Back to School?

IN many countries, September is a time when children and adults head back to school. Whether or not we're among the students and teachers, each of us can learn more about true intelligence--and that we have it! We do this through prayer and through getting to know more about our unbreakable relationship to God, who is divine Mind.

Often, we think that intelligence is something we acquire. We might believe that we inherit it from our parents or that education is its source. But the Bible is very clear in its message that intelligence comes from God and that for this reason we each can have all that we need of it.

For example, Christ Jesus didn't attend a university or earn a degree, yet his teachings have stood for centuries. And even during his ministry, John's Gospel tells us, ``The Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? In response Jesus said, ``My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me." The Master went on to link his work directly to God, his divine source.

Each of us can also turn to the one Mind, or God, in order to express more wisdom and clarity. God is Mind, and man expresses divine intelligence because he is the spiritual emanation of this Mind. In other words, we don't need to go to God as mortals, petitioning for just a bit more intelligence so we can get through the school year or pass an employment examination. Rather, we turn to divine Mind to discover that in reality we are already the children of God, fully able to express the infinite intellig ence that is our natural heritage as His offspring.

When we understand this, even to a degree, we find that it's easier to work intelligently. And the work we are doing is also likely to improve in quality. Instead of expecting that we won't be able to do something because we don't have enough intelligence or enough schooling, we'll be able to turn in prayer to God for just the inspiration and intuition we need.

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, speaks of God as the one Mind in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. She also makes clear that we cannot be cut off from this Mind. And she declares, ``Whatever is governed by God, is never for an instant deprived of the light and might of intelligence and Life."

Each of us accepts God's government as he or she tries to live more in accord with the example Christ Jesus set. Learning to do this helps us give up the tendency to think of ourselves as reliant on brains or heredity for our abilities and turn more to our real nature as the spiritual children of God, who can never lose their intelligence or be limited in any way. Since all of us have equal access to our divine Parent, none of us is left out or shortchanged. The challenge is to be willing to be under God 's government--to turn to God for answers and for direction and to obey divine Love's guidance.

I myself had a very rocky start in school. Coming from a broken home, having no money and no prospects for college, I felt my future seemed grim. Yet through a growing understanding of God and His power in my life, I was able to gain not just a bachelor's degree but even a doctorate. My grades and my circumstances improved as my understanding of God grew. More and more I saw that my intelligence and life came from Him and that I could trust Him to lead me.

No one needs to be limited by the belief that materiality is man's heritage. Whatever your prospects seem to be, you too can express more intelligence and can feel more certain of God's loving presence in your life.