Article September 8, 1928 Issue

God, Our Real Relation

FLORENCE TERRY

If God made man,—and the fact is almost universally believed,—then God is our only real parent, our only Father-Mother, and we have no other "real relative on earth" or "in heaven," as Mrs. Eddy tells us on page 151 of "Miscellaneous Writings." This stupendous fact, so apparently contradictory to what many of us have been taught to believe, may not dawn on us all at once; in fact, were it to do so in all its grandeur, and at the same time in all its simplicity, it would surely bring about the full realization of God's kingdom on earth, transforming our every word, thought, and deed. Gone would be all sense of fear, lack, limitation, poverty, discouragement, sorrow, sickness, death, replaced by courage, abundance, dominion, joy, health, life. What could there be to fear, to bewail, to dread, were the knowledge that the all-loving, all-knowing, all-wise God is our nearest, dearest, yes, our only relative, to become paramount in our thoughts?

Let us look for a moment at this fact from a material point of view. Suppose that we have just learned that a very near and dear relative, still with us, has given us rich properties, and that this store of good things will be ours for as long as we wish, that all we have to do is to claim it, and thank our benefactor by giving him our love and gratitude there be any hesitation on our part? Should we not be anxious to accept our gifts without delay, once we were convinced that the seemingly incredible fact were true? Should we not hasten to this relative who had made it possible for us to possess these precious things, and pour out our gratitude and thanks? Yes, indeed, we should!

Have we yet realized that it is true that man's divine inheritance is ours now; that we do not have to wait a single moment for it; that all we have to do is to claim it, and then thank God, our Father-Mother, for His wonderful goodness to His children? But, someone may ask, what authority have we for believing this? The Bible is our authority; for in the very first chapter of this Book of books these words are found: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion;" and in the next verse it is written: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him." This account of creation closes with these words: "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good."

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