Editorial December 7, 1987 Issue

Lessons learned from reflections in a lake

Ann Kenrick

One beautiful sunny day I was walking round a landscaped garden. When I reached the lake, I noticed a patch of white waterlilies growing under an ornamental bridge. To get a better view of the flowers, I went behind the bridge and looked down into the water. The sun was bright and the water absolutely still, and to my astonishment I saw a mass of waterlilies —twice as many as had been visible from the other side of the bridge. Then I realized I was looking at the waterlilies and their reflection. Of course there were not twice as many lilies, but the substance, form, and outline of the lilies were mirrored in the water. I was seeing a lovely reflection.

This reminded me of the spiritual view of man presented to us in the Bible in the first chapter of Genesis, where we read, "God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." We see in this wonderful unfolding of creation that God is showing His own perfection, for we read later on, "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good."^{Gen. 1:27,31.}

The story in Genesis presents God, Mind, as the supreme creator. He brings forth ideas—ideas that manifest the substance, vitality, intelligence, beauty, and grandeur that express His nature. Mrs. Eddy often uses the word reflection when she describes the spiritual man of God's creating. In her major work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, she explains, "The substance, Life, intelligence, Truth, and Love, which constitute Deity, are reflected by His creation; and when we subordinate the false testimony of the corporeal senses to the facts of Science, we shall see this true likeness and reflection everywhere."^{Science and Health, p. 516.}

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