Article September 18, 1920 Issue

The Imperishable Glory

ZELOTUS WESLEY COMMERFORD

The devout student of Christian Science has discovered that existence is spiritual; that there is in reality but one existence and that existence is God and His idea. He has found not only the truth about God but the truth about man. He is also proving the truth about God and man that has been made clear to his understanding through his study for himself and others. He is demonstrating through his healing work what Jesus manifested and expressed when he said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God," which is the truth of his atonement with the divine Principle of all being. Perfect God and perfect man is all there is. They are coexistent and eternal. As Mrs. Eddy says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 465), "Principle and its idea is one, and this one is God, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent Being, and His reflection is man and the universe."

It is evident from the foregoing statement that God is the source of all existence; that anything that is not in accord with the one perfect cause is not real and is simply a false sense of good claiming to be man. Man, being coexistent with God, is as definite and as eternal as God, and is never for an instant separated from God. The discovery of the fact that God is, and that man is the reflection of spiritual existence, becomes to the student of Christian Science not merely a theory but the basis of thought and action. He can no longer serve God and mammon; he must choose good all the time. He has a definite, practical rule of life; his rule is demonstrable. As one presses on in the application of his understanding of what God is and what man is, he is unfolding the imperishable glory in his own moral make-up, for on page 122 of "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany," Mrs. Eddy says, "That glory only is imperishable which is fixed in one's own moral make-up." Now what is the imperishable glory? First, it is to be conscious of what God is and what is true about man. It is to be awake to the spiritual fact of existence,—that man is coexistent with God, that he is the eternal idea of God, that he is not flesh and blood, that he is not corporeal but is the image and likeness of infinite Mind. The false belief attempts to becloud a man's true vision of himself, hide from his sight the glory that it is his privilege to enjoy; but if he is truly desirous of knowing the truth, the conscious realization of what God and man really are, the light can no more be hid from his experience than the sunshine can be suppressed.

Some years ago the writer had occasion to call on a Christian Science practitioner and during the interview was asked if he believed in God, if he conceived of man as created in the image and likeness of God. These questions were answered in the affirmative. Then the practitioner asked, "Now, if God is, and man is His reflection, what is man's work?" For a moment the writer could not answer, but suddenly the first question and answer of the Westminster Catechism came to him: "What is the chief end of man? The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever." "That is the answer," replied the practitioner. "Man's work is to glorify God. You do not need a position—you have one; you have the greatest work to do that any man ever had; you have but to think rightly about God and yourself and that right mental activity will supply your needs." To be conscious of what one's work is and of who man is, and what God is, is the imperishable glory.

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