THE instinct of self-preservation is deeply rooted in human thought, and this fact points to the eternality of good. But because, through having been educated in material theories, individuals seek by material means to preserve life, health, and strength in the physical body, their objective is mistaken and they fail in their attempt. Whoever consents to think of himself as merely physical lays himself open to discord and limitation, and because of this limited view deprives himself of spiritual achievement.
The saying of Jesus, "Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it," seems paradoxical to material sense, but to spiritual sense it is divinely consistent. That which is false cannot be saved, and that which is true cannot be lost. Whosoever shall lose his belief that life is organic, and learn that his life is spiritual, shall preserve it through spiritual understanding. Life, God, is beyond the reach of matter and its spurious laws. Likewise man's health, strength, and happiness are permanent, inseparable from Spirit and available only by reflection.
Christ Jesus said, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." The Word is life-giving. Because the words of Jesus, based on the Word, were "spirit," as he said, they were also "life." Jesus overcame death because he understood the indestructibility of Life, which is the same today, and yesterday, and forever.
