"Beloved , now are we the sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." In this passage John, the beloved disciple, not only states man's divine sonship, but emphasizes the newness of that sonship. This eternality or ever-nowness of being renders null and void any reason for fearing the past or being apprehensive of the future. Man has ever dwelt in the perfect now of God's presence, in His omnipotence, in His omniscience.

When Moses was commissioned to lead the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage, he felt the need of a definite name for God which would be comprehensible to the state of their thought. God supplied this need when he declared (Ex. 3: 14): "I AM THAT I AM....Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." This name may have enabled the Israelites to catch a glimpse of the scientific fact that their discordant experiences were not the product of the great "I AM" who "spake, and it was done," who "commanded, and it stood fast" (Ps. 33:9).

The "I AM" is God, infinite Truth, Mind, Love, the substance of all. "I AM" gives understanding, immortality, bliss, eternal life. Thus "I AM" includes all and gives us dominion over all our yesterdays, past months, past years, and even past centuries. "That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past" (Eccl. 3:15).

Tomorrow need not cause us to be anxious, for God is present today, and each tomorrow is today when we experience it. Just as all that is going to be already is, so also only that which now is ever has been. Nothing in the so-called past has accumulated to affect the present, nor is there anything to be apprehensive of in the so-called future. This is the test and measurement which anything actual, eternal, immortal, and real invites and survives.

The words "When he shall appear" and "we shall be like him" do not refer to future time, but to a state of consciousness, the individual recognition of that which has always been, is, and ever shall be. It is the realization of the unchanging perfection of God and of man, the son of God. Individual human consciousness, which is made up of what the individual recognizes and accepts as real, regulates and determines the individual's past, present, and future. Therefore, we are most fortunate to have the clear, complete teaching of Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, who in the Glossary of our textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 588), gives the following definition: "I Am. God: incorporeal and eternal Mind; divine Principle; the only Ego."

By this standard we should measure and test every thought, situation, event, or condition with which we may be confronted. If it be not of God, we may instantly refuse to take it into consciousness, to be swayed by it, or to experience any effect from it. Or if it be of God, we may accept and claim it, thus letting it become part of our consciousness. In so doing we then experience only the things of God, the "I AM."

We find many promises in the Bible to the effect that God goes before us; that He will not fail us, but that He will instruct us and teach us in the way in which we shall go. We are further assured by Mrs. Eddy that "Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way" (ibid., p. 454). The "I AM" keeps His promises because all that they include already is, ever has been, and ever will be.

The unfoldment of this truth to one student resulted in an instantaneous healing. She had awakened one morning with the symptoms of a severe cold, much dreaded because of past experiences. She instantly began to reason that fear never has been, is not now, and never will be in or of God, "I AM THAT I AM." She declared that her true being had ever been was and ever would be in Mind, and therefore she had never been afraid, was not afraid, and never could be afraid. Through realizing this idea of her oneness with God, she found herself entirely free from fear and the cold.

She had touched the hem of the healing garment by gaining some understanding of that scientific fact, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God." This understanding makes it possible, and even natural, for all to experience freedom from fear of the past and apprehension of the future, and to dwell harmoniously in the ever-present now.