Beyond matter
Have you ever heard physicists online or on TV talk about how all the matter that makes up the universe is primarily open space? The implications of that fact will certainly raise your eyebrows. It means that, if the space between the atomic particles that make up the planet earth were removed, everything remaining would be smaller than the size of a pinhead. The entire earth!
People everywhere—physicists and non-physicists—are thinking deeply about the nature and existence and/or nonexistence of matter. The topic has major implications for just about everything—theology included. In the light of God and prayer, take a look at this statement written by Mary Baker Eddy: “Spirit is infinite; therefore Spirit is all. ‘There is no matter’ is not only the axiom of true Christian Science, but it is the only basis upon which this Science can be demonstrated” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 357 ).
The thought, or idea, of something is its enduring substance.
Initially, the assertion that “there is no matter” may be an almost unfeasible thing for a person to grasp. I know it sure was for me, yet I ended up discovering that in order to understand the concept, a completely different approach could be useful. Instead of focusing first on what is unreal, it is more productive to begin with what is real! And what’s real is outlined in the first sentence of that quote above: “Spirit is infinite; therefore Spirit is all.” Rather than wrestling so hard with matter’s unreality, try exploring the reality and presence of Spirit. The majestic beauty of Spirit and its manifestation is all around us. It is in the human mind’s mistaken interpretation of things that matter appears intermixed with Spirit.
When Mary Baker Eddy was a schoolgirl, a philosophy teacher asked her class, “If you were to take an orange, throw away the peel, squeeze out the juice, destroy the seeds and pulp, what would be left?” Some pupils said nothing would be left; others said they didn’t know. The rest just remained silent. When the question was put to Mary Baker Eddy, she responded, “There would be left the thought of the orange” (Irving C. Tomlinson, Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy, Amplified Edition, p. 11).
She recognized that the thought, or idea, of something is its enduring substance. With penetrating spiritual perception, Mary Baker Eddy saw beyond matter. You and I can do this as well. We may love, say, what appears at first as a material bird, yet beholding the spiritual idea of the bird reveals many more tangible and wonderful aspects about it. Your wonderful, spiritual identity is present and substantial, too, and it’s a joy to sense it clearly and plainly.
The Science of Christianity reveals the absolute perfection, goodness, and wholeness of God. As God’s creation, because you are transparent to God’s ideal nature, you and everything about you is perfect and completely matter-free. Your identity is a result of your oneness with God. God is your Life, therefore spirituality is your only option. I love to live each tick of the clock with that fact at the forefront of thought.
Matter cannot spontaneously exist and then become a creative power. Divine Spirit is your creator and it creates with the only substance it knows: thought. That’s what it means to be spiritual; it means that you’re the thought, or idea, of God. As God’s idea, you are so much more wonderful than the world could ever even imagine! Once, a clearer view of my God-given spirituality helped me to overcome the effects of a knee injury. Instead of focusing on physicality (in this case, an anterior cruciate ligament), I became deeply grateful for my spirituality. As the thought, or idea, of God, each of us has an invulnerable, permanent, spiritual foundation that is way beyond matter. And just recognizing this fact changed my perspective and brought permanent healing (see “Have you ever prayed to be healed?” Sentinel, February 16, 1998).
So, when you get right down to it, was it possible that you were expelled out of Spirit to be encased in matter? If so, you’d feel as sad about a birth into matter as you would about a death out of matter. God loves you and me too much to imprison us in matter-identities. “Immortal spiritual man alone represents the truth of creation,” explains Mary Baker Eddy in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (p. 263 ). The Bible, in fact, describes you in this way: “The beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty” (Ezekiel 7:20 ). That’s who you are: God’s majestic, completely spiritual, and substantial ornament! To be on display, imaging forth the majesty of God, outshines all material thoughts and opinions. Jesus made doing this a priority, and you and I joyfully follow his example.
In the final analysis, matter, being nonexistent, needs no demolition. Each time you love and appreciate the spiritual qualities making up the substance of something, matter doesn’t “go away” per se; the view of it is refined and you behold God’s present, beautiful expression. Rather than manipulating worlds (or pinheads) of matter, with spiritual sense you behold the thought of God—the spiritual idea, whose substance is all around you—and, increasingly, matter’s unreality becomes clearer.
