Before one becomes familiar with the teachings of Christian Science the sense he has of himself is largely that he is a human being whose existence is dependent upon a physical body and subject to it. But in Science he gains an appreciation of his spiritual selfhood, and this helps him to become aware of the higher aspects of human life.

He finds that spiritual qualities actually constitute his selfhood and determine his experience. He learns that while moral and spiritual qualities are distinct, they are inseparable; the moral qualities are transitional and always point to the spiritual, from which they are derived.

Mary Baker Eddy mentions some of these qualities on pages 115 and 116 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." Under the heading "Scientific Translation of Mortal Mind" she lists the moral as, "Humanity, honesty, affection, compassion, hope, faith, meekness, temperance," and the spiritual as, "Wisdom, purity, spiritual understanding, spiritual power, love, health, holiness."

True humanhood—the humanhood which Christ Jesus manifested and which was free from sin and disease—is found in the blending of these moral and spiritual qualities.

Jesus' prayer for all those who would believe on him was "that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us" (John 17:21). When Christ, the true idea of God, is active in our consciousness, we eagerly seek the spiritual, the real, status of our being.

This sense of oneness, or unity, with God and His Christ makes us dissatisfied with the lower aspects of human life, which center in physicality, and impels us constantly to seek the higher aspects and yield to them. As a result, there is a lessening of sin and disease in our experience. We learn to love righteousness and desire it above all else as we grasp in some degree the significance of the Psalmist's plea (Ps. 5:8), "Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face."

Moral and spiritual qualities are made our own as the human yields to the divine. This yielding involves a discipline which improves and regulates our present sense of existence. Higher aspects of humanhood unfold. Liberated step by step from many of the lower elements of thought—fear, ignorance, envy, superstition, lust, and so forth—human consciousness gains a freedom that it would never be aware of otherwise.

The humanhood that develops, or unfolds, is one that is less and less susceptible to the adverse influence of mortal mind. It becomes freer from limitation, restriction, frustration. A sense is gained of the underlying laws, or forces, of divine Mind which support and preserve normal human footsteps and concepts and make them fruitful, transforming these concepts the while.

A new individual is brought forth, one who progressively overcomes the elements and influences that would bring disappointment and grief into his experience. Yielding to the law of God, he becomes superior to his environment. He becomes surer of himself, less prone to accidents, less subject to worldly conditions. Divine promises become fulfilled in his experience.

Because the human sense is the best sense we presently have of ourselves, it needs to be lifted up. In this lifting up we rejoice in our God-provided ability to yield completely to the moral and spiritual. As this yielding continues, more and more of the spiritual qualities appear—qualities that identify us with the divine source of being and reveal our true spiritual identity as a son of God. Jesus said (John 12: 32), "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."

Getting even a glimpse of this true identity as the present and eternal fact of ourselves, we become less concerned with what the material senses declare about us. We entertain less fear and anxiety about our well-being. We think more and more of ourselves as spiritual identities. This has a profound effect upon our present experience, for through spiritualizing our consciousness we bring ourselves into accord with the perfect government of divine Mind and we realize that the divine is not something way off somewhere in time or space but is the reality today right where we are.

We learn through prayer how to trust ourselves to our Father's care. In doing so, we gain a better, a higher, sense of selfhood. Our spiritual identity as a child of God unfolds in our present experience. A new sense of ourselves is brought forth.

As our Leader writes in Science and Health (p. 201): "Truth makes a new creature, in whom old things pass away and 'all things are become new.' Passions, selfishness, false appetites, hatred, fear, all sensuality, yield to spirituality, and the superabundance of being is on the side of God, good."

Exalting moral and spiritual qualities as the higher aspects of human life, we "put off the old man with his deeds; and ... put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him" (Col. 3:9, 10).

Ralph E. Wagers