The fact that man has dwelt forever an idea in Mind, expressing the irrevocable nature of permanence and continuity, is the teaching of Christian Science. "Before Abraham was, I am," declared Jesus, thus identifying himself with that which knows neither coming nor going, neither rise nor fall, neither beginning nor end. "Never born and never dying, it were impossible for man, under the government of God in eternal Science, to fall from his high estate," we read on page 258 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy. And in the margin are these words: "Individual permanency."

The theory of fallen man, separated from his divine origin, at the mercy of collapse and relapse, struggling continually and often against seemingly overwhelming odds to preserve himself, while knowing little if anything of his spiritual status as a child of God—this has been accepted by believer and unbeliever alike. Identifying himself with material existence, accepting its jurisdictions, hampered by its limitations, overshadowed by its prognostications, weighted by its cruelties and hardships, embittered or humiliated by its injustices and persecutions, mortal man knows neither permanence nor continuity. Yet man, unmenaced by dissolution or disruption, expresses eternal unfoldment in the realm of Mind.

"Spirit is the life, substance, and continuity of all things. We tread on forces. Withdraw them, and creation must collapse," writes Mrs. Eddy on page 124 of the textbook. The belief that there can be collapse of any kind, whether it call itself physical or moral, financial or national, comes as the result of building on a false sense of security, in blind disregard of the demands of Spirit, in the selfish willfulness of human desire. When men collapse physically, it is because of obedience or disobedience to the so-called laws of health; as a result, penalties have been exacted, restrictions imposed, which lead to discord and disease. When men collapse morally and financially, when nations collapse under the impact of violent inimical forces, claiming superior vigor and ability, or as the result of lowered standards and waning vision, it is because they have built, not on the forces of Spirit, but upon seeming material forces which men mistake for power. Only as the lesson is learned, in self-examination, in resolution, in regeneration, can that be built which knows neither lapse nor dissolution.

How undeviating was continuity in the career of Christ Jesus! Ruthless and unremitting during his three years' ministry were the attempts to distort his message, to discredit his actions, to destroy the whole purport of his life. They failed in every instance, and the glorious work went on, gaining in beauty and in value to humanity at every step. The final concentrated, organized wave of hatred and fury, launched to bring his career to a close in ignominy, and so forever silence his teaching, served but to prove the continuity of the divine idea which had been revealed to human consciousness by Christ Jesus. It was the collapse, not of Truth's messenger, but of evil's bid for supremacy, which was borne witness to in the Master's resurrection and ascension. Thus was "individual permanency" revealed as the evidence of that which had been built upon the foundation of Spirit, and therefore could not collapse.

To apprehend the government of God, to maintain man's spiritual identity, to know that, whatever the argument of mortal belief, mesmerized by numbers, affrighted by the seemingly resistless, relentless forces of evil, Truth is supreme—this is the call of the hour. The continuity of health, of substance, of safety is unassailable; divine Science has revealed to us that man has not fallen, can never fall, from his high estate. There can be no collapse nor relapse for him who understands and is daily proving that he is sustained by divine law, who recognizes that he is one with infinite health, supplied with abundance, guided by wisdom.

In speaking of him "who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life," the writer to the Hebrews comments, "This man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood."

In the divine plan, in man's fulfillment of it, expressing the nature of Deity, there is no changeableness. Because he thus beheld himself, and knew that in all eternity he had been ever conscious of his inseparable relationship with God, there could be no inconsistency, no deflection, no vacillation in the career of Jesus. In like manner will each one who knows that "he continueth ever," prove in steadfast consecration his oneness with the Father.

Building upon the consciousness of health, of security, of highest usefulness, upon the forces of Spirit and not matter, resolutely determined to give power to good only, even while alert and faithful in the handling of all enemy counterfeits of power, will those imbued with understanding and vision allow nothing to pierce their line or to break down their defenses. Thus, undismayed and undeterred by mortal happenings, will they continue to fulfill their divine destiny. Governed by laws which acknowledge neither downfall nor deflection, neither withdrawal nor defeat, neither deprivation nor destruction, "individual permanency" in continuous unfoldment will be seen to maintain and manifest the will of God in beauty, continuity, and power.

Evelyn F. Heywood