Because each of us is individual, no one is quite like anyone else, just as no two leaves, even on the same tree, are exactly alike. This individuality seems obvious, but sometimes it's hard to understand just what our special contribution is supposed to be.

At a time when I was pondering whether I was valuable, and even who I was, a friend pointed out Mrs. Eddy's answer to a similar question: "Thus may each member of this church rise above the oft-repeated inquiry, What am I? to the scientific response: I am able to impart truth, health, and happiness, and this is my rock of salvation and my reason for existing." ^{The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 165.}

Not long after reading this I was taking a walk, and I stopped and looked around. I saw a huge oak tree, individual tall pines, and a few white birch trees. Each was a distinct part of the whole scene.

I realized that the oak tree was not intended to be like the pine tree. Its leaves weren't meant to remain on the branches all winter as the pine needles did. Nor was the pine lacking because it didn't have white birch bark. Each tree expressed its own distinct characteristics and was complete and beautiful. I realized also that if any one of the trees had not been there, the picture would have been quite different.

In a letter Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth, he said, "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit." ^{I Cor. 12:4.} Then he talked about how each part of the body is needed: "The eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you." ^{I Cor. 12:21.} I thought of how our society is made up of very different kinds of people. But I was valuable just the way I was. I might not be just like this person or that one, but I had my own value. In reality my identity as man, God's expression, was always spiritual, intact and complete, reflecting God. So I could express every moment the qualities of God that I needed.

Soon after this I had a practical example in my own life of the truth that each of us is distinct. Two of my best friends and I tried out for high-school cheerleaders. I really did try to know that I was God's reflection, always expressing the qualities of God and always conscious of His purpose. So it came as quite a shock when my two friends were elected cheerleaders but I was not. I fought disappointment by knowing that I could trust God's development for me whether I was a cheerleader or not. I tried to follow what Christian Science teaches—that we can express "truth, health, and happiness," and I genuinely tried to be happy in my friends' happiness.

About two weeks later, some other friends suggested that I should run for senior class president. At first I was afraid that I would be opening myself up for another disappointment. However, the lesson learned from the trees was beginning to have real meaning for me. Neither a tryout nor an election could either give or take away my God-given identity, my spiritual integrity. The thought that I should try for this new opportunity kept coming to me. It made me think of the Bible verse that speaks of hearing a voice saying, "This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left." ^{Isa. 30:21.}

I did run for office, and I became the first girl to be elected to that position in our high school. Being class president opened up all types of experiences in which I continued to express my individuality as the reflection of God. This was certainly a proof to me that God's purpose can be trusted.

This lesson continued to bless me. I realized that I never would be exactly like any of my friends; neither would they accomplish just what I accomplished. Each of us could express God-given gifts in the fullest way.

Bitter competitiveness and envy melt away when reflection of God's qualities is understood. We can love, value, and cherish the good characteristics that distinguish others instead of criticizing them. We can be happy in the success that others have.

No two trees, no two people, are exactly alike, since each expresses individuality. As we become more aware of reflecting God's qualities, we are better able to act with spiritual assurance, to find our identity is intact because we are God's likeness.