It is an age-old question: When will the good times come? Or reappear? Today the question often arises with those who feel that times were better in the past, when individuals were not as fractious and communities less divided, or when the cost of living was more manageable and the economic situation felt more secure. This is also a question people often ask on a more personal level in terms of health or relationships.

A version of this question echoes all the way back to biblical times, when religious leaders challenged Christ Jesus, asking him when the kingdom of God would come. Jesus answered, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20, 21).

A version of this question echoes back to biblical times, when religious leaders asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would come.

Centuries later, Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, expanded on this answer in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “This kingdom of God ‘is within you,’—is within reach of man’s consciousness here, and the spiritual idea reveals it. In divine Science, man possesses this recognition of harmony consciously in proportion to his understanding of God” (p. 576).

The harmony we long for is not dependent on people or a particular confluence of events. It is found in spiritual thinking that acknowledges God, Spirit, as the Principle of life; as immortal Love, the foundation of our relationships; and as the one, infinite Mind, the governing intelligence of all. Spiritual thinking uplifts the human experience, inspiring our activities and guiding us, even when we’re faced with contradictory information or confusing choices. 

This dynamic is evident in the healing work Jesus did. Just before the religious officials challenged Jesus about the kingdom of heaven, he had healed ten lepers (see Luke 17:12–19). According to the Gospel account, the lepers called out to Jesus and appealed for mercy as he entered their village. Jesus told the men to go show themselves to the priests—who had the legal authority to confirm their healing so that they could rejoin society. “As they went, they were cleansed,” the Gospel records, though only one man turned back and thanked God. To him Jesus said, “Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.”

At the time, leprosy was a feared disease, considered highly contagious, and was a huge hardship to families and communities, but Jesus healed those ten and many others. Another leper implored him: “Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.” Jesus “put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed” (Matthew 8:2, 3). Jesus touched the man others considered untouchable. 

The Master didn’t analyze the disease or discuss its symptoms or probable path. He bypassed material diagnoses and processes, and his healings blessed not only individuals but whole communities by enabling those who had been outcasts to return. 

In considering Jesus’ healings, Mrs. Eddy points out: “In divine Science, man is the true image of God. The divine nature was best expressed in Christ Jesus, who threw upon mortals the truer reflection of God and lifted their lives higher than their poor thought-models would allow,—thoughts which presented man as fallen, sick, sinning, and dying. The Christlike understanding of scientific being and divine healing includes a perfect Principle and idea,—perfect God and perfect man,—as the basis of thought and demonstration” (Science and Health, p. 259).

When facing any problem—be it relationships, the economy, our health, or even politics—if we start with God and His likeness and understand that God is completely good and that man (the true identity of each one of us) is the reflection or expression of God, we are actually beginning with the solution.

We might think of it this way. A reflection mirrors its original. The reflection in a mirror doesn’t wink unless you wink. A reflection doesn’t have a different hair color or an alternate set of clothes. The original determines the reflection. So, understanding the harmonious nature of the original, God, is how we discover the harmony of our true being as His likeness, which we can then experience in our daily life and express in our communities. 

On many occasions, I’ve found that focusing my thought on God, Spirit, and spiritual perfection has resulted in both physical healing and the resolution of difficult human relations. Once when on a work trip in another country, I fell down some steep stone steps. Members of the group I was with were alarmed and wanted to seek medical attention for me, but I assured them that I just needed to sit quietly for a few minutes. 

I stepped away from the others and turned to God—the source of my life and my mobility—in prayer. I felt assured of God’s ever-presence comforting me as well as the group and the community we were visiting. The thought came that I was “unfallen, upright, pure, and free.” These words are part of this passage from Science and Health: “Through discernment of the spiritual opposite of materiality, even the way through Christ, Truth, man will reopen with the key of divine Science the gates of Paradise which human beliefs have closed, and will find himself unfallen, upright, pure, and free, not needing to consult almanacs for the probabilities either of his life or of the weather . . .” (p. 171).

The assurance of God’s ever-presence dispelled any fear that I had taken a serious fall that could result in substantial injury. Instead, I was confident that my true identity was spiritual and that I could not be outside of God’s loving care. Soon I was able to rejoin my group and continue the journey, much to the surprise of many, who kept asking, “Are you sure you’re all right?” I knew I was all right and, throughout the remainder of the rigorous trip, continued enjoying complete freedom of movement.

If there is a turn, an unexpected bump in the road, or even a disaster, we can still keep our thought on God—on Love as the compass guiding us, Truth as the light illumining the path, Principle as the foundation supporting us, and Mind as the wisdom communicating with us. The terms of engagement in our lives need not be those of conflict as suggested by many situations—good versus evil, love versus hate, truth against lies, Spirit against matter. Our engagement is always with God.