Article August 16, 1969 Issue

"The illusion of material sense"

CHARLES B. LESTER

Everyone who saw the first Cinerama moving picture will vividly recall some of the illusive sensations experienced and how very real they seemed. During the times when the airplane used in taking portions of the picture suddenly banked to make a turn or nosed downward, one lost all sense of being in a theater. Instead, he felt that he was seated in the plane, for the sensation he had of leaning to one side and of being tilted forward was just as distinct as though he actually were in it. So real did this illusive sense of action seem that many of those watching the picture screamed. The only way one could rid himself of the resulting sensation was to look away from the picture. When one did this, the sensation vanished.

In this case the illusion was nothing more than harmless amusement, but it illustrates, in some measure, the illusive nature of all material existence. Far from being harmless, however, the latter, the expression of that false sense of mind or intelligence that Christian Science terms mortal mind will ultimately prove fatal to one's well-being if, in the light of the teachings of this Science, it is not seen and understood as illusion and progressively destroyed.

Christ Jesus, our Way-shower, termed this false sense of life and substance the devil, and said of it, "He is a liar, and the father of it."^{John 8:44;} He also said, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing,"^6:63; thus clearly indicating that he discerned the unreal nature of matter. He taught that God, Spirit, is the sole creative and governing power of the universe and that man, His image and likeness, is as perfect as God.