Article July 28, 1986 Issue

Seeing God "face to face"

KATHERINE JANE HILDRETH

Would you like to feel closer to God? Have you ever considered what seeing Him really means, what it involves, how to achieve it?

I never had—not in so many words—until one day when I was studying the weekly Bible Lesson outlined in the Christian Science Quarterly. A certain Bible passage suddenly glowed with new meaning.

It was the story of Jacob. In Genesis we read about his duping of his brother Esau, his dread of meeting him after many years, and about his night alone in the camp just prior to this meeting. Jacob wrestles until daybreak with "a man"—that is, Christian Science explains, with a false sense of himself as a flawed, material mortal. Finally, deeply repentant and awakened by an angel message, he is blessed. This blessing not only brings about the harmonious resolution of his relationship with Esau but reveals his new identity as Israel, the spiritual father of all who, through struggle, gain victory over the material sense of God and man. When this spiritual light dawns on Jacob's consciousness, following his soul-searching night alone with God, he declares in grateful humility, "I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."^{Gen. 32:30.}

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