In "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 60) we read that Mary Baker Eddy gave a Bible to a student "as a reward for the best paper on the spiritual significance of the first chapter of Genesis." On the flyleaf of the Bible she inscribed these words: "With all thy getting get understanding." This admonition is a loving one, and obedience to it will bear much good fruit, made manifest in health, morals, and happiness.
Spiritual understanding is the principal thing, for we can manifest God only to the extent that we understand His omnipotence and reflect His power. To know God aright is to reflect Him not only by loving our neighbor as ourselves, by being kind, helpful, unselfish, and considerate, but by being unceasingly grateful for all the good He has bestowed.
If we recognize God as the only presence and power and know Him as infinite Mind, Life, Truth, and Love; as the all-seeing, all-knowing, omnipotent Principle of all true being; as a loving Father-Mother, who has only good in store for His children; and if we know man as God's idea, His image and likeness, and utilize this understanding in our daily experience, we have spiritual and scientific knowledge of God and man.
