The true measure of our progress
The baby reached for the bright pink ball on the floor in front of him. Unable to grasp it, he lifted to his knees and tried. Slowly he began to pull himself toward the ball. Finally with his fingertips he touched it, only to push it away. Again he pulled along the floor, and again he pushed the ball from himself. He looked up at his mother for help; but she just smiled and assured him he was doing very well, and he returned to his pursuit. With further effort, he triumphantly caught it.
From the baby's point of view, he was trying to grasp a bright object, but the mother knew he was really learning to crawl. Because she understood the larger lesson, she was not disturbed by what appeared to be a struggle, nor did she feel the need to step in and hand the ball to the child.
Sometimes we, too, find ourselves in a struggle for an object we want—acceptance to college, a job, a promotion, a home. We go through steps that seem necessary to attain the goal: we work hard, take tests, set up interviews, make contacts. Yet sometimes the goal remains out of reach. Perhaps the need is to consider what is actually going on and to ask how we are measuring progress. Do we see ourselves as caught up in frustrating activity? Do we view progress by our own outline of what should be happening? If the answer to these questions is yes, then we need to stop and understand how God is viewing man and what His true purpose for man is.
In Christian Science we know that God is infinite Spirit, so we can be assured that God's view of man is totally spiritual. Man is God's limitless expression and therefore perfect here and now. He is not an incomplete, unfulfilled mortal who must struggle with an array of obstacles before he attains completeness. As explained in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, "God expresses in man the infinite idea forever developing itself, broadening and rising higher and higher from a boundless basis." Science and Health, p. 258 . Understanding this, we know that the true measure of our progress is spiritual growth, not material accomplishment.
What does grasping these facts mean to our human situation? It does not mean the struggle to be Godlike will suddenly cease. But it does mean our view of our experience changes, and with it, so does the nature of the struggle.
Webster defines "struggle" as both "violent effort" and "earnest striving." It is the earnest, childlike striving that we want. The striving babe is engaged in a natural activity of learning, a normal stage of his human development. He is no less a child of God because he hasn't yet learned to crawl. He is, in spiritual fact, as complete and perfect as his mother or father or brother. His perfection is a spiritual reality of his relationship to God, not a measure of material development.
Viewing our experience as a progressive awakening to what God already knows us to be, we will see that striving to grow Spiritward and making spiritual progress are as natural and inevitable for us as daily progress is for the child. From this viewpoint we can let go of any fear of failure or anxiety over our future. And in so doing, we will remove the fretful thinking that blocks the very spiritual ideas we need to uplift the human situation.
Because we know that God is a loving Father-Mother, we know too that He does not abandon us to frustration. Mrs. Eddy assures us in Miscellaneous Writings: "God gives you His spiritual ideas, and in turn, they give you daily supplies. Never ask for to-morrow: it is enough that divine Love is an ever-present help; and if you wait, never doubting, you will have all you need every moment." Mis., p. 307 .
Sometimes we may fall into mental traps that would stall progress. Two of the most prevalent are belief in a human history and belief in an ego apart from God. Beliefs of age, of psychological patterns of development, of "passages" we must go through, are all elements of so-called human history. The arguments go something like this: I'm twenty-five ... forty-five ... sixty-five, and by now I should have achieved thus and so. Or: Because I'm twenty-five ... forty-five ... sixty-five, I'm going through this period, which everyone else my age goes through. Or: I've always had trouble with thus-and-so ever since I was a child. Or even: I'm the way I am because thus-and-so happened to me as a child. Each argument justifies and codifies limitation.
A study of the Bible brings into focus enlightening concepts that refute these arguments, especially as one deeply considers the spiritual progress mankind has made in understanding God. When it was revealed to Moses that he was the one to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, he issued similar protests. He declared that he wasn't an eloquent speaker, and what's more, that he never had been. "And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? ... have not I the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say." Ex. 4:11, 12 . Moses was not convinced of his human ability even then, but he did trust God; and the Bible tells us that at eighty years of age, he led the Israelites not only out of Egypt, but on a journey through a wilderness that would have ordinarily challenged a man half his age. And at his side was his brother Aaron, who was three years older.
On the other hand, Christ Jesus, the Messiah, never doubted where his abilities came from, and at twelve he spoke with understanding to the learned scholars and doctors in the temple. He even then understood that his work was not for his own glorification but was his "Father's business." Luke 2:49 . Jesus claimed no ego apart from God, the Father; he was never out to prove himself. When he healed, he never probed the psychological, sociological, or physical histories of patients. Nor did he consider the ages of the lame, the blind, and the sick he healed. Jesus saw God's true likeness in himself and in others, and this realized truth was manifested in healing.
Taking Jesus as the Exemplar, we can strive for spiritual perception and growth, whatever our human activity. If a student, we can pursue our education as an opportunity to reflect Mind's unfoldment of ideas, Principle's ordering of knowledge, Love's development of insight. As a business man or woman we can demonstrate in our work God's divine economy, where no need is left unmet and where supply and demand, governed by Principle, are always in perfect balance. As an artist, we can learn of man's identity as the reflection of Soul and Spirit, and we can express unique, clear ideas that are communicated and appreciated.
Perceiving ourselves as our Father-Mother God knows us, we lose our impatience over what appear to be trials. We eliminate the necessity of psychologically defined "passages" in our human history and see instead the law of spiritual progress, which manifests itself as progress in our human experience as well. By healing difficulties ascribed to us at twenty-five, we are also breaking down mortal laws and expectations that would limit us at sixty-five. The more we see ourselves as the likeness of God, the more we realize that now and always we have been engaged in the everunfolding activity of spiritual living.
