Have you ever been so inspired that you felt as though you were walking on air? Or, contrariwise, have you ever allowed your thought to become so heavy with sadness or guilt that your steps dragged as though you weighed a ton? The nature of our thoughts may determine the degree to which we believe ourselves to be earthbound. Gravitation, like all physical forces, is essentially a mental phenomenon. This is the message of Christian Science.
Isaac Newton, it is said, first thought of gravity as a universal attractive force when he observed an apple fall from a tree in his garden. Since Newton's discovery, advancements in aeronautics and astronautics have enabled mankind to overcome, to some extent, the limits imposed by the earth's gravitational pull. Yet many centuries before gravity was ever thought of as a physical force, its limiting and destructive effects were being reversed. The Bible records several instances where the physical force of gravity and its effects have been negated by uplifted, God-inspired thought.
For example, when one of the "sons of the prophets" who followed Elisha accidentally dropped a borrowed axhead into the Jordan River, Elisha recovered the axhead by casting a stick into the water "and the iron did swim."II Kings 6:6; Jesus also defied the so-called law of gravity when he walked on the turbulent waters of the Sea of Galilee to go to his disciples (see Matt. 14:24, 25). And Paul overcame the effects of gravity by healing a young man named Eutychus of an apparently fatal fall from a third-story window (see Acts 20:9-12). In each of these instances, the effects of the unintelligent, merciless so-called law of matter, now known as gravity, were negated by deep faith or an understanding of the higher, spiritual laws of Life and Love. Spirit, not matter, is the only lawgiver. What may appear to be miraculous to matter-based thinking becomes normal and natural when one understands the all-encompassing harmonious law of God.
