All people think of Principle as unerring and undeviating. And so it is. But how many think of Principle as intelligent, as alive, as imbued with love? Yet Principle in its full signification is nothing less than Mind, Soul, Life, Love, Truth, Spirit. Not only is it the controlling and governing factor of the universe, but it is the cause, the substance, the vitality, the intelligence, the sustaining power of all things. Principle then is a mighty, a majestic word. It is a synonym for God. Its noblest expression is man.
Hence we are not surprised to find a fourth-century translator rendering the first line of Genesis, "In principle God created the heaven and the earth." The well-known translation, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth," suggests mortality at the outset; because to concede a beginning is to confess an ending, is it not? Disease and fatality follow, with all the apparent suffering and destruction they entail. There can be no sense of security or satisfaction for the individual until he perceives the continuity of his existence. Without this assurance, the flight of aspiration is hampered. It is doubtful if a truly exalted character can be built on any lower conviction than endless life.
When we appraise God as Principle, we have no difficulty in realizing that He is everywhere and all-pervasive. Invisible in the abstract. He becomes visible in the man of Principle. Therefore did Jesus answer Philip, who asked to be shown the Father, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." At this point becomes understandable Jesus' further declaration, "Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me." Writes Mary Baker Eddy on page 257 of Science and Health, "If Mind is within and without all things, then all is Mind; and this definition is scientific."
