The starting point is sometimes the hardest part of any human undertaking. Many people do not realize that the best beginning is to turn aside from the immediate situation and become deeply aware of the allness and goodness of God. If we acknowledge our divine source, thus realizing that our ability is freely given to us by infinite, inexhaustible Love, we do not become preoccupied with personal fears or limitations. We find the ideas we need by turning away from the stiffness of self-concern to the all-knowing, all-giving Mind. Then these ideas lead us —or perhaps lead others—to the practical steps that meet the human need.

The Psalmist said, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Ps. 111:10), that is, a reverence for God's omnipotence and omniscience is the best way for us to start thinking effectively. If we actually feel this reverence for God and accept Him as original Being, we are not concerned about being original ourselves.

Christ Jesus gave the same advice to those worried about food and clothing as he did to those anxious about position and possessions, namely, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33).

In Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy says, "The starting-point of divine Science is that God, Spirit, is All-in-all, and that there is no other might nor Mind,—that God is Love, and therefore He is divine Principle" (p. 275).

Since "there is no other might nor Mind," we are wasting our time trying to express forcefulness or intelligence through some calculated willful human approach. Do we believe we can be separated from the richly flowing ideas of the all-powerful divine Mind? Not if our thinking starts with God. Like Daniel in the lions' den or Paul on Mars' Hill in Athens, we can expect to counter the complex currents of doubt and fear with our confidence in the presence of Mind. No other confidence is so rewarding. No other awareness can help us as much.

A number of years ago, a graduating senior in college, who was a Christian Scientist, wanted very much to go on to do graduate work. For him, commencement meant beginning at a higher level of study at another university in preparation for college teaching.

He and a friend in the same field of study seemed to be competing for the few scholarships available. One day they realized that all their applications had been rejected by all the universities except one. This one was definitely interested, but informal word came through that only one of the two students could be given financial assistance. Neither student could afford to go on without this help.

The Christian Scientist saw that he had work to do. Instead of merely hoping against hope or becoming bemused by the dramatic conflict of interest both of them faced, he needed to begin to solve the problem by claiming the allness and goodness of God. He needed to reach out for a reassuring knowledge of the divine Principle, Love, which governs the entire universe in such a comprehensive way that every human need is met.

He decided to go to a Christian Science Reading Room and to stay as long as necessary to win a sense of peace about the situation. He began by reading in Science and Health, searching for simple truths that would take his thought away from the seeming evidence of crisis and conflict. In other words, he began by seeking "first the kingdom of God."

As he did this general work, the word "enter" occurred to him as the key to his problem, and he began to look up in Science and Health and in other writings of Mrs. Eddy those sentences in which she used the word "enter" or "entrance." He could do this, of course, by consulting the Concordances to Mrs. Eddy's works.

One paragraph on page 21 of Science and Health particularly stood out: "If the disciple is advancing spiritually, he is striving to enter in. He constantly turns away from material sense, and looks towards the imperishable things of Spirit. If honest, he will be in earnest from the start, and gain a little each day in the right direction, till at last he finishes his course with joy."

The Scientist found himself relaxing more and more in the understanding that he could not be deprived of good as long as he was striving to look "towards the imperishable things of Spirit." By the end of that afternoon in the Reading Room, he felt that he had cleared away a lot of underbrush in his thinking. Both the fear of limited means and the sense of rivalry were gone. He knew that he was dependent on Mind alone and that the allness of Mind held only good for him and also for his friend.

About a week later, official word was received that a way had been found for both students —one was to get a graduate scholarship and the other a departmental assistantship. For both, the experience was the beginning of new horizons and a strengthening for greater responsibilities.

Beyond and above the merely human sense of process and progress—a step-by-step advancement which Mrs. Eddy calls for over and over again as necessary in the human experience—is the spiritual fact that Principle, God, is timeless, absolute, untouched by change, forever impeccable, complete. Spiritual being is the uninterrupted expression of this perfect Principle. Man is the reflection of Life, Truth, and Love. An understanding of these truths makes one confident of God's direction, quick to do His will. Only the understanding of this ongoing activity of Life, Truth, and Love, expressed through man, can bring about advancement in human life.

The working Christian Scientist approaches each new experience and each new day with the clear awareness that he is not poised at the beginning of something perilous. He is simply embraced within infinite Mind. Therefore he constantly claims that sense of God's allness and goodness which enables him to meet his own needs and those of others. And he continually welcomes the unfolding of spiritual ideas as perpetual evidence of the eternal activity of Life, which has no beginning.

On page 502 of Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy gives us the highest concept of the word "beginning." She is commenting on Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." She says: "The infinite has no beginning. This word beginning is employed to signify the only,—that is, the eternal verity and unity of God and man, including the universe."