Reflection

EDMOND COULIN

Whoever undertakes the study of Christian Science should endeavor to understand and apply "the first and great commandment," "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." When the light of Truth breaks upon thought, one finds it easy to love God as He is defined by Mrs. Eddy on page 465 of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," thus: "God is incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love."

When the student realizes that he has the privilege of manifesting the divine qualities as a ray of light does the sun, he understands that his real or spiritual selfhood is the child of God, at-one with his Father-Mother, Love. At this point he may ask himself how he could love God and not love his true selfhood.

The student next remembers the other commandment, namely, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." It is certain that the sincere student acknowledges his neighbor's true spiritual status even as he does his own. He sees the true selfhood of his neighbor only as the reflection of perfect God. This is the true way of loving one's neighbor as one's self. Theoretically this is easy; but when aggressive mental suggestion or the cloud of the false sense of material creation seems to interpose itself and dim one's vision, earnest work is necessary to refute the false suggestion. Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health (p. 410), "The more difficult seems the material condition to be overcome by Spirit, the stronger should be our faith and the purer our love."

Struggling to keep his perception right in spite of inharmonious appearances, a student received a lesson through the following incident. An enlarged photograph of a member of his family did not correspond to the small original photograph from which the enlargement had been made. Carefully examining the picture, the student saw that some retouching had changed the features and the expression of the portrait. Upon erasing the various retouchings, with joy he saw that as these disappeared the true features and the original expression appeared in the picture. This experience was an effectual help in the practical application of the commandment which refers to loving one's neighbor as one's self.

When we realize that it is false belief which seems to hide the true reflection of God, in proportion to our faithfulness to this realization we shall see the child of God, perfect as the Father. We shall then understand that holding to this correct view is the way of loving one's neighbor as one's self. On pages 476 and 477 of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy shows the healing value of this correct way of thinking. She writes: "Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick."

Under every circumstance, then, may we strive to see, as the Master saw, our real spiritual selfhood. If every Christian Scientist were faithful in this work, spiritual creation would shine forth, dissipating the mist of mortal belief, and we should have the proof of the Preacher's words, "Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions."

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