While I was attempting to fix a garden sprinkler, the screwdriver slipped, injuring my hand. I immediately turned to God in prayer. My prayer affirmed: "There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual." This is "the scientific statement of being" from Science and Health (p. 468).

Looking away from the injury, away from matter, to divine Truth, I thought, "If I really believed this statement, I would be healed right now!" The honesty and humility of this simple observation instantaneously healed what had just moments before been a three-inch-long welt in the palm of my hand. This healing was very meaningful to me. I had witnessed Love's immediate healing power, which came in direct proportion to my acceptance of man's flawless being as God's image and likeness.

The Bible is chock-full of examples of God's perfection. Christ Jesus most especially demonstrated this perfection in his rejection of all that was unlike God's totally good creation. Through the fullness of divine Love and the depths of his own compassion, Jesus was witness to God's unerring care for man.

He proved that in the presence of Christ, Truth, imperfection is forever banished. The master Christian showed that man, God's offspring, expresses spiritual excellence. Jesus declared, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matt. 5:48).

The Bible also tells us, "Perfect love casteth out fear" (I John 4:18), and victory over fear is essential in physical healing. But, how does the perfect love of God heal? How does it cast out fear, doubt, and anything else that would diminish one's happiness or health? The answer lies in the fact that in the presence of God—in the presence of His perfect goodness and wisdom—whatever is imperfect and inharmonious disappears.

We more fully grasp Love's, God's, perfection and our relation to it through prayer. But we must distinguish between human perfectionism and true perfection, which is entirely spiritual and comes from God. Science and Health explains, "Through many generations human beliefs will be attaining diviner conceptions, and the immortal and perfect model of God's creation will finally be seen as the only true conception of being" (p. 260). So, we need to be both patient and persistent, even compassionate with ourselves, as we pray, while at the same time practicing the inspired discipline that enables us to discern the perfect model and conform our lives to it.

When things do not go as we expect, we might be tempted to place blame. Science and Health assures us that the culprit is never person, place, or thing, but rather the underlying lie of "imperfection" itself: "Remember that man's perfection is real and unimpeachable, whereas imperfection is blameworthy, unreal, and is not brought about by divine Love" (p. 414). So, who or what is worthy of blame? Not man! Imperfection alone is blameworthy!

Christian Science removes all claims of physical weariness, distress, or illness and reveals the practical manifestation of God's love. Perfection is independent of matter. It is wholly in, and of, Spirit. Recognizing this fact heals physical illness through the understanding that we are spiritual, not material. This liberating acknowledgment stands out in bold relief! Through God, Spirit, we are demonstrating our spiritual wholeness, totally unintimidated by physical sense. In this quest, perfection and reality are one and the same.

So, how important is it to have perfection as a standard, or goal, in our lives? It is essential, for it lifts us above the muddled, the muted, and the mortal. Through acceptance of our perfect spiritual individuality we see that, as God's idea, we are complete and uncompromised.

Where does this sense of perfection really exist? Let's first understand where it does not exist. It does not reside in matter or in material circumstances. It is in God, Spirit!

The unvarying and dependable God, named Principle, Love, is the underpinning power of both spiritual reality and physical healing! So, perfection can indeed be a tremendous friend of man. By embracing this friend and fashioning our lives accordingly, we reap a rich harvest of healing.