Conserve, Economize, Recycle, are some of the methods being used by industry to counteract wastefulness. Manufacturing organizations are challenging the so-called "margin for error. They are becoming increasingly aware that there is no longer any justification for piles of scrapped parts at assembly lines just because, in the past, mistakes have been regarded as inevitable. Through a campaign called "Zero Defects," much progress is being made in avoiding costly errors by a very simple method: alerting workers to the feasibility of doing their jobs right the first time.

One of my assignments as an engineer was to design a machine capable of automatically spreading glue on the flaps of detergent boxes. When I gave the detailed drawings to the machine-shop foreman to fabricate the machine, he followed them without the need to consult me at all. Commenting on this when the machine was installed and working satisfactorily, he confided he had enjoyed working with my drawings because everything was so well thought out. He said this was in contrast to methods used by some engineers—try this, try that, scrap this, scrap that, until they got it right.

I had relied upon an understanding of Christian Science in my work, and this made the difference. Science explains that there is only one Mind, called God. This ever-present, infinite intelligence has made man as its perfect spiritual image. As we come to understand this and apply it to our work, we express the ability to accomplish faultlessly the task in hand. When we realize that there is only one supreme intelligence and that we express this intelligence, our thoughts and abilities surpass those emanating from locked-in human capacities. Christ Jesus, as ever, provides our example here. He never relied upon mere human ability, but always on reflecting divine power.

It is the one Mind, or Ego, that makes cooperation and coordination possible. It is the false belief that there are many egos, one for each person, that makes cooperation and coordination difficult. Perfect performance should not be considered unattainable when we remember man's real origin. High capacities are native to us because God is their source. The Bible bears this out; it says of God, "He performeth the thing that is appointed for me."¹ We have from God all the intelligence we need, and we are equal to every demand made upon us.

The mistaken belief that life, intelligence, and substance are expressed in matter is what causes limited ability and personal faults. As we find our true selfhood in Spirit, we are freed from the defects imposed by evil, and we are at liberty to express our God-given perfection. Armed with such qualities as teachableness and humility, we can override the limitations of the human condition and accept the reality of our true selfhood, spiritual and perfect, governed by divine law. We can then echo these words of St. Paul: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."²

Jesus was so conscious of his unity with the Father that he was unimpressed by any imperfection confronting him. He was so aware of God's ever-present, perfect universe and man that zero defects in himself and others was to him the normal condition of being. That is what he shows us; and that is what Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, labored to make clear.

Economy is a concomitant of spirituality. Mrs. Eddy says, "God requires wisdom, economy, and brotherly love to characterize all the proceedings of the members of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist."³ We needn't confine our expression of these qualities to church activities.

There is nothing penny-pinching about economy; it expresses a spiritual fact—the ever-present, concordant relationship between demand and supply. Note how Jesus instructed his followers to gather the leftovers after feeding the five thousand. Conservation and economy are also evident in his parables of the lost sheep, the woman who lost a silver coin, and the ten virgins.

However, the mission of Christian Science is not primarily to show us how to live a more successful human life—although this is often an effect of studying Science. Rather it is to prove that the achievement of zero defects is a necessary and inevitable step in the demonstration of spiritual perfection. It should not be thought that this goal is unattainable or only partially so when it is learned that man, seen by spiritual sense, is the complete and satisfied witness of his perfect creator. Mrs. Eddy characterizes man as spiritual and perfect. And she proclaims our present right to perfection in the following statement: "The scientific man and his Maker are here; and you would be none other than this man, if you would subordinate the fleshly perceptions to the spiritual sense and source of being."⁴ Jesus gave the clearest evidence of this; he knew that his true selfhood, and everybody else's, existed not in matter but in Spirit.

We are, at this moment, complete in God, in reality lacking nothing. Perfect health, ageless being, satisfaction, beauty, completeness, abundant good, rewarding activity, are ours to claim and enjoy. Too good to be true? No. Just good enough to be true!

We need to force open the grip of matter-based thinking with some knowledge of the truth of being. Letting go of the finite, restricted concept of ourselves and others, we see beyond the mortal view to the immortal expression of God. Whatever ungodly quality our human history and education have led us to accept as true of ourselves and others is found to be untrue. Discarding the past, we find our real selfhood in Spirit, where it has forever been.

What if the world in general does not yet recognize the truth of being? That should not deter us. As we penetrate the mist of mortality and limitation with our own clear concept of reality, we see a defective material concept of the world lessen. It is progressively replaced with a vision of the universe and man as God has made them—with zero defects.