Astrophysicists calculate that the sum of all the known material masses accounts for only a fraction of the matter that they theorize ought to make up the universe. The status of the remainder is unknown. According to a prominent researcher in this field, "It remains one of our great, great problems." ^{Frank Wilczek, quoted in "If Theory Is Right, Most of Universe Is Still 'Missing,'" The New York Times, September 11, 1984 .}

Experts speculate that unseen matter constitutes the missing portion. And somehow to a lay person, the minuscule ratio of visible to invisible matter they cite brings to mind the inscrutable Cheshire-Cat in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which vanished slowly, ending with a grin that lingered awhile.

Alice thought the "grin without a cat" to be "the most curious thing I ever saw in all my life," ^{Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland, Norton Critical Edition (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1971), p. 53 (chap. VI).} but she was also concerned, because of its impressive teeth. Even so, the vast perplexities of matter and antimatter, including such phenomena as black holes in space, are objects—or is it more proper to say non-objects—of concern as well as curiosity to the layman in this field today. Some wonder: What power do these impressive and mysterious aspects have? Does the invisibility of most matter mean that the universe is less material than supposed?

Christian Science answers that Spirit, God, alone is power; and He is omnipotent good. Matter is not the effect of Spirit; therefore neither matter nor antimatter can be spiritual in any way—even if invisible. Spirit is the only substance of God's creation—His universe of spiritual ideas, including man in His likeness. The infinite allness of Spirit and its creation leaves no place for expanding matter or consuming matter, visible or invisible.

Looking at the Cat and grin from a different perspective—contrasting the concreteness of Spirit, the only true cause and effect, with the illusiveness of matter—Mrs. Eddy writes, "To begin with, the notion of Spirit as cause and end, with matter as its effect, is more ridiculous than the 'grin without a cat;' for a grin expresses the nature of a cat, and this nature may linger in memory: but matter does not express the nature of Spirit, and matter's graven grins are neither eliminated nor retained by Spirit." ^{Miscellaneous Writings, p. 218.}

That which is neither eliminated nor retained by Spirit obviously has never been included in Spirit, which is unopposed because it is All-in-all. The catless grin, together with the alternately visible and invisible Cat and all the other phenomena of Wonderland, vanished entirely when Alice woke to exclaim,

"Oh, I've had such a curious dream!" ^{Carroll, p. 98 (chap. XII).} And Christian Science teaches that the graven images of the material senses—of matter, alias the lying carnal mind, the claim of an opposite to God—vanish from our consciousness, too. This comes about in proportion as we awake from the mortal dream of good and bad matter through spiritual regeneration, gained in Christian discipleship.

Awakening from the dreamlike illusion of matter may not come about as effortlessly or as quickly as Alice woke from the Wonderland dream. But as healing becomes regeneration and repentance becomes reformation, we are gradually changed. Paul encouraged this spiritual transformation when he urged, "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." ^{Eph. 5:14.}

Curiosity over new and unusual things presenting themselves to be explored kept Alice fascinated for a while with the Wonderland dream and asleep to its fantastic nature. The ever-changing mysteries of matter would keep us, too, mesmerized. Nevertheless, the ultimate discovery about matter has already been reached in divine Science: matter is a figment of a dream. And our true nature is wholly separate from this dream.

We are not the mortal that seems to be experiencing the dream of matter any more than Alice actually became the dream character who adjusted in size from towering to minute in order to explore the next wonder. We are man, the immortal, spiritual idea of divine Mind—inseparable from unchanging good and conscious only and always of harmony and wholeness. Expressing the Christ, the ideal manhood that Jesus exemplified, arouses us to claim our dominion over materiality—to resist sensuality and to heal suffering. If we are fast asleep, dreaming of matter and mortals, we can awake to the possibilities of unlimited Spirit, the satisfaction of omniscient Mind, and the glories of God's spiritual creation.

Does all this mean that Christian Science opposes today's adventures in atomic research or scoffs at them? Of course not. Such investigation is useful and welcome insofar as we let it point us toward the revelation of divine Science as true and final. Through the reign of Christ on earth in individual practice of Christian Science, matter will cease to even claim to amuse, fascinate, frighten, pain, alarm, or sadden us. Salvation from sin, disease, and death will banish every lingering belief that matter ever was.

As Spirit, Mind, is understood in Science, healing works are demanded. The effect of meeting this demand must be spiritualization and progress—disarming atomic threats, demagnetizing the terror and the tease of the unknown, and solving the enigma of matter by bringing spirituality to light in redeemed and consecrated lives.

CAROLYN B. SWAN

Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.

Jeremiah 23:23, 24