“God fashions all things, after His own likeness. . . . Love, redolent with unselfishness, bathes all in beauty and light. The grass beneath our feet silently exclaims, ‘The meek shall inherit the earth.’ The modest arbutus sends her sweet breath to heaven. The great rock gives shadow and shelter. The sunlight glints from the church-dome, glances into the prison-cell, glides into the sick-chamber, brightens the flower, beautifies the landscape, blesses the earth.” (Science & Health, 516.)
It struck me this week how, according to Christian Science, every creation of God radiates something that is of service to each of its fellow creatures.
From the Blue Book:
“One day Mrs. Eddy said to a student, ‘Are you working?’
He began to tell of his hours of study and work.
She said,
‘When you see old age, do you declare that Life is eternal activity, beauty and joy?
‘When you see the leaves falling and hear the wind blow, do you declare that there is no change, decay or cold?
When you see deformity and disease, do you declare that man is made in the imageand likeness of God?’
“The student answered, ‘Mrs. Eddy, I am not working.’”
These instructions are more relevant today than when Mrs. Eddy spoke them. On page 356 of Miscellaneous Writings, she writes: “The pent-up elements of mortal mind need no terrible detonation to free them. Envy, rivalry, hate need no temporary indulgence that they be destroyed through suffering; they should be stifled from lack of air and freedom.”
So the question I must ask myself every day is, am I giving error life and breath, or am I holding error in check by stifling and strangling it?