IN an apparently material, limited, and changeable world, amenable to conflictive, disruptive forces, there is a widely accepted theory that all things are subject to depreciation—a lessening of values—resulting from the effects of time, wear, fashion, or usage. To this unstable premise the entire human economy appears to conform. Thus an ever-increasing volume of production barely keeps pace with the demands for replacement. A law of accretion and depletion seems to be in effect in lieu of God's law of supply and demand maintained in perfect balance and operating as spiritual unfoldment.
There would be considerably less cause for concern if this supposed law of depreciation were restricted to the various material accessories used in one's everyday experiences. Opposed to divine law, however, false law claims to operate as a mandate of mortal mind for jurisdiction over the human body with the obvious intent of first enslaving and then destroying it. One dictionary gives this definition of "depreciation," which reads in part: "A decrease in value; specif.: . . . A lowering in estimation; disparagement." Here is a clue to the malicious design underlying this depredation on mankind, appearing in the guise of a law of declining values.
Clearly recognizing the sense of fluctuating values assigned to material possessions, and in an effort to awaken mankind to the necessity of turning from a futile consideration of material evidence toward a grander outlook on the realm of the spiritually real, Christ Jesus enjoined his hearers (Matt. 6:19,20), "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal." We know, of course, that the Master did not mean to imply that anyone should disregard whatever seems necessary to fill an obvious human need. His teachings involved the practical application of spiritual laws made manifest in the fulfillment of whatever appeared to be the need of humanity.
Christian Science, the wonderful revelation of Mary Baker Eddy, presents the modus operandi for true spiritual healing, thereby providing an explanation of Jesus' words and works. In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," the textbook of Christian Science, Mrs. Eddy states (p. 269), "Metaphysics resolves things into thoughts, and exchanges the objects of sense for the ideas of Soul." Thus we find that as one translates matter into its mental constituent and then replaces the material concept with the spiritual idea, he becomes immune to the laws of mortal mind, which tend to limit, deplete, and consume one's sense of good.
Christian Science teaches that the solution to every problem is found in the spiritually corrected mental state of the individual. It is plain, then, that a belief in stages of growth and maturity closely followed by decadence and debility ultimating in a state of total depreciation must be replaced with an appreciation of man's true nature as God's expressed image. This spiritualization of thought will destroy the erroneous belief with its illusive effects.
According to a dictionary, "appreciate" means "to set a just value on; to esteem fully the worth of." To arrive at a just value, one must first gain a clear concept of the nature of God, whose image and likeness man is. To accomplish this necessarily involves spiritual understanding. Perhaps someone may ask, as did Job (28:12), "Where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?" Job, however, immediately answered his own question when he added (verse 28), "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding."
The Bible states that God is good and that man is His likeness. Good then does not suddenly appear, disappear, or reappear. Good is, because God is. One should never believe that the good he already has can be lost through depreciation or depletion. Our sense of good should always include an awareness of harmony and well-being, but it is important to remember that our state of health is not measured by a limited amount of strength and energy to be packaged carefully, guarded fearfully, and expended sparingly. The Scriptures tell us that "the inward man"—the man of God's creating—"is renewed day by day" (II Cor. 4: 16). Man is not a machine; he does not depreciate over a period of time or because of the length of his travels. Man is Mind's expression to be appreciated throughout eternity.
Christian Science is presenting an exposition of the fraudulent nature of any theories, claims, laws, or intents of a supposed mortal mind. In so doing, Science brings God's kingdom to earth, even as it has ever been in heaven, with the omnipotence needed to reverse and destroy any laws or effects inconsistent with the nature of God, good. In our textbook we read (p. 259): "If man was once perfect but has now lost his perfection, then mortals have never beheld in man the reflex image of God. The lost image is no image. The true likeness cannot be lost in divine reflection. Understanding this, Jesus said: 'Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.'"
Many students have learned that an unfailing rule for the gaining of a quickened appreciation of God's nature as ever-present good, with man as the reflection of good, is found in the expression of prayerful gratitude. It might even be said that gratitude is another term for appreciation, since each implies a recognition of the presence of good. The expressing of gratitude daily for all good—both the apparent and the as yet unseen—breaks the mesmerism of limitation, imperfection, or lack. This positive knowing dissipates the fog of negative belief. Acceptance and appreciation of good as constituents of the one standard of being confirm our inherent right of exemption from the spurious laws of evil.
Are we sometimes tempted to disparage our fellow men in our evaluation of them? Do we entertain suggestions of destructive criticism, condemnation, and distrust, accepting these as our thinking? If so, we are despoiling our own concept of man—an indirect attack on ourself . The Apostle Paul said (Rom. 2:1), "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself." When suggestions of hatred, resentment, or irritation are permitted to disturb the tranquillity of thought, one unwittingly tills the soil of material belief for a harvest of tares— any of the innumerable terrors conceived by mortal mind to hasten the final depreciation of the human sense of body. Science emphasizes the rule that we must not attribute to others qualities that we would not want to claim for ourselves. For one's own salvation, if for no other reason, one is impelled to love his neighbor as himself.
Do we ever, in an unguarded moment, concede the possibility that we could be the well-marked target for the barbs of criticism and condemnation coming from others? Do we acknowledge that such mental attacks could possibly result in one's own bodily discomfort? Then we are not claiming for our neighbor the immunity which we gladly affirm to ourselves: that man is never the cause or avenue for evil, nor can he be the tool or victim of evil. There is no cause, law, or effect outside of God's allness. An abiding love for God and for man is proof of one's understanding appreciation of the perfection of Mind's ideas, whose government is divine Principle, God.
To demonstrate that an appreciation of man's dominion as the child of God will overcome a belief in the necessity of bodily deterioration, let us begin by joyfully overcoming the friction of worldly resistance and permit an ever-increasing love for God and man to obliterate the fear and hatred which would cripple and destroy. A realization of God's eternal purpose for His children will fortify one against the beliefs of corrosion and decay by time and unkindly elements of chance and circumstance. An alertness to duty in doing daily protective mental work and in acknowledging Mind's support and direction will overcome suggestions of inertia or slowing down. Long-suffering and patience are adequate cushions against the shock and irritation occasioned by the clash of human wills, opinions, and senseless opposition. Thus the spectacle of debility and despair is averted or replaced with the certainty of strength and confidence. Man is vindicated, and God is glorified.
