One morning, a few years ago, while I was reading Mary Baker Eddy’s book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, this truth stood out: “Mind’s control over the universe, including man, is no longer an open question, but is demonstrable Science” (p. 171). I then left the house to drive my adult son to work. It was dark and stormy, and visibility for driving was not good.
Like a bit of dust in the atmosphere, this suggestion floated into thought: “There might be an accident, but it doesn’t matter; you won’t be missed!” Then I felt a very sharp pain in my chest. I firmly but silently declared, “No! God is my Life.” This all happened in seconds.
However, there was no accident, the pain left as quickly as it had appeared, and I delivered my son safely to work. I have since seen how selfish and self-centered are suicidal-type suggestions. After all, there were other road users, and my son was in the car with me.
When I returned home, I pondered again the truth that had stood out from Science and Health about Mind’s control. To me, this statement is a spiritual law that opens the door to feeling more at one with God, the true source of control. It answers every query with spiritual solutions, fills voids, enables us to practice and prove what we are learning of God and man through the study of Christian Science.
This truth of Mind’s control helped me address many unanswered questions at that time related to some changes in my personal life. Among them were: Where will I live? Who am I? What is my work? Where will financial supply come from? Do I want to live, and, if so, why?
The aggressive suggestion that I might not want to live forced me to establish more firmly than ever before the reason for living. Of course there were my family, church, and friends, but also, Science and Health points out that “Jesus … never prayed to know if God were willing that a man should live” (p. 369). I also loved the idea that I was “able to impart truth, health, and happiness, and this is my rock of salvation and my reason for existing” (Mary Baker Eddy, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 165).
I had experienced many healings throughout my life, and my own children had been healed also. Plus, our family had relied for decades on divine Mind, God, as our Physician and Guide. Was God going to let me down now with these new challenges? I thought not.
Another truth in Science and Health states clearly, “Fear never stopped being and its action” (p. 151). And it encourages us with: “When outgrowing the old, you should not fear to put on the new” (p. 452).
The reality is that God gives us our identity and our work, which is to glorify Him and to be about His business.
Instead of feeling afraid of all the changes coming up, I was actually beginning to enjoy the adventure of looking for a new house, discovering a more permanent sense of supply, and uncovering new aspects of my identity.
I began to think of the qualities I would like to see in a home and neighborhood. I discovered like-minded neighbors and one who had known my parents decades ago in my hometown 50 miles away. How could I have planned that? A financial arrangement evolved, but I still try to remember where my real source of supply is—with a rich heavenly Father. If one channel seems to dry up, another opens.
To find work, I began to advertise things I felt I could do. I had never had a job outside the home and had been a full-time mum of four children with a house full of animals. Some dog-walking work took me out into the community, where I met new people and found new places of interest.
Church provided new work opportunities, too. I began to accompany a choir and immediately made 21 new friends in the choir. But my heart was really in sharing the truth that had blessed me so much, and I had some opportunities to do this also. One of our sons moved nearer by, and grandchildren came on the scene.
The mortal view of things would claim that our supply, our home, our work are all connected with a limited sense of place and people, even that our identity depends on someone else for worth. But I’ve found that people, places, and things never give us our identity.
The reality is that God gives us our identity and our work, which is to glorify Him and to be about His business. Our identity is found in our sonship and oneness with Him, with all that is good. Mind is leading each one in God’s universe to the right place, position, and purpose. This can be found here and now.
Was I always able to maintain this attitude of being under Mind’s control? No, and there were tears sometimes, but I knew that if I strayed, I always had this promise to return to—that this control could and would be demonstrated.
In Mind, there is no darkness, no unanswered question, and no lack. When we sincerely desire to feel more unity with Mind, human will and personal control, selfish and limited desires drop away. The result is a life that is more willing to lean on God as a firm foundation. In the light of divine Mind’s control, we can see man included in this light and reflecting this control and government. There are answers to every question. We may not have realized them all yet, but we can begin by letting go of preconceptions and being willing to accept new and improved ways of thinking.
God is universal. He loves all His creation, and what is true for one is true for all. Gratitude that Love is in charge of every thought, motive, and action opens us up to feel Mind’s presence and gives us the willingness to obey Love’s guidance. Our existence, purpose, place, and work are not dependent on moods, or on persons, places, and things. Our identity and self-worth are defined by an infinitely loving Creator, divine Mind, who is Love and Truth.
We live because God lives, and He is the only Life there is. Everything about God’s man is rooted and grounded in the Father-Mother’s tender care and direction. We live in the kingdom of heaven, under the shadow of the Almighty, under Her sheltering wing.
This is true for us all right now, and always will be. We can rejoice in the fact of there being one omnipotent, infinite wisdom, God, who governs rightly every activity, and who maintains and preserves Her creation intact. Her child is ever at one with that Mind, always hand in hand with Love’s intelligent direction.
