Although Joshua was able to perceive and demonstrate that united effort, under the direction of divine Principle, would remove serious obstacles to human progress Spiritward, it remained for Christ Jesus, out of the richness of his understanding, to show us that God, the infinite provider, showers His blessings equally upon all. Had Cain looked up to Spirit instead of down to matter, he would have perceived the necessity for adjusting his thought, in accord with divine reality; he would not have succumbed to the evil belief that another could deprive him of the approval of God.
One does not need to compete with his fellow-men for God's favor. He has this favor already. Are we not in reality all children of the one Father-Mother? And did not the Master assure us that God causes the rain to fall and the sun to shine on the unjust as well as on the just,—on those who entertain false beliefs, as well as on those who understand something about the reality of being? It is, however, this question of understanding the reality of being, which is at the root of the whole problem.
Mrs. Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 275), "To grasp the reality and order of being in its Science, you must begin by reckoning God as the divine Principle of all that really is." And John says, "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." Naturally, then, the problem resolves itself into the process of comprehending the nature of God and His creation.
Now God, divine Principle, is, of necessity, without "variableness" or "shadow of turning." Consequently, everything which proceeds from God is governed by laws that are as fixed and unchangeable as their Principle. God and the real man, divine Mind and its idea, may be said to be interrelated as are the sun and the rays which go out from it. The sun, as the source of all solar light, and the ray, as the means through which light is presented and made appreciable, are symbolical of the truth of being that God is the Principle of all, and that man is the image, the idea, of all that God is; for, as Mrs. Eddy plainly states (Science and Health, p. 470), "Man is the expression of God's being."
A ray of light has the qualities of light; and it does not normally interfere with the light which is being expressed by any other ray. Rather, does it add to the sum total of the manifestation of light. It does not, it cannot, enter into competition with its fellow-rays. On the contrary, it cooperates with them; and as each ray does its part in cooperation with all the others, the whole is expressed.
Spiritual man is the reflection of God. He expresses the nature, qualities, or attributes of Deity. Spiritual man has no existence apart from divine Principle: he cannot manifest anything which is not contained in, and which does not emanate from, the "great First Cause." Each one, therefore, in the reality of his or her existence, is the individual expression of the qualities or attributes of God. Relying entirely upon divine Mind for his government, one knows that nothing can come between man and his Maker. Realizing that true existence depends solely upon the omnipresence and omniscience of God, one grasps the fact that there is not and cannot be any power, presence, or intelligence which can deprive him of any good; and one is convinced that, because God's love is unlimited, neither he nor others can be persuaded that divine Love is insufficient to meet all human needs.
Thus, men cooperate with God in the understanding of the unity of Principle and its idea; and they cooperate with each other in the expression of this understanding. There is no power which can separate man from God, or persuade the enlightened thought that one can be deprived of any of the blessings which God is bestowing upon him. There is nothing which can prevent this same enlightened thought from proving that "all men have one Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love" (Science and Health, p. 467); and that in the proportion that each one grasps this sublime fact, fear and envy will disappear, and competition cease. Then we shall seek together—or cooperate—to express the unity, the allness of good.
