For centuries men have turned to God as an ever-present help in time of trouble. Isaiah voiced God's promise of succor to Israel in these encouraging words (Isa. 41:10): "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."

One finds as he studies Christian Science that God is not a power or presence existing apart from man but that He is inseparable from His creation. Jesus said (John 10:30), "I and my Father are one." Through the revelation of Christian Science we are enabled increasingly to understand the divine oneness of being and to prove its practicality in overcoming fear and disease.

This Science reveals God as omnipresent Mind and the real man as the unseverable reflection of Mind. All the intelligence, understanding, and wisdom of Mind is reflected by man. Mary Baker Eddy writes (Retrospection and Introspection, p. 57): "Man shines by borrowed light. He reflects God as his Mind, and this reflection is substance,—the substance of good."

Turning to God for help in Science, then, means acknowledging the presence of Mind's reflection in the place of any seeming discord. It means realizing that because of its purely divine nature, Mind is always perfect and harmonious; that no element of friction, confusion, or apprehension exists in Mind. Because of its infinitude, divine Mind knows no lack or limitation. Mind is always conscious of its own present perfection. It knows no pain or distress, inaction, or overaction. And the Mind that is always conscious can never become unconscious. Actually in Mind's omnipresence is found all that constitutes eternal harmony, or the kingdom of God.

When the Pharisees asked Jesus when this kingdom should come, he replied (Luke 17:20, 21), "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." The harmony of our being, therefore, is not a condition to be reached in the far-off future and after what is called death, but it is an ever-present state of mind to be spiritually discerned. All that we think we want or need of good, joy, health, or peace is already included in this spiritual consciousness. And there is nothing outside of it to invade its perfect harmony or to stop its forever unfoldment. It is through spiritual sense that these great facts of being come to light as the substance of our life.

According to the corporeal senses, man's life originates in matter, is measured by time, and is subject to change and destruction. But there is no coming or going to that which is ever present. The realization that man exists as the timeless reflection of Mind brings liberation from the enslaving beliefs of age and the haunting fear of death. In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy says (p. 516), "The substance, Life, intelligence. Truth, and Love, which constitute Deity, are reflected by His creation; and when we subordinate the false testimony of the corporeal senses to the facts of Science, we shall see this true likeness and reflection everywhere."

Our true selfhood, then, has always been the reflection of God. It has never passed through a process of human birth. It does not grow into maturity and then disappear into oblivion. It is never burdened by the mortal sense of life. Identifying our true selfhood as the reflection of perfect, omnipresent Mind nullifies evil's claim to paralyze harmonious human activity, restrict joy, or destroy life. When pain seems present, failure imminent, or depression overwhelming, our help is at hand in this spiritual self-identification. In "Miscellaneous Writings" (pp. 102, 103) we read, "Science defines omnipresence as universality, that which precludes the presence of evil."

The fact of omnipresence forbids the clutching to our hearts of yesterday's sorrows or worrying about tomorrow's troubles. It does away with our harboring the belief that something which happened in the past is the cause of an unhappy present. It wipes out the frustration of the belief in lost opportunities. The consciousness of omnipresence eliminates waiting for time to elapse for healing. It signifies that the spiritual facts of being are true now.

As we gain an understanding in Christian Science of Mind's omnipresence, we experience more fully the perfection, peace, health, and happiness of our real being. This spiritual understanding can be practically demonstrated in the healing of the most insidious diseases, the restoring of harmony in human relationships, and the unfolding of joy and satisfaction in everyday life. Students of this Science are finding that their lives are being liberated from the restrictions of fear. They are learning to live joyously in the spiritual now of omnipresence.

One who was struggling one night with an alarming sense of pressure in her head accompanied by a deafening noise became overwhelmed with panic. As the fear increased she seemed to be unable to think and found herself walking the floor. Suddenly she said aloud: "Now God is right here. I need not fight so hard. I realize that I have allowed myself to feel pushed lately in my work. I now need to know that in reality I exist as God's reflection, in which there is no strain, no pressure, no congestion, no sense of being pushed." Very shortly a quiet stillness subdued the fear, and the terrifying noise stopped. An inner peace, joy, and gratitude, which always come with healing in Christian Science, brought a renewed willingness to restrain mere human effort and to realize that Mind reflects itself in the reality of being.

The purity and perfection of Mind can neither be inverted nor adulterated. There is nothing to resist it or to supersede it. There never was a moment when another power or presence existed. As the reflection of this omnipresent Mind, man is forever at peace, free from fear, and expressing in boundless glory the Life which is timeless, ageless, and deathless. Understanding this fact, we find within ourselves a deep spiritual conviction that nothing can ever separate us from the presence of God.