Leaving the pool after a Saturday morning swim got me thinking about weight. People of all shapes and sizes had enjoyed a swim that morning. Some looked, according to society’s standards, very trim and athletic, while others might be considered heavy. I caught myself in the process of this material evaluation and suddenly realized that an idea is weightless.
Christian Science teaches that we are the spiritual ideas of God, and it is in reflecting the qualities of God that we see what we are and what we can do. We can set aside whatever bearing society may tell us our bodies have on our identity, positive or negative. As St. Paul wrote in his letter to the Hebrews, “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (12:1).
Weight manifests itself in many ways: body dimensions, heavy thoughts, burdens, despair, fear of illness, concern about perceived dangers, and so on. In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, Christ is described spiritually as “the divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error” (p. 583). For me, listening to the Christ through prayer is like having a personal angel committee giving me guidance in the form of right ideas. These right ideas have led me to demonstrate Life through wholesome activity and freedom, rather than getting caught up in calorie counting, obsessing over exercise, and discussing body issues. I’m learning more that movement doesn’t originate in muscles, nor is it subject to the limitations of matter.
