The foundational truth of Christian Science, that God, good, is infinite and absolute, supports within itself the conclusive evidence that man and all things real have their origin, existence, and continuity in Him and nowhere else. At the same time this truth establishes scientifically that evil, or error, is impossible in this infinity of good. David, the king, illustrates with keenest accuracy this basic truth when, in words that are vibrant with inspiration, he proclaims (I Chron. 29:11, 12): "Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all."
In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mary Baker Eddy writes (p. 518), "All the varied expressions of God reflect health, holiness, immortality—infinite Life, Truth, and Love." Man, as God's expression, is thus endowed with God's nature and bounty and can experience no deprivation, no depletion, no poverty. According to Scripture, he is God's image and likeness; therefore he possesses here and now, by reflection, all that is necessary to his well-being, happiness, and continued harmonious existence.
The material senses appear to testify to the very opposite of this scientific truth, for they claim evil to be almost everywhere present and most powerful and man to be pitifully oppressed by its so-called laws of limitation and depletion. All the countless ills which mankind seems to suffer might readily be classified under the one term, lack—lack of money, shelter, physical comforts, or material and mental endowments; lack of bodily health and happiness; lack of peace of mind, of congenial human relationships, of suitable occupation, or of favorable opportunities for success. Mortal man believes himself to be deprived of one thing, or of many, the possession of which he deems urgently necessary to his happiness and subsistence. But, even humanly considered, this is an error of thinking, for we know by experience that these material possessions do not in themselves bring lasting bliss. In their very attainment they often lose for us their importance and gratification, and new, equally urgent needs and wants demand our primary attention and effort.
Viewed in the light of Christian Science, one finds that the only lack mankind actually suffers is lack of the true conception of God as boundless and ever-present Love and of man as His offspring, or manifestation. The student of this wonderful truth, perceiving his deficiency along this line, strives earnestly, humbly, and persistently to overcome it by spiritualizing his thought so that his concept of God may expand and deepen to comprehend the illimitable nature of His love. He strives to understand man's present blessedness and immortality, humanly manifested in good health, sound and moral thinking, and a practical sense of the abundance of good. He endeavors to look away from matter to God, Spirit, for the solution of every problem, realizing with great joy that He is abundantly capable of meeting his every need. From this standpoint he denies as false every suggestion of doubt, fear, worry, and discouragement regarding his well-being and rejects as unworthy every thought of jealousy or covetousness in connection with his brother's affluence and success.
In order to become proficient in rejecting error and to grow in spiritual understanding, continual study of and reference to the Bible and our Leader's writings, especially Science and Health, are absolutely requisite. An alert Christian Scientist, like a seasoned explorer in his particular quest, knows that only by constant and faithful reference to his charts and guides, which these books represent to him, can he expect to reach higher altitudes of spiritual revelation without delay or pitfall. Strict observance of the rules for right thinking and living which are laid down therein is imperative. Thereby the student may experience here and now divine Love's unlimited bestowals of health and harmony. Thereby he also discovers and demonstrates for himself the absolute Science of being, God's allness and man's forever oneness with Him as His idea.
The Master, Christ Jesus, became the Way-shower to true blessedness when he taught his followers to lift their thoughts above material needs and desires to the contemplation of spiritual truths. He instructed them (Matt. 6:31–33): "Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall be we clothed? . . . For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Each so-called miracle which Jesus performed during his earthly mission presented a concrete and practical evidence of the availability of God's love. It is his all-embracing teaching of God's kingdom here and now which Christian Science demonstrates and which frees us, in the degree of our application of it, from the beliefs of deprivation and bondage.
Can the real man, the beloved of the Father, actually be deprived of any good? No more than God can cease being God. His infinitude includes all the elements of self-existence and perpetuity, and these are reflected by man in eternal well-being and harmony. Because he is the full and complete reflection of God, Spirit, he must forever, according to divine law, manifest all the quality and substance of Spirit, just as the light emanating from the sun reflects all the qualities of the sun. Man's selfhood, or identity, is inseparable from the all-inclusive, all-sufficient, ever-satisfied Mind; hence he expresses all-sufficiency, all satisfaction, and true bliss. As we learn to identify ourselves as this man of Spirit, we readily and willingly overcome, one by one, the false demands and tendencies of the material senses. By means of conscientious and joyous striving after spiritual attainments of goodness, honesty, purity, and true loveliness, we begin to establish our righteous claim to the inheritance and nature of the sons of God, divine Love. Mrs. Eddy assures us in "Unity of Good" (p. 46), "The scientific man and his Maker are here; and you would be none other than this man, if you would subordinate the fleshly perceptions to the spiritual sense and source of being."
The cause of all apparent material lack, discord, and division arises from a sense of egotistic separateness. Mortal man, as either an individual, a group, or a nation, believes himself to be an entity entirely separate from God, possessing his own ego, his own mind or will, and his own orbit of existence. In this egotism he believes in a life separate from God, who really is the only Life. He clings to a personal sense of material possessions and relationships and gauges his joy in them by how they compare with his neighbor's. As a natural consequence, he believes also that by some unfortunate chance or circumstance he may be deprived of or separated from these possessions. Thus anxiety and a ceaseless effort to strengthen and prolong his hold upon them by means of greater acquisition, accumulation, and material thought taking appear to be the order of his busy day.
In Jesus' familiar and loved parable of the prodigal son, the deprivation of the erring son began at the instant when in self-will he separated himself from his true origin and associations, demanding (Luke 15:12), "Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me." It was then that his continual supply and security became disconnected from their source and fountainhead and so began to diminish. Since he was uprooted, as it were, from his native soil and foundation and dwelling in a far and strange country, his life became disordered, dissolute, and unfruitful. As a result of his unrestrained prodigality, his supply vanished and his subsistence was reduced to the empty and unsatisfying husks of materiality. However, after much suffering, privation, and humiliation, he recognized his errant ways and turned his thoughts and steps homeward.
In the unfoldment of the spiritual meaning of this parable, it is interesting to see that the reconstruction of his concept of substance and stability began the very moment when in contrite meekness he said to himself, "I will arise and go to my father." It was then that he let go of his willful sense of separateness and obediently accepted once again his absolute dependence on and unity with his true parental origin. Naturally, upon his return he found his heritage and relationship unchanged, for the father had never separated himself from the son. The ring which the father in joyousness because of his son's safe return had placed upon his hand might be considered the symbol of the unbroken oneness in which God eternally holds His idea, man, and the "best robe," with which he was so lovingly clothed, as the symbol of the eternal enfoldment, or protection, which this true relationship assures.
Thank God that, as Christian Science proves so unerringly, one's sojourn in materiality, this "far country," is but a dream state of mortal mind, so called, a false concept of existence which begins to dissolve for every one of us just as soon as we awaken to its illusive nature and perceive, even in small measure, man's true and original state as the offspring of Spirit. The Apostle Paul exhorts (Eph. 5:14), "Awake thou that sleepest, . . . and Christ shall give thee light." Christian Science is that Christ, Truth, that rousing influence which, by means of its enlightening teachings, enables us to discern and prove the inseverable relationship existing between God and man. By means of it also we comprehend that, though man is inseparably at one with his Father Mother, God, he reflects indissoluble spiritual individuality and identity. He manifests limitless spiritual substance, intelligence, beauty, and perfection, and these are unaffected by deterioration or loss. As we progress in this unfoldment of reality, we recognize more readily the false arguments of the personal and physical senses, of pleasure or pain in matter, and overcome them by firm rejection and by knowing ourselves to be at all times under divine government.
In acknowledging God as the Mind of man, as our Mind, we do not sacrifice in the least our real, individual selfhood, as personal sense might seem to argue; nor are we deprived of anything truly good, even humanly considered. All we can lose by this correction of thought is our mortal ignorance of Truth, our false material trusts, affections, and values, in short, that only which never really belonged to man as the image and likeness of God, Spirit.
Infinite, all knowing Mind is the divine Principle, God, governing His creation by means of unerring laws of harmony. His ideas forever occupy their divinely appointed place in the realm of Mind. In rhythmic perfection each performs its individual activity according to the orderly unfolding of God's plan of universal beneficence, or active goodness; hence these ideas cannot separate themselves, or be expelled by an opposing force, from their rightful field of activity and usefulness, but respond obediently and joyously to the all-intelligent, all-harmonious directions of infinite Mind.
There is no deprivation, no depletion, no destitution to the man of Spirit. Reflecting abundant and eternal Life, he can neither be conscious of nor manifest stagnation, obstruction, lack, or loss. He can experience no defeat, no failure, no misfortune, nor can he ever be dissolved in oblivion. He knows and represents the magnitude of Love and Truth, which is God. He is ever in direct position with right opportunity and accomplishment, for he expresses the ceaselessly unfolding intelligence of all knowing Mind.
When shall mankind, you and I, be able fully to prove man's God given dominion over the perplexities and frustrations of human experience? When shall we learn to claim and rejoice in our divine heritage as the children of God? Our beloved Leader, touching upon the present possibility of spiritual and harmonious existence, writes on page 516 in Science and Health, "The substance, Life, intelligence, Truth, and Love, which constitute Deity, are reflected by His creation; and when we subordinate the false testimony of the corporeal senses to the facts of Science, we shall see this true likeness and reflection everywhere." Right now we may therefore experience healing and freedom from deprivation of any nature, for deprivation comes from a mistaken, negative concept of being, which yields instantly to the realization of positive, everpresent good.
