Man is a reflection of God, Christian Science explains.
Like an image of a person standing before a mirror is an exact outline of what stands before the mirror, man, the spiritual child of God, reflects the perfection, health, and life of God, without exception.
Whatever God is, man reflects.
If God can’t have it, man never gets it.
Infection is a mortal belief that there is something dangerous, namely a germ, that can threaten life and impair health.
In spiritual truth, there are no dangerous germs, no harmful viruses. There is only spiritual reality where all is safe and sound. God embodies this reality, and man reflects its truth.
Man’s being is God’s being reflected.
As Mary Baker Eddy wrote, “…nothing inharmonious can enter being, for Life is God” (Science and Health, p. 228).
Infection never threatens God, and it never threatens God’s reflection. God’s reflection is immune to infection.
There is no infection in reflection.
“The transmission of disease or of certain idiosyncrasies of mortal mind would be impossible if this great fact of being were learned, — namely, that nothing inharmonious can enter being, for Life is God” (Science and Health, p. 228).
That’s a gem…’if God can’t have it…man never gets it’
Succinct, direct Truth!
Thank you Evan…as always ❣️
I love this truth,right to the point.,we can’t have it because GOD does not have them,He does not create them,therefor only a lie.Thanks Evan.
Much gratitude Evan for such simple Truths, easy to think about and make one’s own in everyday life.
Much love, Linda
Miscellaneous Writing p. 228:30 by Mary Baker Eddy relates to this topic:
“People believe in infectious and contagious diseases, and that any one is liable to have them under certain predisposing or exciting causes. This mental state prepares one to have any disease whenever there appear the circumstances which he believes produce it. If he believed as sincerely that health is catching when exposed to contact with healthy people, he would catch their state of feeling quite as surely and with better effect than he does the sick man’s.”
There is an incident somewhere related by MBE I think (I am not sure where) that a little girl went to visit a friend, and when she got there the Mother of the little girl said she couldn’t come in
because her friend had a disease and that she would catch it. The little girl went away and asked
her Mother why her friend couldn’t catch her health instead.
Someone may remember where it comes from.
Also, I will think of the word germ according to this dictionary definition:–
“an initial stage from which something may develop: the germ of a brilliant idea”
So I will be looking to catch only the the germs that develop into one of God’s
brilliant ideas – for myself, and for everyone. I will not believe in the material
definition of the word germ, and if we don’t believe in it, it has nothing to
hold onto, and will disappear. It is not of God who causes only healthy
and harmonious conditions for His children.
.
beautiful
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; …
(Psalms 23:4 (to ;))
Just read this in the lesson. ‘Thou art with me”… as inseparably as God is to Her reflection. Never thought of that before. Nice thought!!
Expanding on what you had written, Maggie, “germ…an initial stage from which something may
develop: the germ of a brilliant idea”, I saw and replaced the word GEM instead of germ.
We are all gems, precious and perfect, polished and brilliant, reflecting like in a beam of light
from the sun, or the colors in that sweet photo of the child reflected in the puddle. Even though things around us may seem muddied, we can shine our perfection for all to see and reflect
God’s Love.
I like that, Carol – a lovely thought. We are all brilliant gems of God, and the Christ is polishing us – showing us all the different colours that we reflect. And the picture of
the child’s reflection in a muddy pool of water still showing the colours.
Don’t we love these evolving conversations around SpiritView’s Sunday School desk!?!!
I simply love the healing ideas from everyone!
Much love & gratitude to everyone ♥️
JANUARY 17, 2011 Christian Science Sentinel
Perfect reflection
Looking deep into the
reflection in the lake
and taking a head count,
nothing was missing.
Every cloud, tree, leaf, blade
of grass,
every sailboat, duck, bird,
nothing was missing,
the reflection mirrored it all.
A reflection can’t
delete some objects
and add others;
reflection is exact.
Looking deep into God,
man is His reflected image.
Nothing is missing,
the reflection mirrors All.
— Melissa Baker
Sent this before, but it fits today’s SpiritView I
hope I didn’t overstep by sending twice.
I couldn’t figure out how to send for you to open. Sorry. Happy day as God’s reflection.
You cannot Overstep with the beautiful poems you write and this one is so perfect. I Love writing poetry too. Much Love to all in this conversational and all Spirit View bloggers.
I agree with Jane b that you cannot overstep by sharing your loving truths with us Melissa. Send it twice, three times, ten times. We can’t have too much of Truth. Thank you.
I especially love those last two stanzas of that poem. Reflection is exact! Nothing is missing.
The reference to the little girl who was not admitted to her friend’s house because the little friend was sick is from the article “The fearlessness of being”, in the 1947 Christian Science Sentinel, August 9, 1947, by L. Ivimy Gwalter.
THANK YOU for that reference to Ivimy Gwalter,s Sentinel article, August 9, 1947. Always best having the correct source! Much appreciated.
Mary Baker Eddy was reported to have told one of the prayer workers in her household who was praying to support her and the world’s greatest movement, that Baker’s reference in our textbook for solving every problem to someone she knew (using the generic male pronoun) was actually her own self. She had not used the first/personal pronoun “I” because she didn’t want that personal sense attached to her or the malpractice against her or the movement or other peoples’ fear. She was the child who had the severe eating disorder, fearful of consumption disease so she starved herself and was haunted for years by the general beliefs and suffering from tgat injustice. But from that experience she got the germ of the idea that hunger is merely a belief. That germ or growth-full part of the thought seed held the nourishment and energy to grow not just a new vital plant but a whole field and ideas to feed and heal and protect all humanity from them on. She learned that the belief that food is good or bad and has what kind of effect is not God’s law and so has no real power. She had built on the self-discipline of that unusual dedicated child in that lonely criticized and punished difficult time when she had innocently persistently self-sacrificed out of her highest sense of what was right. And that discipline helped her later with a more corrected sense of what is right, and the resolute endurance through suffering and dedication to a higher sense of health and hope and duty.
I wonder if the reference to the child in the above comment wondering why others don’t catch health is a reference to her younger self that prepared her to discover Christian Science and the resolute self-discipline to persevere through rejection, disappointment, loneliness, resisting the general and specific injustice, irrationality, double standards, and fear held by others in authority and the majority, as time after time her life’s work, the handwritten manuscript for Science and Health, With Key to the Scriptures, was lost, stolen, wrongly edited, taking all her funds and time and energy, causing her to repeatedly lose her housing, etc. And later when her students failed and betrayed her, and her husband character-assassinated then physically killed in an attempt to kill her faith and destroy her Church. I wonder if this were one more time she’s given us an example of how we need to be humbly receptive to each and every moment’s lessons and blessin’s from God, as an obedient courageous disciplined child following each insight that can improve our thinking and help liberate/heal us and others.
Regardless of who that little girl was, I commit therefore, to seeing disappointments, heart aches, unpleasant surprises, etc. as opportunities to grow a better foundation for understanding and character growth so that I can do my work to serve the world, through every obstacle. And that I commit to contagious health, love, inspiration, faith, grace, hospitality, service. With a sweet childlike humble caring learning attitude, going to our divine Mother, Spirit,
Bless you Edith. You use your brilliant command of words to ‘turn , turn and turn again’ human circumstance that needs to be condemned to its native nothingness….❣️
Wow! Thank you!
Love
Man is the reflection of perfection!
Thank you Evan and all. ❤️
Thank you for this beautiful gem of Truth. “There is no infection in reflection.” So simple, so clear, so healing. There is no infection of thought, there is no infection in body, in mind, or emotions, or atmosphere/environment. This truth you gave us covers the whole spectrum of challenges we humans encounter. Thank you, Evan!
THE FEARLESSNESS OF BEING
https://sentinel.christianscience.com/shared/view/1dfgfx6hfw2?s=e
Thank you very much for sharing the article
If a germ is real then God created it, and what He creates can do no harm. Mrs. Eddy said in S&H p. 514, “All of God’s creatures, moving in the harmony of Science, are harmless, useful, indestructible.” Can God be afraid of a germ? Of course not.. Then as His reflection, neither can we. Without fear a germ is just an neutral organism. God created all that is real and no part of His creation can harm any other part of His creation.
I love the quote above where Mrs. Eddy says, “….certain idiosyncrasies of mortal mind would be impossible….” when we learn that, “….nothing inharmonious can enter being, for Life is God.” Idiosyncrasies are odd, quirky, peculiar qualities. This make me chuckle because that is what mortal mind runs on — odd, erroneous nonsense that is never found in the operation of Divine Mind.
I love that Rose…”odd, erroneous nonsense that is never found in the operation of Divine Mind., I’m chuckling too.” MBE’s quote is perfect.
I also love the comment Carol, turning Germ into Gem.
I have a manmade gem, a prism, hanging in my window and love how the sun reflects through in rainbow colors all over my dining room in the evening. This conversation and that precious picture of the little girl in her rainbow coat looking at her perfect reflection is wonderful. Thanks Evan and everyone who has added to this conversation.
Thanks for this and for all the comments that were contributed, as they as are so helpful and thoughtfully shared to bless us all and all mankind. Again, thank you all! Blessings of peace and prosperity in Spirit!
Thank you Evan and everyone for your contributions.
Thanks Evan,and all the comments, just right to the point,because we only reflect GOD,GOOD.
“Man’s being is God’s being reflected.” That’s it! Nothing more, nothing less! This was so helpful to me. Thank you Evan for these gems. (=