THERE is one God; He is All, and He is good. His creation, that which emanates from Him, manifests His goodness, wisdom, and love. These truths, revealed by Christian Science, find Biblical confirmation in the first chapter of Genesis, which states, "God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." How simple, how logical, how true, that God has created good only!
Evil cannot be associated with good, and it cannot be identified with God or with man, God's image and likeness. Evil is not an expression of Truth, Principle, Mind, or Love, and therefore it cannot have reality. Then one may ask, Why does evil seem to exist, to have power, and sometimes to be a part of my experience?
In her Message to The Mother Church for 1901, Mrs. Eddy gives a lucid explanation of evil's seeming reality. She says (p. 14): "Do Christian Scientists believe that evil exists? We answer, Yes and No! Yes, inasmuch as we do know that evil, as a false claim, false entity, and utter falsity, does exist in thought; and No, as something that enjoys, suffers, or is real." And in the same paragraph she continues, "We regard evil as a lie, an illusion, therefore as unreal as a mirage that misleads the traveller on his way home."
When we acknowledge evil as an illusion, which exists in thought as an "utter falsity," it is evident that evil's abolition must take place in our thought. We accomplish this in the same manner that we destroy any lie or falsity: by knowing the truth. No one continues to be deceived by a lie when the truth is evident to him. To the degree that the truth is known, the false will be detected and rejected. The purer our understanding of God, the surer our identification of good.
An illusion will not be accepted as a reality by one who is alert in his refutation of material sense testimony and persistent in his affirmation of spiritual facts as imparted by spiritual sense. A lie about man cannot fool one who recognizes as identity and individuality only that which is of God. A falsity is challenged and corrected by one who claims as his the same Mind which was in Christ Jesus, namely the infinite, divine Mind.
In "Miscellaneous Writings," Mrs. Eddy states (p. 367): "To good, evil is never present; for evil is a different state of consciousness. It was not against evil, but against knowing evil, that God forewarned. He dwelleth in light; and in the light He sees light, and cannot see darkness. The opposite conclusion, that darkness dwelleth in light, has neither precedent nor foundation in nature, in logic, or in the character of Christ."
Because evil exists merely as a false concept in human consciousness, it is not a person, a place, or a thing. It is comforting to know that healing takes place in our own consciousness. The truth that we are knowing heals us of false beliefs, has all-power, governs supremely, and brings about our harmonious relationship to the persons, places, and things that make up our experience.
A motorist traveling westward suddenly beheld a beautiful lake in the midst of arid country. In wonderment at its beautiful, convincing but unexpected appearance, she consulted a map of the region, which she had in her possession. The map showed no lake, and so what appeared to be a lake was merely a mirage. The fact was that right where water and trees seemed to be, there was a dry, barren waste.
The traveler, confronted by the lake, did not become fearful, frustrated, annoyed, or angry. She had instantly suspected its unreality because she knew that reliable sources would probably refute this phenomenon. The moment that the unreality of the lake was exposed, she willingly relinquished her belief in its existence. How foolish she would have been to speculate on its reason for existence, its breadth and depth and temperature! And how miserable she could have been had she believed it would delay her progress! But she was spared all this by nullifying a mental suggestion with an irresistible fact.
When we willingly and obediently relinquish a belief in evil, then good becomes reality for us, and we express it in good living, which is a state of uplifted consciousness and not a material condition. A good home is one in which good is provided, respected, protected, cherished. When our consciousness is filled with divine ideas, the ideas of Mind and Love and Principle and Soul, our home is blessed. When the faults of those in the home are perceived as indicating needs to be met and we meet these needs by our prayerful affirmations of the omnipresence of good, our home is comforting, uplifting, purifying, and refreshing.
The Father's business is always good. In reality the only activity there is, is God expressing Himself; thus good is ever active. It is not material, but spiritual; it is not personal, but divine; it is not temporal, cyclical, sectional, national, economic, or financial. It is the possession of infinite Spirit, Soul, and Mind.
Good cannot be tyrannized or undermined, for it has its source in God and continually emanates from Him. He imparts good with inspiration, power, promptness. Good suffers from no deadlines, opposition, or competition, because it is ordered by undeviating Principle.
A good businessman, one who applies these truths of Christian Science, is busy being and doing good, which is his God-bestowed mission and destiny. He does not rely upon self for his success but upon God, whom man expresses without measure. Such a businessman is not dependent upon personal appointment, recognition, advancement, or award, for he knows that God created man to fulfill His perfect plan and that He protects, prospers, and promotes His good. When one's yearning for personal promotion and material gain is replaced with a consecrated dedication to the expression of good in consciousness so that one may better glorify God, one is rewarded with His "Well done."
Peter said (Acts 10:38), "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him." Jesus loved God, and so he loved good. The love he expressed as he walked his way was coincident with his love for God. He so clearly perceived the presence and the glory of infinite good that this pure and exalted viewpoint brought instant healing.
Christian Science teaches us to love good; to be and to do good. The Scriptures assure us that we are the beloved sons of God. It is our birthright to live and love good. Man, constituted of divine ideas, does not include any illusions of evil, for there are none in the divine Mind, which man reflects. God knows only the glory of His own infinite good.
Mrs. Eddy says (Miscellaneous Writings, pp. 26, 27): "The Scriptures name God as good, and the Saxon term for God is also good. From this premise comes the logical conclusion that God is naturally and divinely infinite good. How, then, can this conclusion change, or be changed, to mean that good is evil, or the creator of evil? What can there be besides infinity? Nothing!"
