The Wayfarer in Divine Science

Notes from a journey in Christian Science




“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” — Christ Jesus (Matthew 5 : 48)




When you first read that verse, or even on the thousandth reading, it seems a pretty tall order to believe such a thing could ever happen. How could one even go about being perfect? Our imagination runs wild with scenarios as we try to imagine what it would look like or feel like!

It took many years of studying Christian Science, along with daily trying to incorporate what I have been learning into my work, to see what is really being asked here. The short answer is, we are thinking too much about it, and including too many parts of our life and individual timeline into it. Don't imagine too much — in fact, don't imagine at all! — simply be quiet and listen for what God would have you do right now. Whatever it is, do it. Congratulations! You have for a moment been perfect. Now, be quiet and listen for what God would have you do once more. And again. And again. Work up to doing that all day long. Soon enough you'll wonder why you ever were overly concerned about it.

Depressed because something botched in the past? Well, “God requireth that which is past” (Ecclesiastes 3:15) so we need to let it go and move forward. Anxious about the future? “Trust in the Lord [in Truth, Life, and Love] with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3 : 5, 6) because “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.” (Psalm 37 : 23) In the end, right now is the only moment we need to be concerned with; it's all we have, and all we can directly affect.

Remember: Imagination is not your friend. True inspiration — which comes only from God — is something else, something real and infinite. The inspiration that God gives to all constantly is not asking you to do something crazy or hard or crazy hard. It's usually just small things, but these small things are always opportunities for good to happen. And as we learn not to second guess that good happening in our life moment-by-moment, we start to see the larger pattern emerge. This larger pattern becomes a life that fulfills Mrs. Eddy's promise that — “whatever blesses one blesses all.” (S&H, p. 206)