Article November 13, 1920 Issue

Dominion

SARAH WOODALL

In thinking over what it really means to have dominion over the body, it seemed helpful to me to analyze what it is that has dominion and what it has dominion over. The material body is the expression of mortal mind and, as such, can only be expected to express the qualities of mortal mind. As matter it is, of course, nothing but a counterfeit of the reality, and it is comparatively easy to see how great an influence mortal mind has over the body when it is seen that expressions of hate and anger, which are mental, can affect the body in the way they do. It is only logical to assume that other mental conditions, though not perhaps so pronounced, such as fear or anxiety, equally affect the material body; and Christian Science teaches that inasmuch as the cause of all discord is mental, so the cure for all discord must also be mental.

In "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 16), Mrs. Eddy says, "But, as one grows into the manhood or womanhood of Christianity, one finds so much lacking, and so very much requisite to become wholly Christlike, that one saith: The Principle of Christianity is infinite: it is indeed God; and this infinite Principle hath infinite claims on man, and these claims are divine, not human; and man's ability to meet them is from God; for, being His likeness and image, man must reflect the full dominion of Spirit—even its supremacy over sin, sickness, and death."

In this passage Mrs. Eddy expresses with wonderful terseness the source of the power that gives one dominion over not only the body but every other condition of so-called material life. Man, being the image and likeness of God, is spiritual; and it therefore follows that as Spirit is All and matter is nothing but a belief, there can be no material condition that could possibly have dominion over Spirit. A student of Christian Science is constantly finding in his progress out of materiality hitherto unsuspected lurking errors and it may even seem sometimes that instead of a more harmonious state of existence, some discord still is apparent in the surroundings of one who is striving to practice Christian Science. This, however, is not always a bad sign, and there should not be the slightest reason for discouragement or self-pity if such a condition manifests itself. The only occasion for discouragement is when, in consequence of this, instead of rising higher in the scale of being, one yields to the temptation to sink into mental apathy and despondence because the conditions seem to be too much for one's understanding of Christian Science to overcome. Then, instead of having dominion over the material senses, there seems to be a reversal of the desired result and the individual is instead under the seeming dominion of material sense.

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