I Never give or receive a gift without thinking of a relative who stored away all the gifts she had received for dozens of Christmases, birthdays, and Mother's Days. After she had passed on, we found them in her closets and bureau drawers. She'd apparently unwrapped them, looked at them, and wrapped them up again in their bright paper and ribbons, packing them away for the future. They were hers by right, but she'd never used or enjoyed them. I've had to ask myself, Do I really use the gifts I've been given—especially the most momentous, precious gift of all time, the love of God, which Christ Jesus has shown to all mankind. Speaking of what Christ Jesus did, the book of John declares, "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

In a commentary on this passage, Mary Baker Eddy asks a thought-provoking question. It has made me see this gift of love in a wholly new light: "Is man's spiritual sonship a personal gift to man, or is it the reality of his being, in divine Science?" (Miscellaneous Writings) After all, the Bible tells us that God created man in His image. If we are in reality God's image and likeness, we have a spiritual inheritance; we reflect the purity, wholeness, and indestructibility of Deity. The possibility of reaching this understanding of our real nature, and being healed by it, is what Jesus, our Way-shower, has given to us by his example and demonstration.

In answering the question quoted above, Mrs. Eddy comments: "When we understand man's true birthright, that he is 'born, not ... of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God,' we shall understand that man is the offspring of Spirit, and not of the flesh; recognize him through spiritual, and not material laws; and regard him as spiritual, and not material. His sonship, referred to in the text, is his spiritual relation to Deity: it is not, then, a personal gift, but is the order of divine Science."

The phrase "the order of divine Science" may sound unusual. To me it means that man's spiritual relation to God as His son is what God has ordained for man—for all of us—as His image and likeness. At one time a treasured healing came about when I reached at least a partial understanding of this God-ordained relationship to my Father-Mother, divine Love.

At the time it happened, I had been a student of Christian Science for a number of years, during which time I had had many physical healings, both through my own study and with the help of a Christian Science practitioner. I had not consulted a medical doctor in all that time, or considered doing so. But then for several months I had had continuing evidence of an internal disorder, and though I had prayed and worked in Science, it had not been healed. Suddenly the condition grew dramatically worse. I became so frightened that I panicked and sought a medical diagnosis. There were tests, and on Friday of that week I was told that I had a fatal disease and that surgery was being scheduled for me as soon as possible, which would be Monday.

Weak and full of dread, I went home. But I turned again to prayer and the study of the Bible. I also read Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy as I had so many times before when I had faced challenges.

As I fervently prayed, the panic and terror receded, and I thought about all my years of healings through Christian Science. I canceled the surgery, much to the alarm of the physicians, and I telephoned a longtime friend who was a Christian Scientist too. I told him the entire story. He reminded me of my real being, as God's cherished creation, and he asked me to study this statement from Science and Health: "Infinite Mind is the creator, and creation is the infinite image or idea emanating from this Mind. If Mind is within and without all things, then all is Mind; and this definition is scientific."

My friend was willing to pray for me, and as I humbly studied what he asked, the meaning of the truth became clearer to me. God, the creator, had created me out of His own being, His infinite allness. Because I was the image and likeness of God, Spirit would have to be the very substance of my being. I could not be anything but perfect, pure, whole. Whatever seemed to be wrong with me had to be a lie; in a profound sense it was an illusion, contrary to the reality and allness of God, infinite Life.

I understood so clearly my spiritual relation to Deity that the fear finally left me and I slept peacefully. In the morning the frightening physical evidence had vanished, and I knew I was healed. It has been over ten years since the healing, and subsequent good health and freedom have confirmed the victory.

Since then I have never felt tempted to seek medical diagnosis but have relied fully on Christian Science. This experience proved for me that man's spiritual sonship is his spiritual relation to God—not a personal gift but "the order of divine Science."

All of us can find our true relation to God; we can feel the healing power of Christ at work in our lives. We have "power to become the sons of God"—to see and to prove that we "were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Our sonship is ours to use now and forever, not to leave packed away or to hoard for an indefinite future.