Editorial October 18, 1941 Issue

Man's Unity with God

Alfred Pittman

In the ordinary human view, an individual may seem to be more or less isolated, shut off from the persons or things or the intelligence he needs, and therefore to be unequal to the tasks before him. But Christian Science, revealing the actual, spiritual nature of man, shows that he is never isolated or lacking in what he needs; that he is always one with God, infinite good, and therefore never insufficiently equipped for what he has to do. Somewhat as in the case of a mountain peak, seemingly separated from the earth by a fog about its base, and seemingly unsupported, so in the case of man, of any individual, the appearance of isolation or of inadequate relationships or supply is an illusion of the material senses. And as the sun disperses the fog about the mountain, so the Science of being is available always to dispel the illusion about man—about anyone.

Christian Science makes it plain, indeed, that man is not God. Mary Baker Eddy, the beloved revelator of this Science, writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 465), "Principle and its idea is one, and this one is God, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent Being, and His reflection is man and the universe." There could hardly be a more striking or unmistakable statement of the absolute unity of God and man, for God is understood in Science to be Principle, and man to be idea. Yet Mrs. Eddy writes in the same work (p. 480), "Man is not God, and God is not man." Man, she explains, is the manifestation of God; and when this is understood, confusion of one with the other is impossible. Deity manifests Himself, He could not do otherwise; and His manifestation of Himself, by Himself, is man. The manifestation is thus forever where Mind, or God, is, and forever of the very substance and nature of Mind. And this manifestation includes and constitutes one's own true selfhood, and that of all men.

The significance and practical value of this fact grow and grow upon the student of Christian Science as he advances; and he sees it wiping out one after another the falsities which have distressed him. Suppose he has questioned his ability. He is enabled to see that while he has no ability at all of himself—that is, of a supposed selfhood apart from God—Mind itself works in him without measure. Proportionally as he discerns and understands this truth, he has evidence in his own experience of the ability which is of God, and he can say, as did Christ Jesus, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." If he has felt alone, or lonely, he can see that he is, in fact, richly companioned by God, Life, Truth, and Love, and is one with His every manifestation. And proportionally as he recognizes and realizes this fact, he has evidence of it. He proves the words of Mrs. Eddy (ibid., p. 259), "Man is not absorbed in Deity, and man cannot lose his individuality, for he reflects eternal Life; nor is he an isolated, solitary idea, for he represents infinite Mind, the sum of all substance." Oneness with the divine Mind means oneness with that which has the answer to every question, and which ever gives a good and satisfying answer. Oneness with divine Life means freedom from death; oneness with Love, freedom from hate; oneness with infinite substance, freedom from all lack. The student, growing in such understanding, perceives the spiritual truth indicated by Paul when he wrote to the Colossians, "Ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power." He can say, with bright new recognition of the meaning of the words, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Editorial

"Unprecarious joy"