Article February 29, 2016 Issue

What does it mean to be an idea of God?

Deborah Huebsch

A number of years ago, when I was quite new in the public practice of Christian Science healing, I suddenly lost all inspiration. It was very disconcerting, as I was used to having a steady flow of fresh, uplifting ideas every day. Weeks went by. Still no inspiration. I prayed, I studied. Nothing.

Somewhat frantically I remember thinking: “What happened to it? How can I get it back?” That was when a very helpful quote from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy came to thought. Part of her answer to the question “What is man?” is “Man is idea, the image, of Love; … He is the compound idea of God, including all right ideas; …” (p. 475). Here she is referring to the spiritual man, the God-created man, not the mortal or human concept of man.

Suddenly I realized that because, in reality I was created by God, I therefore was a compound idea of God. As such, I already included “all right ideas.” Some examples of right ideas might be health, supply, intelligence, intuition, discernment, and, yes, even inspiration. It became clear that I didn’t have to “get” inspiration because I already had it as part of my spiritual makeup. Recognizing that fact was all I needed. I was flooded with a Christly sense of wonderful, joyous, uplifting inspiration. And I can honestly say that in the intervening decades since this experience, a feeling of inspiration has always been close at hand.

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