Everywhere you look, all of creation is individual, distinct, with a specific identity and purpose. This alone gives one much food for thought and much to demonstrate in our own lives. This individuality comes from what Christian Science calls the divine Mind—the source of all creation, which consists of God’s spiritual ideas. Since Mind is individual—one God—it is fascinating to realize that Mind, and Mind alone, knows all there is to know about every individuality. Everything spiritual is individual, and individuality is God’s way of expressing His infinite uniqueness. Each idea has a specific, God-directed, God-inspired, God-empowered purpose and reason for being—a specific design, outline, form, color. To create, maintain, and preserve individuality is the prerogative and domain of divine Mind. Each of us, as God’s image, is complete and expresses individuality in the highest sense of the word.
As the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, writes: “The one Ego, the one Mind or Spirit called God, is infinite individuality, which supplies all form and comeliness and which reflects reality and divinity in individual spiritual man and things” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 281).
I was impelled to explore the topic of individuality during a dark time in my life. Near the end of graduate studies, I was confronted with a series of what seemed like insurmountable problems. I needed to understand who I was, what my purpose in life was, and where I belonged. It was a low point for me. When I look back, I see myself seldom laughing, although I managed to pursue my work and few people outside the family knew what I was dealing with. I even remember feeling as if I were looking at a different person in the mirror. That wasn’t me, I thought. But who was I? It took time to find a way out of this helplessness.
