Article February 6, 2006 Issue

a milestone for me

BY JEREMY CARPER

I remember some years ago, when I was living in Illinois. Fall was beginning, and I felt symptoms of a heavy cold coming on. I felt as though I had been hit by a freight train! Waking up in the morning, I thought, "Oh my gosh, how am I going to make it through the day?" I had a big day of work ahead, and for a moment I couldn't see how I was going to accomplish everything I had to do.

But then equally strongly, I felt a countering thought. I realized I didn't have to accept the prospect of a miserable day. As a Christian Scientist, I was used to praying for all my health needs. And I saw that it was imperative right then to accept the supremacy of God. I knew from my whole life-experience that God was omnipotent and had always been the only power. And I knew this all-power covered the whole field, including my present situation.

As I continued to think and pray that morning, I saw that I fitted into God's creation as His completely perfect child, made in His image. That I was a spiritual idea of God, not a material body governed by the laws of matter. There wasn't room for anything to govern me but the Christ, which can be described as the understanding of God's perfection and of man's perfection as God's reflection. I saw that there just couldn't be any evil imposing itself on me, the man whom God created.