Knowing Who We Are, Heals
I WAS once accused of leaking confidential information about a project at work. My immediate supervisor knew that I hadn't done it--in fact, he was the one who had innocently discussed with a colleague one afternoon how our work would soon affect his job. When someone in upper management heard about the leak, she blamed me. The next day, my supervisor told me what had happened. He felt terrible and promised to clear up the situation immediately, which he did.
While I appreciated his willingness to correct the misunderstanding, I wasn't troubled by the accusation. I knew, without a doubt, that I hadn't told anyone about this special project, and it didn't change the facts if someone else thought I had. I wasn't angry. It almost seemed funny that someone whom I had never even spoken with would attribute a character flaw to me without checking out the facts. It was clear that her assumption about me didn't really say anything about me at all, though it did say s omething about her. It said that she assumed things. My supervisor took care of the situation, and we didn't talk any more about it.
The next morning I woke up with a miserable cold. I couldn't believe it. It was a Saturday, and I didn't want to waste it by being ill! I started to pray. I realized that just as what the manager had said about me the day before didn't truly have anything to do with me, this cold didn't have anything to do with me either! This condition did say something about how I appeared to be--physically uncomfortable--but that assumption didn't make it legitimate. I knew I didn't have to get caught up in believing that the illness was a fact about me. I could dismiss it because I knew who I really am--the child of God, whom He created completely spir-itual. And that's certainly not someone struggling with a disease!
I ``checked out the facts" by remembering something that the Bible says in Genesis: ``God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." I reasoned that because man is modeled after God, created in His likeness, I couldn't be sick. In that split second, I was completely healed.
Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, tells us in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: ``The foundation of mortal discord is a false sense of man's origin. To begin rightly is to end rightly." So, knowing who we are--spiritual man--and whom we come from--God--strips away the foundation of mortal discord. It doesn't just make us feel better about a situation; it completely heals the situation!
We learn more about our true identity when we turn to God, our Maker. Understanding more about our Father, God, enables us to know more about who we really are. The Bible is one way of getting to know God better. This wonderful book tells us that God is all-powerful good and that everything He creates is good. He made us loving, good, pure, and free. And we have the right to recognize that!
Science and Health tells us: ``The Scriptures inform us that man is made in the image and likeness of God. . . . He is the compound idea of God, including all right ideas; the generic term for all that reflects God's image and likeness . . . ." In truth each one of us reflects God. We embody all that is good, holy, and pure. Even a glimpse of this fact brings indescribable blessings.
Knowing who we are gives focus to our lives. At the very least, it eliminates confusion in our day-to-day activities. But this knowledge does so much more. It heals.