Simplicity Can Be Powerful
Bringing a spiritual perspective to world events and daily life.
"And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." That is a powerful statement from the Bible, in the book of Genesis (1:31). There is truth in the Bible; there are rules to be found there -- rules to live by. There is a simplicity to these rules. And each one of us can put them into practice. By that I mean, we can find good by understanding and obeying God.
If something in your life is not good, you have God's authority to reject it. Are you, for example, poor? Unemployed? Sick? Homeless? Friendless? None of that can be classified as good, or as made by God. You can reverse evidence of evil and expect to find the solution. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science, found prayer to God brought solutions to problems. Her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures says, "Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need" (p. 494). There is nothing mysterious or difficult to understand in this simple statement. Everyone can prove it. Divine Love is God, and you can trust God to minister to your present needs for work, shelter, and friendship.
The truth in these promises includes power for enforcing them. The power of God destroys trouble. Put another way, it brings spiritual reality into focus. Then you can expect harmonious solutions to any problem in your life to come about.
Christ Jesus set the example of how Christians should think and act. He led a simple life. He trusted God his Father to supply all his needs. When speaking of human needs, he is recorded as saying, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things [food, shelter, and so forth] shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33). Doesn't this mean that we should put God first in our lives and trust that He has a plan for us?
The Bible gives other simple rules to live by, which keep our lives on track when we obey them. If you review Exodus, chapter 20, you will find the Ten Commandments. They're not new, but they're as relevant today as they were when Moses first heard them from God centuries ago. When Jesus was asked what the most important commandment of all was, he answered that it was to love God above all else. Of this Mrs. Eddy wrote, "The First Commandment is my favorite text. It demonstrates Christian Science. . . . The divine Principle of the First Commandment bases the Science of being, by which man demonstrates health, holiness, and life eternal" (p. 340). Anyone striving to live by simple rules such as this one can expect more harmony in his or her life.
At one time I was suffering from hay fever and allergies. I was a young mother with small children, and at times the symptoms were so severe that I couldn't care for myself. I had always chosen to heal myself through prayer, and I began praying seriously. When I read the statement in Genesis quoted at the beginning of this article-that God made everything good, and was aware that He had done so-the thought came to me, "It is so simple." I began to reason that a God of total goodness could not create anything that would harm or cause suffering. Even pollen could only represent something with a good purpose in God's plan, rather than a power to harm. Made in His image, I could not be irritated or discordant. With this understanding, I held my ground in prayer, refusing to believe in a power besides God. This brought healing, and I have now been free of those symptoms for many years.
Throughout history the power and wisdom of simplicity have been recognized by great authors and historians. The early nineteenth-century English clerics Julius and Augustus Hare, in their work Guesses at Truth, said, "The greatest truths are the simplest: and so are the greatest men." The truth of God, which heals through our ability to understand it, is so simple it is sometimes overlooked. But that never limits its power.