Man's Identity

Evelyn F. Heywood

Spirit alone is that which identifies man. In his conscious oneness with and exemplification of God, man fulfills the purpose for which he exists, to bear witness to the nature and infinite manifestation of the one divine cause.

As men come to see themselves no longer as mortal, no longer as representatives of that which decays and dies, but as the representatives of that which is spiritual and eternal, the arguments of false identification which impose their penalties of disability and disease, of limitation and failure, will cease to operate. "Call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven," said Christ Jesus.

In the intimate relationship of Father and son, whereby man inherits his full birthright of knowing and expressing that wherewith he is identified, the spiritual nature of true being is represented in each individual, and will continue to be so represented throughout eternity.

Philip, the disciple, groping instinctively towards the source of all identification, said to Jesus, "Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us." Philip realized that if seeing the Father, as Jesus saw him, could establish spiritual identity as it was manifest in their Master, then that was all they needed for their own salvation. But the answer expressed the forever oneness in identification of Mind and its idea, man. "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father," Jesus told Philip. That which identified Jesus with the Father so that he brought to humanity health and sinlessness, so that he proclaimed the kingdom of heaven and ushered in immortality, was Spirit's own expression of itself. Wherever the Christly qualities of meekness and might, of compassion and unselfed love, are being expressed, there, it may be known, is the presence of God manifested.

An understanding that the consciousness of perfection is what eternally identifies man, unifying all that he has inherited from his Father, is what Jesus sought to make clear to his disciples. In the teachings of Christian Science, this understanding of the actual nature of man is foundational. On page 242 of "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" Mrs. Eddy has written: "Christian Science is absolute; it is neither behind the point of perfection nor advancing towards it; it is at this point and must be practised therefrom. Unless you fully perceive that you are the child of God, hence perfect, you have no Principle to demonstrate and no rule for its demonstration."

The temptation may assail men to identify themselves with imperfection—with failure, with discouragement, with ill-health. So far from fully perceiving that they are the children of God, they may often be found believing themselves to be weighted with every evidence to the contrary. Nevertheless, the spiritual fact remains that the Principle and rule of perfection have been revealed, and identification with them alone can eliminate and finally wholly obliterate that which for so long has identified itself with the false image of a man and universe imperfect and mortal. The supreme lesson which we learn from the Gospel teachings is that never once in his discussions with the scribes and Pharisees, or in his talks with his disciples, did the Master identify himself with mortality. Had he done so, he could not have told Philip that whosoever had seen him had seen the Father.

In gratitude and humility for what has been revealed to him through the example and teaching which are his, the Christian Scientist begins to prove, in the measure of his spirituality and alertness, how continually he can refuse to accept for himself and others that which, because it belongs to mortality, is unidentifiable. Where would humanity be today had Jesus not identified the real man with perfection, had our Leader not expounded and clarified for us in her writings the Principle and rule whereby perfection can be scientifically demonstrated? Thousands can testify to the fact that the perception of their identification as a child of God, however fiercely and insistently mortal sense may seem to seek to assail it, has substituted heaven for hell in their lives.

In referring to that which convinced even the heavy-hearted and doubting disciples that he whom they had believed was forever lost to them, was again in their midst and unchanged, our Leader has written, "The divine Spirit, which identified Jesus thus centuries ago, has spoken through the inspired Word and will speak through it in every age and clime" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 46). We know, and can prove, that the divine Spirit which is identified in Christian Science can speak through each one who lives according to its law, even as did Jesus. The consciousness of God's eternal evidence of Himself as expressed in man, will bring with it, in continuous unfoldment, a spiritual conviction comparable to that of Paul, who, writing to the Corinthians, could declare with supreme assurance, "But we have the mind of Christ."

Evelyn F. Heywood

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August 12, 1939

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