This article is part of a series appearing occasionally in the Sentinel, The Christian Science Journal, and The Herald of Christian Science. Each article aims to correct some misconception about Christian Science that would keep us from having the results we so desire as spiritual healers.

Christian Science, discovered by Mary Baker Eddy, is Christian in that it is entirely based on the teachings of Christ Jesus. And it is scientific in that it has an internal logic that is consistent and provable. 

What could be called a Christian theological vocabulary had already been established by the time of Eddy’s discovery. Eddy felt led to redefine spiritually a number of the basic terms of this theology, such as God, Christ, and sin. One term whose meaning she totally reversed is the word substance. A standard dictionary definition of substance gives us, “a particular kind of matter with uniform properties,” or “the real physical matter of which a person or thing consists and which has a tangible, solid presence” (Google Dictionary).

By contrast, in answer to the question, “What is substance?” Eddy responds, in part: “Substance is that which is eternal and incapable of discord and decay. . . . Spirit, the synonym of Mind, Soul, or God, is the only real substance” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 468). Elsewhere, Eddy identifies man—the true identity of each one of us—as constituted of Spirit (see Science and Health, p. 316).

When I was first learning about Christian Science as a teenager, I encountered what seemed to be a real challenge in my thinking: How could I gain an understanding of myself as constituted of Spirit—of my substance as being completely spiritual? And what really is this spiritual substance? 

Then a strange thing happened. I attended an opera, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, where I was transported by the beauty of an aria. It could only be described as heavenly. I thought this beauty must be the spiritual substance I was looking for, and it was expressed easily and naturally by the musicians. It was, in a sense, what they were made of, and they were expressing it naturally. It seemed to be an inherent part of their being—something very tangible indeed. I felt that this was a breakthrough for me, the beginning of a better understanding of this concept. 

Some time later, in my high school geometry class, I became aware of the simple logic of what we were studying: Pythagoras’ theorem. The reasoning behind it is so solid. I began to see that my understanding of this logic was a part of my spiritual substance, the stuff I am made of.

At another point, I remember being struck when I saw my aunt at a supermarket checkout counter offering to help with a neighbor’s payment when the neighbor discovered she didn’t have enough cash to pay for her groceries. I felt I could recognize that her generosity was a part of my aunt’s spiritual substance. It was part of her true identity as God’s, Spirit’s, creation.

Gradually, I was becoming aware of the fact that true substance is neither matter nor a mushy set of moral values, but something . . . well, substantial. Something real and tangible and solid. Something that Eddy was referring to as the essence of our being.

Now add to this picture the realization that God, our Father-Mother, is the source of harmony, intelligence, and generosity and is providing them to all Her creation constantly. You could say that God built them into the true identity of each of us.

Not long ago, I broke my leg. It was a minor break, and the healing didn’t take long. Then, only a few months later, while biking, I was “doored”— a driver opened his car door just as I was passing. I flipped over the door and broke the other leg.

I can’t say I welcomed this sequence of events, but I felt that it was a clear wake-up call. Materialistic thinking—a view of life as physical—saw me as vulnerable, made up of fragile substance. Clearly, I needed to get a more spiritual understanding of my true identity as being made of the indestructible substance of Spirit.

It was an opportunity for me to correct my understanding of my true being. I was starting to understand myself as made exclusively of spiritual substance. And now I was mentally prepared to heal this problem through prayer. 

I began by acknowledging that I was made of divine qualities—qualities that exist independently of any material structure. Following the second incident, I did have the leg X-rayed and the bone set. But in my thought, I prayed to deepen my understanding of myself not only as made of the indestructible substance of goodness, honesty, and wisdom but also as living in the kingdom of heaven, where the substance of those qualities was constantly being renewed.

I reasoned that the spiritual qualities of which I was constituted—kindness, compassion, moral courage, and countless others—were not just intact but unbreakable. They have their origin in God. Being God-made, they are God-maintained.

It struck me that I had an opportunity during this period of prayer to mentally redefine myself. Although it might appear egotistical to identify ourselves with these noble qualities that are the stuff of which we are all truly made—pure, spiritual substance—this is the model that Jesus laid out for his students: to identify themselves and others as the children of God. He said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). This is exactly how I strove to identify myself, as all individuals can rightly identify themselves—totally one with our perfect Father-Mother God.

The orthopedist looking after me told me at our second meeting that he’d never seen a healing as rapid as this one. Very soon my leg was completely healed, and I was able to resume all normal activity.

I’m still in the daily, moment-by-moment process of defining myself spiritually. But it’s wonderful to know that the substance of which we are all made is forever spiritual and perfect.