Editorial December 9, 1944 Issue

The Certitude of Spirit

Margaret Morrison

The so-called human mind in its concept of life as existing in and of matter is always balancing good and evil, thus remaining in a perpetual state of uncertainty, never sure which will triumph, good or evil, health or sickness, life or death. Probably no peculiarity of this mind causes more mental pain and anguish than does uncertainty. Christian Science comes to this vacillating uncertain state and reveals the certitude of Spirit, the omnipotence and infallibility of good, God. God, as Spirit, which Christ Jesus declared Him to be, must be infinite, therefore incorporeal. His creation then is spiritual, and is expressed, not in material objects separated from Him and left to their own devices, flung out into space, as it were, and left to take care of themselves by uncertain ways and means. Rather is God's creation coexistent with Him, consisting of infinite, conscious, divine ideas, the spiritual objects of divine Love, inseparable from that Love's tenderness, held in perpetual harmony by the indissoluble bonds of divine Science. Understanding this we are enabled to give up the false concepts of God as a mixture of Spirit and matter, Principle and person, good and evil, and come into an understanding of Him as Spirit unmixed with matter; Principle unlimited by personality; good unshadowed by evil. So we escape the uncertainties of idolatry.

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, in her Message to The Mother Church for 1901 says (p. 2), "Absolute certainty in the practice of divine metaphysics constitutes its utility, since it has a divine and demonstrable Principle and rule—if some fall short of Truth, others will attain it, and these are they who will adhere to it." Spirit is positive in its activities and qualities, never negative or passive. So in working out the rules of divine metaphysics, one is required to be absolutely certain of those rules and their effects. There must be nothing passive or uncertain in one's thought and declarations. It is not enough to say: "Oh, I won't worry. I know it will be taken care of." Not only must one not worry—one must rejoice in the certainty of omnipotent good. It is not enough to say, "I am not afraid." One must attain unto certain peace because he knows the power and availability of Truth. It is not enough to say, "I do not hate anyone." One must love, with a vivid, clear reflection of that Love divine which is impartial and universal. There is no uncertainty in the Mind which is God, whose expression is man and the universe.

Much is being said today about social security, and many plans are being made by enforced paternalism to make secure the belief of life in matter, security from poverty, old age, and helplessness. While these are praiseworthy efforts to better conditions for mankind, and to give to human living a greater sense of security, they do not heal the cause of the ills they are intended to relieve— rather do they in some cases support and perpetuate those ills by promising security in them. Where then does true security lie? Always and only in the certitude of Spirit, in the understanding of what true values and securities are. These are never material, but spiritual—always found in uprightness of character and in divine qualities of Mind. Money, merely as matter, is powerless to support an individual, a business, a church, or a nation. It can very easily take unto itself wings and disappear.

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