CHRISTIAN SCIENCE teaches that God is All-in-all, the only cause and creator, the source of all good, and that perfect man and the spiritual universe are the orderly and true effect of that cause. One of the most comforting consequences of God's allness is the ever-presence, as well as the ever-operation, of His laws, the spiritual and moral forces of God, divine Mind. These laws are operating undisturbed and eternally.

Material laws, so called, such as laws of health, laws of supply and demand, laws of natural science, appear to govern human experience. These laws attempt to outline what will happen in a given situation when certain mortal forces are active.

It is an underlying characteristic of material laws, which appear to govern mortal existence and the material universe, that such laws produce both good and bad effects. Human life appears to be governed by a series of laws which ordain either health or sickness, abundance or lack, harmony or discord. How grateful we can be that Christian Science reveals the spiritual laws of God to be the only laws which really exist and therefore govern our lives!

These laws or spiritual forces are wholly good; they induce only good effects : health, harmony, perfection, and peace. Why? Because God, good, infinite Spirit, is the only cause, and hence all effect must be spiritual and good, like its source. The prophet Isaiah recognized God as the source of all law when he wrote (33:22), "For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us."

What authority have we for claiming that God's laws are the laws of immutable health, goodness, peace, and harmony and that these are the only real laws? We have Scriptural authority through the words and works of the Master, Christ Jesus. By healing disease, walking on the waves, and feeding the multitude, he proved irrefutably that the laws which govern man and the universe are not determined by material forces. He proved that the operation of God's laws, when understood, always brings health, good, and harmony into human lives.

Jesus stated concerning his work (Matt. 5:17), "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, revealed God's law to this age. She writes (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, pp. 380, 381),"Every law of matter or the body, supposed to govern man, is rendered null and void by the law of Life, God."

We today can make God's laws our own through spiritual understanding and demonstration. We can prove for ourselves that God's laws are the only laws and thus bring into our experience the health, harmony, and holiness which are established by these laws.

To accomplish this, we must begin by realizing that spiritual laws are governing right where material laws seem to be operating. Science and Health states (p. 427), "Immortal Mind, governing all, must be acknowledged as supreme in the physical realm, so-called, as well as in the spiritual." In reality there are not material laws and spiritual laws, but only the spiritual laws of God.

The Psalmist petitioned (Ps. 119:18), "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law." As we strive to understand the real aspect of law, we see that the true laws of nature govern the universe in order and harmony and are wholly spiritual. Any evil or destructiveness which seems to be a possible consequence of law is seen to result from the belief that laws of nature are material.

We correct our false notions about law in the same way that we correct any other false concept. We do so by striving to understand more of the truth concerning God's law of good and by replacing our ignorance of that law with the understanding that God, good, is the only cause and that man, including the universe, is the perfect effect.

Material law has power over us only as long as we subscribe to it and believe that it has power and influence. To a conscientious student of Christian Science, the material aspect of law becomes less real and less powerful every day. Through his diligent efforts to understand more of the spiritual facts of being, one finds that his thought loses materiality, and material law cannot register its effects in the consciousness that has in substantial measure cast aside material beliefs which assert the reality of mortal existence.

One evening the writer returned to his home after engaging in some strenuous physical activity. It occurred to him that when he had engaged in similar activity in times past, he had awakened on the following morning with sore muscles, which usually persisted for several days.

Then he realized that he had been consistently studying Christian Science and gaining a clearer understanding of God and man. Therefore the material aspect of law should be having less and less effect on him.

He realized that the true, spiritual law governing the experience was that all right activity is a perfect, spiritual expression of God and can only result in joy and harmony. Dismissing the thought of bad aftereffects, he fell asleep and arose the next morning with scarcely a trace of evidence that he had been engaged in strenuous physical activity.

Mrs. Eddy declares (Science and Health, p. 295), "The mortal mind through which Truth appears most vividly is that one which has lost much materiality—much error—in order to become a better transparency for Truth." As our thinking loses materiality, the material sense of law is erased, and we perceive the true, spiritual nature of law as the ever-present force of God, good. We can see that spiritual law is an eternal expression of God's presence, order, harmony and that good is ever operating to bring blessings to mankind.