Editorial September 1, 1956 Issue

STARTING WITH GOD

Helen Wood Bauman

The beloved disciple said of God (John 1:3), "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." Being the one great cause, God is the starting point of all right thought, all true concepts. According to Christian Science, spiritual qualities, true ideas, constructive actions, real faculties—all have their source in creative Principle, God, and are the expression of divine Mind. "Unfathomable Mind is expressed," writes Mary Baker Eddy on page 520 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures."

One may mourn because his present character and abilities seem far from an expression of unfathomable Mind; but through Science one learns that his limitations of quality and action are the result of his failure to demonstrate divine Principle as the starting point of all good. One is likely to believe that talent and intelligence originate in himself instead of in God, and such a fallacy must bring about a limited display of ability and capacity. Whenever one enters upon any project, it is well to remember Mrs. Eddy's assertion that "man is the expression of God's being" (ibid., p. 470). This realization removes the fear of limitation at the outset, for it brings a glimpse of infinite Mind's expression, which can be nothing less than perfect.

Christ Jesus always linked his actions and capabilities with divine Principle. He kept constantly before his hearers the fact that man is inseparable from his source and acts only as Principle moves him. He said to his opponents (John 8: 19), "If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also." And he taught us to pray (Matt. 6:13), "Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever." Giving God the glory, recognizing Him as the impelling power of the good we manifest, we rise above the illusion of being mortals, possessing personal power and only limited abilities. We gradually awaken to our true selfhood as "the expression of God's being," and our human limitations correspondingly disappear.

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