From a human standpoint man's condition frequently seems to change— from joy to sorrow, from strength to weakness, from contentment to frustration. For many, health or well-being appears to be in a state of flux, and much effort is expended in an attempt to recapture and stabilize this highly desirable quality. Until health is recognized to be not a bodily condition but a God-bestowed and God-maintained essential element of man's being, its precariousness will continue.
How heartening, then, is the teaching of Christian Science that health is independent of matter—that matter can neither confer it nor be held responsible for its loss, since it is wholly spiritual and thus a permanent quality of man's true selfhood as the reflection of God. As Mrs. Eddy writes, "Health is not a condition of matter, but of Mind ...."
Science and Health, p. 1 20 . God's condition would have to change before it would be possible for His reflection to manifest an ungodlike quality such as infirmity or disease.
Although the unalterable nature of God is generally acknowledged, many tend to expect man to undergo frequent changes and might even be incredulous if told that this is not so. In Psalms we read: "Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast."
Ps. 33:8, 9 .
