As one contemplates the mortally mental picture of a world in confusion and distress, of a race seemingly unable to cast off the fetters of disease and sin, what, think you, may be the basis of humanity's bondage.' In the light of Christian Science we are coming to see that it is the belief that man is separated from God. No matter what afflictive situation anyone may seem to be facing, the false belief, the lie, that man is separated from his creative Principle is the root of the difficulty. Paul writes (Eph. 2:13, 14): "Now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us."

Christian Science has come to do away forever with the "middle wall of partition." Indeed, it is the divine office of the Christ to show men how they may demonstrate man's eternal oneness with God.

Unenlightened human beings seem to hold to the traditional and false concepts of Deity in which they have been educated; but certainly if God be regarded as a personal, remote entity, one has no definite assurance, of present protection and safety. False theological concepts have inculcated the belief that we are separated, isolated material entities operating in our own personal orbits, entirely out of contact or unity with divine power, and with no understanding of that divine law which spiritual sense reveals is actually sustaining and governing the entire universe and man.

Christian Science declares that God is Mind; but this does not mean a distant Mind. It does not mean that the ideas or thoughts of the one infinite Mind come to man from some remote or faraway place. God, or infinite Mind, is not localized. You and I cannot conceive of infinite Mind other than as omnipresence. Omnipresent Mind necessarily means all-inclusive, all-pervading consciousness. Indeed, the fact that you are conscious, that you can think, that you express the power to reason and know, is the evidence that Mind is ever present. We even hear this truth expressed in the phrase, "He had presence of mind."

We see, then, that in Christian Science the infinity and omnipresence of Mind are not accepted as theory but as absolute fact, a fact that may be intelligently and practically applied in meeting the difficulties and problems of human experience. We apply the absolute fact of God's omnipresence to the relative or mistaken belief which suggests that He is absent or far away. Our discernment of the Christ, Truth, then frees us from the fear and misconceptions arising from the belief that God and man are separated. In the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy, its author, writes (p. 42): "The belief that man has existence or mind separate from God is a dying error. This error Jesus met with divine Science and proved its nothingness."

What would man be without Mind or ideas? A nonentity, or nonexistence. "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Prov. 23:7). Divine ideas do not leave Mind. They are not separate or separated from the Mind in which they exist. They are forever one with Mind and partake of the character and substance of Mind. So we understand in Christian Science that man, being the compound or infinite idea, is forever one with Mind.

It was his understanding of God as the only Mind that enabled Jesus to prove his divine sonship. He proved that undeniable and eternal fact—the inseparability of God and man. Never at any time did he disassociate himself from his divine source. He constantly declared and evidenced his unity with Life and Love. He said (John 10:30), "I and my Father are one;" and referring to this, Mrs. Eddy writes (Science and Health, p. 333): "The divine image, idea, or Christ was, is, and ever will be inseparable from the divine Principle, God. Jesus referred to this unity of his spiritual identity thus: 'Before Abraham was, I am;' 'I and my Father are one;' 'My Father is greater than I.' The one Spirit includes all identities."

To Jesus, oneness with divine Being was not a theory. It was a scientific fact which he demonstrated. He recognized quite naturally that God was actually his Mind, and he spoke and acted from that spiritual standpoint. He saw clearly that man possesses no mind, no life, no substance, no being separate from God. The Apostle Paul, discerning this same relationship of God and man, declared to the Athenians (Acts 17:28), "In him we live, and move, and have our being." In that statement the unity and inseparability of God and man are established forever. David also declared (Ps.139:3,5): "Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. ... Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me."

Man's inseparability from God necessarily means his oneness with unending supply and abundance, and this truth of being understood and demonstrated means the dissolution of mankind's belief in lack and economic inequities. Being forever one with God, man stands as His inseparable witness, the proof and evidence of God's entity. Understanding the importance of demonstrating this fact, Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health (p. 91): "Let us rid ourselves of the belief that man is separated from God, and obey only the divine Principle, Life and Love. Here is the great point of departure for all true spiritual growth."

Richard J. Davis