Editorial March 14, 1959 Issue

"WHAT GOD HAS ALREADY DONE"

Helen Wood Bauman

Christ Jesus saw the kingdom of God in all its glory. One great reason for the success of his mission was his ability to behold creation as God made it—not as the physical senses interpret it. Luke records that while Jesus was praying, "the heaven was opened" (3:21). He had just been baptized by John the Baptist, and the account goes on to say that "a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased."

The purpose of prayer, as Christian Science explains, is to cause heaven to open so that one may perceive what God has done. Our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, discovered how to pray effectively by becoming conscious of individuals and all things in their true substance as God created them, spiritual and perfect. She writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 260), "Science reveals the possibility of achieving all good, and sets mortals at work to discover what God has already done; but distrust of one's ability to gain the goodness desired and to bring out better and higher results, often hampers the trial of one's wings and ensures failure at the outset."

When the scientific Christian prays, he is not attempting to manipulate matter and arrange it according to willful, human desire. He is bending every effort "to discover what God has already done." The Scientist knows that regardless of what the physical senses present, God's kingdom is at hand, intact, perfect, and under His full control. The ability of the Scientist to see this kingdom will depend upon his purity and integrity of thought and his willingness to give up the materialism that would make him see otherwise than spiritually, or truly.

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