Understanding the control which Love held over all, Daniel felt safe in the lions' den, and Paul proved the viper to be harmless. All of God's creatures, moving in the harmony of Science, are harmless, useful, indestructible.
—Mary Baker Eddy
FOR THOSE WHO FEAR, in these challenging times, that members of the animal kingdom might pose a threat to the health of human beings, this remarkable declaration of divine law from Science and Health Science and Health, p. 514 . assures us that every one of God's creatures is harmless and useful. And for those who fear equally for the well-being of animals, the statement assures us that they're all—every one of them—indestructible.
The forever rule of infinite, all-embracing Love—the divine Love that creates, cherishes, protects, and controls every least and greatest thing in creation—is that nothing in creation can ever harm, or be made to harm, another; and that nothing in creation can ever be harmed. How is this possible? Because Love's creation—the only creation—is not material and imperfect. It is spiritual and wholly good, without a particle of evil or evil influence. And Love's unifying law, divine Science, or the Holy Ghost, operates throughout all space to maintain the harmony and cohesiveness of being—to maintain infinity as an indivisible whole, thus "forbidding" any possibility of opposing, conflicting forces, of one component of creation at odds with, or able to victimize, another. Because of this law, this joyous, harmless reality can be discerned by spiritual sense and demonstrated step by step, here and now, as Daniel and Paul demonstrated it.
Many years ago, only one day after I glimpsed the truth that divine Love structures the universe and sustains its oneness, I had an opportunity to prove this fact. I had a big, powerful dog at the time, and as I was asking him to give me something he had in his mouth, he decided to get a better grip on it, and inadvertently bit through my thumb—penetrating the nail and ripping part of the finger. In spite of the shock and pain, I was able to see immediately that the enemy wasn't my beloved dog, but the carnal mind, presenting an inverted view of creation as material and outside of Love's control, complete with opposing forces and conflicting wills—a belief that was just the opposite of the pure vision I'd had the day before.
My love for my dog was so unconditional that there wasn't a shred of anger or condemnation in my heart to separate us. I was able to insist immediately on the truth that because of Love's unsuspended unifying action, this "event" had never, in reality, happened; and I also had the immediate and tender support of a dedicated Christian Science practitioner. My finger was completely healed within about a week, and there were never any scars or malformations of any kind.
"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb"
As a global community, it is clear that we all need to progress in understanding "the control which Love [holds] over all," and glimpse the demonstrable harmlessness of creation, because humanity is faced with a very different picture of the human/creature relationship. For one thing, the media has lately increased its coverage of diseases affecting human beings that are said either to have originated with animals or to be transmitted by them. There's SARS, mad cow disease, West Nile virus, canine flu, AIDS, and of course, bird or avian flu, which is causing intense worldwide concern at the moment. And there are many other, somewhat less-publicized, problems involving our relationship with the animal kingdom—from concerns about wild animals invading "human space" because of decreasing habitat to infestations of creatures carried by intercontinental trade to foreign shores.
Yet perhaps animal cruelty is the aspect of the human/creature relationship that most needs to be addressed at the moment, because it is so directly linked to the health problems currently confronting humanity—in particular, the fear of birds and bird flu. Of course, most of us aren't directly involved in the abuse or exploitation of animals, but all of us are touched by this evil in some way, and there is no safety in being either ignorant or tolerant of evil, or indifferent to its impositions.
After all, if the animals in our world are being habitually harmed by human beings, how can human beings rise to the spiritual understanding that they cannot be harmed by the animals—or be afraid of them? How will we demonstrate what is possible on earth—the innocence, love, and mutual blessing that characterize every relationship in spiritual creation—or glimpse the extraordinary reality of Isaiah's prophesied ideal, which states, in part, "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them"? Isa. 11:6. And not least of all, without a consciousness imbued with a more universal affection that embraces not only human beings, but animals as well, how will we feel our link to the universal and impartial Love that created these creatures, which is the same Love that heals the sick?
The symphony of creation
The truth is that the good of the most infinitesimal of Love's precious ideas is inseparable from the universal good, because there is only one Mind, or Ego, and one infinite reflection of that Mind. In a symphony, every loudest or softest note, passage, or instrument is essential to the beauty, harmony, and effectiveness of the whole. The symphony of creation is one eternal symphony. Nothing in it is too minuscule to matter, nothing is expendable, nothing can be removed without damaging the whole.
Of course, millions live their lives consistent with the proverb, "A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast." Prov. 12:10. And the world is blessed with countless numbers of people who selflessly devote themselves to the welfare and rights of animals, working tirelessly to raise awareness of their problems and improve conditions for them.
But if the perfect harmlessness of creation is to be understood and progressively demonstrated, if creature and human being are not to victimize one another, the overall problem of animal abuse needs to be addressed not simply from a humanistic standpoint—dealing with the world's evils from the standpoint of their reality—but from the Christianly scientific standpoint that Christ Jesus taught and demonstrated—that of the nothingness of matter and evil, and the allness of Spirit and good. Humanism, in which good is believed to originate in and operate through the human mind, can ameliorate and sometimes prevent suffering for a time. But it is divine Science—the energy and action of the immortal divine Mind—that destroys the belief of mind and life in matter, a belief that makes both man and beast vulnerable to evil. And the destruction of this belief heals both sin and the suffering it brings.
The one relationship
The concept of a harmful creation begins with a denial of oneness—a denial of the unity of good that is the effect of one Mind, one reflection of that Mind, and one divine government. This denial of unity is summed up in the second chapter of Genesis, in which everything is portrayed as created materially—with every created thing having its own personal mind, life, and soul, or identity. This error of "separateness" bases all false reasoning about creation, all limitation, and all conflict. Callousness, willfulness, greed, vanity, cruelty, ignorance, and self-righteousness are only some of the states of mortal thought that spring from this inverted, limited view of love and intelligence.
The true account of creation is found in the first chapter of Genesis, in which the divine Mind creates all—including His creatures—through the law of divine Spirit, the Holy Ghost; and all are original, innocent, spiritual ideas emanating from, living in, and controlled eternally by that Mind.
Science and Health explains: "All things are created spiritually. Mind, not matter, is the creator." Science and Health, p. 256. Also, "God is the Life, or intelligence, which forms and preserves the individuality and identity of animals as well as of men." Ibid., p. 550. And not only does the one, all-good Mind form and preserve all individualities; but that same loving Mind forms and preserves all relationships, because all individuals are directly linked by spiritual law only to God, and are, by that same law, linked by God to one another.
Therefore, under the government of one Principle, there cannot be a harmful relationship or influence in creation, and this fact is practical, enabling us to live above the distorted view of relationships projected by the material senses. On the basis of this truth, a woman I know was healed overnight of a very severe allergy to cats after 30 years of suffering. The same law handles contagion.
Love's control over all
Mary Baker Eddy explained, "Mind is the Soul of all." Ibid., p. 508. But this fact—that creatures have the same Mind and Soul, literally the same Ego, that we have—doesn't elevate the creature to the level of man, which would disarrange the ascending order of creation. It simply means that, through their own oneness with our common Parent, divine Love, creatures reflect the attributes, qualities, faculties, and functions of being in their own unique ways.
Who among us hasn't been amazed at creatures' resourcefulness, wisdom, intelligence, intuition, foresight, grace, gentleness, joy, unconditional love, childlike trust, breathtaking beauty, sense of direction, architectural skills? At their superb sight, hearing, olfactory sense, speed, strength, and stamina? Who hasn't marveled at the communication skills, for example, of porpoises, elephants, gorillas, or bees? And what student of Christian Science wouldn't want to be freer, as creatures are, of the beliefs of mortal mind—freer of resentment, anger, destructive criticism; freer of concern for self, of analyzing what we are instead of being what we are, of worrying about success, possessions, the future, one's age, or impressing others?
Perhaps the most thought-provoking effect of this freedom is that creatures are "less sickly"—express more consistently good health—than human beings because "... health attends the absence of mortal mind." Ibid., pp. 554–555
True, the highest ideas, God's sons and daughters, were accorded dominion over the whole earth, "over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." Gen. 1:28. But what is dominion in relation to creatures? If we were to misinterpret the ascending order of creation as a hierarchy, with "greater" and "lesser" meaning inferior and superior, dominion would imply domination—the carnal mind's perversion of dominion, or control—with one animal mind attempting to subdue and control another through will power. Under such an interpretation, animals could be seen as personal property, or even as slaves. The natural link between human being and creature would be hidden, and we would gain little by our relationship with them. Conflict would be unavoidable.
Real dominion, on the other hand, isn't personal control, but the reflection of Love's control over all. And our ability to exercise this control derives from that which man alone possesses as the highest idea of Mind: a total consciousness of creation. Each of us consciously individualizes all that God is and knows—and loves. And this is the kingdom of God within us, as Jesus taught. As "the one Spirit includes all identities," Science and Health, p. 333. so man, "... the compound idea of God, including all right ideas," Ibid., p. 475. reflects all-inclusive Spirit.
Discerning the substance of our own real identity as the consciousness of "all right ideas," we realize that love for these precious ideas is literally love for ourselves—and vice versa. And it becomes clear that our relationship to them is divinely ordained to be one of guardianship, benevolent oversight, and protection.
As divine Love required Noah to build an ark that would include all, one might say that Love requires us to see our real consciousness as an "ark," in which all ideas find love, care, and safety.
As divine Love required Noah to build an ark that would include all, one might say that Love requires us to see our real consciousness as an "ark," in which all ideas find love, care, and safety; the place in which we "keep" and embrace Love's ideas. The truth of inclusion affords us the privilege of bearing witness to each creature's spiritual individuality, its own saving unity with Love, where creatures experience the dignity, joy, health, and peace of all Spirit's offspring. In a statement that points to our stewardship of the lesser ideas, Science and Health says, "God gives the lesser idea of Himself for a link to the greater, and in return, the higher always protects the lower." Ibid., p. 518.
Referring to Isaiah's prophesied "millennial estate," Mary Baker Eddy wrote, "The individuality created by God is not carnivorous ...." Ibid., p. 514. The demonstration of this fact, as illustrated by Isaiah's ideal, seems far away. Yet in truth, it is as close as our own individual willingness to lay down the carnal mentality, with its predatory proclivities and practices, that constitutes the carnivorous nature; and let Christ—the reality of each one's harmless spiritual identity in the likeness of Love—be revealed. In the ark of our own purified consciousness, we will truly see for ourselves that "All of God's creatures, moving in the harmony of Science, are harmless, useful, indestructible."
