Article August 6, 1979 Issue

Call God!

Kimberly Risedorph

Have you ever wondered what God is really like or how you can get to know Him better? In the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy gives these words as synonyms for God: Principle, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Life, Truth, Love.^{See Science and Health 587:6–7;}

Understanding each of these names helps us feel more closely in touch with God. Each one helps clarify His nature, and if we study the Bible and Science and Health daily, these synonyms will come to mean more and more. Then comes the test—applying what we understand in everything we do and with everyone we meet.

Each of the seven synonyms is useful, practical. Take Soul, for example. As we study what Mrs. Eddy says about Soul, we see that joy, beauty, and harmony, though they certainly express Life, Love, and the other synonyms, relate especially to Soul. When we're joyful, when we're aware of beauty and harmony—maybe in the way someone skateboards or even ties his shoes—we're feeling the presence of Soul. The Bible shows why we can claim these qualities as part of our real identity, the perfect selfhood that Christ Jesus taught belongs to everyone. In Genesis we read, "God created man in his own image,"^{Gen. 1:27;} and later on, "God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good."^{v. 31;} Since man is the image of God, who made everything good, he must include all good. Joy, beauty, and harmony are part of that goodness. And because God is everywhere, these qualities must be everywhere, too. ...