Is there a more joyous feeling than that of reconciliation with a loved friend or relative from whom we have felt separated? Yet this only hints at the joy we feel as a sense of separation from our Father-Mother God is removed. A conviction of our oneness, our at-one-ment, with God, the All-in-all, brings with it the assurance of our harmony in relation to His entire creation—within ourselves, to our fellowman, and to that which we call "the environment."
Christ Jesus pointed the way of at-one-ment when he said, "I and my Father are one." John 10:30. This spiritual fact was the basis of his marvelous healing works. In referring to them he explained, "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." John 5:19. And he made it clear that this at-one-ment with God was not an exclusive relationship he alone had with God, but was the relationship we each have with God. His prayer begins, "our Father." Matt. 6:9.
In actuality no one can ever be separated from God and the health and harmony of His omnipresent love. This is because God is the creator, the governor, the infinite Principle of the universe, and man is His manifestation, not material but spiritual—at one with his divine Principle and therefore incapable of sin or sickness. The real doctrine of atonement, then, is not a mere theological abstraction but a practical necessity for demonstrating spiritual harmony and the reality of good in daily life. Whatever the need seems to be—whether for health, supply, wisdom, order, freedom, unity, comfort—the realization of our oneness with God allows us to demonstrate God's power in the human scene.
