ON page 1 of "The People's Idea of God," Mrs. Eddy writes, "The footsteps of thought, as they pass from the sensual side of existence to the reality and Soul of all things, are slow, portending a long night to the traveller; but the guardians of the gloom are the angels of His presence, that impart grandeur to the intellectual wrestling and collisions with old-time faiths, as we drift into more spiritual latitudes."
The mental journey from the material to the spiritual sense of existence involves us in a warfare with the flesh, in which spiritual ideas overcome material beliefs. One of the first discoveries we make is the effect this spiritualization of thought has upon our present experience. We find that as our thought obeys the laws of divine Mind, it is able to exercise the supremacy of this Mind over our body and our entire environment. And so when impelled by the spiritual idea, "the footsteps of thought" enable us to exchange a faulty material sense of existence for the true spiritual sense of who we are and what the purpose of our existence is.
"The sensual side of existence" is that which involves us in the belief that we live in a physical body and that the five physical senses are the media through which we are aware of ourselves and our environment. This belief makes the physical body the center of our interest and concern. It would induce us to devote ourselves to material rather than spiritual objectives, needs, and considerations.
Perhaps it was to this state of thought that Paul directed his remarks in the seventh and eighth chapters of Romans. After describing vividly the continuing warfare between the flesh and Spirit in which he found himself, he said (8:1,2): "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."
Evidently Paul was saying that those who accept and adjust themselves to spiritual realities as Christ Jesus did, share the Master's freedom from bondage to the flesh.
Anyone who seeks to understand the true meaning of the Master's life and ministry finds something stirring within him that makes him want to gain a higher sense of existence. That "something," as we learn in Christian Science, is "the law of the Spirit of life" which makes one "free from the law of sin and death." And so "the footsteps of thought" lead one onward and upward on a journey in which spiritualization takes place, and the spiritually awakened thought comes into its own, laying hold of the reality of all things.
Such thought naturally becomes aware of "the angels of His presence," mentioned by Mrs. Eddy. These angels come as intuitions leading us on and providing the strength and inspiration needed to overcome every obstacle. Then as our awakened thought acquaints us with our true spiritual identity as a child of God, we willingly wrestle with the material sense of ourselves that must be put off, and every successful encounter with worthless materialism gives us added strength to go on.
Centuries before Christ Jesus appeared among men, Jacob, an outstanding character of the Old Testament, took some spiritual footsteps that had a profound effect not only upon himself but upon those who came after him. And that influence extends to this day. It gives encouragement to those who would make the effort to conform their lives to the demands of divine Principle and so gain their spiritual freedom. In his youth Jacob cleverly deprived his brother, Esau, of the blessing that belonged to him as the firstborn son. Jacob fled from his brother's wrath, and for twenty years he worked for his uncle in a distant land, managing through cleverness to acquire a sizable estate for himself. However, the time came when a reconciliation with Esau became of primary importance to him.
In the thirty-second chapter of Genesis we are told that, as Jacob went on his way toward a meeting with his brother, "the angels of God met him." And at a crucial point in his journey, as he was about to confront Esau, Jacob had a struggle so severe and so gloriously successful that it changed his nature and merited for him the new name of Israel. This angel message came to him: "As a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." Even now, in this age, the effect of his struggle is encouraging others to seek their freedom from the claims of material sense that would enslave them.
On pages 308 and 309 of Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy gives a spiritual interpretation of Jacob's struggle. She writes: "The result of Jacob's struggle thus appeared. He had conquered material error with the understanding of Spirit and of spiritual power. This changed the man." Referring to the change of name, Mrs. Eddy continues, "He was to become the father of those, who through earnest striving followed his demonstration of the power of Spirit over the material senses; and the children of earth who followed his example were to be called the children of Israel, until the Messiah should rename them."
It is as natural for thought to turn from matter to Spirit as it is for flowers to turn to the light. Then the redemptive influence of Christ, the spiritual idea, heals thought, resurrects it, and restores it to Spirit, its divine source. The process is similar to rousing thought from a mesmerically induced sleep, the difference being that this spiritual awakening is a progressive one and does not come without a struggle. Until it is spiritualized, human thought has a tendency to stay where it is in a state of inertia. But the ever-present Christ, Truth, patiently enfolds this thought and imparts the spiritual animus that frees it from its enslavement and enables it to demonstrate its spiritual status.
