Article August 23, 1919 Issue

The Divine Reflection Intact

FLORENCE RALSTON WERUM

A party of young people, attending an amusement park near the seashore, went into a large room lined with mirrors, foreshortened and arranged in such fashion that the reflections were grotesque representations of the persons in the room. Although the humor of the situation appealed to all, and nearly every one laughed heartily and then dismissed the incident without further consideration, to one person, at least, the incident presented an opportunity for deeper thought.

Mrs. Eddy has used, as an apt illustration of man's reflection of Mind, the simile of the mirror and the reflection, thus helping to convey to human thought a more vivid realization of what the true man's identity is in manifesting the image and likeness of his creator. The following conjecture occurred to the student of Christian Science: Suppose previous to the summer day outing, she had never seen her mirrored reflection, but for the first time beheld it as imaged forth in the falsely testifying and distorting mirrors, and furthermore that she believed implicitly in the evidence not only of what she saw reflected as the likeness of herself but also in the confirming assent of the person accompanying her, who had stood looking over her shoulder into the mirror. In addition, if both she and her companion were to become so absorbed in the contemplation of the distorted reflection that they did not turn to see each other's real appearance and thus be enabled to give the lie to the mirrored testimony, and if they were to continue to believe in the infallibility of the false appearance and to concentrate their faith and attention on it, would there ever be much hope of a truer conception? Certainly not; unless the lie were to be uncovered about the mirror, and the facts relative to laws of balance, foreshortening, optical deceptions and illusions explained, and finally a mirror constructed according to true law, and a correct reflection thus obtained.

The Scientist carried the analogy further and thought how like this was the so-called human man, who beholds himself in the mirrors of mortal mind, and sees himself subject to sin, disease, death, and the hosts of incongruities and inharmonies of character and modes of mortal thought. He stands mesmerized, interested and absorbed in gazing at the false concept of himself and his fellow men. Then comes the quiet, gentle, authoritative voice of Truth calling to break the spell and presenting the true mirror, divine Science, from whence only can man obtain a perfect reflection and representation of himself in his true nature. On page 259 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy states, "In divine Science, man is the true image of God."

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