In considering the concept of “forever,” I like to think about when the ancient astronomer Ptolemy looked to the sky and tried to imagine how the universe worked. He started from the false premise that the Earth was stationary and that the sun, planets, and stars all moved around it. From a human point of view, this seemed pretty logical, and he created a model of the universe based on this supposition that could account for the astronomical movements he observed. This model was scientifically accepted as truth—for centuries! It was understood as how the universe had always moved and would move forevermore.
So, during this time were the sun and planets actually moving around the Earth according to Ptolemy’s model? Of course not. He had created an interpretation of reality that was logical to human sense, yet was completely wrong.
I often remember this lesson when I think about metaphysics and the power of God in our daily lives. Whatever mortal mind sees as reality, from the supposed basis of matter as omnipotent, is not forever. It is a lie—no matter how much it seems to be true. Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science, states that matter is “sometimes beautiful, always erroneous” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 277). Whatever argues that matter is somehow all-powerful or that man is not God’s eternally perfect reflection has no merit—regardless of how logical it might seem to be from a material perspective. We simply need a more enlightened understanding to realize it.
