An artist's pen or brush conveys impressions by a few skillful strokes. Sometimes the focal point of a drawing is what the subject holds in his hand and the way he looks at it.
The Bible contains many verbal sketches. For example, Moses is carrying his rod or shepherd's staff as a matter of course when God asks him (Ex. 4:2), "What is that in thine hand?" We can be sure that the expression on Moses' face changes as God shows him some of the things he can do with his rod other than tend sheep. After the rod becomes a serpent, Moses' fear is overcome as he grasps the serpent by the tail, and it becomes a rod again in his hand.
In subsequent word pictures in Exodus, faith is increased as Moses stretches out his hand over the Red Sea, and it parts to let the children of Israel pass through; incredulity is repented of as water gushes from the rock which Moses strikes with his rod; confident strength emerges as he sits on the top of the hill with the rod in his hand while the battle with Amalek is waged and won.
Christian Science interprets the Bible stories by explaining their spiritual significance. It teaches that substance is spiritual, not material, so that the things a person holds in his hand are much less important than the ideas his thoughts embrace. In the first picture, Moses is carrying a rod because he finds it useful, but his thoughts envisage only a limited usefulness. What can a man with a rod do when faced with a serpent, a drought, or a hostile army?
By lifting Moses' thought to take hold of such spiritually improved qualities as fearlessness, faith, and steadfastness, God shows him that he can have dominion in all these circumstances when he understands better how to use his rod. Moses gains a new conception of himself as well as a new respect and affection for his rod, which he finds to be a symbol of spiritual power.
In the first picture, Moses is a shepherd carrying the rod as an important tool of his trade. The last picture still shows a man with a rod, but Moses is looking at it very differently. It is now impossible for him to carry the rod of God round as a matter of course, because he has found that it is not really a material object but a symbol always suggesting new forms of usefulness.
When we are willing to rely on Spirit instead of matter, we, in effect, take the rod of God in our hands and watch its power unfold before our eyes. What we hold in our hands is our grasp of good, and our love of good deepens as our concept of good grows more spiritual and our understanding of spiritual power develops. We learn that man, made in the image of God, is spiritual, not material, and that the spiritual ideas which God gives him provide strength, protection, and sustenance.
In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy writes (pp. 359, 360): "A Christian Scientist and an opponent are like two artists. One says: 'I have spiritual ideals, indestructible and glorious. When others see them as I do, in their true light and loveliness,—and know that these ideals are real and eternal because drawn from Truth,—they will find that nothing is lost, and all is won, by a right estimate of what is real.'"
"A right estimate of what is real" transforms human thought first and then transforms human experience. Such an estimate shows one that he can make better use of his present opportunities by exchanging the limited usefulness of material objects for the infinite adaptability of spiritual ideas.
Christ Jesus proved the result of "a right estimate of what is real," when he asked the disciples to cast their net on the right side (see John 21:6). And he himself, before he became the Saviour, was a carpenter familiar with the tools of that trade. The result of gaining "a right estimate of what is real" applies equally to a teacher with a book in his hand, a writer with a pen, or a salesman with a sample of his goods. Each first finds new uses for the thing he holds in his hand, and then he begins to grasp the higher meaning of the idea symbolized by the useful object.
Sometimes the things which a person holds in his hand can never be useful to him. Often they are senseless treasures which he is reluctant to part with; sometimes they are tiresome encumbrances he would like to be rid of; or perhaps he merely carries them around from habit because it never occurs to him to put them down. But they all prevent him from having both hands free to grasp the spiritual rod of God. If he does not discard them before the question comes, "What is that in thine hand?" he must either clutch them defiantly or seek to hide them furtively behind his back.
Mortals are reluctant to let matter go. Continuing the description of the two artists, Mrs. Eddy says (ibid., p. 360): "The other artist replies: 'You wrong my experience. I have no mind-ideals except those which are both mental and material. It is true that materiality renders these ideals imperfect and destructible; yet I would not exchange mine for thine, for mine give me such personal pleasure, and they are not so shockingly transcendental. They require less self-abnegation, and keep Soul well out of sight. Moreover, I have no notion of losing my old doctrines or human opinions.' "
To relinquish matter for Spirit is not to give up something for nothing, as the materialist fears; it is to gain access to an inexhaustible store of spiritual ideas, which make infinite good available, as Moses found. To have a spiritual idea is to have something that can never be lost or taken away and which never depreciates in value.
To dispose of a material object usually brings another material object or its equivalent in money; but to pass a spiritual idea along to another is to double its practical value, because two people have it to demonstrate instead of one. The more freely spiritual ideas are circulated by each individual, the more accessible they are for others to use, and so their value multiplies.
To attempt to hold Spirit in one hand and matter in the other brings neither happiness nor progress. Mrs. Eddy's words make the choice clear. She continues her comparison of the artists with these words (ibid., p. 360): "Dear reader, which mind-picture or externalized thought shall be real to you,—the material or the spiritual? Both you cannot have."
Each individual must answer for himself, "What is that in thine hand?"
