Right side up and free!
“Through discernment of the spiritual opposite of materiality, even the way through Christ, Truth, man will reopen with the key of divine Science the gates of Paradise which human beliefs have closed, and will find himself unfallen, upright, pure, and free …” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 171 ). Mary Baker Eddy had it right!
Don’t the words “upright, pure, and free” describe what all of us yearn for in our lives? These qualities are not a dream, but are actually available to each of us. Yes, human beliefs and events seem to block our way to this perfection—but God gives us the ability to identify, unmask, and remove these obstacles. In reality they have no more power to block our progress than we give them.
Merriam-Webster.com tells us that upright means not only “erect in carriage or posture,” but also implies “a strict adherence to moral principles.” As a child I remember seeing the cartoons of man’s evolutionary march from ape to erect human, but then regressing over time to a stooped human image again. It’s worth remembering that there is no evolution of God’s idea—“upright, pure, and free” has always described the real man. As the Psalmist wrote, “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace” (Psalms 37:37 ).
Pure is defined as “free from what vitiates, weakens, or pollutes” and “containing nothing that does not properly belong.” That definition doesn’t apply if one absorbs the television ads suggesting a life of sickness and physical impurity (for which advertisers claim to have the solutions to sell us). God’s reflection, man, is indeed free from all the impurities of material suggestion. He is free of moral fault or guilt, and free from the fear of seasonal or contagious illnesses. It takes conscious work: consistently guarding our thought from these contaminating suggestions takes alertness and conscious effort. But this effort is absolutely critical. As Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “We need a clean body and a clean mind,—a body rendered pure by Mind as well as washed by water” (Science and Health, p. 383 ). Our efforts to listen to God’s guidance do bring positive results. We read in the Bible: “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him” (Proverbs 30:5 ).
Consistently guarding our thought from contaminating suggestions takes alertness and
conscious effort.
Finally, free is a state of being that all humanity yearns for. The Apostle Paul said to the Romans, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2 ). Aside from popular social and political freedoms, we search for individual free choice. But with free choice, comes responsibility for the results. We may make the wrong choices listening to persuasive suggestions, audacious promises, quick but unethical actions and solutions that are presented as common sense. We may find ourselves bound again in restrictive materialism.
Considering things from a spiritual perspective, it becomes apparent that man is free-born and that this freedom is always there to accept and enjoy in our experience. Whether we are burdened by thoughts of financial shortage, aging, claims of heredity, health problems, religious myths, unhealed sins, or anything else, we can unload all of that with the uplifting word of Life, Truth, and Love.
This process of spiritual awakening is not always easy. It can be the work of a lifetime to really understand Jesus’ promise: “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32 ). But we have to start somewhere—and now is the time. It is never too early or too late to take a stand and find ourselves unfallen, upright, pure, and free.
