Jack Edward Hubbell, C.S.B., of Palo Alto, California
Member of the Board of Lectureship of The
Mother Church,
The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in
Boston, Massachusetts
I recently boarded a jet airliner in London at two o'clock in the afternoon, traveled 5,500 miles, and arrived in San Francisco at 4:30 the same afternoon. While this is a common occurrence these days, it still seems remarkable. Quite an improvement over the Wright brothers' first flight of 120 feet. But even this jet is not the ultimate, as hinted by the space shuttle.
Yet, while mankind may travel faster and farther, it can never completely overcome time and space while accepting the confines of a material realm. Matter is the great imposition which limits every aspect of mankind's experience. There doesn't seem to be much we can do about it. Substance appears to be matter, whether we like it or not.
Some years ago, a survey was conducted among North American newscasters, asking them to describe the most dramatic story they could imagine.(1) Some suggested items like a complete disarmament agreement, or the discovery of intelligent extraterrestrial beings.
But I submit another which strikes down every limit known to mankind: the discovery and practical proof that substance is not matter, but exclusively spiritual.
Now I realize this is a very radical statement. But physical science recognizes there is more to reality than the narrow spectrum of what the eye sees. Why not expand our view of reality beyond the wave lengths of matter? This is the realm of divine Spirit — the final frontier. To explore this frontier of Spirit is the greatest adventure of all.
This exploration is not just theoretical — it's practical. You see, your health, wealth, career, location, ability, happiness — even life itself — seem limited by matter, time, and space. But, by discerning, even in a small degree that substance is actually spiritual, in that proportion you'll find limits begin to disappear.
So, let's start our brief exploration of the universe of divine Spirit. A spiritual universe? Yes, I agree that sounds like science fiction. Well, it's Science, but it's not fiction.
One person has already proven that the basis of all being is spiritual, not material. This individual was Christ Jesus. While a spiritual universe appears to you and me as an impossible frontier, to Jesus it was a practical, present reality. Jesus walked on the water, fed the multitudes, healed the sick, overcame time and space, — all in direct opposition to matter and material laws. How did he do it?
Traditional theology says God gave Jesus a special dispensation which enabled him to perform miracles. Yet Jesus said, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also."(2) How can we expect to duplicate his works if they were miracles resulting from a special dispensation that he alone received. But what if his works were based on a universal, spiritual principle available to all? Then it would be possible for anyone who understood the law to demonstrate it.
As surely as the jet airliner would have appeared miraculous to Columbus, so the works of Jesus appear as miracles to you and me. But the jet is no miracle. It results from the understanding and demonstration of thermo and aerodynamic principles which enable the plane to fly.
The vital question is: were the works of Jesus miracles, that is, contrary to law, or were they scientific, that is, in accordance with law? They certainly were not in accordance with material law. Neither were they miracles. What appeared as miracles were natural demonstrations of spiritual law. Obviously Jesus thoroughly understood something about spiritual substance and its laws that was unknown to the rest of mankind.
Jesus taught primary cause to be Spirit, not matter — the creator we call God. Nor did he accept two primary causes, Spirit and matter. He taught there is only one cause, one God, divine Spirit. Therefore Spirit, God, must be Principle, the source of the spiritual laws Jesus demonstrated.
Since his works were demonstrations of spiritual, divine law, we come to a conclusion which is relevant to you and me. Because a law must be timeless and universal, the very laws Jesus utilized must be operational for us right here and now. We too can utilize the laws Jesus demonstrated in proportion to our understanding of them.
The Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, desired to learn the scientific basis of Jesus' healings, to understand the spiritual laws he demonstrated in his healing work.
One day, while suffering from a critical injury, Mrs. Eddy called for her Bible, and pondering a healing that Jesus performed, experienced a spiritual awakening which resulted in a marvelous recovery. This awakening was a revelation which brought a glimpse of life in and of divine Spirit. This motivated her to delve even more deeply into the Scriptures, and eventually she apprehended the Principle and rule of spiritual Science and metaphysical healing, which she termed Christian Science.
This was a discovery; no one originates a universal law. The next forty years were devoted to further research based on reason, revelation, and demonstration, which enabled her to present to mankind a scientific system of the healing practiced by primitive Christians, a practical proof that substance is spiritual.
Critics of Mrs. Eddy have said, "If substance is exclusively spiritual, there'd be no matter; and man wouldn't exist." Perhaps they confused Christian Science with such thoughts as those of the character Tchebutkyin in Chekhov's play Three Sisters. He laments, "We are not real . . . we don't exist, we only seem to exist."(3) But this isn't Christian Science — it's the reverse. Of course man exists. Denying matter's existence doesn't eliminate man. Man exists spiritually, as the Scriptures tell us, in the image and likeness of God.
Jesus defined God as Spirit. The likeness of Spirit is not matter. This concept is carried to its logical conclusion in the textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mrs. Eddy. This book helps us see that, as surely as light could not create darkness, neither would Spirit, God, create matter. She writes: "Is Spirit the source or creator of matter? Science reveals nothing in Spirit out of which to create matter."(4) This is consistent with one of the basic premises of Jesus' teaching: like produces like. He asked, "Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?"(5) No! Neither can we accept a material effect resulting from a cause which is Spirit.
In the Gospel of John we read, "All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made."(6) Christian Science reasons: since God created all, and like produces like, then a perfect creator, which is Spirit, must have a perfect creation, which is spiritual. Therefore, what appears as an imperfect, limited, material creation must be falsely hypothetical, a lie about reality. Having no cause, matter and disease exist only as supposition.
Some critics have said this is where Christian Science is inconsistent because it classifies matter and disease as unreal, yet speaks of healing disease. Let me clarify.
The sun appears to move from east to west. This seems true relative to our point of view on earth, but absolutely speaking, it's the earth that rotates, not the sun. Much of the misunderstanding concerning Christian Science exists because the critic is speaking according to the relative view of the physical senses, while the Christian Scientist is often stating absolute, spiritual truth. Christian Science classifies as absolute reality only that which God creates. God doesn't create sin or disease, and having no absolute reality, their seeming existence can be destroyed.
When Christian Science speaks of the unreality of matter, sin, and disease, it doesn't ignore their apparent existence anymore than we can ignore the rising and setting of the sun. Nor does it wipe out from the physical universe all that hints the beauty and eternal harmony of God's creation. It simply states that what appears as a sick, sinful, mortal is not the man "born of God,"(7) but is the false, relative view of the perfect, spiritual man God created. This isn't just theory. Christian Science is practical and can be applied to everyday situations.
As an example, let me tell you about a cousin of mine who became very ill. The problem was medically diagnosed as tuberculosis in its final stage. The x-rays showed, among other evidence, a large cavity in one lung. He was sent to a sanatorium where the doctors offered no hope and gave him only six weeks to live.
I suggested that he explore Christian Science. He did so and began an earnest study of the Scriptures and the writings of Mrs. Eddy. Every Friday he was x-rayed and the six weeks elapsed without any appreciable change.
Then, one Thursday evening, lying in bed, he was contemplating what he had learned of God and his relation to Him. He told me he glimpsed the fact that a perfect cause, divine Spirit, wouldn't create imperfect man. So what appears as diseased matter must be a lie about real, spiritual substance. He realized as surely as there could be no vacuum in omnipresent Spirit, neither could there be a cavity in Spirit's manifestation. He said he felt a great surge of God's love, and he knew he was healed.
The next morning being Friday, he was given his regular examination. He told the doctors, "You won't find anything wrong; I've been healed." And so the x-rays and further lab tests confirmed.
As my cousin was packing to leave the sanatorium, the doctor in charge came to his room and commented that there was no possible medical explanation for the healing. He said, "I know it must have something to do with that book you've been studying — the one by Mary Baker Eddy." He added, "There's a man in the next ward for whom we've done all we can. He can survive only a few more days. Someone has recently given him a copy of that same book. Perhaps you could go over there, tell him about your experience, and offer him some encouragement."
My cousin did so and left the hospital. Two months later he received a letter from this man saying that he, too, had been released, completely healed through his study of Christian Science.
One may not accept the validity of Christian Science based on these two healings alone, but when considered in the context of thousands of carefully documented healings, including all manner of disease, surely no objective medical researcher or natural scientist should ignore such results.
Some physicists have recognized the importance that consciousness plays in the study of substance. The Nobel physicist, Dr. Eugene Wigner said: "Quantum mechanics has restored to physics the recognition of mind as a primary reality."(8)
A series of experiments recently completed at the University of Paris definitely supports the quantum theory.(9) Two subatomic particles were emitted by an atom and flew apart, like fragments from an exploding shell. Then these particles correlated one to the other instantaneously. They seemed to know instantly what the other particle was doing. They couldn't be signaling one another since nothing travels faster than the speed of light. Therefore, physicists reason that particles somehow remain distinct entities of one greater whole, even though galaxies apart. This fact regarding subatomic particles backs up a growing conviction among physicists that an object and its observer cannot be regarded as existing independent of one another.
Physicists recognize this opens Pandora's box presenting questions like: What about the larger objects we see, such as a chair or a human body, which are composed of subatomic particles? Could it be that they are not independent of one another? Do we create the substance we are experimenting with? Did the particles exist before we thought of them? Is the universe we look out upon the universe of our own thought? In short, quantum mechanics has pointed some physicists to entirely new directions of thought. For instance, the well-known physicist, John Wheeler, formerly of Princeton University, suggests it may be that we do not exist because the universe exists, but rather that the universe exists because there is man to think it.(10)
This is not as absurd as it sounds. Consider the healing of my cousin. I chose to share his experience because it serves as a laboratory lesson pertinent to our discussion of substance. The doctor asked my cousin, "Where did the molecules come from that filled the cavity in the lung?" That's a good question. Physical science had no explanation and surely God, Spirit, didn't create a molecule of matter. So what happened? One thing we know: my cousin had a radical change of consciousness, and substance became evident where there had been a cavity.
One thing we can deduce: what appears as disease and even matter substance itself, must have a direct relation to our thinking. This confirms an important phenomenon recognized in Christian Science, namely, our human experience is the objectification of our human consciousness. Indeed, our human experience, whether it's normal or abnormal, beautiful or distorted, is but an externalization of our individual consciousness.
So what is all this we see around us? Mrs. Eddy writes, "What you see, hear, feel, is a mode of consciousness, and can have no other reality than the sense you entertain of it."(11) A few highly respected physical scientists concur with Christian Science on this point: that the phenomenon we call matter is but a state of the human mind. Several years ago, the famous British astronomer, Sir Arthur Eddington wrote, "Not only the laws of nature, but space and time and the material universe itself, are constructions of the human mind."(12)
But we can't stop here. The question comes: If matter is a construction of the human mind, then what comprises the human mind? The neurologist and psychologist answer, "matter," simply because they have no other ingredient on which to draw. This is going around in circles. Is consciousness constructed of matter, or is matter constructed of consciousness? Both cannot be correct. Subatomic particles aren't conscious. If matter isn't conscious, then what is? The physical scientist will never answer, "What is substance?" until he answers, "What is consciousness?" and he'll never answer, "What is consciousness?" while accepting it as material. Sooner or later physicists must recognize that consciousness is not mental matter; consciousness is spiritual.
Christian Science explores far beyond the matter-mental realm. It answers the question: If my human experience is the objectification of my human thought, then why is my identification of a chair, color, or musical tone generally the same as yours? Because we all have basically the same human consciousness. This hints that the unity of being is a unity of consciousness, a consciousness that is neither in nor of matter. This primary, spiritual consciousness is the one divine Mind, God, the source of all real intelligence. This divine consciousness is not subdivided in man, but is reflected by man.
So, real being is a state of consciousness, not materially, humanly mental, but divinely spiritual. Speaking of this real being, Mrs. Eddy writes, "There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all."(13) Christian Science shows that matter and mortal mind are one, and this one is the supposititious opposite of divine Mind and idea.
Since our human experience is the objectification of our human consciousness, then to improve our experience, we must first improve our consciousness. Simply changing our thinking is not enough. This is one reason why Christian Science is poles apart from psychosomatics in all its forms. We must improve our consciousness. This is what we must do. How do we do it? We improve our consciousness by letting the divine Mind act on our human mind. In short, we improve our consciousness as we are receptive to the Christ.
Now, when I say "Christ," I'm not speaking of just the human personality of Jesus. Christian Science recognizes the Christ to be the presentation of divine, absolute Truth, coming to the flesh, to human consciousness, and thereby destroying the error in our thinking.
Jesus was the very special individual who so completely manifested the Christ, that he's correctly titled, "Jesus the Christ." So there's a distinction between Jesus and Christ, but no separation. The divine, spiritual qualities of God were manifested in the humanity of Jesus. It was Jesus' mission to present to mankind the Christ, God's true spiritual idea. The Christ comes to us as idea, an absolute true idea, emanating from God. It was the Christ which enlightened my cousin's consciousness, revealing the perfection of God's creation already present.
An analogy may clarify this point. During World War II, a ship was sunk in the South Atlantic. The survivors put out in lifeboats, but became lost, and eventually consumed all their drinking water. Things had become desperate, when they were rescued by a passing ship. Asked why they were so dehydrated, they explained they had been without water. They were then told they were about 100 miles offshore from where the Amazon River empties millions of gallons of water into the ocean. They were literally floating in fresh water.
Perhaps some of the survivors had prayed for drinking water. But they already had it. It wasn't a question of acquiring more fresh water, but correcting the fallacy that they lacked it. To correct the misconception they needed to know the truth, to become aware of the abundance of fresh water already present. It had no existence to them because they were not conscious of it. Nothing is real to us unless we are conscious of it. God gives us the Christ so we shall be conscious of reality, of the existence of God's perfect, spiritual creation.
Have you ever considered how many of our problems appear to be lack? A lack of health, wealth, employment, opportunity, time, a lack of ability or human companionship? But Christian Science shows that what appears as lack is simply a failure to be conscious of the abundance of God's goodness already present. Then shouldn't our goal be to acquire a perfect consciousness, one that knows the Truth?
Jesus said, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."(14) Free from what? Sin, disease, shortages? No, free from the false belief that they exist. Therefore, freedom from evil is being free of the belief that evil is real.
Let me illustrate. Suppose a friend has been hypnotized and tells you he's growing antlers and needs your help. Now you know he's been hypnotized. What are you going to do? Take him to a doctor to have the antlers surgically removed? Or, if you're a Christian Scientist, should you go to the concordances and research all the citations in the Bible and Science and Health on antlers? Are you going to treat antlers? Do you focus your work on his antlers? If you're trying to do anything to his antlers, then you, too, are hypnotized.
The only reason to study antlers would be to verify that such a condition is absolutely impossible. The problem isn't antlers; the problem is the hypnotic state of thought. The antlers may seem to be real, molecular substance to the hypnotized man, but they're only a mental misconception. To eliminate the misconception is to eliminate all there is to the antlers. Once we see this, we can turn our thought away from antlers and direct our work to the specific problem, namely the hypnotized state of thought.
Now, perhaps you're thinking, "This illustration is irrelevant. There's a world of difference in being hypnotized into believing you have antlers, and actually having a disease." But remember, the tuberculosis was certainly real to the doctors and my cousin. Yet it vanished when his consciousness changed, being enlightened with what is absolutely true about God and man.
All evil is error of belief. Where does this mesmeric belief come from? Well, hypnotism is not restricted to the action of one human mind on another. Actually, what hypnotizes is general world belief, universal error, the suppositional opposite of divine Truth. If we allow ourselves to be hypnotized, then the erroneous concept is manifested in what appears as a real problem.
Recognizing this, Christian Science reverses the process and resolves the problem — be it physical, financial, antlers, or whatever — back into a false mental state. By resolving it into a false mental state, we render it amenable to destruction. How? By letting the Christ, the idea of absolute, divine Truth, destroy the erroneous belief.
Some critics say, "Christian Science heals by hypnosis." Actually, Christian Science does exactly the opposite. It awakens man from a hypnotized state of thought. This awakening is not the result of blind faith, will-power, or positive thinking, but comes from gaining a Christ-like consciousness — one that knows the truth. Such a consciousness cannot be hypnotized because a consciousness that knows that which is, will never accept that which is not. A consciousness that knows that which is, is a consciousness imbued with the Christ. Being aware of reality, being conscious of ourselves as we really are, is knowing the truth that makes us free.
Since the Christ is imperative to healing, how do we gain a Christlike consciousness? First, we must have the desire to do so. Second, we must listen for and accept into our consciousness only pure, spiritual ideas, emanating from God. Third, we must put these Christ-ideas into practice in our daily living.
In my effort to do this, I've tried to maintain a Christlike standard of thought all day. That's not as easy as it sounds. I found I could do pretty well for about one minute. But it's this one minute that counts. This very minute is the most important minute of all! What are you thinking this minute? Surely you can maintain a Christlike standard of thought and live it for one minute. I've learned to take it a minute at a time — minute by minute. See how many minutes you can put together. Our goal is to live the Christ as Jesus did — twenty-four hours each day.
Let's summarize this discussion of healing. It's never a question of being sick, and using Christian Science to make man well. This would differ little from the medical practice. Rather, Christian Science recognizes that God creates and maintains man perfect. And the Christ destroys the mesmeric, false belief that man is imperfect.
Now, you may ask, "Why all this discussion about physical healing? What does it have to do with our exploring the frontier of Spirit?" As Sir Isaac Newton's falling apple hinted the law of gravity, so do Christian Science healings hint a divine, spiritual law operating here and now for good. Even the healing of a minor ailment through prayer indicates the operation of divine law.
You may recall that the Apostle Peter walked on water. After taking a few steps, he began to sink. Why? Wasn't it because even after proving his dominion, he was still impressed by the wind and waves and became fearful. You would think with each step he would have gained confidence. He must have failed to grasp that he was proving a spiritual law which supersedes a so-called material one. And so we tend to think of Peter's exploit as a failure. But his few steps were a tremendous triumph. Like the Wright brothers' first flight, it may have been short, but oh the promise!
Likewise, in Christian Science, it's not the healing alone that is so exciting, but what the healing indicates. It proves the existence of a spiritual law, which supersedes a so-called material one; it refutes the evidence that substance is matter; and it hints that a divine, spiritual universe does indeed actually exist. Now, this is thrilling!
Jesus said, "Rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven."(15) Rejoice not for just the healings, but rejoice that you have a spiritual identity, dwelling in the universe of Spirit, governed by spiritual law.
You may have come to this lecture seeking a practical answer to a practical problem, so this discussion of a spiritual realm may seem very hypothetical and impractical. But this realm is no fantasy, and its rewards have definite, everyday, practical value.
Regrettably, mankind has sought its fortune in other directions. People have searched for the seven lost cities of treasure and the fountain of youth. They have explored the ends of the world. Many new frontiers have been crossed as mankind has virtually covered the earth in search of riches and power. Yet, after thousands of years of toil and endeavor, and remarkable scientific achievement, can we honestly say this has brought mankind unlimited abundance, happiness, health, and peace?
Jesus said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."(16) Remember, our human consciousness is objectified as our human experience. So, seek ye first to enlighten your consciousness with the Christ, Truth, and good will be manifested in your experience in proportion as it occupies your thought.
Jesus sought and achieved his victories through his understanding of the reality of spiritual being, while mankind has generally sought fulfillment through material means. What a difference in the results. Jesus was tremendously successful in his endeavors. He stilled the storm. He needed money to pay his taxes? He had it! When multitudes needed food, he supplied it. Sickness and abnormality were eliminated. He even rejected the last limitation of death.
Jesus is our Wayshower. Then why should we continue to seek fulfillment using the same method that has failed century after century? Why not try a new approach, one that has proven successful? Why not follow Christ and seek the final frontier of Spirit, God?
This quest does not require us to climb towering mountains or cross steaming jungles, or to reach out to vast systems in space. Jesus said, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, low there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."(17) Within a material body? No, within a Christlike consciousness, one that is conscious of absolute, divine Truth.
There's nothing stopping us from going forward on the greatest adventure of all. But we won't be the first. Centuries ago, the Biblical patriarch Abraham left the familiarity of his own country and friends, and journeyed into a new land. Many individuals, including Moses and the prophets, have dared to turn away in some degree from the limiting aspects of traditional concepts.
Mary Baker Eddy was one such individual. As with the others, the established schools vehemently opposed her progressive steps. Mrs. Eddy was a pioneer, a true frontiersman of great spiritual vision, reaching out beyond the universe of the physical senses. She broke through the limits and dogma of physical science, medicine, and traditional theology. She foresaw that day when man shall have complete mastery over time, space, and all other limitations.
As a pioneer exploring the realm of Spirit, she inspired men to follow her only as she followed Christ. And follow Christ she did, not only in what she wrote, but in how she lived, healing the sick and sinning, giving all credit to God.
The New Testament translates Jesus' words from the Aramaic into a language that you and I can readily understand. But Jesus also spoke the language of Spirit, and his meaning must be spiritually understood. Mrs. Eddy helps us do this through her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. We cannot overestimate the tremendous importance of this book. It leads mankind out of the stone age of matter limits. It illumines the ultimate of spiritual existence. Through its pages, we begin to glimpse, however faintly, the vast potential that comes with the discovery of the universe of divine Spirit.
Now, this spiritual universe was no unexplored frontier to Jesus. He understood it thoroughly. Yet, with all his success, physical scientists still ponder the substance of the universe. The quantum theory doesn't answer the question. Even our beloved Einstein spent the last thirty years of his life searching for a unified field theory that would explain the unity of being.
The answer will never be found in matter. More physical scientists are beginning to recognize this fact. Hear these words from the keynote address given at the First Federal Science Congress at the University of Zimbabwe, attended by some four hundred physical scientists from all over the world: "In the quest for dominion over the earth, we have now come to the most crucial state in our long history. We are now face to face with materialism, which glares threateningly back at us like a cornered beast, its destruction coming nearer, its danger and potentialities becoming maximal. We find ourselves without weapons, not realizing that dominion over the earth is to be derived through metaphysics rather than through physics."(18)
Mrs. Eddy has written, "Metaphysics, not physics, enables us to stand erect on sublime heights, surveying the immeasurable universe of Mind, peering into the cause which governs all effects, while we are strong in the unity of God and man."(19) There is a unifying Principle of being. It is God, the one infinite, divine Mind.
Natural laws often hint the existence of spiritual reality. It is difficult to see how subatomic particles could be distinct and galaxies apart, yet at one with a greater whole. But we can see how a divine idea is distinct, yet ever at one with infinite, divine Mind. This oneness of divine Mind and idea is an instantaneous relation — indeed, an inseparable correlation which is no part of time or space.
Don Quixote sought "to dream the impossible dream, to reach the impossible star."(20) But Jesus proved that what is impossible to limited matter is possible in the limitless realm of Spirit. He showed this limitless realm is accessible to each one of us. It's accessible step-by-step, because whatever is a state of human consciousness is also a stage of human consciousness.
Why? Because as we accept more and more Christ-ideas into our consciousness, in that proportion we progress from physical disease to physical normality, and eventually substance will no longer appear as matter, but as idea. We shall identify our true selfhood as divine idea, made in the image and likeness of Spirit.
It's not too late to start this quest. But don't wait for the other fellow; the search is individual. Nor does it require our traveling from a material universe into a spiritual one. What appears as entering a spiritual frontier is only the awakening from the illusion that we exist in matter. The fact is, you and I already dwell in the realm of Spirit. But, like the survivors in the lifeboat, we need to become aware of it. This requires our letting the divine Mind which was in Christ Jesus be in us. This precludes accepting the reality of matter.
Without matter, there can be no time or space — hence no separation in time or space, no aging, no decaying, no matter mind, no matter power, no matter life, hence no matter death. This last limit is destroyed and nothing exists beyond unlimited Spirit.
Mrs. Eddy has said that her statement, "There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter," is essentially identical with Paul's words, "In him we live, and move, and have our being."(21) Indeed, it is within divine Mind that we exist as distinct idea.
The challenge is to know this truth, to be conscious of it. If we can, if we do, we shall awaken from the illusion of material limits. But why if? All that's necessary to awaken is already present. The Christ is here, now, knocking at the door of your consciousness. Accept the Christ, and in proportion that you do, your life shall be rich and full, doubts will vanish, and you'll see that which you fear doesn't exist. The world will be a better place because you are in it.
You'll not need to bow down to the supposed laws of matter. With the Christ, you too can speak "as one having authority," and claim your God-given dominion over every limitation. Accept the Christ, and you will discern that you are not a struggling survivor, cast adrift, lost in a sea of matter. You are a beloved child of God, living, moving, having your being in the infinite realm of divine Spirit.
This realm is not in some far off place, in some distant time, but as Jesus repeatedly affirmed, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand."(22) It is within you here and now. Jesus assured us, "It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."(23)
1. A Symposium: God and Man — our Future in Space, Foothill College, July 12, 1975.
2. John 14:12.
3. Anton Chekhov, Three Sisters, Act IV.
4. Science and Health, p. 278.
5. Matthew 7:16.
6. John 1:3.
7. I John 3:9.
8. Eugene P. Wigner, Symmetrics and Reflections: Scientific Essays, (University of Indiana Press, 1967).
9. The Economist, September 26, 1981, p. 95.
10. John A. Wheeler, "Gravitation," (Freeman, 1973).
11. Unity of Good, p. 8.
12. Sir Arthur Eddington, "The Domain of Physical Science;" Essay in Science, Religion, and Reality.
13. Science and Health, p. 468.
14. John 8:32.
15. Luke 10:20.
16. Matthew 6:33.
17. Luke 17: 20,21.
18. Richard G. Haw, "Metaphysics Over Physics," First Federal Science Congress, Zimbabwe.
19. Miscellaneous Writings, p. 369.
20. Joe Darion, "The Impossible Dream," Man of La Mancha.
21. Retrospection and Introspection, p. 93.
22. Matthew 4:17.
23. Luke 12:32.