Looking into a mirror, one sees his reflection. He is quite aware that the substance of the reflection is his own expression and action. The reflection does nothing of itself but is constantly controlled by its original. There is no separate mind or consciousness in the mirror.

Christian Science teaches that man is the reflection of God. This relationship is intact and indestructible, and an understanding of this leads to healing and regeneration in human experience. God, the one divine Mind, is perfect, harmonious, pure. He is unlimited in every good quality. In the divine nature there is no possibility of sin, disease, or death. And when we grasp the fact that there is no other God, no other Mind but the divine Mind, we can eliminate the distortions of mortal thinking, the suffering of disease beliefs and sinful aberrations. We can understand that these abnormalities have no origin, no substance, and that there is nothing to maintain them or to believe in them. Man in the image and likeness of God must be whole, satisfied, and harmonious.

Mrs. Eddy explains the scientific relationship of God and man: "The Science of being reveals man as perfect, even as the Father is perfect, because the Soul, or Mind, of the spiritual man is God, the divine Principle of all being, and because this real man is governed by Soul instead of sense, by the law of Spirit, not by the so-called laws of matter." ^{Science and Health, p. 302;}

When we come to realize the fact that God is the Mind of man, we shall see how impossible it is for man to express anything but good, anything but the perfection of spiritual reality. Christ Jesus evidently was keenly aware of this oneness of being and the blessing and harmony that follow as a necessary consequence. He frequently spoke of doing the will of his Father, of responding to God's direction, of fulfilling the works of Him that sent him. His healings were a natural outcome of the power and nature of God expressed. He said, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." ^{Matt. 5:48;}

Even in human experience we know that an individual's ideals shape his conduct and his life. Each one is influenced by what he worships, and this may take form in spiritual ideals or in many wrong models, such as sin and disease, money and fame, status and security. It is just as true that the sick man worships disease as it is that the sinner worships sin. But the Christ, the true Model, the true idea of God, Life, Truth, and Love, has come through Christian Science to destroy idols and release mortals from bondage to materiality. It shows us how to have one God and to reflect the nature of God in health and harmony. Mrs. Eddy says, "Having no other gods, turning to no other but the one perfect Mind to guide him, man is the likeness of God, pure and eternal, having that Mind which was also in Christ." ^{Science and Health, p. 467;}

In scientific metaphysics we understand that the substance of an idea is the Mind that creates it. And this fact can be applied to any problem. We can logically claim God as the substance of our health. When material suggestion would tempt us to fear bodily deterioration, loss of weight, or a disfiguring disease, the fact that Spirit is the substance of man and that this substance is eternal, indestructible, and immutable can reassure us and confirm our hope. Man as reflection cannot express anything unlike his perfect origin, our true substance. As we lay hold of this higher law, we can find release from faith in evil or fear of disease. And when we cease to give power to error, we shall cease to manifest it in our daily experience.

In Hebrews this fact is set forth: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." ^{Hebr. 11:1;} This faith is not blind or unintelligent. It is inseparable from spiritual understanding, spiritual sense, the ability to see beyond matter and material evidence. If one were to stand before a blackboard filled with the evidence of an error in arithmetic, such as three plus three equals seven, this would not prevent him from seeing beyond the appearance and holding to the fact as he understood it. We should never be impressed with error, with the false testimony of the senses.

Knowing something of the Science of being, the relation of God and man as Mind and idea, we can stick to the truth and proclaim the facts despite any erroneous appearance. Mrs. Eddy gives us this encouraging rule in our textbook, Science and Health, "The substance, Life, intelligence, Truth, and Love, which constitute Deity, are reflected by His creation; and when we subordinate the false testimony of the corporeal senses to the facts of Science, we shall see this true likeness and reflection everywhere." ^{Science and Health, p. 516.}

William Milford Correll

Salvation, and glory, and honour,
and power, unto the Lord our God:
for true and righteous
are his judgments.

Revelation 19:1, 2