"God requireth that which is past," we learn from the Scriptures. The healing power of this truth is being realized daily by many men and women, as the Bible and the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, are earnestly and prayerfully studied. Indeed, it is a truth that must be assimilated and applied before mankind can be freed from the shackles of fear, anxiety, and other ills that are so hampering to progress.

In the first chapter of Genesis we read that God made man in His image and likeness, and also that God pronounced all that He had made to be "very good." God always has been the same. He always has been and always will be "incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love," as we read on page 465 of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy. He is unchangeable good. Therefore, since man is made in God's image and likeness, is God's reflection, man can never be or have anything that is unlike good. He never can be sick or sinning; never needs to be healed.

We sometimes hear people talk about the sicknesses and other difficulties which they experienced before they took up the study of Christian Science, as if those discordant conditions were realities. It is important for us to realize that man is now and ever has been the reflection of perfect, indestructible Life, and that all that men need to be healed of are erroneous beliefs.

Students of Christian Science are learning, through study and demonstration, that any problem which seems to cause them discomfort can be solved when they realize that error is a lie and only good is real and true. They will also learn that all the seeming problems of the past were nothing but illusions, false beliefs, as they grasp more fully the true facts of being. We all need to turn more unreservedly to the one Mind for guidance and wisdom, lest we lose sight of the meaning of the First Commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

Unless we keep constantly before us the truth that there is but one Mind, one creator, one power, and that good, the so-called mind termed by Mrs. Eddy mortal mind, claiming to work through mass mesmerism and race beliefs may temporarily persuade us that there is more than one power; that matter is intelligent; that man is both spiritual and material. Failure to eliminate false suggestions as they present themselves will result in our thinking becoming more and more confused, so that we may find ourselves compelled to spend much valuable time in cleaning our mental houses of the unwelcome visitors that have gained entrance through our own carelessness.

We must see these erroneous suggestions for what they really are—lies about man. It is a matter for much rejoicing that each day an increasing number of men and women are recognizing the real man as living now, as always, in God's universe, the only universe, of which God is the governor, where divine Love reigns supreme, and into which nothing unlike good can ever enter.

Every student of Christian Science honestly desires to manifest more of the real man in his daily living. To do this, he must claim that which is his rightful heritage—all that is good, and true, and pure. John states, "Now are we the sons of God." The erroneous experiences of the past should be dwelt upon only long enough to know the truth about them.

Our Leader writes on page 283 of our textbook, "Mind is the same Life, Love, and wisdom 'yesterday, and to-day, and forever.'" This truth was beautifully unfolded to a student of Christian Science who had for some time been endeavoring to gain sufficient understanding to overcome a painful physical condition. She had declared herself to be the perfect child of God, living, moving, and having her being in Him. She had thoughtfully read and studied Mrs. Eddy's writings with the aid of the Concordances, and had received much help. But, for some reason which she did not seem able to uncover, the healing was not complete. One Sunday, on her way to the Sunday school where it was her joyous privilege to teach, the error again began to manifest itself, and she pondered some of the many truths she had been reading. During the Sunday school hour, a little girl asked, "Why do people talk so much about error when it is nothing?" Immediately, the light of comprehension awakened the student, and she recognized that while she had not been doing very much talking about the problem in question, she had retained in her thought a very vivid picture of its reality. She now saw that the error had never at any time been real or had power, and as the meaning of the words of Mrs. Eddy above quoted became clear to her, the healing was complete.

Experiences such as this are uplifting; through them our thought becomes more spiritualized, and we are able to see more clearly the truth about God and man. We find ourselves manifesting more of the real man in our lives, and we see more and more of God's reflection everywhere.

When mortal mind tries to gain ascendancy in our thinking, the words of Mrs. Eddy on page 188 of "Miscellaneous Writings," when understood, prove an effective armor: "Man is as perfect now, and henceforth, and forever, as when the stars first sang together, and creation joined in the grand chorus of harmonious being."