Article August 1, 1988 Issue

When we feel like the prodigal

Why wander into a far country in the first place? God, good, is here!

Joyce Kadish

A Few years ago when driving along a side street, I noticed a short way ahead a small boy sitting on the pavement, playing with his puppy. As my car approached, the puppy, absorbed in its game, backed into the road. The boy, in his efforts to save his pet from harm, lunged forward and grabbed it forcibly by the head—the nearest point of contact—and tugged it back to safety. The puppy may have suffered momentarily from such rough treatment. Yet this rough handling, impelled as it was by the child's love for his pet, was the means of saving it from harm.

As I went on my way, I thought to myself: How often it seems to take a tug, sometimes a strong one, to pull us to safety! When things are going along smoothly, we often are lulled into a false sense of security and we lower our defenses. Then some difficulty forces us to wake from our lethargy and make lively efforts to align ourselves with what we know to be spiritually true of us—of our perfect identity in Spirit.

In Genesis we read, "God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."^{Gen. 1:27.} And in Science and Health Mrs. Eddy states: "The Scriptures inform us that man is made in the image and likeness of God. Matter is not that likeness. The likeness of Spirit cannot be so unlike Spirit. Man is spiritual and perfect; and because he is spiritual and perfect, he must be so understood in Christian Science."^{Science and Health, p. 475.} Science and Health offers such synonyms for God as Principle, Soul, Mind, Spirit, Truth, Life, Love. When we steadfastly see our real identity as God's spiritual, incorporeal reflection, we begin to perceive where we really abide—in the realm of Spirit. And this spiritual consciousness brings the needed healing.