The questions as to what one is, why he is here, and what his destiny is have probably come to everyone at some time or another. Job asked (7:17), "What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?" The Psalmist queried (Ps. 8:4), "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?"
To look to the material aspect of things for an answer is to find only confusion, false sense, and frustration as did Job when he reasoned from the material, limited, human viewpoint. When he realized that man is at one with God, he gained release.
Mary Baker Eddy has given a clear and comprehensive answer to the question, "What is man?" in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." She says in part (p. 475): "Man is not matter; he is not made up of brain, blood, bones, and other material elements. The Scriptures inform us that man is made in the image and likeness of God. Matter is not that likeness."
Then to the question, "What am I?" each one may answer, "I am the image of God." As the likeness of God, one is in reality a spiritual, incorporeal being, not a material body with a soul inside or a brain that thinks. To be able to find the correct answer to what he is, one must know what God is, since, according to the Bible, man is made in His image and likeness.
In answer to the question, "What is God?" Mrs. Eddy says (ibid., p. 465), "God is incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love." In answer to the next question, "Are these terms synonymous?" she says in part: "They are. They refer to one absolute God. They are also intended to express the nature, essence, and wholeness of Deity."
We see, then, that since these synonyms express the nature, essence, and wholeness of God, man in his true nature must reflect the qualities which these synonyms indicate. For instance, because God is Mind, man expresses wisdom, intelligence, and good judgment. Because God is Spirit, man is spiritual and not material. Because God is Soul, man expresses beauty and purity and harmony. And because God is Principle, it follows that man, the effect of the one great cause, is subject only to divine law.
God is Father-Mother; therefore each individual is a manifestation of the masculine and feminine qualities of God. The recognition of individual completeness dispels loneliness and attracts to each one the companionship and friendliness that he needs.
Every idea of God is an individual expression of the one divine individuality. Man's identity is eternal, and his individuality is indestructible. There is no absorption into Deity, no eradication of individuality. Each one eternally reflects the qualities of God, but each one does so in his own individual way; therefore no two ideas are identical.
Through the study, instruction, and demonstration of Christian Science, we can attain such a conscious knowledge of our true selfhood that we are enabled to accomplish tasks far above our ordinary capacities and bring about results beyond ordinary human attainments.
The recognition of himself as the son of God and his understanding of true substance and also of the inexhaustible supply of Spirit enabled one individual to turn poverty into affluence. During the so-called depression years of the early 1930's this Christian Scientist found himself without employment, owing to the failure of a business firm in which he was employed and in which he had his savings invested. Then a financial institution in which he had a few hundred dollars on deposit failed to open one morning. He was out of employment and without funds.
He was up early every day and worked late at finding a job, but the situation was not one to inspire courage. He studied the teachings of Mrs. Eddy faithfully, but without any change in his situation. He also attended church services regularly.
One Sunday morning in church, during the reading of the Bible Lesson from the Christian Science Quarterly, the thought came that he was not trusting God completely, but, on the other hand, was dreading the day when he would have spent the few dollars that he had left. He asked himself, "How can I experience the effects of God's law of adjustment if I am giving power to material things?"
That morning when the collection bags were passed, he emptied his pockets of the little change he possessed and wrote a check for the balance that still remained in a checking account. When he walked out of the church that day, he did not have one penny. "Now you will have to trust in God," he said to himself. There was not a sense of loss or despondency, but one of hope and assurance that God never fails.
The very next morning he met an acquaintance in an elevator in an office building who said that he had just recommended him for a position and that he should go to the place at once as the management was expecting him. The firm's need was met because he was able immediately to supply the know-how required, and his own needs were met. The position did not pay a large salary, but from that day on, he has had an ample income. He has gone on and on to positions providing greater opportunities to prove God's allness, and his income has been increased. To this writer, he said, "We have been affluent ever since!"
This is but one instance of the way in which radical reliance on God and the recognition of man's true status and source of supply can alter one's whole life.
When we understand that we are truly the manifestation of God, individually and collectively, that the purpose of our existence is to serve God, and that our destiny is safe in God's hands, we are enabled to do whatever is required of us without fear or limitation.
Christ Jesus was ever conscious that he was the Son of God, and by healing the sick and raising the dead, he demonstrated the power that was available to him. To some it may seem sacrilegious that others claim the same power for themselves that Jesus claimed as the Son of God. Yet Jesus himself declared this power available to his followers, for he said (John 14:12), "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." And John, his beloved disciple, declared (I John 3:2), "Now are we the sons of God."
Mrs. Eddy is an example of the possibilities of human attainment through the understanding of man's true status as the child of God. To human sense she was frail and sickly in her early life, but from the moment she glimpsed the truth of her being, she began to accomplish tasks which would have been considered stupendous for one man to handle, much less a sheltered New England woman.
Mrs. Eddy knew that her wisdom and strength came from God. Thus she was able to found the Christian Science movement, establish the Christian Science periodicals, including The Christian Science Monitor, and lay the groundwork for the innumerable activities and benefits enjoyed by the members of her Church. In addition to these, she wrote Science and Health and other works, including the Manual of The Mother Church, at the same time that she was teaching Christian Science and healing the sick!
Let us accept the challenge which comes with the recognition of what we really are and avail ourselves of the power and glory that are ours by divine right.
Mrs. Eddy writes in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 165): "As an active portion of one stupendous whole, goodness identifies man with universal good. Thus may each member of this church rise above the oft-repeated inquiry, What am I? to the scientific response: I am able to impart truth, health, and happiness, and this is my rock of salvation and my reason for existing."
