Divine Control

Albert F. Gilmore

Mrs. Eddy bases the teachings of Christian Science upon the fact of God's Mind's, omnipotence and omnipresence, upon which she postulates all its healing power. On page 177 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" she states her conviction regarding this with characteristic positiveness: "The evidence of divine Mind's healing power and absolute control is to me as certain as the evidence of my own existence." The tremendous force of this statement is grasped in its full meaning only as one realizes somewhat of Mind's omnipotence, and that since Mind is infinite, it is the only power.

So accustomed have mortals become to think of material or physical force, so called, as real that they are slow to grasp the great truth that there can be no power or strength apart from omnipotence; and omnipotence belongs to God, Mind, which is the only power. It was recognition of God's power as infinite that enabled Elijah to declare that God was not in the fire, the earthquake, or the whirlwind, but in the "still small voice," which came from a divine source, that is, from God. On the basis of Mind's omnipotence and of the unreality of any other seeming power, all the healing work of Christian Science is accomplished. The understanding of Mind's omnipotence destroys all belief in the claims of an evil power which seem to control the lives and destinies of mortals. Therefore, a fundamental necessity, if one would heal by spiritual truth, is to lay hold of the fact of Mind's all-power.

Mind's control of the universe is complete and permanent; it is without exception or variation; it can never be set aside, annulled, or superseded. Mind's control is, moreover, harmonious—the government by infinite Mind of its perfect ideas, which constitute the spiritual universe, including man. In proportion as mortals understand this, does divine control become a demonstrable fact. Then the beliefs of sin and disease disappear, because they are no part of the divine economy. Mrs. Eddy says of this (Science and Health, p. 171), "Mind's control over the universe, including man, is no longer an open question, but is demonstrable Science." And she cites the proofs adduced by Christ Jesus of divine Mind's control in destroying sickness and sin, even in overcoming belief in death.

How is this control to be made manifest in overcoming discord in its manifold types? Through mental processes exclusively; that is, through correcting thought, exchanging false beliefs for spiritual truth, the truth that Mind's control is supreme. When it is learned that God's universe is the only universe; that it is spiritual and perfect, like God; that man, as the reflection of God, possesses no quality or attribute unlike Him, hence is spiritual and eternally perfect—when these facts become one's understanding, the false concepts which would represent man as sick, sinful, discordant, controlled by so-called mortal mind, are superseded, and man stands revealed in present and everlasting perfection. In this way is the control of divine Mind established.

Always one's mentality is the battle ground. There is no other. Thought manifests upon the body its own conditions and beliefs. Fear arising from a false concept of God and man, belief in matter as real and in discord as a fact—these lead to the expression outwardly of discordant conditions, the outcome of discordant thinking. Just as surely does the truth about God and man, of God's infinite presence and power, and of man's perfection, laid hold of, assimilated, made one's own, become the antidote for every erroneous belief. Spiritual Truth is the perfect physician. The healing Christ is an agency always at hand, always available.

Mrs. Eddy is very definite about Mind's control of the universe. With complete conviction she writes, "Mind, that governs the universe, governs every action of the body as directly as it moves a planet and controls the muscles of the arm" (The People's Idea of God, p. 8). No statement of the case could possibly be clearer. There is but one power, divine Mind. Divine power is infinite, and always in control of God's universe; hence there can be no other power to motivate the body. Mortals try to deal with other seeming powers, multifarious in form and kind, but they are nil—counterfeits of the divine All-power.

How sure was Christ Jesus of God's omnipotence, although, even when encompassed by his enemies, he sometimes refrained from exercising it! On that memorable night in the garden of Gethsemane he told Peter that, did he choose, he could call down twelve legions of angels to his assistance. Thus did the Master symbolize divine power, which in its infinitude he knew to be available to destroy every phase of error, every erroneous belief. To know that this divine power, infinite and wholly beneficent, is ever available to destroy the claims of evil, strengthens faith in God, good, and correspondingly lessens belief in all else. Divine Mind's control is possible of present demonstration in every situation in which we may find ourselves.

Albert F. Gilmore

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Value of Spiritual Understanding

March 10, 1928

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