Article May 1, 1920 Issue

The Desert

MILDRED MESKIMONS

In Christian Science we learn that all things material, all that the eye can see, must be counterfeit of the real, for God's creation is spiritual, not visible to mortal sense. A counterfeit must have a real model after which to pattern. The spiritual idea, or God's idea, of desert, could not, according to His plan, include woe and waste and want. It must be beautiful and useful if Mind made it.

According to popular opinion, however, the desert is rightly named. It is considered a place deserted by all that is valuable in human existence and devoid of all that goes to make up modern civilization. The cross-country tourist, unless he knows and rejoices in the truth, may sigh and say, "How much more of this monotonous desert scenery must I endure?" The inhabitant of the small town in the desert, likewise, if he does not reason rightly, may stand in his doorway and, watching the passing train, say, "How long will it be before I can leave this God-forsaken place?" Certainly it is misunderstanding and a distorted sense of value that would try to keep such from seeing the goodness of God as present even there in the midst of what is called a desert waste.

In reality the term "desert" is a misnomer. By what is the desert deserted? Not by God, surely. God is truly everywhere, not in matter, but omnipresent as Mind. The Bible teaches that God is Love, infinite Love. Infinite Love is even where the mortal mind supposes a desert. It is prophesied that the desert is to blossom as the rose. In this blossoming, it cannot be more the expression of infinite Mind than it really is now. On page 240 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, we find, "Nature voices natural, spiritual law and divine Love, but human belief misinterprets nature." The true idea of nature is pointing to Mind, the spiritual intelligence it reflects. God is Life. The sense of things seen on the desert is a belief about life, and has to be replaced by the true idea. Thus, instead of any material sense of cactus, sand lily, sagebrush or mesquite, lizard or coyote, the divine Mind knows its true idea of Life. In Revelation we read, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." "All" means the true idea of desert as well as of valley or mountain. Infinite Mind has created all true vastness.

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