Do you sometimes reach the point where something in your day or in your life seems difficult, and you can't seem to fix it? Maybe your computer is frozen or a relationship is going sour or you lose your job. Can God help? The Bible says, "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord." Exodus 14:13
What is the nature of this God, and how can an understanding of His nature help us with our affairs? Mary Baker Eddy, discoverer of Christian Science, from her thorough study of the Bible, saw God as defined by seven distinct but synonymous terms: Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love. All of these aspects of God are present and powerful. What, then, prevents us from feeling love, gaining health, finding solutions to problems?
Some of us remember a little character in the comic strips that always walked around with a cloud over his head signifying his negative state of mind. Well, just as a cloud in the sky prevents the sun from reaching us, our mental clouds of annoyance, frustration, uncertainty, fear and so forth prevent the love of God from coming into our hearts to comfort and heal us.
A better understanding of God dissolves these mental clouds. So let's see just what God is. Expanding upon the terms Mrs. Eddy found for God, we can see that Mind's attributes include creativity, intelligence, wisdom. Spirit includes power, strength, substance. Soul includes beauty, inspiration, intuition. Principle includes government, law, order. Life includes health, continuity, energy, consciousness. Truth includes certainty, immutability, justice. Love includes attraction, joy, goodness, mercy, forgiveness, comfort, peace.
How can we apply these ideas to our lives? Here's an example. Last month I was preparing for an extensive and rigorous trip when suddenly I fell and hurt my knee. I could not walk or even put weight on that leg. This put a black cloud over my travel plans. But because I have seen and experienced the healing of many things through prayer to God I trusted that this knee problem, too, could be healed through the love of God.
The prophet Isaiah in the Bible tells us, "…unto me (God) every knee shall bow." In order to bow, the knee must be perfectly adjusted. The ligaments, bone structure, tendons, and joints must move in obedience to Mind (God). Mrs. Eddy says in her book Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures, "Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Savior saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick."
I began to replace every evidence of limited mobility with Isaiah's promise that every knee, including mine, shall bow. I declared that God made me perfect and maintains my perfection. I kept these thoughts constantly active in my mind. In less than twenty-four hours the dark cloud lifted and the knee was completely healed. I easily walked through two airports, climbed steep city streets, and ran up many staircases over an eleven day period.
The knee has been flexible and strong ever since.
We can all use the understanding of God by 1) acknowledging that God is the source of all we need, 2) examining our consciousness to find any cloud of fear, anger, self-righteousness, self-will, anything that would block out the love of God, 3) erasing those clouds and replacing them with the truth that God sends good, and therefore we need not be burdened by responsibility or fear, and 4) opening our consciousness to hear what is coming to us from God.
Soon we will feel the love and peace that come from being willing to get out from under the cloud and trust God's infinite flow of ideas. We can rest assured that our needs will be met. This attitude allows God's infinite goodness to strengthen us and to operate in our lives.
Linda Perron is a Reader at First Church of Christ, Scientist, 3020 Hamilton Blvd, Allentown, with Reading Room at 86 East Broad Street, Bethlehem, online at: christianscience.com and www.facebook.com/AllentownCSChurch