Expectancy of Good

Duncan Sinclair

Would it not be wonderful if everybody always anticipated good, always expected good, always felt certain that good alone was in store for him or her? Mortals, however, are almost afraid to allow themselves to ask such a question. And why? Because so frequently they seem to experience what is the very opposite of good. The average mortal, believing as he does so strongly in the reality of evil, is apt to regard the question as chimerical, and therefore as undeserving of serious consideration. He will admit that good is desirable, but his conviction is firm that evil is as real as good and that, consequently, he is not justified in expecting good continually.

But the subject is not a ridiculous one, although many may refuse to consider it. For are there not those who believe that they will ultimately attain to a state of perpetual bliss, a state in which good alone shall be experienced? They may not, however, be disposed to think it possible that the good which they believe the future has in store for them can be expected now as a constant experience, the reason being that they too are the victims of the fallacy that evil is as real as good.

What has Christian Science to say on the subject? Christian Science declares that good alone is real. God is infinite good, this Science teaches, and therefore the seeming opposite of good, called evil, is unreal. This was part of Mrs. Eddy's discovery, a greater than which is not to be found in the annals of human history. It is not, then, irrational to expect that good should always be ours, since good alone is real. On the contrary, it is altogether scientific to expect to enjoy good continually, and not occasionally, since God is infinite good. It is James who writes in the first chapter of his epistle: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." Mrs. Eddy says of this same "Father of lights," on page 2 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," "God is not moved by the breath of praise to do more than He has already done, nor can the infinite do less than bestow all good, since He is unchanging wisdom and Love."

To begin to enjoy good, then, as a constant blessing, the first thing to do is to be convinced of the basic truth that God, good, is infinite. And what will this entail? Two things: one, the steadfast endeavor to be ever conscious of the fact that God, good, alone is real; the other, the determined effort to deny reality to evil of whatever name or nature. The result will not fail to be a greater measure of good in our experience. But our understanding that good alone is real must be clear, and our denial of evil's reality firm and unshakable.

Then there is the healing aspect of this question. Are not disease, sin, lack, sorrow—suffering of every kind—phases of the erroneous belief that good is limited, that good is not infinite? Every inharmonious condition of which mortals appear to be cognizant has its origin in the lie which would deny that God, good, exists without an opposite. Reverse that lie by the true idea of good and a decisive blow is struck at every form of inharmony. Our Leader writes (ibid., p. 332), "Christ is the true idea voicing good, the divine message from God to men speaking to the human consciousness." Thus, it is the Christ, the true idea of good, which heals sickness and sin and restores harmony.

Then, again, the understanding of good as infinite protects those who possess it. To be conscious that God, good, alone is present, to know that good alone is real, is to "abide under the shadow of the Almighty," and to be safe against every erroneous evil belief. For assuredly one cannot possibly be conscious of good and of its hypothetical opposite, evil, at the same time. In the measure that one realizes that good is unlimited and ever present, one is rendered immune from the suggestions of evil. This may be demonstrated in some measure in the experience of everyone for himself.

The student of Christian Science with his knowledge of God as good, his certainty of God's omnipotence and omniscience, his faith that God's law is ever active in upholding His creation, should constantly be expectant of good. He should watch that his understanding and faith grow not dim through contact with the erroneous beliefs of the world. He should remember that since God has already bestowed all good, the responsibility is his to demonstrate that good, remembering that, as Mrs. Eddy says on page 128 of Science and Health, "Good is natural and primitive. It is not miraculous to itself."

Duncan Sinclair

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit