Will looking through the material senses show us how to deal effectively with the social, economic, and political crises facing the world? Probably not. Can the nature of infinite Spirit, God, be discerned from examining finite matter in any of its forms? Definitely not. Since humanity's problems arise from a lack of comprehension of the real nature of man and the universe, solutions must lie in gaining spiritual understanding. Along these lines, Mrs. Eddy writes, "This understanding is not intellectual, is not the result of scholarly attainments; it is the reality of all things brought to light." Science and Health, p. 505.
What are the facts that, when grasped, rightly direct our course of action and truly help solve world problems? A leading one is that man is the child of God. And man's intelligence and life, his substance and health, are exclusively subject to the divine Mind, not to matter or materially-minded methods. We cannot allow the glamorous publicity surrounding the activities of physical scientists to blind us to these basic truths. It is only within the mass of superstitions—suppositions, if you will—about man's being mortal and material that any human difficulty can seem to exist.
We are called upon individually to cultivate spiritual sense. This enables us to love God and our neighbor. When Jesus was asked what should be considered the great commandment in the law, he replied decisively, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." And he also said, "The second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Matt. 22:37,39. It should be noted that these are commandments, not just good advice. Then it follows that the truly scientific way to live effectively is to continue in obedience to these commands, to understand more of God and of man as His expression; to have the Mind that Christ Jesus so perfectly demonstrated.
