Article June 21, 1924 Issue

Man the Reflection of God

JESSIE LOSEY WHITNEY

As one sat at her window in quiet study soon after the dawn of a summer morning, she came upon the statement in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy (p. 475), "Man is the reflection of God." She raised her eyes to the scene before her, pondering upon the depth of meaning that the words contained, and striving to realize more of their import. A beautiful illustration met her eye. In the water before her, smooth as a mirror, lay the clear reflection of the wooded hills opposite, even to the tallest firs on the hilltop, the whole scene bathed in the sunlight of early morning. Clearly each object in the original was reflected in the silent water. It was a symbol of peace, quiet, harmony, freshness, light, exact reflection, inspiration.

But gradually, and at first almost imperceptibly, a mist came creeping down the channel. Slowly the reflection was obliterated, until only a trace remained. The mists crept along the bank among the trees, growing denser, until only the tops of the tallest trees were visible. How like human experience! As silently, man as reflection is sometimes apparently obscured by the mists of material beliefs; and the vision of God has been almost completely lost or only faintly perceived, far remote from man, even God who inhabiteth the high heavens. The fact also appeared that the mist was no part of the reflection; it merely rested on the surface of the water. When the sunshine caused the mist to vanish, there the reflection was, clear and bright.

As the mists cleared away, the fact also became apparent that any activity in the original was immediately reflected in the water; and light then dawned upon the statement (Science and Health, p. 73), "God controls man." How perfect is that control in a clarified consciousness; and how absolutely free from self-will! The reflection moves because God moves and because it cannot help moving, owing to the very fact of its being a reflection. It is not that God forces His will upon the reflection. That thought savors of the belief in an anthropomorphic God, capable of the use of self-will and tyranny. God is the ever active divine Principle, and man, through the very fact of his being reflection, acts accordingly.

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