What is thy birthright, man,
Child of the perfect One;
What is thy Father's plan
For His beloved son?
Thou art Truth's honest child,
Of pure and sinless heart;
Thou treadest undefiled
In Christly paths apart.
These words from Hymn No. 382 of the Christian Science Hymnal describe to me man's real identity. I know now that God is my Father and Mother, that I am never apart from His oneness, and that my spiritual being is pure, undefiled, and wholly innocent. I did not always have such a clear conviction about who I am, however, because from early childhood through my late teens, I was involved in an incestuous relationship with my father. I pleaded with my dad for years to stop molesting me. He always said OK—but never stopped. My mother was not aware of the situation.
