with Mind is, of course, very far removed from the false human concept, the Adam-man, who admits as natural the endless category of ills which mortal belief claims human flesh to be heir to. This mortal man accepts the taking of disease as a part of life, hatred as legitimate, revenge as human. Now what is particularly interesting in all this is that this mortal man recognizes that conditions and emotions thus aroused are far from harmonious or conducive to happiness, that disease often leads to death, that hatred, anger, envy, revenge cause misery and unhappiness, and frequently sickness. Nevertheless, mankind is willing to accept all this as according to nature, and make God responsible by calling Him the creator of discord as well as of harmony. That conditions of inharmony are undesirable scarcely needs to be proved, as it has been the fear of such predicaments that has been at the root of all the affliction of humanity since time began. No remedy had been found that could be relied upon to correct these inharmonies until Mary Baker Eddy rediscovered, through her study of the Bible, the healing practiced by Jesus the Christ. By the application of Principle which she found underlay all the so-called miracles, she learned and taught that as false thinking is replaced by right thinking, inharmony is found to be superseded by harmony, and nothing needs to be altered but the false mental concept. This correction is both Christian and scientific, therefore it is subject to proof and is unfailing.
Music furnishes an excellent example of how the thinking governs the case. Changing from one key to another, an arrangement of chords may be employed which delights the musician, but on the other hand may seem discordant to the one without true musical perception. It is well-nigh impossible to persuade such a one that perfect harmony has been expressed, and yet the whole difference with these two arises out of the enlightened understanding of the one and the unenlightened ignorance of the other, which right thinking would immediately correct. Thus it is in the experience of the student of Christian Science. He learns that Principle which is applicable reverses the mortal mind or false sense testimony, and he perceives that the condition which before the application of this Principle had appeared to be discordant, when revealed in the light of spiritual understanding is unfolded to his awakened sense as harmonious. As he learns to look upon the divine idea as the true embodiment, instead of upon a material organization subject to material so-called laws, he at once finds himself free from discord and suffering; for as Paul says. "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"
Throughout the writings of Mary Baker Eddy there are innumerable instances of this teaching of the replacement of the false physical sense by the spiritual. On page 123 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" she says: "The verity of Mind shows conclusively how it is that matter seems to be, but is not. Divine Science, rising above physical theories, excludes matter, resolves things into thoughts, and replaces the objects of material sense with spiritual ideas." It is by this replacement which Mrs. Eddy counsels that inharmonious conditions are corrected; where the material object is said by the physical senses to be expressing inharmony, the spiritual sense declares that the divine idea, which materiality is counterfeiting, is all that there is in reality; and since it is one with Spirit it must of necessity be like it, harmonious. Thus it was that Paul proved the viper to be harmless, that Daniel was safe in the lions' den, that the Hebrew boys were able to go through their experience in the fiery furnace unharmed: it was by knowing that God's creature, whether man or beast, is harmless and incapable of being harmed. The creation of Principle is the only real creation, for God, Spirit, is the only creator. Thus it is that throughout one's experience, by substituting the real, divine idea for its supposititious opposite, which the material senses constantly present as the reality, that the so-called miracles are proved to be divinely natural according to the law of God, and are subject to the same proof to-day as they were in the early history of primitive Christianity and throughout the Old Testament.
In proportion as it is realized that harmony is the true state of consciousness, in that proportion it is perceived that in all his problems it is what a man brings of right spiritual thinking to bear upon the issue that is the law to the case. If he thinks sickly thoughts he expresses a sickly body, whereas if he thinks holy, whole, and healthy thoughts he undoubtedly manifests these thoughts in a whole, healthy body. In his home, in his church, in his business, in fact in all his activities he will outline in his experience that which is the expression of his thinking. He will soon learn, if he is an earnest student of Christian Science, that his business, in order to be harmonious, must be seen to be his Father's business.—in other words, the only business there is, the one founded on Principle, which is therefore maintained by Principle. He will also recognize that his home, to be harmonious, must be what Mrs. Eddy gives in the definition of heaven in Science and Health (p. 587: "Heaven. Harmony; the reign of Spirit; government by divine Principle; spirituality; bliss; the atmosphere of Soul." His Church in like manner he sees as the spiritual structure of which Jesus spoke to Peter when he said, "And I say also unto thee. That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Peter, πerpa. meaning rock, was given his name because he had discerned that the Spirit which Jesus manifested was the Christ, the Son of the living God, which was the truth upon which the Church must be built, if evil, the gates of hell, is not to prevail against it.
When the understanding of Church is attained it is recognized as an indestructible edifice, not made with hands, but expressing Principle, and the harmony of one's experience is in accordance with how much he dwells in this edifice. The ancient prophets turned their faces to Jerusalem three times a day, which in the language of metaphor signified turning to the secret place of the Most High, or dwelling in that edifice of spiritual building called Church, which so purified their thoughts that they were able to meet the foe, or the suggestion of life in matter, with the understanding and trust in Principle that removes mountains of error. The Scriptures are full of illustrations and of allegories that point out that simple reliance on the one Mind and what it can do for man. There is no Biblical story more appealing than that of David, the simple shepherd boy, armed with his faith in God, going out fearlessly against the giant Goliath. There is nothing more significant in the whole story than his refusal to don the armor offered him by Saul, on the ground that he had not proved it. He had proved, whilst tending his father's sheep, what his God-given strength could do for him, for with it he had withstood the onslaught of a ferocious wild beast, so that he knew that with it he could prevail against any form of evil which might present itself to him, whether it appeared in the guise of a lion or of a Philistine. He aimed his blow at the head of evil and saw it go down into the dust, nothingness, out of which its supposititious existence had been formulated.
When the realization comes to the student of Christian Science that all the power evil has is to destroy itself, and that a belief of a discordant condition only comes to him to be destroyed, he begins to see that all he can do is to rejoice constantly. Knowing always that any appearance of discord can only be an inversion of a true, harmonious condition right there present in the real consciousness, the mirage of false sense invariably disappears, just as all illusion always does when courageously approached. The desire to know what lay beyond gave the intrepid Columbus the courage which discovered a new land, established the fact that the earth is round, which overthrew the old accepted theory of a flat earth. Nothing but a belief was changed, yet the recognition of the truth about a round earth liberated mankind in their travels, and they gained the freedom that always comes in the train of enlarged vision and greater understanding. Every discovery is the result of the investigation born of the inquisitiveness of some seeker after truth who is unwilling to be limited by preconceived, man-made beliefs, and breaks through the circumscribed thinking which would keep thought enslaved in a prescribed channel. His refusal to be restricted frees him and enables him to reach rare heights.
The teachings of the Bible as presented in Christian Science emancipate a man and he finds himself freed from the material so-called laws which have formerly held him in bondage, and in their place he is governed by spiritual law which brings him into heavenly harmony. "It is the purpose of divine Love," Mrs. Eddy says in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 154), "to resurrect the understanding, and the kingdom of God, the reign of harmony already within us. Through the word that is spoken unto you, are you made free. Abide in His word, and it shall abide in you; and the healing Christ will again be made manifest in the flesh— understood and glorified."
