Article November 5, 1990 Issue

What are the patterns in your life?

It's easy to think of ourselves as creatures of habit. But the fact is, we are the creation of God and are subject to Him alone.

Marion L. Martin

Patterns . Our lives are full of them. Many, such as the desire to care about others or to be honest, are good, harmonious, and happy. Others, such as the tendency to misplace our car keys, lead to frustration and petty annoyance. But what of the more serious patterns one may have come to fear and accept that are far more detrimental to our well-being? These may include a bout with the flu every winter, allergies, ill effects from certain foods, contagion, decreasing faculties, aging, or regularly lost opportunities, all based on past experience and accepted as an inevitable part of our life. Christian Science shows us that God, divine Love, never authorized such patterns. Therefore man does not have to act them out.

The Bible assures us in the first chapter of Genesis that everything God made was very good. His control of and care for every single idea in His creation are never faulty or defective. God provides only good to man. Love of good, obedience to Truth, and acting in accord with God's law provide the only patterns that bring to light the perfect man of God's creating. Our lives should be bringing out, as the Bible teaches, "a pattern of good works."

The good that God provides us in the Ten Commandments and in Christ Jesus' Sermon on the Mount offers a practical pattern for daily living. The truths these teachings reveal don't allow for any repetitious patterns of discord. To accept inharmony as fact would be disobedience to the First Commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Isn't God saying in essence that we should believe in Him, trust Spirit, Love, and not believe or trust evil, Love's opposite?

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