Article January 9, 2012 Issue

'You look just like your...'

Nancy Robison

When a child is born we are prone to tag him or her with family traits, be they physical or mental. “I hope he has your looks and my brain!” we might joke. Growing up, I was frequently told I looked just like my mother. This was funny to me because we didn’t resemble each other in coloring or features—and because I was an adopted child!

The point here is to raise the question: How do we see others and how do we see ourselves? Are we seeing the image and likeness of God, the reflection of the divine good and gracious God, or are we seeing mortal man with doubts and fears and physical problems?

Each person is an individual emanation of the one divine Mind, God. Spiritually speaking, man is not the offspring of two parents, but of one Father-Mother God, as it says in Genesis: “God created man in his own image” (1:27). This spiritual view of each of us addresses the belief of heredity, and associated fears of inherited diseases and undesirable traits. Infinite “Mind is the grand creator . . .” and man reflects this Mind, “the Soul of all” (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health, pp. 143, 508).