Much attention has been paid lately in the media to the problems of high-achieving young individuals who become obsessed, sometimes dangerously so, with losing weight. How can Christian Science come to the rescue in such situations? In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy's words alert us to an answer: "The recipe for beauty is to have less illusion and more Soul, to retreat from the belief of pain or pleasure in the body into the unchanging calm and glorious freedom of spiritual harmony." Science and Health, pp. 247-248.
The physical senses really can tell us nothing about God's man—who is the man we need to find out about as our own true selfhood! Paul tells us, "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." II Cor. 5:8.
Man is not in a fluctuating, physical body. Man's identity and form are spiritual, the embodiment of right ideas— complete, consistent, and harmonious. Man forever reflects Life, Truth, Love, Principle, Spirit, Mind, Soul, in quality, not quantity. These synonyms for God are expressed spiritually and can never be limited by or confined in matter. Science and Health states: "Absorbed in material selfhood we discern and reflect but faintly the substance of Life or Mind. The denial of material selfhood aids the discernment of man's spiritual and eternal individuality, and destroys the erroneous knowledge gained from matter or through what are termed the material senses." Science and Health, p. 91.
