Article January 8, 1996 Issue

"The beauty of the Lord"

Elaine R. Follis

Concern with body weight may seem, in comparison to major problems like crime or unemployment, to be a pretty trivial issue—until it stares back at you from the mirror one morning. Then it can become a burden that crushes out joy.

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science, makes an interesting statement in Miscellaneous Writings. Speaking of translation, the progressive spiritualization of the individual nature and selfhood, she writes: "This translation is not the work of moments; it requires both time and eternity. It means more than mere disappearance to the human sense; it must include also man's changed appearance and diviner form visible to those beholding him here" (p. 68). For anyone who has longed to be fit, this is a ray of genuine hope. It's not a matter of bone structure, but of the structure and content of our thought. Best of all, this transformation is part of a natural, even essential, process of spiritual development. This spiritual progress pertains to the individual in totality and not just to surface appearances.

About ten years ago I lost a lot of weight as the result of prayer. As an understanding of my oneness with God filled thought, that understanding quite literally and very apparently formed me anew. Then, two years ago, I noticed a pattern of compulsive eating. I thought it would be easy to curb, but it wasn't. I prayed earnestly for God's help, as the healing for which I had been so grateful seemed to be coming unraveled right along with my favorite knit suit.

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