It's the thought that counts

Recently when I was feeling quite sad about a situation, I remembered a saying on a mug at a friend’s home. It read, “Just when the caterpillar thought life was over, it turned into a butterfly.” I laughed, knowing that God’s thoughts couldn’t be sad, so I needed to change my thought. 

“Substance,” the title of this week’s Christian Science Bible Lesson, focuses on thought; but whose thought? Each Bible story the Lesson presents teaches us to discern between our human thoughts about our experiences and God’s thoughts, which are divine substance.

In Section 2, for example, as the widow from Zarephath was preparing a last meal for her son and herself, she had fearful thoughts of lack and death. But Elijah intervened and offered her a different thought, one from God—“Fear not” (I Kings 17:13 , citation 6); in other words, “Your life is not over.” Elijah asked her to use the small amount of food and oil she had left to make a meal for him and then to prepare a meal for herself and her son. She did, and her food supply was plentifully restored. Elijah knew that when we serve God, which in this case involved offering hospitality to one of His messengers, we “shall not want any good thing” (Psalms 34:10 , cit. 7). Understanding spiritual substance begins with serving God.

Another example comes from the Gospel of John in Section 3. The disciples were in a ship in a violent storm when they saw Jesus walking toward them on the water. This was a sign to them that Jesus was God’s messenger. While on the water, Jesus said to them, “It is I; be not afraid” (6:20 , cit. 8). As a result, the disciples’ thought changed from one of fear to one of awe and reverence. Understanding spiritual substance requires us to let go of our so-called material time-and-space experience, and to be receptive to God’s eternal thoughts. 

In the story of the crippled man from Lystra in Section 5, Paul perceived that the man “had faith to be healed.” Paul then “said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet.” And the man “leaped and walked” (Acts 14:8–10 , cit. 17). The man’s thought had changed from despair to joy. Recognizing spiritual substance always gives us joy.

Through their works, Elijah, Jesus, and Paul proved that true substance is revealed through spiritual reflection, through understanding the thoughts of God. Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “Few persons comprehend what Christian Science means by the word reflection” (Science and Heath with Key to the Scriptures, p. 301 , cit. 22). In the same book, she said, “The spiritual universe, including individual man, is a compound idea, reflecting the divine substance of Spirit” (p. 468 , cit. 7). Just like the widow from Zarephath, the disciples in the boat, and the crippled man from Lystra, our lives are continually unfolding as we catch glimpses of our true substance as God’s reflection. 

Therefore, any time we find ourselves in a fearful situation, in what seems like a dark cocoon, we can “hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, …” (Science and Health, p. 261 , cit. 11). We can experience the joy that spiritual substance brings us and rejoice as the author of Psalms 92:5 rejoiced: “O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep” (Golden Text).