Article November 21, 1936 Issue

Spiritual Vision through Purification

[Original article in French]

GASTON CHERRIÈRE

Among the many Bible promises, a particularly helpful one is that given in the Sermon on the Mount regarding the pure in heart, of whom Christ Jesus said, "They shall see God." To see God—is not this the goal for which we strive? To see God—is not this the vision of perfection which we would gain? There may be those who think this too difficult and transcendental. Oh, may they be reassured! The promise Jesus made is not equivocal. It is realizable this very day for those who will make the necessary effort.

Thanks to the teachings contained in our textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, we can grasp the meaning of spiritual vision, and how to utilize it. Referring to "the spiritual senses of man," our beloved Leader has written on page 486 of Science andHealth, "Their reality and immortality are in Spirit and understanding, not in matter,—hence their permanence." With such a statement before us, it is easy to see that true vision or spiritual discernment, being a faculty of Spirit which man possesses by reflection, depends not at all on matter, and consequently cannot be injured by it. Perfect vision, given by God to man, is a pure, perfect, and eternal faculty which reflects the all-seeing Mind. Spiritual vision, then, is mental knowing, true discerning, spiritual understanding. This vision or true view of man, as the reflection of Spirit, Love, heals by the power of divine Mind.

On pages 476 and 477 of Science and Health we read in reference to spiritual vision: "Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviours saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick." Assuredly it was not with the physical eyes that our Master beheld man, in Science, as the image of his creator, that is, as a pure and perfect spiritual idea, but with that spiritual faculty which comes from God, and which is true vision, or discernment. It is this vision of the real which heals disease and destroys sin. In order that, as Christian Scientists, we may do the work of healing and regenerating, it is absolutely necessary for us to gain the vision or true view of God's spiritual creation, which includes man's perfection, and, logically, the perfection of his spiritual senses.

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