WHAT is our concept of ourselves, of our present, our past, our future, our life, health, and happiness? If it is based upon the understanding of the all-power and all-presence of God, it partakes of the infinite nature of good and includes the limitless opportunities which are man's.
If, on the other hand, this concept of ourselves is based upon the theory of existence as set forth in the second chapter of Genesis, then thought is involved in a world of contradiction, of frustration, and of fear. For in this world men believe that they have no means of preservation from material forces which bring change, deception, and finally destruction.
In her writings, Mary Baker Eddy points out that there has been evolved, as the result of a more exalted concept of God, a nobler sense of men's relationship to Him and to each other. Thus she writes (The People's Idea of God, pp. 2, 3): "This more perfect idea, held constantly before the people's mind, must have a benign and elevating influence upon the character of nations as well as individuals, and will lift man ultimately to the understanding that our ideals form our characters, that as a man 'thinketh in his heart, so is he.'"
