The quartz “rock” and the power of the Word

Have you ever dismissed a spiritual truth that’s come to you because of its familiarity or simplicity? I know I have. But one day I read an account of a woman hiking in the mountains that changed my thinking about this. The woman spotted some beautiful quartz shimmering in the sun and bent down to pick up what she thought was a loose rock, but it wouldn’t budge. Her hiking companion laughed and said, “Oh, that one’s attached to the state of Colorado!” (see Marian C. English, “The joy of working on the right side,” The Christian Science Journal, May 1998).

To me, the visible quartz, likely exposed bedrock—the solid rock beneath the surface that makes up the earth’s crust—is analogous to the spiritual truths that come to us from God in prayer. No matter how simple or well known these are, they come from God and therefore have all the substance, law, and structure of infinite divine Love underlying them, upholding their power to heal. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, explains, “God is not separate from the wisdom He bestows” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 6).

All truth is of God and is inseparable from Him. When a spiritual truth comes to us, we are experiencing God’s presence in that moment. That is a profound concept to grasp.