In the New Testament there is frequent mention of Jesus' going into Galilee. It was there that much of his healing work was done, and it was there that much of his parables were given. As we study Christian Science, we learn that every incident recorded in the Bible has a spiritual significance, a definite, specific meaning found to be applicable to all, as one gains the spiritual perception which enables him to avail himself of its import and blessing. Mrs. Eddy writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 123), "Divine Science, rising above physical theories, excludes matter, resolves things into thoughts, and replaces the objects of material sense with spiritual ideas." Our Leader discerned and taught that the so-called material creation is a counterfeit of the true creation which eternally exists in the Mind that is God.

"Galilee" is derived from a Hebrew word meaning "a circle," and a circle is used as a symbol or sign of completeness. After the temptations in the wilderness and his great victory over the arguments of personal sense, it is recorded that "Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee." He recognized the spiritual completeness, the perfection, of God and His creation; and thus he realized the power of Spirit to overcome every material desire or temptation. No wonder "there went out a fame of him through all the region round about," for he had proved his God-given dominion over the deceptive suggestions of evil as real. From this, Galilee may be regarded as typifying a state of consciousness; and this becomes more evident as we see how frequently after Jesus had been in Galilee, "great multitudes followed him; and he healed them there."

It is recorded that an angel spoke to Mary Magdalene and to "the other Mary" when they came to see the sepulcher, and bade them tell the disciples that Jesus had risen, saying, "Behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him." There, in the recognition of God's allness and completeness, could they see the Christ; and as they departed, Jesus himself met them, and told them the same thing. Obedient to their Master's command, the disciples "went away into Galilee ... And when they saw him, they worshipped him."

How many times we too find it necessary to go into "Galilee"—into the spiritual realization of Truth! And we too may have a wilderness experience, where we are tempted to think that we can use Christian Science to satisfy material wants and desires; that with it we can attain material wealth, place, and power, each temptation claiming increased power over us. And so, in our own thinking, we must realize that God is the source of all that is good, and that we of ourselves can do nothing.

A young student of Christian Science once went through such a wilderness experience, when so much seemed to be wrong that it was difficult to keep out self-pity, bitterness, resentment, and condemnation. Many times the arguments and temptations were repeated, and each time they were rejected and reversed. The error, however, did not seem to yield; and from days it continued into weeks, and then into months. All this time the student was doing progressive work, and went forward in the face of all the arguments of failure, discouragement, and humiliation. During this time, too, much egotism and pride was recognized and discarded; but, as it seemed, the more the student worked, the more persistent became the arguments and the more hopeless the situation. Finally, when faced with demand for immediate action, a demand that seemed impossible of fulfillment, he turned from the evidence of the senses so far as to be able to realize God's presence and power. Then the claim was entirely destroyed; the student, so to speak, had "returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee." He had learned that the evidence of false material sense can never be true, and that by reversing and rejecting the arguments based upon what is materially seen, heard, felt, and by turning to what spiritual sense reveals as true, we are enabled to envision and to utilize the power of the Christ, Truth, to destroy the false mortal testimony.

Mrs. Eddy was always obedient to what God told her to do, and her vision was constantly directed toward heaven. She knew that nothing could endure but God and His creation; that nothing was real but God and His ideas. That she, too, frequently went into "Galilee" is evident from her works and her life; and what this meant to her is best expressed in her own words on page 16 of Science and Health, "Only as we rise above all material sensuousness and sin, can we reach the heaven-born aspiration and spiritual consciousness, which is indicated in the Lord's Prayer and which instantaneously heals the sick."