One morning my husband spent a futile few moments endeavoring to turn off the alarm clock. It was early and, bleary-eyed, he fumbled with what he thought was the clock. In fact, what he'd picked up was an ornamental wooden elephant that's kept by our bed. No wonder he was unsuccessful in his attempt to silence the ringing! I had to laugh.

This made me think of how, sometimes, we confuse the identity of two people. For instance, at a glance, we may believe we recognize a friend on the street. But closer inspection reveals that that person is not who we thought he or she was.

When you think of that word identity, what comes to mind if you're asked to describe a particular friend? Is it such physical characteristics as height or shape or hair color? What about qualities that we associate with our friend—such as joy, sincerity, patience? Isn't it really these that are of prime importance to us?

Such qualities come from God. According to the Bible, man is made in God's likeness and therefore expresses Godlike qualities. It seems logical, then, that if we want to find out more about ourselves, we have to start with God.

What is God? In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Mrs. Eddy answers the question this way: "God is incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love" (p. 465).

Because God is incorporeal, He is not made up of matter or subject to time. No change can ever occur to God's being. The true identity of man, therefore, as the offspring of God, is not made up of matter; it remains unchanged and can never be lost or limited. Because God is infinite Mind, there is no short supply of wisdom and intelligence in creation. Because God is infinite Spirit, there is no limitation to the energy and vitality creation expresses.

God is perfect and eternal, having no beginning and no end. And so the real identity of every element of God's creation is perfect and eternal.

Armed with such spiritual facts, we can refuse to be swayed by evidence suggesting that disease or inharmony is possible to man or to any of God's creatures. Instead, we can turn to the spiritual perspective, to what God knows. We can recognize that mortality, feebleness, lack of love, are unknown to God, and so can have no part in true being. This helps to unmask the false claim of matter as substance, or evil as reality, and to show forth the true, spiritual nature of all that God has made.

Christ Jesus didn't see what others saw. He perceived God's creation as perfect and complete. As we too come to be convinced that sickness, for instance, cannot be present in God's kingdom, sickness and inharmony yield to health and well-being.

A few years ago, my husband and I took pity on a stray dog. Unfortunately, a few days after her arrival, the dog developed symptoms of distemper. A veterinary surgeon confirmed this and advised us to have the dog put down straightaway.

In prayer we turned to God. With the help of a Christian Science practitioner we began to recognize the true identity of all God's creatures as spiritual and therefore indestructible. Even though the appearance was distressing, our fear and anxiety were soon replaced with a firm trust in God's perfect care for all His creation. Our thoughts became filled with appreciation for all the good qualities that we knew were natural to this animal: faithfulness, boundless activity, contentment, strength. These were aspects of the dog's real identity and could never be lost or taken away. A very quick healing resulted, and today (eight years later) the dog is still with us, in perfect health, still expressing all those good qualities that she just has to express as a creation of God.

The evidence before the physical senses can often be very convincing and so tempt us to believe an outright lie, like sickness—just as my husband was sure that morning that the wooden elephant was the alarm clock. He was convinced of this until he opened his eyes and saw the mistake he had made.

Whatever is ungodlike is only a mistake—no part of God and so no part of God's creation. As we come to understand this, we'll gain increasing freedom from mistaken identity and its consequences.