The algorithm of Spirit

Calculations! From the moment we wake up in the morning until we put our head on our pillow at night, we are often either making calculations or contending with calculations being made for us. Our own calculations might be about time management, financial responsibilities, or relationship commitments. Computer calculations based on algorithms might encourage us to buy something or attempt to influence us in more significant decision-making. No matter how well all of these calculations are managed, they are generally based on a finite, three-dimensional, material premise and therefore are limiting, sometimes even overwhelming.

But what if the concept of calculating what needs to be known or done is lifted out of a finite, material realm and into the infinite possibilities of Spirit, God? That’s where the algorithm of Spirit comes in. One definition of algorithm is “a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations” (lexico.com). For me, this brings to mind a statement from the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science, offering a concise and complete rule for problem-solving: “God’s law is in three words, ‘I am All;’ and this perfect law is ever present to rebuke any claim of another law” (No and Yes, p. 30). Brilliant!

“I am All” establishes God, good, as the Principle and the baseline from which all being must proceed. It is a divine law that includes all of creation in the perfection and goodness of God’s nature—and excludes anything ungodlike.