Who does not desire to demonstrate wholeness, harmony, and perfection in his experience? Individual salvation depends upon the expression of these qualities in our lives, and our demonstration of them depends in turn upon the model we are holding in thought. Wholeness, harmony, perfection, are the very nature of God, and He is the one to whom we look as our model. The Bible says (Isa. 45:22), "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else."

Christian Science teaches that spiritual man reflects only Godlike qualities and that a material body is not this man. It shows us how to turn from the physical body to the spiritual reality and to identify ourselves with this reality. Mary Baker Eddy, our revered Leader, writes in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 261): "Look away from the body into Truth and Love, the Principle of all happiness, harmony, and immortality. Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts."

Looking to the body is always erroneous. One mistake is to believe that disease is in the body. The disease that appears to be there is only a dream of so-called mortal mind. It is like the motion picture screen, and the images of disease upon it are the projections of mortal mind. Once the writer saw a person who manifested a distressing skin irritation, and he thought, Poor fellow, I know what you are suffering, because I once had a similar difficulty. Within an hour he found that the picture which he had imaged in thought was manifested on his body as a return of the difficulty. Considering the situation, he awakened to the erroneous nature of his thinking. He turned thought from mortal mind concepts to the perfection of God. He identified himself as an idea of God, reflecting wholeness and harmony. The difficulty disappeared as quickly as it came.

This instance proves the statement by Mrs. Eddy (ibid., p. 177): "Mortal mind and body are one. Neither exists without the other, and both must be destroyed by immortal Mind. Matter, or body, is but a false concept of mortal mind. This so-called mind builds its own superstructure, of which the material body is the grosser portion; but from first to last, the body is a sensuous, human concept." The allness of God excludes mortal mind, material body, and disease. They have no actual existence. God, divine Mind, is the only cause and creator, and man is the expression of this infinite Mind.

True healing is the disappearance of false belief before the apprehension of spiritual, perfect being. The realization of God's presence and of man's unity with Him establishes a sense of wholeness and harmony that completely and permanently dispels discomfort and inharmony. That the wholeness, harmony, and perfection of man are the facts regarding each of us is not proved so much by intermittent healings, regardless of how outstanding they may be, as it is by daily living in which every simple evidence of man's unity with God consistently plays its part.

Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health (p. 248), "We must form perfect models in thought and look at them continually, or we shall never carve them out in grand and noble lives." This is especially the need when discord seems to be pressing in upon us, when disease seems very real, when error argues that it has gone on and on. Then it is that we must "hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true."

The value of doing this is seen in the experience of a Christian Scientist who had battled valiantly with error, seemingly without success. The physical manifestation was pain and difficulty in seeing. The student asked help of a Christian Science practitioner, who recognized the need of excluding from thought anything unlike the one perfect God and His idea. The practitioner directed the seeker's thought away from the body to the light of Mind, which reveals harmony, perfection, and wholeness. Turning her thought to that which is real, the patient could rejoice in the brightness of God's glory. In a short while the pain stopped, the eyes cleared, and conditions became normal.

Mankind today seems to be gazing at an imperfect model; sin, disease, lack, war, death, appear constantly to material sense. We need to hold continually in thought the perfect universe of God's creating. In this universe every idea has its right place, and each functions to glorify God. In proportion as we hold to this truth we help to regenerate the thought and activity of the whole world.

Is the contribution of one person worth the making? Certainly. Because as each manifests perfection in his own realm of thought he sees the universe as perfect and spiritual. One cannot realize perfection and experience anything less. With the perfect model in thought we can all become conscious of the infinite; eternal, perfect universe of God: There are sure rewards for our consecrated effort, and the rewards are purity in place of sin, health instead of disease, abundance rather than lack, peace instead of war, and life in place of death.