Article June 20, 1983 Issue

Centering our lives on God

MARCEIL RUTH DeLACY

To someone observing the planets, they appear to wander. But knowledge that the sun is the center of our solar system explains this illusive appearance and reveals the planets' orbits. So, in our own lives, paths may seem random until we discover man's center—God. As the sun controls the courses of the planets in its own solar system, so God maintains each of His offspring forever in spiritually centered orbits.

However, there is a rumor going around that man can veer off course. You may recognize an illustration of this rumor in the story of Adam and Eve. Referring to this instructive account of mythical creation in the second chapter of Genesis (immediately following the account of perfect man created in God's image), Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health: "The second record chronicles man as mutable and mortal,—as having broken away from Deity and as revolving in an orbit of his own. Existence, separate from divinity, Science explains as impossible." Science and Health, p. 522. If it is impossible, why the persistent rumor of focal points other than God?

Because of a misconception of the Divine Being. If God, Spirit, is understood to fill all space, it is clear that no one can be removed from His presence, that there is no other center and no outer limits beyond which to stray. But the belief of life and substance in matter would divide, compartmentalize, set boundaries, assume a beginning and an ending. And such a belief would lead one to see life as revolving around material focal points—persons, places, and things—rather than around God.

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"First lessons" in moral and spiritual law (Part I)
June 20, 1983
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