Sight is an eternal faculty of infinite Mind, God. It is not organic and transient. Man, being God's idea, is endowed with this discernment—clear, distinct, and permanent.
Sight is the all-seeing activity of divine consciousness. This faculty is included in the omniaction of God. Its range is infinite, expressing the omnipresence of Mind; its clarity reflects the brilliance of Truth; its focus manifests the unchanging precision of divine Principle; and its permanency rests on the eternality of the one Ego. Thus true sight manifests the range, clarity, focus, and eternality of the divine consciousness.
Immortal Mind is the one self-existent cause, expressing itself in man and the universe. Mind's ideas are held within divine consciousness; they can never be external to it. The nature of every idea, its substance and form, is conceived and maintained by Mind. The creator is eternally conscious of every idea, both in its outline and in every delicate detail of its identity.
Man is the highest idea of Mind. His discernment is not a separate faculty but is a manifestation of the all-seeing Mind. Man clearly perceives his source, his own identity, and his relation to his Maker.
Mind being infinite, there is no opposing power to mar true vision, no separation between Mind and its image. There can be no mist in the infinitude of Truth. The faculty of sight cannot deteriorate or be destroyed. It remains forever intact.
Mortal sense contradicts these facts. It depicts man as physically sensate, insisting that sight is a fleshly faculty, organic and temporal.
This mist, the material sense of existence, is the basic error underlying sight problems. The Christ pierces this mist with the light of Truth. In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy writes, "Science declares that Mind, not matter, sees, hears, feels, speaks."
Science and Health, p. 485;
The prophet foresaw the power of the Christ "to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house."Isa. 42:7; Christ Jesus' healing ministry fulfilled this prophecy of Isaiah. When Jesus healed the congenitally blind man he declared: "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him" and "For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see."
John 9:3, 39;
The same curative power of Christ can be demonstrated in the twentieth century. Through individual acceptance of the revelation of Christian Science, the light of Truth melts the fog of material sense and heals deficient physical sight. This sacred office of the Christ reveals the works of God: incorporeal man and his God-given ability to perceive God's creation.
A sight difficulty can be overcome with the specific truth that destroys the specific error. Fear can be dissolved by the realization that the source of man's perception is unfailing Love, for Mind and Love are one. The belief in diseased eyes can be refuted with affirmations of the unchanging perfection of being. Such difficulties are mortal mind's negations of reality. They can never affect the real faculty of sight.
The Christian Science healer turns away from material factors—from optical focus, physical light, and the viewing of matter. Healing comes through dematerialization of thought and the clear discernment of spiritual reality. It demonstrates the scientific fact that Mind— not matter—sees.
The fundamental truths of genuine sight are the infinity of Mind and the eternal oneness of Mind and its ideas. Whatever would separate thought from the spiritual ideal needs to be recognized as a false imposition and denied reality. All false evidence must be detected and negated. This correction brings human consciousness into closer unity with divine Mind, and to the dawning of reality, the demonstration of true vision.
As human thought grasps the facts of existence, it will cease to be beclouded by vague material theories. The faltering steps of blind belief in Truth will be exchanged for enlightened faith and inspired conviction.
The opacity of selfishness needs to be dissolved through a clearer apprehension of universal divine Love. The restricted view of self-centered thought needs to be replaced with the limitless perspective of unselfed love. The darkness of self-righteousness must yield before a humble recognition of the one Ego. The gross blindness of sensuality needs to be replaced by the light of pure spirituality. Human thought must become a clearer transparency for divine Truth and Love.
The belief in aging and its effects on human sight needs to be firmly denied. Human birth, development, and decline are not the true record of man. Because sight is not dependent upon physical structure, it is not subject to deterioration. Such false beliefs can be rejected. One need not let his activities become increasingly restricted. Instead, he can gain expanding views of reality, nullifying any beliefs of failing sight. Man is the expression of the unchanging Ego. He manifests the eternal newness and vigor of Life, the permanency of divine Being.
Heredity is a belief of mortal mind that needs to be strongly refuted. Man is not a mortal under a curse. As God's idea, he is eternally blessed, is not a mortal at all. The supposed law of heredity is a counterfeit of God's law and can be proved unreal. Freedom from so-called hereditary sight defects is gained by the denial of a mortal origin and the recognition of man's source as the one divine Parent, who endows His offspring with His own perfect faculties.
Accident has no place in the divine order. Perceptivity is not in transitory matter. It is in and of Spirit. Therefore it is indestructible. Man's discernment is maintained by the one eternal cause. Understanding the permanency of sight, one can demonstrate it.
Distressing memories should not be allowed to darken human consciousness. They can be erased by the realization that the real man knows only the unchanging harmony of being. And fear of the future can be replaced with the recognition that good is ever unfolding. When thought is magnifying God, it cannot at the same time be apprehensive and gloomy.
The one divine consciousness clearly perceives both the vastness and the infinitesimals of infinite creation. Only mortal mind regards objects as material and external to consciousness, and imposes limitations of nearsightedness and farsightedness on itself.
In reality, color is a quality of Soul and includes beauty and radiance. It is an aspect of character and identity. Man is spiritually sensitive, never blinded to the infinite variety of color in God's creation. And the human being's realization of these truths can overcome the belief of colorblindness.
There is no inherent or developed weakness in any element of real being, including sight. Every identity expresses the unfailing strength of Spirit. No strain or exhaustion can exist in Mind's faculties. Genuine discernment can know no fatigue and no overaction. These truths outshine belief in weak eyesight.
Mrs. Eddy states, "When a so-called material sense is lost, and Truth restores that lost sense,—on the basis that all consciousness is Mind and eternal,—the former position, that sense is organic and material, is proven erroneous."
No and Yes, p. 10;
In his Historical Sketches Clifford P. Smith wrote: "In November, 1884, when Mrs. Eddy lived in Boston, a lady called on her and said, 'I am blind . . . .' In her reply, Mrs. Eddy spoke of goodness and health as more natural than badness and disease. She also spoke of one's duty to praise God and of one's need to leave evidences material for evidences spiritual. The lady said, 'I can see a little better,' and went her way. Within a week she sent a message to Mrs. Eddy saying that her sight was perfectly restored."
Historical Sketches (Boston: The Christian Science Publishing Society, 1941), pp. 71-72.
With diligence and humility we need to exercise the divine faculty of sight. As our thought becomes spiritualized, we will discern spiritual reality more and more distinctly. We will demonstrate true sight in all its clarity, focus, and permanence. We will prove that not matter but divine Mind sees!
