In the news these past months, we have been hearing the phrase “new normal” repeatedly. 

While it appears that events in recent months are establishing “new normals” for mankind—changes that threaten to alter lives forever—accepting limitations based on material conditions is not, in fact, new. Many accept as normal that children at the age of two will be “terrible.” Most also believe colds and/or allergies are normal for everyone. But even more subtle and hidden are the suggestions we more readily consent to regarding the advance of years. These suggestions often come to us through observation, conversation, and even the media.

I recently looked at a definition of normal and found “conforming to a type, standard, or regular pattern”; “not deviating from a norm, rule, or principle”; “occurring naturally” (merriam-webster.com). It made me consider what Mary Baker Eddy—the Discoverer, Founder, and Leader of Christian Science—says about Jesus’ teachings concerning normality. She writes, “Jesus regarded good as the normal state of man, and evil as the abnormal; holiness, life, and health as the better representatives of God than sin, disease, and death” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 200).