Since God is infinite Principle, the only power, He cannot be influenced, limited, or circumscribed. In recognition of this fact, in her definition of Mind, Mrs. Eddy refers, in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 591), to "Deity, which outlines but is not outlined." From this it follows that man, created in the image of God, must reflect or express God's purpose, outline, or plan in all of its multitudinous forms of beauty, goodness, and perfection.
It is recorded in the first chapter of Genesis that God gave man "dominion over ... all the earth." What constituted this dominion? It could not have been the power to rule or dominate through any will apart from His; it could not have included any element emanating from a finite sense. Then was it not the power, derived or reflected from God, intelligently to express the divine purpose through the understanding which is the spiritual and essential quality of God? In Genesis we find God's decree that the firmament "divide the waters from the waters." Thus it is the mission of spiritual understanding to reveal the spiritual facts of God and man, and thereby to separate between the real and the unreal.
We find this power of spiritual illumination or understanding revealed throughout the successive chapters of the Bible. The thoughts of Moses and of the prophets were raised into the realm of clear spiritual vision through this impartation from the divine Mind. In the New Testament this God-bestowed understanding is called the Holy Ghost. It illumined the consciousness of the Virgin Mary, of Christ Jesus, and of the disciples. It raised St. John to that exalted plane of spiritual consciousness where he beheld "a new heaven and a new earth." And in our day we receive the Holy Ghost, or spiritual understanding, through the revelation of divine Science. And does not this Science give an understanding of the will of God? And what is the will of God but the power of good, the eternal law of divine Principle, creating and governing its infinite spiritual ideas expressed in man and the universe?
When we thus review the nature of the power bestowed on man by his heavenly Father, as recorded throughout the Scriptures, it is evident that, when understood, it always has been and must continue to be a spiritualizing and uplifting influence in human experience, leading away from self and "the will of the flesh" and up to exalted spheres of thought and action, which involve the realization of God's will as operative here and now, and the establishment of the kingdom of heaven on earth.
It is important to note that the dominion mentioned in Genesis was a derived or reflected power, even as is the case of the reflected image in a mirror of a person lifting a heavy weight, where the image has not the strength to lift a feather's weight of itself, but manifests, by reflection, the action of the person standing before the mirror.
The life of Christ Jesus shows how continuously in thought and deed he carried out the divinely revealed will of his heavenly Father. It was this subordination of the human will to the divine that enabled Jesus to show mankind the way from earth to heaven. Reflecting the divine power of Mind, he could say, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done," with such authority that the beliefs of sin, disease, and death were destroyed. And he taught his disciples thus rightly to demonstrate the good, divinely outlined, through a realization of the spiritual facts of being. It is a significant fact that in this healing work, in a number of the recorded cases, Jesus gave definite directions to both the sick and the sinning, telling them what steps to take for their healing and spiritual advancement.
The life of Mrs. Eddy shows how she was led, in establishing the Christian Science movement, to use this power of right outlining, supported and directed by divine wisdom. The building of the beautiful edifices of The Mother Church in Boston was accomplished through following plans carefully worked out in advance, under the direction of our Leader; but her vision included vastly more than the erection of buildings. It extended to the establishing of God's kingdom on earth through the demonstration of Truth in the lives of Christian Scientists. And again, the magnificent Christian Science Publishing House is a tribute to the carefully laid plans of our alert Christian Science Board of Directors, who, in following the teachings and example of our Leader, are wisely providing for the expanding needs of the Christian Science movement through the aid of the prayer, devotion, and self-sacrifice of its adherents.
There are some who, observing that the human will is frequently employed for the accomplishment of evil, condemn all planning or forward looking as though there were something inherently wrong in such action. But is this correct? Because some people plan evil in thought, should we, for that reason, condemn all forward looking and thinking? No. To do this would deprive men of an essential and God-given faculty for growth and the attainment of good; for right outlining involves spiritual vision, which passes through the successive steps of faith, hope, and understanding to its final goal in realization.
The Bible states that before the flood "the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and ... every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." And this wrong outlining or outlining of evil resulted in the destruction of those who indulged in its practice. But in contrast with this outstanding object lesson in the self-destructive nature of evil we find the account of Noah, who, guided by God, prepared through righteousness an ark of safety for himself and his family. He had a faith that was active, that could labor through a period of purposeful endeavor in execution of the plan revealed to him by God.
Moses, through meekness and obedience, was enabled so to define and outline the moral law, as revealed by Mind, that his work established a nation in worship of the one God and set a standard for mankind which Christ Jesus came "not ... to destroy, but to fulfil." Nehemiah, when a captive in Babylon, received the right intuition and purpose to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and thus render a much-needed service to his people. The vision of this great work to be undertaken came to him when he was cupbearer to the king. He left the court position of ease and honor and set resolutely at work to realize his lofty purpose; nor did he rest until the walls and the gates of the city were completely restored. If he had not had a clear perception of God's plan and of protection and guidance from divine Mind, could he have attained such success?
Jesus' parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins furnishes a useful lesson on the value of right outlining and on the loss that is sure to follow its neglect. All ten virgins were looking forward with glad expectancy to meeting the bridegroom and attending the wedding; but five were wise—they planned in advance, performed their work systematically and faithfully, and provided oil in their vessels. When finally the bridegroom came, the wise virgins were prepared to receive him and to go in with him to the wedding. But the foolish virgins lacked oil. Their work had been done too late, and when they came "the door was shut."
There are some who reason that for healing one should picture to himself the structure and organs of a so-called perfect human body. But such outlining of materiality finds no support from the example of Jesus or the writings of Mrs. Eddy. The fallacy of such reasoning lies in the erroneous supposition that life and health depend on matter, whereas the teaching of Christian Science is that man is not material but spiritual—even the idea or image of God—and so reflects the qualities of life and health which belong to God. It is in accordance with this understanding of the real nature of man that our Leader clearly depicts the right kind of outlining in connection with healing, where, on page 248 of the Christian Science textbook, she refers to the sculptor who turns ever to his model in order to perfect his work, and where she names "unselfishness, goodness, mercy, justice, health, holiness, love" as indicating the character of the model that should be continuously kept before the thought. It is significant that throughout the Scriptures, and also in her other writings, the whole trend of the teaching is to turn thought away from the human body and mortal concepts to the contemplation of God and His perfect creation.
We may draw a further lesson from reference to the work of the sculptor, for it shows the necessity for vigorous right activity. There are some who through fear of following wrong outlining remain inactive. They allow themselves to drift with the popular current in the hope that all will come out right in the end. But the sculptor's work is accomplished only through persistent and purposeful activity involving the cutting of deep incisions, and with blow on blow intelligently directed and inspired by a vision of the model before him.
In proportion as the mortal and human elements fade from our outlining will the spiritual and divine facts of eternal Life appear. And is not this the great work for the accomplishment of which the Christian Scientist has enlisted? It is in this sense that the Lord's Prayer is so clearly practical and universal; for is not this prayer an expressing of the humble and consecrated purpose to let God outline—of the will to yield to God's will? The relinquishment of human will and acceptance of the divine are thus found to be essential factors in Christian healing. They lead through successive steps in which the mortal yields to the immortal, the human to the divine; sin yields to holiness, sickness to health; and the finite gives place to the infinite. Thus finally all error fades from individual consciousness, and Truth reigns supreme. The process that brings about this transformation is named by Mrs. Eddy "scientific translation" (Science and Health, p. 115). It includes at every step that right outlining which leads to a recognition of the allness of God, good. Thus is His kingdom established on earth, enabling man to reflect, in spiritual completeness, the divine outline.
