Article August 4, 1917 Issue

Talking with God

THORWALD SIEGFRIED

Mortals will talk with God more when they are less busy talking to others or listening to themselves. The Bible plainly declares that God talks with man. It is recorded in the Revelation of St. John that upon opening the seventh seal, there was "silence in heaven about the space of half an hour." Mrs. Eddy states that "if people would confine their talk to subjects that are profitable," such silences "would happen very frequently on earth" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 339). What is true of the spoken word in this regard is also true of unspoken thoughts; if these thoughts are erroneous, they may occupy our attention and exclude angels from our consciousness, just as their audible counterparts seem to do. Mrs. Eddy has also pointed out that "if we observe our mental processes, we shall find that we are perpetually arguing with ourselves" (Unity of Good, p. 21). This mortal clatter of argument, self-justification, and fear is what hides from us the continuous and sustaining utterances of divine Truth.

Whenever one finds his moments of thought filled with the useless speculations and arguments of mortal mind, he has a perfect remedy, and one which removes mountains of error, in substituting communion with the divine Mind for the aimless whirl of counterfeit thinking. Nevertheless, as Paul points out, "he that cometh to God must believe that he is," because obviously no one will address himself to God unless he is quite certain of His presence. The experiment of making this substitution of the divine for the human brings peace as its reward, and also uncovers the reason for previous discords in our lives. Suppose the student of Christian Science is offered two similar positions for employment, in which the selection of the better one seems both a matter of consequence and of uncertainty. He may be tempted to question whether he had better take this or that, whether he had better act as though the new position would be a success or a failure, and whether there may be hidden factors rendering either or both less desirable than they seem to be. This line of thinking is far removed from spiritual assurance, and it leads to confusion; it illustrates the perpetual dialogue which mortal mind holds with itself.

Now let the perplexed one take his problem to God in prayer and note the change. Understanding that God is not a magnified human being, but is infinite Spirit, Mind, intelligence, and that therefore communion with Him must be mental and consist in knowing the truth, he alters the pattern of his thinking, and must of necessity address God in terms of affirmation, confidence, and victory. The obvious impropriety of asking the infinite Mind a question based upon doubt, forbids even the framing of such an inquiry. The seeker for help will know first that there is no separation between God and His idea, man; then, that man's real business, and his only business, is to express godlike qualities, and that what seems to be a change of occupation merely calls for a clearer perception of the eternal fact about the only business any man ever had. It finally becomes clear to him that whatever is true about the conditions before him is perfectly known to God, and that trusting one's problem entirely to this perfect Mind for solution is the best means for finding in God "a re-warder of them that diligently seek him." Here may follow the peace which comes from knowing that with every human question there lies the divine answer; and when the earnest seeker breaks forth with a grateful "Father, I thank thee," he will know by inspiration from wisdom itself just what choice to make.

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