We all feel nostalgic from time to time. Sometimes this disguises a desire for meaning or belonging. But looking back isn’t helpful if we’re entertaining, maybe unconsciously, thoughts of “Things were better when . . .” Longing for what once was, or idealizing a certain time period, with either regret or nostalgia, can box in our thinking with a sense of life bound by time periods and material conditions. It can obscure the spiritual fact that real good is abundantly present, here and now. 

To help us understand more deeply the good that is always available to us, Christian Science explains all true good as sourced in God. God, divine Life, is unchangeable and eternal. And God’s expression is eternally active, never outdated or diminished or bound to a certain age or period. Many individuals have found that studying and practicing Christian Science helps them to be more aware of the divine power and presence.  

We start with understanding that spiritual progress is linked to thought that is forward-looking—toward the understanding of the present reality of God’s kingdom. Referring to the words of the master Christian, Christ Jesus, Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “. . . ‘The kingdom of God cometh not with observation’ (with knowledge obtained from the senses), but ‘the kingdom of God is within you,’—within the present possibilities of mankind” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 251).