One day a dark speck appeared on the writer's paper. She brushed her hand over it in an attempt to remove it, but it remained. She used her finger on it in a more vigorous effort, yet it did not disappear. Looking more closely she saw why the spot had not been removed from the paper. It was a shadow—in no way attached to or affecting the paper. Light was required to dispel it.

All illusions, like the shadow, seem real and present. A particular illusion may be called by a particular name, but the fact that it is an illusion means it disappears when its nothingness is revealed by the light.

The light of Christian Science reveals Christ, Truth, to be the manifestation of God that destroys whatever is unlike God, good, no matter what its name. Fear, hate, sickness, lack, are some of the names of evil. Since, however, they are not created by God, they are illusions, thus unreal.

In the first chapter of the Bible, the emphatic, primal fact of being is stated: man is the image of God, infinite good. The unlikeness of God must, therefore, be the unlikeness of man, the shadow which seems real, present, and powerful, but is not.

Mary Baker Eddy says in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 339): "Since God is All, there is no room for His unlikeness. God, Spirit, alone created all. and called it good. Therefore evil, being contrary to good, is unreal, and cannot be the product of God."

When the shadows of loss, suffering, and unhappiness seem to darken our days, we need the light which comes from our admission of the presence of good only. Jesus was consistently conscious of this light. No matter how prevalent disease, sin, and death seemed to be, he acknowledged as real only the likeness of God, good. The resulting healings were termed miracles though they were the lawful, scientific effects of his clear perception of God and His creation—man unmarred by illusion.

The Master recognized the ever presence of God as all-powerful, active good. This mental discernment dispelled disease, hate, sin, and death. Jesus not only told us to follow his method of dispelling the illusion of sin and suffering, but lovingly assured us of our ability to do so, now and always.

Attempts to get rid of sickness, sin, and death permanently by material means will fail, even as hand and finger failed to remove the shadow on the paper. Spiritual light is required to dispel such evils. In other words, we need to exchange mistaken belief in the reality of discord for conscious recognition of the presence and power of good.

Science and Health puts it this way (p. 299): "Corporeal sense, or error, may seem to hide Truth, health, harmony, and Science, as the mist obscures the sun or the mountain; but Science, the sunshine of truth, will melt away the shadow and reveal the celestial peaks.

It is this gentle yet penetrating sunlight of Truth which reveals that the inviolate nature of God's creation is good. In proportion as we demonstrate in thought and action our awareness of the presence of health, abundance, and happiness, we will experience them.

Everyone has the ability to do this because he has the ability to control his thinking. It is individual correction of thought with the truth which dispels sin, sorrow, and lack and reveals uncontaminated being as healthy, joyous, and secure.

The writer recalls a specific example of quick healing which resulted from the correction of her thought. While rescuing a kitten, she was stung by wasps. Despite the evidence of pain and swelling, she immediately acknowledged her likeness to God as His idea, knowing that because He is unassailable in His perfection and allness, she could not be a victim of attack. Persistently and silently she declared her disbelief in the physical condition and earnestly held to the thought of God's goodness and of His government of her, the kitten, and the wasps.

It became clearer and clearer to her that there is no law of animosity, fear, or misunderstanding to overthrow the law of Love and intelligence governing the universe. She realized that fear, pain, self-pity and resentment are suggestions of error, dark shadows that must vanish under the penetrating light of Christian Science. Within the hour all effects of the stings had entirely disappeared.

The attributes of God constitute the nature of man, the nature so perfectly demonstrated by Jesus that he merited the title, "Christ." And he, our perfect example of the scientifically correct way to think and act, declared (John 8:32), "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

In this age, Mrs. Eddy, through Science and Health and her other writings, shows us how to use this truth scientifically to free ourselves from all ills: the illusions, the shadows cast by fear and ignorance. She says (Science and Health, p. 390), "It is our ignorance of God, the divine Principle, which produces apparent discord, and the right understanding of Him restores harmony."

Let us express our Christly nature now, knowing that we are created by God and that because we are His creation, we can experience only good. This knowledge, accompanied by courageous action based on it, is the sunlight which will bless and heal any time, anywhere.

Just as the shadow on the paper disappeared with light, so unhappiness, fear, and suffering disappear as the sunlight of Truth, or Christian Science, shines in our consciousness and reveals man's likeness to God.