Article December 20, 1982 Issue

I know that God is All —period

VIRGINIA L. SCOTT

Have you ever thought or said, "I know God is All, but I'm confronted with a very painful disease"—or difficult financial crisis, or baffling human relationship problem? If you have, you can change your thought, your statement, and ultimately your experience. As long as we are adding that miserable little word "but" after a statement of truth, we might just as well not have made the first statement. What we are essentially saying is, "God is good and He is the only power—but over here is this other, negative power, which can make itself felt above Him." Although it sounds rather shocking, isn't that really what we are saying with "I know God is All, but..."?

How can we correct this damaging concept of "but"? An erroneous condition may seem so real and formidable to human sense that we feel impelled to express our belief in it. Yet when we say "God is All," there is no way we can legitimately add a contradictory clause. We must firmly insist, regardless of mortal mind's stubborn suggestions, that what we originally proclaimed—those three powerful words, "God is All"—is unequivocally true.

Christian Science is based on the fact that there is only one power: God. Through study of the Bible and the writings of Mrs. Eddy we learn to accept the all-inclusiveness of God's power and to positively refuse to give reality to any opposite appearance. Now, no one can sensibly say there is no appearance of evil on the mortal scene. On the contrary, evil seems to be rampant; it may even sometimes seem to be in total command of one's experience. Yet those words "seem to be" are the very key to the nature of evil. In the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy states: "The verity of Mind shows conclusively how it is that matter seems to be, but is not."^{Science and Health, p. 123.} Throughout her writings she emphasizes the mythical nature of all that the physical senses perceive.