Article August 22, 1925 Issue

Keeping One's Eye Single

DELLA M. WHITNEY

There is not a Biblical record of the victory of good over evil but is narrated as an instance of the perception of and obedience to good alone. Deliverance from all distress and inharmony is won through cultivating spiritual vision; that is, by keeping the eye single to God. This spiritual process requires constant vigilance. The material so-called universe must be mentally supplanted by the spiritual universe; material things must be reduced to thoughts, and thoughts in turn spiritualized. When one's thinking becomes illuminated by the wondrous light of Truth, one will no longer allow thought to wander aimlessly into the so-called material realm. Ungoverned thought is like a runaway train; with no destination in view, it rushes madly onward unchecked, leaving in its wake a trail of disaster and destruction. Spirit and spiritual things, not matter and materiality, are alone constructive and profitable to meditate upon.

The eternal purpose of seeing only God, good, and the manifestation thereof, must be won through persistence and purity. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect," is the divine command. In order to attain a measure of this perfection, one's neighbor, as well as one's self, must be seen in this true light, as spiritual and perfect. Entertaining thoughts of evil for another, one is thereby darkening his own consciousness; and his consciousness is the only avenue through which perfection may be won. If we believe evil can be real for another, we are entertaining some measure of belief in its reality for ourselves.

The one who will keep his eye single to God can meet and master any difficulty that confronts him. A Christian Scientist once had a most inspiring proof of this verity. She had an obligation to meet. When the time drew near to go, she was experiencing great physical distress. The most radical application of the truth had seemingly failed to bring freedom. Then turning away from self, from the contemplation of suffering, from the obligation to be met, and all else material, she looked wholly to God, asking Him to protect her from believing in, yielding to, or being subject to evil. In a short time a friend who knew nothing of the circumstances stopped and said, "It just came to me that I wanted to come and get you in my car." This seemed beyond all doubt an answer to prayer, so she arose, quickly dressed, and reached the appointed place just at the right hour; and to her great joy she realized that she was entirely healed. " 'Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?' What cannot God do?" writes Mrs. Eddy on page 135 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." By refusing to accept material sense testimony in the face of suffering—the seeming evidence of its reality—and keeping her eye single to God, this student was cared for and freed. When the last material plan or desire has been surrendered and a willingness is gained to do anything God directs, we then bring the problem into touch with His law, which is ever operating; and its solution is sure.

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