In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul declared of those who had accepted the saving grace of Christ (2:19-21), "Ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord."

What a loving, secure, heavenly abode this passage describes! Perhaps as we read it, we are tempted to think rather wistfully of how difficult it is in this present day to make practical such an assurance.

In a world where misunderstandings among people and nations still seem so serious, where large segments of the population are displaced, and where within our own community pettiness, insecurity, and selfishness often seem so evident, how can we keep from being strangers and prove that we actually live in "the household of God"? We find the answer as we study the words and works of Christ Jesus and of his faithful follower, Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science.

Christian Science is the way of Life; it is the way of right living, through which consciousness is spiritualized, and thoughts unfold according to God's design. Thus any sense of personality or false self is overcome. In "Miscellaneous Writings," Mrs. Eddy states (pp. 357, 358), "Divine Love is the substance of Christian Science, the basis of its demonstration, yea, its foundation and superstructure."

With confidence the wise Christian builds his spiritual home on infinite, ever-present Love, on the basis of the First Commandment, and on love for man. The Golden Rule motivates his every thought. When man is recognized as the image and likeness of God, at one with the Father, this spiritual view becomes a sure foundation for all true building. In reality, the house in which man lives is eternal, harmonious, spiritual consciousness, and each individual can begin to live in that house right now.

Economic conditions made it necessary for a young student of Christian Science to leave college after two years and seek employment. When she had had more than a year of office work, she became disheartened and a little resentful of her situation. These attitudes grew worse when, due to office changes, she was assigned work which seemed a demotion.

When the young woman complained to her family about the situation, her mother quietly said: "You will have to love right where you are. You will have to love yourself right out of your seemingly unhappy environment."

In a sincere effort to clarify her thinking, she turned to the daily study of the Bible Lessons, outlined in the Christian Science Quarterly. She sought to know more of God, to see more of the kingdom of heaven, "the household of God," right where she was. She began earnestly to seek opportunities to express joy, to reflect Love, to co-operate in every way with her co-workers, and to avoid joining in the petty, critical office gossip which flowed around her.

Shortly before the opening of college that fall, the way suddenly cleared for this young student to resume her college studies on a half-time basis, retaining her position on a part-time schedule. When after a year she was able to be on campus full time, she found herself sincerely regretful over leaving her office associates.

What had appeared to be an unhappy, confining environment had been an opportunity for growth and advancement. She had had practical proof of what it means to spiritualize one's thinking and claim that one actually lives in Love, in God's household.

Our concept of the spiritual, permanent home is strengthened and its structure "fitly framed together" in proportion as we look away from material environment toward the stability of our indestructible relationship to God. No selfish, envious, sensual, or unlovely thought can cross our mental thresholds when we have established clearly in thought that we are residents "of the household of God."

We cannot then be at home to any of mortal mind's notions or beliefs. What peace, calmness, and comfort come as the door of our mental home is consistently shut to everything unlike God, good! We can then sing, as did the Psalmist (Ps. 101:2): "I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. ... I will walk within my house with a perfect heart."

Residence in God's household is permanent, and the occupants reflect ever-present Life. Man, the son of the Father-Mother God, is not a visitor in the kingdom of heaven; he dwells there eternally. This spiritual abode is unfettered by material possessions and is unlimited by space or place. The care of it is in the hands of Love; its management is in Mind; it is bright with the sunlight of Truth; and the only words uttered in it are in the language of Spirit.

Mrs. Eddy writes (Pulpit and Press, p. 3), "Our surety is in our confidence that we are indeed dwellers in Truth and Love, man's eternal mansion." It is in this holy temple, this kingdom of God within us, that we all dwell as fellow citizens in God's household.

An individual demonstrates in his own experience the fact that he is a permanent resident in this household as he finds the satisfying, spiritual answer to this searching question: "If I see myself and my brother as the expression of God's being, how can there be any strangeness when God, good, is ever present?" The answer is clear. All that is foreign or unlovely will disappear from each individual's experience in proportion as he knows that good alone is real, true, and ever present.

Man is never alone, discouraged, unloved, or unappreciated, since actually right now man is spiritual, and divine Love is universal in its bestowal of good. It is only so-called mortal mind which seems to bind one to the belief that man lives in a physical body.

When we perceive the truth of spiritual being and of man's oneness with God as His expression, we learn to demonstrate the qualities of God in daily living. As these qualities are recognized in others and manifested in ourselves, we prove step by step that we are truly "fellowcitizens with the saints," dwelling in "the household of God" —in divine consciousness.