It's in the news. On magazine covers. In ads. Science tries to unlock its mysteries. And even casual conversation seems, inevitably, to pay it at least passing attention. But whether we're glorifying the body, studying it, or just trying to deal with it, we always seem to be one step away from making it what most people seem to want it to be: healthier, fitter, more beautiful.
But what if we looked at the body from a completely different basis? After all, God is Spirit. God, as Spirit, conceived of all creation. So each of us, as an idea of Spirit, must be spiritual. Spirit is also Life. And because Life is God, it couldn't be in matter. So what we seem to see with the five physical senses isn't the real story. Where does that leave the whole concept of the body?
Not in matter, according to Mary Baker Eddy. In answer to the question "What is man?" she wrote: "Man is idea, the image, of Love; he is not physique. He is the compound idea of God, including all right ideas." Science and Health, p. 475. In other words, what truly constitutes each one of us, our "body," so to speak, is an aggregate of ideas—consciousness.
