All too often, we confront problems that involve conflicts—within the family, in the workplace, or even within ourselves. While humanity has devised a number of mechanisms for settling disputes—such as courts and tribunals, arbitration procedures, and other mechanisms for bringing people together harmoniously—I’ve found that true peace is obtained only when a radical change takes place in the consciousness of the parties involved. As the UNESCO constitution says in its preamble, “Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.”
In other words, the way to find the true settlement of disputes is mental. But the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, takes this to the next level, not only seeing all experience as mental but calling into question all forms of materialism, which in a contrary manner always attributes all cause and effect to matter. In Mrs. Eddy’s primary work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, she states, “The real jurisdiction of the world is in Mind, controlling every effect and recognizing all causation as vested in divine Mind” (p. 379).
Mind is a synonym for God, the source of all true thoughts. So this passage attributes all cause and all effect to God. It is a reminder of a spiritual fact that constitutes the basis of the teachings of the Bible and particularly those of Christ Jesus, who demonstrated by his healing works that all power belongs to God, the Supreme Being, the creator of the universe.
