Article August 30, 1982 Issue

Gravitating Spiritward

JACK V. SMITH

As far as I can remember, I've always associated the law of gravity with the story of an apple falling on the head of Isaac Newton! Daily experiences confirm this early training: when we fall, we always fall down; when we drop a cup, it always falls to the floor; when our spacemen return, they seem to come "down" to earth. We're conditioned to associating gravity with movement in a downward— that is, earthward—direction.

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, helps us think of gravitation in an utterly different way. In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures she says, "Mortals must gravitate Godward, their affections and aims grow spiritual,—they must near the broader interpretations of being, and gain some proper sense of the infinite,—in order that sin and mortality may be put off."^{Science and Health, p. 265.}

If we must gravitate Godward—be drawn toward God, Spirit—and we must, then our ultimate direction is Spiritward, not down to limited matter or into the mire of sin, sickness, or death. Rather, we progress to a fuller sense of unlimited, divine beauty and love, completeness, goodness, and true health—perfection. Christian Science has given us a startling new concept of gravitation, one that leads away from the material, downward sense of things and up to the spiritual ideal. The downward pull is a mortal sense of gravitation because one sees matter as substance; whereas man's life in God is always unlimited and spiritual because true substance is always spiritual.

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