No strings attached

Cyril Rakhmanoff | from The Christian Science Journal

We’re not governed by mental influences beyond our control.

Amid lively music and under multicolored spotlights, the marionettes danced and moved about as they pleased. At least this is the way it appeared to the children watching, who didn’t see the strings leading to the puppeteer above.

This little show made me ask myself, “Just as these marionettes were under the control of people we could not see, are we at times controlled by mental influences that tend to keep us from thinking or acting as we would otherwise?”

Mental influence and manipulation find their way into many areas of daily life: subliminal messages in advertising, hidden agendas in the political arena, and sensationalism in the news. Some thoughts come to us with so much force that we may tend to accept them at face value, without questioning their validity.

We have the ability to think freely.

Even if there is no malicious intent, mental manipulation attempts to convince us that suffering, disease, violence, strained relationships, poverty, are inevitable. But we are not powerless marionettes. We have the ability to think freely, without being influenced by thoughts imposed on us.

Spiritual sense, as opposed to a material sense of life, gives us this freedom and reveals God, the divine Mind, as governing the whole universe, including each one of us, harmoniously. This Mind speaks to us, and in the quietness of a consciousness turned to God, we can perceive universal harmony.

Jesus said to his disciples, “Blessed are your eyes, for they see” (Matt. 13:16). They had learned to see beyond the appearance of discordant situations to the pure reality of the perfect creation of God. We, too, as modern-day followers of Jesus, have the ability to remain conscious of the goodness of God’s universe, even when the very opposite seems to manifest itself.

Peace, not violence, is the reality of God’s universe.

Violence, for example, is often presented as an essential characteristic of our world, whether in the form of war, terrorism, or any other kind of aggressive behavior; but we need not go along with the media hype regarding violence. Instead, we can, as Jesus taught, see a peace that is always at hand. He called this peace the kingdom of heaven, and he showed through his words and deeds that this tangible manifestation of divine Love exists within us as an integral part of the very fabric of our being. Peace, not violence, is the reality of God’s universe. We have the ability to keep from straying from this understanding.

One of my friends proved this fact. Late one evening while she was walking through a deserted area of town, a young man grabbed her. But at that moment a calm conviction filled her thought—a conviction of the immutable government of God. She knew she could choose not to enter the mental world of someone else and accept violence as inevitable. She could think for herself and remain conscious of God’s love. All of a sudden, the aggressor let her go in peace.

Because disease is mental, we can resist it.

Disease also is often perceived as an inevitable characteristic of life. But the teachings of Christian Science, as well as the testimonies of healing published in The Christian Science Journal and the Christian Science Sentinel, point to the mental nature of disease, and prove that because disease is mental, we can resist it. As Mary Baker Eddy wrote in Science and Health (p. 393): “Rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike good. God has made man capable of this, and nothing can vitiate the ability and power divinely bestowed on man.”

We can take a stand against currents of thought contrary to the kingdom of heaven within that spiritual sense reveals. Our health and well-being rest on a solid foundation when we distance ourselves from the concept of life in matter and cherish the thoughts that present life as having a divine origin, forever expressing purity, strength, continuity, and permanency.

We are not marionettes governed by mental influences over which we have no control. We can detect thoughts that do not have their origin in divine Love, and at every moment be conscious of spiritual reality, revealing the goodness of the Creator and the perfection and beauty of His creation.