Without Variableness

HAROLD C. LEWIS

The Apostle James in beautiful words assures us, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." Christian Science reveals that because God is All-in-all, the only creator, unchanging and harmonious, the real man and the real universe are likewise unchangeable. That which fluctuates, manifesting plenty today and want tomorrow, health at one time and sickness at another, is not in accord with the truth of being. These mutations go on in mortal belief only, and never touch reality. Hence, we rise above them as we understand the truth of being. Jesus said, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

The statement that with God "is no variableness, neither shadow of turning," has far-reaching implications. Because God is unchanging, His relationship to man, His laws governing man, and His provisions for man's sustenance and well-being are unchanging. If therefore Christ Jesus, through his understanding of God, healed the sick, fed the multitude, and raised the dead, the same spiritual law will do so now, when rightly applied, according to his promise, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also." Our revered Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, says (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 135), "The miracle introduces no disorder, but unfolds the primal order, establishing the Science of God's unchangeable law."

Chance and change represent the variableness of mortal belief, not the truth of being. Human experience, based on the belief of life and intelligence in matter, may change from abundance to lack, from health to disease, and from joy to sorrow. Such changes go on as mortal thinking changes. The testimony of the senses will diminish as we forsake material thinking and plant ourselves on the firm foundation of spiritual truth. Spiritual things, unchangeable and unchanging, alone represent the real.

God, Spirit, is the only substance, and man and the universe reflect Him. Therefore, real substance cannot fade, decay, disintegrate, or pass away. Real substance is indestructible. There is no substance, no reality, in that which is subject to discord and decay.

Because "every good gift and every perfect gift" comes from God, man's supply comes from Him. Man's supply is, therefore, without variableness. Good does not fluctuate. In reality, there is not plenty today and want tomorrow, for with divine Love there is "no variableness, neither shadow of turning." Man, God's image and likeness, always manifests supply without variableness. Discerning the nature of true substance, we find that it belongs to all, through reflection, now and forever.

In ever-present divine Love there is no variableness, no storm, no disaster. The only atmosphere is the atmosphere of Love, the atmosphere of Spirit. There is nothing in the realm of Spirit that can cause suffering, disease, or death. The Christlike understanding of omnipresent, unchangeable Love speaks with authority to the surging waves of error, and the storm is subdued. Man, God's idea, dwells forever in "the unchanging calm and glorious freedom of spiritual harmony" (Science and Health, p. 248).

Mortals believe that life is variable, that as one grows older strength diminishes, faculties fail, and one finally succumbs; but this is not true of the man, who is the image and likeness of God. God, ever-present and eternal Life, is the only Life. Life is, therefore, unchanging; and, as God's children, we have life which reflects Life eternally and without variableness.

In Christian Science healing, what occurs? The shifting mists of false belief, which produce a distorted picture of man as material, frail, changing, and dying, melt away before the truth of being, and we gain a glimpse of man as God's own child, perfect and unfallen.

Since God is unchanging Love and wisdom, He cannot change in response to human supplication. True prayer does not seek to change God, asking Him to do something which, it is feared, He would not do unless implored to do so. True prayer, we learn in Science, is the affirmative prayer which realizes the allness of God, Life, Truth, and Love, and the powerlessness and nothingness of that which is unlike Him. Prayer is the exercise of spiritual understanding, which lifts human consciousness into harmony and joy, the kingdom of heaven, where sin, disease, and death are unknown.

For true happiness and success one must give up false beliefs, and lay hold on the things of Spirit—purity, holiness, and spiritual understanding. Like Solomon, we must desire an understanding heart above all worldly treasures. As we do this, happiness and peace will become more permanent, the ups and downs of mortal belief will be less evident, and we shall lay hold more firmly on true substance. Science, radiant with love, leads us out of the mutable and mortal into the immutable and eternal realm of Spirit. Our Leader writes in her poem "Christ My Refuge" (Poems, p. 12):

"Thus Truth engrounds me on the rock,
Upon Life's shore,
'Gainst which the winds and waves can shock,
Oh, nevermore!"

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