The Psalmist sang unto the Lord, "Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes" (Ps. 119:68). The understanding of good gives us an awareness of the divine statutes. On page 587 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy defines "good" as, "God; Spirit; omnipotence; omniscience; omnipresence; omniaction." Good, being God, Spirit, is also Mind, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love. Good, God, is the only cause, the All-in-all, the infinite, the only reality.
Since good is omnipotence, the power of good is the only power. The knowledge of good is the only knowledge, since good is omniscience. In "Miscellaneous Writings," Mrs. Eddy says (p. 208), "God is All, and by virtue of this nature and allness He is cognizant only of good." Then man, the reflection of God, is cognizant only of good.
Since good is Mind, good is intelligent. When something erroneous appears to demand acceptance, let us ask ourselves, "Can this be good and intelligent?" Since it is not, it is not real. Are we heavy-laden? Then let us question, "Is this burden real?" If it could be good, it would be spiritual and real and would exist forever. Since it is not good, it is unreal, without true existence, and is only aggressive mental suggestion, or a lie.
Christ Jesus understood good. He said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). The understanding of good as Spirit gives us rest from materiality. The activity of good, ever operative in human consciousness, is the Christ, the power of God, which frees mankind from beliefs of life in matter. We find rest not in inactivity but in the activity of good.
Good is Life, Truth, Love. Then the only true living is good, and the only true being is good. The only real loving is pure, perfect good. Does life seem to be confused, unhappy? Does love appear to elude us and truth to be variable? Then let us ask ourselves, "Can this be according to the statutes of God, good?" If not, then it is unreal, untrue.
Do the good things of human living, such as supply, health, companionship, seem limited or perhaps absent? If so, let us recognize that good is not something for us to look forward to in expectation of greater blessings than are already at hand or to look back to with nostalgic longing for the "good old days." Good, all good, is here and now, for good is omnipresence. In the words of Hymn No. 238 in the Christian Science Hymnal,
For all of good the past hath had
Remains to make our own time glad.
As we reflect the qualities of Soul, such as clarity, purity, beauty, we express the spiritual evidence of good, the true nature of God. Is that which presents itself as disturbance or discord the nature of God? No. Then it is not real, for it is not the evidence of Soul. Spiritual evidence is the only real evidence, unfolding according to the statutes of good. Inharmony is only a claim of life in matter and so is unreal.
We must refuse to consent to that which is not good. Material sense does not behold good; for matter does not see Spirit, nor does Spirit see matter. Through spiritual sense only can we behold and demonstrate omniactive good as all.
Mrs. Eddy says in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 101): "If God is All, and God is good, it follows that all must be good; and no other power, law, or intelligence can exist. On this proof rest premise and conclusion in Science, and the facts that disprove the evidence of the senses." Such evidence is unknown to Spirit. Then it is unknown to Spirit's reflection, man.
A Christian Scientist was caught in a severe snowstorm. As she drove along, the beliefs of obstruction and accident which appeared to surround her seemed very real. She became fearful and physically ill. Then she turned her thought to the allness of God, good, and declared good to be the only reality.
As she looked out at the storm, she thought, "The point is, it isn't real." That was the end of the fear and of the physical discord. The healing was instantaneous, and has proved to be permanent, even though many hours of driving through the storm followed.
Jesus taught and practiced from the standpoint of the allness of God, good. We follow Jesus' teachings by holding thought steadfastly to good and accepting only good as our Mind, and this purifies human consciousness. Spiritualization of thought lets in the light of understanding, which uncovers and destroys sin in human consciousness. This spiritualization accepts good as the only reality and rejects evil as unreal.
The prophet declared (Isa. 52:7), "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" Good reigns and is All. There is no other reality. We understand and demonstrate the divine statutes as we accept the allness of good as revealed in Christian Science.
