As a Christian Science chaplain serving the needs of men and women in the armed services, I would frequently have someone ask me, “How can I be a better Christian?” This question points to that wonderful element in human nature—the desire to be better, to live a more productive and meaningful life. A Christian Scientist might phrase the question this way: “How can I be a better healer, or more responsive to the needs of others for healing?” An answer to these questions can come in part from understanding how God, Truth, works in our human experience.
In the Bible, Psalm 119 says: “Thy law is the truth” (verse 142). But what kind of law is Truth in the eyes of a Christian Scientist, who sees Truth as another name for God? Certainly not a human law that can change and even be unjust. Divine law is God in action, so law is divine Love in action and is all-powerful. The law of God, which is Truth expressed, is both corrective and restorative.
Not long ago I began to explore the understanding of Truth more deeply. I discovered how connected Truth is to all the other names for God, especially Love. This insight came to me when I spent one month reading a little each day from a biography of Mary Baker Eddy. This reading and pondering gave me a deep appreciation for her heartfelt search for Truth, God. She describes the search this way: “The search was sweet, calm, and buoyant with hope, not selfish nor depressing” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 109). She goes on to say in the same paragraph: “The revelation of Truth in the understanding came to me gradually and apparently through divine power.”
