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| photo by Eva-Maria |
For example, when we look at a tree that has turned into autumn colors of yellow, orange, and deep red, and marvel at this radiant beauty, we may see the tree as an object and interpret it as transient—a joy to behold, but fleeting. But is beauty
in that "object" called "a tree"? Or are we beholding a mental concept and calling it beautiful? As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And that saying rings true from the perspective of Christian Science. True beauty is something we are conscious of—it's a permanent, spiritual idea made and expressed by the divine Mind. Because this idea belongs to Spirit, beauty exists everywhere, for as the prophet Jeremiah heard God ask, "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" (
Jer. 23:24).
In her major work,
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy explained that "... matter is temporal and is therefore a mortal phenomenon, a human concept, sometimes beautiful, always erroneous" (
p. 277). Matter is a false impression made on the eye of the beholder—an erroneous assumption mentally entertained and objectified. And between an assumption and a spiritual idea, there is an unfathomable gulf.
Let's say you see a big dog chasing your cat. From this impression or human concept of an event, you might well generate a perception, such as the thought that your cat could come to harm. Of course, that's not the only possible perception, and you're not obliged to accept it. In fact, you would be better off with a spiritual impression based on knowing that divine intelligence is guiding both dog and cat. The dilemma, then, is not a cat and dog at odds; rather it lies in giving consent to a material concept and its supposed outcome. Regardless of the nature of the event or circumstance, we need to exercise control over material perceptions to defend our thinking from fear.
TOO OFTEN WE THINK OF MATTER AS IDENTICAL WITH SUBSTANCE, FORGETTING THAT MATTER IS ONLY A MENTAL SENSATION, ALWAYS SHIFTING AND CHANGING UNDER OBSERVATION.
I feel this fundamental truth applies to all the perceptions to which we're liable in daily life, whether they come to us from Wall Street or Main Street. But too often we think of matter as identical with substance, forgetting that matter is only a mental sensation, always shifting and changing under observation. To build our view of things on physical-sense phenomena is like building on sand. Mary Baker Eddy noted that the conventional view of creation assumes that "... the one God and creator entered what He created, and then disappeared in the atheism of matter" (
Science and Health, p. 580). As the 18th-century poet William Blake observed, "If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite." In divine metaphysics, the real beauty and substance of a tree, dog, cat, woman, or man lies entirely beyond all sensual impressions, or material appearences.
Science and Health explains: "Nature voices natural, spiritual law and divine Love, but human belief misinterprets nature," and adds that nature's elements "... all point to Mind, the spiritual intelligence they reflect" (
p. 240).
From the moment I found Christian Science, I knew that, as with speaking Chinese, I would have to study it first before "doing" it. By observation and practice, I felt I could learn to spiritually understand one of the pivotal points in Christian Science: Matter is never more than a mental concept. I've observed that matter—as a nonintelligent, lifeless, deceptive notion that something exists besides God and spiritual creation—needs my consent for me to speak for it, and that's what gives it life. For example, matter needs me to say, "Yes, I don't feel well" or "I am sad and lonely" or "I am afraid of an economic decline." With such consent, matter has a platform in a human-sense perception of reality, I'll witness the effects of agreeing with mortal mentality's objected state, matter. Without my consent, matter is of itself powerless, and I'm able to see matter as it's classified in Christian Science: a mental concept that makes false promises but stands for nothing.
I've also found that a spiritually mental concept does not need my consent. Christian Science explains spirituality, or our Godlikeness, as always operative within us, whether we know it or not. It's the activity of Christ—the idea of divine Truth and Love—in human consciousness, acclaiming the presence and power of a perfect God and His creation. God and His Christ are not in need of human consent to exert healing presence and power, or to impart understanding.
And yet a fuller recognition of and receptivity to Truth are necessary, as is obedience to Truth's invigorating influence. As we perceive peace and love as tangibly bestowed by God on each of His children, we will discover, as Mary Baker Eddy wrote, "Such prayer humiliates, purifies, and quickens activity, in the direction that is unerring" (
No and Yes, p. 39).
The writer of the book of Job in the Bible poses the question, "He is in one mind, and who can turn him?" (
23:13). I understand this to mean that only the divine Mind is causative. Mind is original cause, and matter is not. All we ever can say of matter and its baggage is that it's self-destroying error. Who hasn't seen its false, misleading influence in their life? Just when we think we have a promised happiness and peace in some material form, the material world lets us down.
The material concept of anything is inherently unreliable because it lacks good as its motive-power. God is constant good and Mind is all consciousness—the eternally fresh and pure, always inspiring and regenerating intelligence. Mind and its idea (you and I) is the only reality, and Mind eternally fulfills the promise of its power in ways that meet all needs.
The best way to discern this spiritual fact is by demonstrating it through experience. However small our comprehension of a spiritual concept might be, if we live by it to the best of our understanding, we'll see its truth proved over and over. And these proofs enable us to recognize the might of Mind in our life. We grow in our trust in God and all that belongs to Him, and that's what establishes our peace and harmony.
Christ Jesus said, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (
John 6:63). The Christ, the action of Spirit in consciousness, is above and beyond the limits of nonintelligent mental concepts (the fleshly mode of thinking). The Christ-activity governs in divine Science—in the spiritual realm, the whole of life—and we can say with the Psalmist, "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law" (
Ps. 119:18).
BY EVA-MARIA HOGREFE
