God's universe is wholly good. How can we say this? Because God, the one and only creator, is perfect. It is a marvelous truth this, which Christian Science invites all mankind to contemplate and share, that God, good, is All-in-all, and that the universe which expresses Him, being His reflection, is wholly good.

When one learns that God is All-in-all, and that His universe is Godlike, he begins immediately to regard existence in an entirely new light. He perceives that, since God is Spirit and All, God's creation must be altogether spiritual; that in reality there is no material creation. Also, that since God is perfect—altogether good—in reality there is nothing the opposite of good in existence—there is no evil. To the beginner in the study of Christian Science this knowledge is revolutionary in its effects; for as he grasps the truth it at once begins to reverse, for him, all the false beliefs about life, substance, and intelligence which he formerly held.

Further, as soon as the student of Christian Science knows the truth about the perfection of God and His spiritual creation, he begins to inquire as to the nature of man—the real man. He quickly learns that, since matter is unreal, man is not material. He learns also that man is the reflection of God, the expression of Spirit or Mind, hence, spiritual. Mrs. Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 5), "Wholly apart from this mortal dream, this illusion and delusion of sense, Christian Science comes to reveal man's God's image, His idea, coexistent with Him—God giving all and man having all that God gives."

"The words which have just been quoted are highly significent: "God giving all and man having all that God gives." What does man as God's reflection do? He is conscious of the ideas, the perfect ideas, of God. Not a single spiritual idea is withheld from man. Material sense does not inform us of this; nay, rather, material sense denies spiritual truth, including the sublime fact that man continually expresses God, good. "But as it is written," Paul says, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him"? (I Corinthians 2:9).

What is the nature of "the things which God hath prepared for them that love him"? The good things of God—His ideas, His qualities, His attributes. All truth is of God, Truth. All life is of God, Life. All love is of God, Love. Moreover, all harmony and beauty are of God, perfect Mind. There is thus no limit to the good which man reflects. It is important to know that the good which is of God is available to us in the measure that we perceive our real selfhood to be the reflection of God. We must therefore understand man's relationship with God as His idea; we must realize what this implies, namely, that we can reflect good unlimitedly. As our spiritual understanding grows, we become increasingly able to discern the erroneous beliefs of material sense and discard them—those false beliefs which would rob us of our divine heritage.

As those who understand something of the truth, we often ask ourselves how we may enter into fuller enjoyment of good. In our movement there may sometimes be a feeling in some quarters that supply is not being demonstrated as it should be. What is wrong? The fault is not with God, the Giver of all good. It is probable that where there is a belief of lack, spiritual truth is not being clearly enough understood and realized. If so, it is for those who are believing in limitation to cast out of their thought whatever is obscuring their spiritual vision of real substance.

Our Leader says on page 134 of "Miscellaneous Writings": "Be 'of one mind,' 'in one place,' and God will pour you out a blessing such as you never before received. He who dwelleth in eternal light is bigger than the shadow, and will guard and guide His own." Is it a lack of unity, then, that is causing the difficulty, vitiating the perception of spiritual substance and its abundance? If so, the false sense of self must be replaced by the understanding of man as God's idea. In real being all are the children of God, with every right idea in common. Jealousy, envy—evil thinking of whatever kind—have no place in the real man; they are part of the "illusion and delusion of sense," without real existence. We must see this and awaken from the erroneous dream. As we do so, greater unity of thought will become manifest, with corresponding unity of action. And continually there must be affirmation of the truth regarding the inexhaustible nature of spiritual substance, with denial of matter as real. A greater sense of the availability of true spiritual substance will thus be developed, meeting the human need.

"There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. ... It is the same God which worketh all in all," writes the Apostle to the Gentiles (I Corinthians 12:4, 6). All capabilities, all faculties, are of God; likewise, all health and happiness. And these are ours as we commune with Truth, affirm our unity with Spirit, reflect the perfect intelligence of Mind.

Duncan Sinclair