ON page 521of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy makes the brief statement, "The harmony and immortality of man are intact." Because mortals believe and constantly fear that life is in some way incomplete, that some good has been lost or is being missed, this statement is worthy of consideration. The Bible records that Jesus once repudiated the suggestion of loss, saying, "This is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day."
The metaphysics of Christian Science is based on that which lies beyond the evidence of physical sense, in the realm of God. Christian Science reveals God as infinite divine Principle. Therefore, all that is, always will be within the infinite, within God's kingdom, and there can be nothing real existing outside, nothing lost or straying. It is evident that whatever has to do with Principle must have to do with consciousness; so God ever knows His ideas, and there can be no confusion, no derangement or displacement in God's plan.
Some of the synonyms for "intact" are "whole," "total," "entire," "complete," "perfect." These terms can all be applied in defining God to human thought. On page 465of Science and Health, in referring to the synonymous terms for God, "Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love," Mrs. Eddy says, "They are also intended to express the nature, essence, and wholeness of Deity." There are numerous similar illuminating statements in the textbook which enable the Christian Science student to see beyond the clouds of fear and depression. God's universe is an orderly universe, and all that it contains is governed by the divine law of God. Hence everything real is cared for, and held in its perfect relation to God.
Christian Science discovers man to human consciousness as the reflection of God, as God's idea. This grand truth reveals man as like God, so that in considering the attributes and qualities which belong to God one can understand man. Man is good because he expresses God's infinite goodness; and man is lovely because he reflects God, who is Love. Because God is entire, whole, complete—that is, All—man must be in his degree as perfect as God is perfect. Can man, then, ever lose anything that is his? Can there ever be anything missing from his completeness? It is a mistake to believe that perfection can be marred. If man ever lost anything, he could no longer be perfect; and he is perfect, as Christian Science reveals him to be. It is a cardinal point in Christian Science that perfection underlies everything having real, eternal existence. Man cannot lose his health, his happiness, his wealth, or his holiness. All that man possesses comes from God, and is as eternal as is God.
According to the first chapter of Genesis, which records that God made man, He made him to be active, to do something. Man was to "be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." God supplies man with activity, and every idea of God always has work and usefulness. One idea can never be separated from other ideas; cannot lose its position, be out of its place, or be displaced by another idea, for this is impossible in the reality and order of creation or real being.
In the opposite belief about creation, greed and avarice claim to displace and bring about loss. The loss of health may express a fear of the loss of wealth. But the truth remains that nothing that God has given is ever lost. It makes no difference what seems to human sense to be lost; whether it be health, morals, position, or business, it can be found as error is destroyed. Sometimes the day of fear, doubt, and uncertainty seems to be a long one, and the night longer still; but nothing can prevent the sun of Soul from rising and the day of Spirit from appearing. The light and illumination of spiritual thinking and enlightened faith are in the world today, and no one needs to battle hopelessly with the sense of darkness. The Bible and the Christian Science textbook are spiritual guides, lighting the path of thousands, and waiting only to be understood that they may light the path of all mankind.
Christian Science brings into human affairs the light of God's love and power, enabling men to deny mortality and to look beyond and above the many illusions of the physical senses. One may have an abundance of good; but if he does not know it is his, he does not make use of it. All men need to know that good is right at hand. Men want to help one another, and we need to be aware of this fact. Lack of faith and trust in another often leads one to appear unjust. There is a spark of love in every human heart, and God, divine Love, can fan that spark into such a flame that the real man is revealed in its light. It is the privilege of men to give up mortal selfhood and reflect God's power and presence, love and wisdom, and so uplift the lives of those they touch in the human experience.
The understanding of God and of man as God's child is the "pearl of great price," the most cherished possession. This possession cannot be taken from us, and in the light of this grand truth we clearly perceive that there is no loss. Whatever God's man is, and whatever he has possessed, he possesses now and for all eternity. Man's possessions are the talents his Father has given him, and they can always be used; they can never be limited, decreased, or separated from him, for they are eternally his to utilize and enjoy.
Our Master said, "He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." We need to lose the personal sense of possession for the universal sense of possession. Then what our Leader says will be proved true (Science and Health, p. 206), "In the scientific relation of God to man, we find that whatever blesses one blesses all, as Jesus showed with the loaves and the fishes,—Spirit, not matter, being the source of supply."
The furnace of affliction refines us from earthly drossness, and softens us for the impression of God's own stamp.—selected.
