One summer, when a friend and I were taking a vacation together, it became clear that we had completely different views and goals—so different that things she said and did hurt and annoyed me. In retrospect these differences were trivial, as I no longer even remember what they were. Yet after our vacation, negative thoughts continued to weigh on me.
Self-centeredness played a role in my feeling of annoyance. Then I read Mary Baker Eddy’s definition of “I am” in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “God; incorporeal and eternal Mind; divine Principle; the only Ego.” And on the same page, in her definition of “I, or Ego,” I found this statement: “There is but one I, or Us, but one divine Principle, or Mind, governing all existence; . . .” (p. 588).
I asked myself, Could God, the only Ego, be bruised? I had to admit that the answer was no, and that spiritual man, as His expression, could not be bruised either. From my study of Christian Science, I knew that everything in God’s creation reflects His perfection, so in truth there is always harmony between God’s children, never discord. I did my best to correct my thinking about the situation and accept only thoughts that have their source in God.
Everything in God’s creation reflects His perfection, so in truth there is always harmony between God’s children.
The anger didn’t disappear right away, but as I held to the fact that our divine Father-Mother guides and governs us, I felt a calm trust that God would show me what I needed to know.
Then a helpful question occurred to me. When people standing at a train station see the tracks converging in the distance, do they become outraged and wonder: “How could the railroad workers mess up like this? Do they think they’re being funny, welding the tracks together?” Of course not! Everyone understands that the apparent convergence of the tracks is an illusion, not reality.
This analogy gave me the spiritual insight I needed. The Bible states that God made everything very good (see Genesis 1:31). I knew that included both my friend and me. Therefore, my anger had no real source. Instead, it was an illusion, just like the seeming convergence of railroad tracks.
With that realization, the negative thoughts that had been troubling me dissolved, and I was able to let go of the anger. I thanked God that His creation is very good and that nothing else has reality. When my friend and I next met, there was no more rancor.
Sometime afterward, I was able to make use of the analogy of the train station in another situation. I ordered a plant online, but when it arrived, it had black spots on its shoots—an indication of disease. I wondered how, as an expert, the seller could send out a plant in such bad condition. I decided he must only be out to make a buck.
I felt a calm trust that God would show me what I needed to know.
Then, realizing that these and other negative thoughts I was entertaining wouldn’t be helpful, I instead began to affirm that God’s creation is harmonious, and nothing in it is discordant. I saw that the spiritual man of God’s creating—the true identity of everyone—reflects God in such qualities as integrity, diligence, fairness, accuracy, and love. And the plant, too, as an idea of divine Mind, could express only God’s qualities.
The image of the train station came to mind again. Undeceived by the illusion of the tracks meeting on the horizon, the passengers could board the train with confidence. I saw that in the same way, I could be equally undisturbed by the diseased appearance of the plant, knowing that God was caring for all my needs with perfect harmony. As the plant grew, it sprouted new, healthy leaves with no black spots.
God provides us with what we need. That is something we can rely on. I am very grateful for Mind governing all existence.
