Article September 8, 1973 Issue

SPIRITUALIZING THOUGHT

through identifying oneself with Love

GERALDENE H. HARKNESS

What do we know of the Love that is divine—the Love that is God? Can we identify it, and also identify ourselves with it?

We might start with the encouraging and comforting words of the Bible: "God is love."^{ I John 4:8;} This is a clear-cut position from which to reason: Because God is Love, He loves everything He has made. He loves the true selfhood of each one of us. He tenderly, compassionately knows and loves our immortal individuality. Being Love, He lovingly provides each of His children with the completeness of good—with joy, freedom, progress, health, and unlimited happiness. God creates, loves, and preserves the identity of each of His ideas. Beauty, harmony, perfection, order, right action, perfect substance, are some of the qualities expressed by every idea included in His universe.

In Science and Health, the Christian Science textbook, Mrs. Eddy states, "The divine Mind maintains all identities, from a blade of grass to a star, as distinct and eternal."^{Science and Health, p. 70;} It must follow then that God maintains His children as distinct and eternal. With each advancing view of what we really are—ideas of divine Love, made in Love's likeness—some of the cramping, distorting materialism is lifted from consciousness. This spiritualization of thought brings healing.