Because the faculties of spiritual sense express God, they are eternally perfect. They cannot be faulty, nor can they fail. Our true identity—spiritual man created in God's likeness—reflects His being. Therefore our faculties cannot be impaired or extinguished. Because the spiritual senses of eternal Life and infinite Spirit—God—are everlasting and substantial, our real senses are ageless and indestructible. They cognize only reality, and so judge aright that good is All-in-all.
God has revealed what spiritual faculties are. For example, Science and Health, the Christian Science textbook by Mrs. Eddy, defines "eyes" as "spiritual discernment,—not material but mental. . . ."Science and Health, p. 586. Discernment, spiritual and perfect, certainly belongs to our real nature as God's reflection. But when we feel far from this perfection—where blindness, defective vision, and confusion seem as real to us as clear seeing and keen judgment—how shall we distinguish reality from unreality and claim our genuine heritage?
We have a guideline to help us. Early in the spiritual record of creation, God decreed, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters."Gen. 1:6. Revealing the practical significance of this figurative concept, Science and Health defines "firmament" as "spiritual understanding; the scientific line of demarcation between Truth and error, between Spirit and so-called matter."Science and Health, p. 586.
