A Lesson from Nature

NOEL M. RUST

A student of Christian Science, who was wrestling with problems which involved various disturbing beliefs about human personalities, was for a few days frequently interrupted in his studies by a little bird which repeatedly flew against the windowpanes of his study. Apparently it saw its reflection in the glass, and imagining the reflection to be another bird, attacked it furiously.

Obviously, to the bird, the reflection was an enemy, since every time it moved towards the glass the reflection would seem to move towards it; and the more violently it flew against the glass, the more violent would be the peck from the other bird.

This incident proved very helpful to the student, by directing his attention to a paragraph on page 220 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," under the marginal heading, "The reflex phenomena," where Mary Baker Eddy writes, "Mortal mind produces its own phenomena, and then charges them to something else,—like a kitten glancing into the mirror at itself and thinking it sees another kitten." As he realized that the "phenomena" which he was encountering were but his own wrong concepts of man, an improvement took place in the business problems. He looked away from the mirror of mortal mind, in which the spurious images appeared to be manifested, to the mirror of divine Science (see Science and Health, p. 515), in which man is revealed as the image and likeness of God, pure and perfect. It was this view of true being which brought about the healing.

Writing to the Corinthians, Paul clearly states that as we behold the reflection of God, that reflection will manifest itself in our experience. His words are, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."

Frequently the lesson has proved helpful when suspicious, unkind, uncharitable, and resentful thoughts relating to others have tried to obtain a foothold in the student's consciousness. The picture of the ruffled, unhappy little bird, which had seemed so obsessed with its illusory battles, would come to mind, and he would think, How could it sing while it was believing it was being attacked?

When the mirror of mortal mind seems to thrust its images before us in the guise of true reflections, how can we obliterate them? Our Leader has given us the clue to the solution of this in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 150), where she writes, "A heart touched and hallowed by one chord of Christian Science, can accomplish the full scale; but this heart must be honest and in earnest and never weary of struggling to be perfect—to reflect the divine Life, Truth, and Love." Using the lovely simile of the "limpid lake," with the "mirrored sky and the moon ablaze with her mild glory," she makes this appeal: "In speechless prayer, ask God to enable you to reflect God, to become His own image and likeness, even the calm, clear, radiant reflection of Christ's glory, healing the sick, bringing the sinner to repentance, and raising the spiritually dead in trespasses and sins to life in God." In the degree that we obey this loving counsel, the spurious images in mortal mind will, of a certainty, be replaced by the glorious ideas of true spiritual reflection.

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