Article August 3, 1968 Issue

"I should lose nothing"

MARY V. WILSON

One of the basic fears that has gripped mankind throughout all history is the fear of loss: loss of health, supply, youth, joy, and usefulness; loss of faculties, loved ones, and loss in general. The Master, Christ Jesus, denounced fear of loss when he said, "This is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing."^{John 6:39;} What a glorious promise for each and every one to rely upon! It presents a marvelous challenge to every individual to prove in his own experience, here and now, that these words of Scripture are applicable in every situation, true for all, and as relevant today as when Christ Jesus uttered them. As we contemplate this passage, we find it is well to determine just what God gives to us. The logical place to find man's legacy is in the record of his creation.

In the first chapter of Genesis we read that God, after creating man in His own image, gave him dominion over all the earth. So we can rightly conclude that man is Godlike and exists to manifest this God-given dominion. An image or likeness of anything reflects the nature of the original, and since God is Mind, as we are taught in Christian Science, man is idea. For what else but ideas could Mind conceive? Mind not only conceives, originates, and creates man but eternally holds His idea intact in innate perfection, conditioning and sustaining every function and movement. One who understands this relationship of Mind and idea, cause and effect, and lives this truth finds his freedom safe and secure, his actions governed and controlled, and his well-being ordered and harmonious.

When through ignorance or false belief we accept the suggestion that we can separate ourselves from our true source, God, difficulties and discord arise. Such alienation subjects us to the vagaries of chance and change. The inseparability of God and man as cause and effect is seen in this statement by Mrs. Eddy: "Mind is its own great cause and effect."^{Miscellaneous Writings, p. 173;} There is one infinite, all-inclusive Mind operating within itself to reveal its own self-completeness. And the truth of God and man is to be demonstrated in our daily experience. Our task lies in bringing this eternal truth to light for all mankind to witness and to profit from.