Article September 18, 1995 Issue

In the midst of challenges, seeing God's presence

Robert A. Johnson

The Psalmist recognized an important element of healing when he wrote: "Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness" (Ps. 107:8, 9). But how can we see and feel God's presence or praise Him for His goodness when we're confronted by sickness or some other challenge?

This is an important question. It forces us to think deeply about what we presume to be real and substantial. Christian Science answers that God is the only creator, and that He made His creation, including man, wholly good. Also, God is Spirit, and His creation is spiritual, real, substantial. Matter, the opposite of Spirit, cannot mix with Spirit. The belief that God expresses Himself by entering into material forms is pantheism. It denies the infinitude of God and is foreign to the practice of Christian Science, which points out that matter can have no intelligence or creative power of its own.

In fact, matter and mortality are mistaken premises, from which one cannot draw valid conclusions. In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Mary Baker Eddy says, "By its own volition, not a blade of grass springs up, not a spray buds within the vale, not a leaf unfolds its fair outlines, not a flower starts from its cloistered cell." She continues, "The Science of being reveals man and immortality as based on Spirit" (p. 191).

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