Have you ever thought, "If only I could keep my mind on my work"? How often our attempts to work are hindered by the false suggestion that good and evil can wander into consciousness at will ! According to this misconcepiton, at any moment anything—fearful suggestions, scenes long forgotten, vicious impulses, or yesterday's grocery list—may pop into our consciousness. That such uncontrollable mental gymnastics are no part of true consciousness is one of the blessed revelation brought to mankind in the discovery of Christian Science.
This Science teaches us that man is created in the image and likeness of God, as stated in the first chapter of Genesis. Therefore if we would know more of man, our first concern should be to know more of God. In defining God as Mind, Mary Baker Eddy immeasurably broadens our knowledge of Him. With clear logic she points out that since there is but one God, there is but one Mind. And since there is but one Mind, man's true consciousness is the emanation of that Mind. With this knowledge we proceed to the fact that our own real consciousness is that only which originates in divine Mind and reflects it. Accepting this spiritual fact, we are equipped to refute mortal mind's claim to be consciousness, for we now know what real consciousness is.
On page 506 of the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,"Mrs. Eddy makes this statement: "Understanding is a quality of God, a quality which separates Christian Science from supposition and makes Truth final." It is important to remember that understanding is a characteristic of the divine consciousness, which man reflects. It is not something which man labors to get, because understanding is forever present. What appears as an absence of it is only a part of the myth of mortal mind. What appears as a person gaining a better understanding about his true nature is in fact evidence that the one Mind, God, is manifesting its presence and ruling out the mortal misconception of a mind that lacks understanding.
