TRUTH includes a perfect universe embraced in the understanding of one infinite Mind. In Truth there are no obstacles. The real man, the idea of Mind, knows no obstacles. His way is entirely spiritual. It is the way of health, harmony, purity, love. His vision encompasses the universe, not in dreams but in realities.
Christ Jesus illustrated the ideal man and his immortal life. And he also demonstrated, for us, the way to gain true manhood. He illustrated the power of the Christ, Truth, which is with us as we follow the way he showed us. Many obstacles appear, but the power of Truth removes them if we trust Truth and go forward.
Christian Science explains that the way Jesus taught is the way out of the flesh, out of the false sense of material selfhood into the realization of our spiritual identity in Truth. One can meet the need for better health, for the solution to a business problem, or for more harmony in the home— for the overcoming of any obstacle to progress—by denying the claims of material selfhood and identifying oneself as the real man.
If one is experiencing obstacles he does not overcome, he is walking in the wrong way. The first step is to recognize that his sense of being is too material. He must begin to see that material objects and material gains are without value and that spiritual ideas and spiritual attainments alone are of value. Then he can honestly turn in the direction of Truth and walk that way.
Jesus said (John 16:33), "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." The world is a state of mind. It is a belief that happiness is to be found through personal power or prestige; that hatred is necessary and that revenge is justified; that chance is a law and that therefore one need not consider the cost to others of a gain for oneself; that pride and fear are normal and that sin and disease are irresistible.
Until one turns from worldly beliefs and honestly seeks to understand and demonstrate his true selfhood, he finds no comfort in the fact that the Master overcame all of them. In "Unity of Good," Mrs. Eddy writes (p. 55): "'The way,' in the flesh, is the suffering which leads out of the flesh. 'The way,' in Spirit, is 'the way' of Life, Truth, and Love, redeeming us from the false sense of the flesh and the wounds it bears."
Whether one seems to be engulfed in the errors of materially personal sense or whether one is relatively free from these errors and devoting himself to spiritual good, a genuine desire for spiritual reality will start one on the way. One who truly desires to understand his spiritual selfhood will not complain when he experiences suffering. He will recognize the suffering as something from which he can learn, and through the suffering he will turn away gladly from the material belief that has produced it. If one's greatest desire is to attain Truth, he is grateful for anything that points him toward Truth. He is as glad to know what he must turn away from as he is to know what he must turn toward.
Because the desire for Truth is itself motivated by the divine Spirit, the obstacles that appear to obstruct the fulfillment of that desire are overcome with the power of Spirit, God. Sometimes we may complain that the way of Truth requires more effort in overcoming error than we should like to put forth. But the fact is that the way in the flesh has no support from Spirit; therefore it requires much more of the individual. It is a false way promising ease, but it gives only struggle and disappointment. The way of Truth requires a willingness to give every bit of effort, even the surrender of the human sense of life, if need be, for Truth, but it is a way of triumph. The energy that sustains us and wins for us our victories—that removes obstacles as we fearlessly approach them—is the power that parted the waters for the Israelites to cross the Red Sea, that rolled the stone away from the Master's tomb, and that is even now redeeming mankind through the revelation of Truth in Christian Science.
Sometimes we are tempted to claim our status in Truth when we are unwilling to put forth the effort required to overcome our material beliefs. It seems easier to imagine ourselves contemplating spiritual reality than to admit our errors and to overcome them so that we may walk in the way which enables us actually to see reality. But all the power of Truth opposes error and supports the honest effort to find Truth.
The result, therefore, of claiming the status of a divine idea when one is unwilling to overcome materiality is suffering in the flesh without understanding how to overcome the suffering. Imagining oneself to have already arrived, one fails to use the power of Truth which enables him to demonstrate the spiritual. Then, in place of joyous effort, supported by divine Love, one may experience seemingly unsurmountable obstacles and painful struggle.
On page 151 of Science and Health, our Leader writes: "All that really exists is the divine Mind and its idea, and in this Mind the entire being is found harmonious and eternal. The straight and narrow way is to see and acknowledge this fact, yield to this power, and follow the leadings of truth."
