Origami and God's man
In her description of man, Mary Baker Eddy writes that man “is the compound idea of God, including all right ideas; …” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 475 ).
I like the all-inclusiveness and adaptability of this concept of many facets making up a whole. For instance, an invention comes about via inspiration and ideas, practice, knowledge of materials, construction, and design to make something practical or beautiful for daily use.
In spiritual terms, man includes love, goodness, truth, strength, and so on. These qualities, when called on, are also practical (as Jesus so wonderfully illustrated) and beautiful.
Lately, as an artist, I have been interested in the art of origami. I was amazed to find that it is used for designing buildings, unfolding reflective panels on satellites and solar panels for optimum heat capture. As a Christian Scientist who likes to find ways in which I see God expressed, the ideas of “reflection” and “unfolding” jumped out at me.
Science and Health says: “The universe reflects God. … This creation consists of the unfolding of spiritual ideas and their identities, … . These ideas range from the infinitesimal to infinity, and the highest ideas are the sons and daughters of God” (pp. 502–503 ). I have actually painted two paintings with the title “From the infinitesimal to infinity” because I like this idea so much.
Thinking of God, as being like the sun, reflecting one light equally on all, and the different ways we use the gift of sunlight, I could see clearly that God, the one power, is experienced and reflected by His children in multitudinous ways.
In Christian Science, light is often seen as a symbol of spiritual understanding. I like the idea that we receive (are receptors of) this light, and also, as God’s reflection, we are reflectors of light—that is, expressing this spiritual understanding in ways that benefit others.
An origami shape unfolds to reveal the way it is made, and the same shaped piece of paper can be folded into many different forms and have many uses—architectural design, sound dampening walls, lamps, jewelry, even fabric.
Here again, I found spiritual and artistic enlightenment as I considered Mrs. Eddy’s statement, “The universe of Spirit reflects the creative power of the divine Principle, or Life, which reproduces the multitudinous forms of Mind and governs the multiplication of the compound idea man” (Science and Health, p. 507 ). So if we think of God as like the original square of origami paper—never changed, fragmented, or diminished in size, but symmetrical and balanced—then the folds are like the multitudinous expressions that we see every day of the “compound idea,” man.
We could also think of the many folds in this analogy in at least two ways. First, those folds could symbolize the multifaceted nature of God’s creation, man. They can also symbolize steps we take in our progress toward spiritualized thinking.
As light (understanding) shines on this multifaceted shape, it reflects and presents that shape in many ways as the shape is rotated or moved. So each of God’s creations individually represents this “compound idea,” man, as Mrs. Eddy describes God’s man.
When you unfold that origami shape or form (that is, look past the outside appearance), you find that the paper is still complete and unchanged. This makes the point that God is there all the time, in one piece, never fragmented, constant in His love for each of us. And we can see Him reflected in these multifaceted ways in man and the universe.
