THE Psalmist declared (Ps. 90:1), "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations," and in Acts we read of God (17:28), "In him we live, and move, and have our being." The acknowledgment and understanding of these spiritual facts replace the popular concept of man's dwelling place as a material edifice, localized in matter and subject to the hazards of materiality. "This understanding affords the solution to every problem concerning the human sense of home. With the exchange of the false concept for the true come infinite blessings.

Though her discovery of the purely spiritual nature of man and the universe and the consequent nonexistence of a material creation, MAry Baker Eddy, the author of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," threw the needed light on such passages from the Bible as those just quoted.

On page 336 of Science and Health she writes: "Immortal man was and is God's image or idea, even the infinite expression of infinite Mind, and immortal man is coexistent and coeternal with that Mind. He has been forever in the eternal Mind, God; but infinite Mind can never be in man, but is reflected by man." The words, "He has been forever in the eternal Mind, God," reiterate the Scriptual teaching concerning man's true home or dwelling place.

Christian Science makes it clear that it is not a mortal who has his being in Spirit, for a mortal is not the man who is defined in the Scriptures as made in the image and likeness of God. A mortal is a counterfeit of God's idea.

An individual, striving to demonstrate in human experience that man's true home is Mind, may find that he has begun a mental conflict within his own thinking, between a material sense of self and the spiritual sense. It then becomes necessary that he progressively rise above the false beliefs of mortal selfhood, with its likes and dislikes, its habits of thought and human weakness, and claim his true, immortal selfhood, his God created identity, already resident in his perfect home or spiritual dwelling place.

In other words, he must strive to grow spiritually and to abide mentally in a holy and exalted state of thought, to learn more of divine reality, and to strive constantly to express in daily living more of the qualities which constitute man's true home, such as peace within himself, joy in the truth, trust in omnipotent Mind. Such an individual increasingly exercises humility in his recognition of God's supreme government. He accepts the beatitude given us by Christ Jesus (Matt. 5:5), "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." As his awakened faith becomes spiritual understanding, he obeys the leadings of divine Mind as they unfold to him.

In divine metaphysics home includes countless related qualities, among which are harmony, beauty, safety, and order. These qualities indicate established conditions of the spiritual universe, conditions which man, in the image of God, is already aware of, for he includes them.

Christian Science makes it possible for these conditions to be realized to a degree in present human experience. As they are never conditions of matter, they will never be found if sought in matter. Belonging wholly to divine consciousness, they can be experienced only as human thinking becomes spiritualized.

Harmony in human relationships is demonstrated as individuals learn, through Christian Science, that they are not mortals, living together in a material universe, each governed by a separate mind. As they recognize that in reality they and others are individual manifestations of the one divine Mind and consciously express the qualities of this Mind, they demonstrate harmony and the true sense of home.

On page 247 of the textbook,our Leader writes, "Beauty is a thing of life, which dwells forever in the eternal Mind and reflects the charms of His goodness in expression, form, outline, and color." Beauty finds perpetual exprssion everywhere in home or spiritual consciousness. How may this truth be made practical in human experience? Godlike thoughts are always beautiful, and when they find expression in such qualities as graciousness, gentleness, gratitude, and goodness, they will likewise be manifested in more beautiful human surroundings.

The recognition of man's unity with God, as idea at one with the Mind that concieves it, bestows the consciousness of safety. For in this truth is found the refuge from the devastating beliefs of the carnal or mortal mind, divine Mind's supposititious opposite.

Order is a quality of God, an essential condition of man's spiritual habitation, for without order there would be no cosmos, only chaos. The recognition of this fact will be manifested in human experience by a well-ordered home, maintained without a sense of burden.

The spiritual qualities of harmony, beauty, safety, order, which have their inception in the divine Mind and are reflected by man in God's likeness, are the substance of home. When utilized in daily living they become a power for good, bringing health, happiness, and healing to all who come within the radius of their influence.

The Psalmist was conscious of his rightful place in the heavenly home, for he sang (Ps. 23:6), "I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." In giving her spiritual sense of this Psalm, Mrs. Eddy renders the passage (Science and Health, p. 578), "And I will dwell in the house [the consciousness] of [LOVE] for ever." This consciousness of Love, then, is man's true home.