Editorial March 9, 1974 Issue

Church: Its Infinite Substance

Geoffrey J. Barratt

God—Mind, Truth, Love—is infinite. Church, from a metaphysical perspective, is God's purely spiritual expression. Church is eternal, effortless in being, Truth-sustained. Churches, on the other hand, as human representations of Spirit's absolutely spiritual Church, may be faced with financial difficulties. How can we help?

We can draw an analogy between men with financial stringencies and churches with insufficient funds. Individuals with financial worries are greatly helped as they begin to identify themselves rightly as the unlimited spiritual phenomena of Mind. This leads to the conclusion that we can never actually suffer from being restricted mortals. All we can ever suffer from is a concession to the material appearance of limitation. If we go along with this appearance unresistingly, we suffer limitation not because we actually are restricted mortals but because we concede we are. Through Christian Science we can grow substantially in the understanding of man's infiniteness. Constricted human thinking—at best—looks up to Spirit and its substance. Divine consciousness—the consciousness of the real man—is the only genuine mode of thought. It looks out from the prospect of Mind. It not only sees the provision of Mind but includes it.

A mistaken take-off point in our reasoning is what leads to lack. Beginning with the erroneous premise of finiteness, we end with insufficiency in some form. Knowing the scientific truth of being is of the highest practicality because it brings intelligent judgment to bear on our own and on our church's financial affairs. Nothing is more practical than refusing to be misled by inadequate, meager ways of thinking. Limitation is never a law governing either man or Church. In a spiritually rich passage Mrs. Eddy tells us, "God's law is in three words, 'I am All;' and this perfect law is ever present to rebuke any claim of another law."  No and Yes, p. 30;

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