Life is made up of them. In so many ways we're all engaged in different kinds of departures. Perhaps you envision yourself scurrying down Concourse B to Gate 11, a quick ticket check, boarding the plane. Maybe your first thought was simply the act of leaving for work this morning or striking out on a different route to the office or maybe digressing from your usual lunch by slipping into a Japanese restaurant for tempura.
While the term may have a scattering of meanings for different people, it can have specific and vital meaning for the Christian metaphysician—especially one who ponders the way Mrs. Eddy uses her words. For some, two concepts may emerge strongly. One, the vital need to continue pressing for departure from a mortal sense of existence. The other, the great importance of defense against a basic mortal temptation to depart from divine Science.
A firm grasp of these two concepts is essential to the practice of healing as Christ Jesus taught it. "Like our Master, we must depart from material sense into the spiritual sense of being," Science and Health, p. 41. insists our Leader, Mrs. Eddy. She further describes this exit: "Every step towards goodness is a departure from materiality, and is a tendency towards God, Spirit." Ibid., p. 213.
