Many can identify well-known landmarks such as the Pyramids in Egypt or the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. And anyone eager to return home after having been away knows the thrill of spotting a familiar landmark—a bridge, a field, or a distinctive building close to home. Recognition of such a landmark brings the reassurance of knowing exactly where we are.

But what of false landmarks? What are they and how do they impact our lives? The importance of pondering and answering these questions is suggested by an intriguing statement in Science and Health: "Willingness to become as a little child and to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of the advanced idea. Gladness to leave the false landmarks and joy to see them disappear,—this disposition helps to precipitate the ultimate harmony" (pp. 323–324).

A false landmark would be something that gives us a mistaken reading, or misconception, of where we are. In terms of our journey of spiritual discovery, a false landmark—such as the notion that upon reaching a certain age, our usefulness declines—would misguide us or mislead us from the path we need to take. Who wouldn't be glad to leave such a landmark behind and forge ahead to achievement and progress!

The ability to detect a false landmark and to reject the belief that it can define our experience or impose boundaries on normal activity is our divine right. It is also essential for spiritual growth. Why? Because at the base of each such misconception is the assumption that man exists outside of God's control and that matter is the sum and substance of his being. But what a blatant falsehood that is! Presuming man to be at the mercy of matter would deprive divine Spirit, the creator, of His spiritual creation. When Jesus spoke of God as Spirit (see John 4:24), was he not referring to God as the one eternal, infinite, ever-present creator, or cause? And wouldn't that which Spirit creates of necessity be spiritual? If so, then how could God's man—the effect of that one divine cause—be material or exist outside of God's Spirit's, allness?

The material senses often present a very different picture of man as mortal, limited, subject to suffering, decay, and death; as a personal creator perpetually in competition with others. It's a convincing argument ... if one adopts the view that man is material. But a central theme of Holy Scripture is the importance of looking beyond matter to Spirit for a proper understanding of existence. Paul succinctly expresses this fact when he writes: "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God ... But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (I Cor. 2:12, 14).

"The spirit of the world" is the material view of creation. Its pronouncements about existence are the false landmarks we can happily leave behind. For if we accept these pronouncements as factual and final, we find ourselves trapped within boundaries that, in reality, have no jurisdiction over us. Here are a few such pronouncements that need to be detected and rejected in order for us to move forward in our spiritual journey:

1. Now that I've reached such and such an age, I can or cannot do such and such.

2. I'll never really be happy or satisfied or successful until I get more money or friends or recognition.

3. My physical or mental health depends on the kind of drugs or diet or physical exercise prescribed.

4. Life will be a lot better or worse when that neighbor or boss or politician is no longer around.

False landmarks—every one of them!

Growing up, I used to think that friendship was measured by the number of people who liked me, that a high grade in school was the real proof of intelligence, that supply was measured by the amount of money one had in the bank. I even thought of healing purely in terms of an improved physical condition such as the healing of partial deafness I experienced through Christian Science treatment. While comradeship, academic success, abundance, and restored health are certainly reasons for deep gratitude, I've learned to look beyond improved circumstances to the spiritual truths those improvements represent. The perception and embracing of those truths are the genuine landmarks of progress.

As a result, friendship has come to mean for me the expression of God's love throughout His creation. Intelligence, the evidence of God-derived wisdom, perception, and insight even in its humblest manifestation. And supply, the abundance of spiritual ideas appearing in multitudinous forms. As for healing, I've come to recognize that the ignorance, fear, or sin underlying a sickness has to be healed in order for the physical evidence to yield to the truth of man's perfect, spiritual nature. In the case of my hearing impairment, there wasn't an immediate change in the physical evidence; but I knew I had been healed when I realized that because of God's all-encompassing, harmonious control of His creation, there can be no obstruction to mar the beauty and perfection of real being. Normal hearing was restored shortly thereafter.

Because of the impetus for further spiritual exploration and discovery each challenge provides, I've learned how important it is to be receptive to "the advanced idea." Childlike trust in God's care and provision for each of His children is essential. Equally as important is a growing capacity to detect the false landmarks, reject them, and leave them behind. And what a joy it is to see them disappear!