Walk through the mirage

You are going along the highway on a bright sunny day, and you see what looks like a lake right in the path of the road. Because you understand the nature of a mirage, you drive right through it undeterred, knowing it isn’t real and never was.

There is a lesson in this that can help us overcome all kinds of apparent roadblocks in our lives, such as discord or sickness. Christian Science explains that we all inherently have a spiritual sense – a capacity to understand and acknowledge God – which helps us discern what is always true and real, even when circumstances are deceiving.

This spiritual reality includes the supremacy of God, good, and our true nature as God’s spiritual creation. Referring to the capacity of each of us to discern this reality, Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, wrote, “No evidence before the material senses can close my eyes to the scientific proof that God, good, is supreme” (“Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896,” p. 277).

This doesn’t always appear to be the case. We may feel afraid, overwhelmed by chaos and uncertainty, prideful, or self-centered. Ruminating on such feelings, however, creates more division, fear, and isolation. This is a wake-up call to reconsider what is God’s truth and what is mirage.

The truth is that all God’s children are spiritual, and not buried in hopelessness, anger, and frustration. God, good, is supreme, and all God’s children are designed to glorify God. Anything counter to this divine goodness is not legitimate. Understanding this in some measure, we gain the wisdom and courage to walk right through this mirage.

This was the experience of a friend of mine who was very unhappy about a situation in her family. She began seeing a particular family member as an enemy, which led her to unconsciously create even more reasons to steer clear of this person. This narrative started spiraling in its own negativity.

But was this akin to falling for a mirage? Christian Science explains that God is the one legitimate Mind of us all. Thoughts that are unlike God, good, come from the counterfeit of this divine Mind, which Christian Science calls “mortal mind.” Mrs. Eddy’s primary text on Christian Science, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” states: “Mortal mind sees what it believes as certainly as it believes what it sees” (p. 86). Everything that mortal mind presents is a mirage, not the spiritual reality.

By recognizing this, my friend was able to see that the way she was thinking about her family member had no real basis in spiritual truth. Her capacity to love herself and others as God loved grew. Soon after these realizations, the relationship with the family member also harmonized.

Truth and Love are both synonyms for God, and are reflected in actions both gentle and powerful. Love annuls corrosive arguments and neutralizes emotionalism, replacing it with the harmonious fact that each of us is loved and cherished as God’s reflection. You can tell when Truth and Love are leading, as Truth reveals what is spiritual, permanent, harmonious, and true about one another, which unites – it does not divide.

Knowing the supremacy of Truth and Love, we can claim God’s ever-presence for all time – for the past, for now and always. We can walk right through the self-deceived mirage that claims clashing personalities and discord are inevitable, and realize everyone’s untouched, unchanged spiritual identity, which brings progress and peace.