Article May 9, 1983 Issue

Reversing thought

EVELYN M. S. DUCKETT

An inquirer said to a Christian Science practitioner: "Do please explain to me what you mean by 'reversal' in Science. The only kind of reversing I know how to do is when I back my car into the garage!" Scientific reversal isn't about making a car go backward, but it does turn thought around and point it in a spiritual direction instead of a material one.

About the connection between the myths of mortality and spiritual reality, Mrs. Eddy writes: "Evil in the beginning claimed the power, wisdom, and utility of good; and every creation or idea of Spirit has its counterfeit in some matter belief. Every material belief hints the existence of spiritual reality; and if mortals are instructed in spiritual things, it will be seen that material belief, in all its manifestations, reversed, will be found the type and representative of verities priceless, eternal, and just at hand."^{Miscellaneous Writings, pp. 60–61.}

Material belief comprises what people tend to believe about any situation from a purely material assessment. So in the process of reversal we can look for the hint of spiritual reality that contradicts this evidence, and then pursue it to its full implications. The goal of reversal is to become conscious of the truth that God is Spirit, that man is spiritual, and that substance is nonphysical and indestructible.

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