WHAT AN EXPANDING ADVENTURE it can be to catch glimpses of the radiant womanhood of God that reveals “the highest ideal of Love”! Isn’t it wonderful that not one of us—either man or woman—is defined by the Eve-type mentality put forth in Genesis 3 in the Bible?

Eve is not just a woman; she represents a state of thought that is vulnerable to the suggestions of “the serpent”—of being incomplete, separate from God, the one Mind. Lacking divine wisdom, this mental state naively believes what it sees with the material senses and is bolstered by the serpent’s promise—being made wise by believing that both evil and good comprise all that is real. This ignorant state of thought inevitably falls victim to the lying temptation of the serpent. Guilt, unworthiness, blame, sorrow, and failure accompany this counterfeit of womanhood.

In bold contrast, Mary Baker Eddy presents the biblical description of true womanhood in Revelation, in which all evil falls.

She writes about the Apocalypse: “St. John saw the vision of life in matter; and he saw it pass away,—an illusion. The dragon that was wroth with the woman, and stood ready ‘to devour the child as soon as it was born,’ was the vision of envy, sensuality, and malice, ready to devour the idea of Truth. But the beast bowed before the Lamb: it was supposed to have fought the manhood of God, that Jesus represented; but it fell before the womanhood of God, that presented the highest ideal of Love” (Christian Healing, pp. 9–10).

Instead of the Eve-type woman, defined by defeat, the woman in the Apocalypse defeats the dragon—representing the carnal mind—which includes all the limitations of a mortal existence. Triumph and success define this “womanhood of God.”

Graciously advancing in this understanding makes a distinct difference in our lives and our healing practice. It marks the difference between defeat and victory.

Male and female: alike as God’s idea

The spiritual nature of each one of us exemplifies this victory, the highest ideal of Love. We all express this Love naturally when we forgive instead of resent, cherish rather than criticize, love instead of hate, express peace instead of discord.

In Love’s omnipresence, there is just no room for evil. As God’s image and likeness, we reflect the perfect consciousness of Love’s infinitude, which completely nullifies—renders impossible—any vulnerability to that which could harm. Does this sound naive—or even impossible? Not when we understand that victory over all evil is already woven into the tapestry of our divine being.

In looking at the world today, we see a wide range of the Eve mentality portrayed, with both men and women eating of the fruit of limitation and mortality—and experiencing defeat—from falling victim to a sluggish economy, to trying to fill an empty heart with addictive drugs, to random susceptibility to disease and the helplessness of incurability.

But what causes all evil, even the “great red dragon,” to fall away from our lives is the womanhood of God.

Perfect Love slays ‘the dragon’

In Love’s presence, the carnal mind is rendered nothing. It is proved powerless before divine Love’s completeness. For each of us, the understanding of our inseparable oneness with this divine consciousness gives clarity of conviction and substance to our healing work. It assures us of victory.

Christ Jesus proved victorious over all evil throughout his healing work, culminating in his resurrection and ascension, and he invited us to do the same. Understanding his divine origin enabled him to overcome all the wiles of evil. Mary Baker Eddy writes that “Jesus’ spiritual origin and understanding enabled him to demonstrate the facts of being,—to prove irrefutably how spiritual Truth destroys material error, heals sickness, and overcomes death” (Science and Health, pp. 315 ). Jesus’ example impels us to open thought to our divine origin, to be born again, as he told Nicodemus (see John 3:1–8).

It is interesting that the root word for woman comes from the word womb. So freedom from Eve-type womanhood starts with seeing our freedom from a mortal origin and beholding our true being as spiritual, expressive of the creativity of Love. Jesus explained to Nicodemus that being born again not of the womb, but of the Spirit, is like the wind in which “thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth” (John 3:8). In other words, our divine being has no beginning and no ending, because it is always coexistent with eternal Mind.

In the healing at Nain, where the only son of a widow had passed on, Jesus compassionately said to the mother “Weep not.” Then he said, “Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother” (see Luke 7:11–16 ).

Through his demonstration of the Christ, wasn’t Jesus loosing the young man from the counterfeit sense of womanhood, of man being born a mortal of a mortal woman and lifting up the true sense of God’s womanhood in its eternal sustaining of everlasting life? The widow was also delivered of the devastating stigma in that society of being a woman without a husband or a son.

Didn’t Jesus cut right through the midst of the counterfeit Eve womanhood and reveal to both the son and the mother the freedom of true womanhood, manifesting the highest ideal of Love?

Mrs. Eddy confirms this idea when she writes, “To infinite, ever-present Love, all is Love, and there is no error, no sin, sickness, nor death. Against Love, the dragon warreth not long, for he is killed by the divine Principle. … Thus endeth the conflict between the flesh and Spirit” (Science and Health, pp. 567 ).

Spiritual gentleness—and divine might

The more consistently each one of us identifies herself or himself with God, as His idea—always complete—the more steadily true womanhood qualities ascend in our conscious identity. These qualities are not properties of one sex or another but are spiritual elements of the wholeness of spiritual individuality.

The description in Proverbs of the “virtuous woman” includes authentic womanhood qualities such as wisdom, purity, unselfishness, humility, strength, goodness, steadfastness, fidelity, holiness, creativity, majesty, poise, kindness, grace (seeProv. 31:10–31). As we cherish these qualities, we overcome subservience to anything but the divine Mind. So-called incurable diseases associated with women—and, for that matter, men—are mistaken perceptions of a false identity that must yield to Truth.

In one of Mary Baker Eddy’s classes, she shared this idea: “I am an unresisting channel through which Love shine[s] with its pure healing force” (A11511, The Mary Baker Eddy Collection). She certainly lived that sentiment as proved in her own healing work. When asked, “What is the best way to do instantaneous healing?” she replied, “It is to love! Just live love—be it—love, love, love. Do not know anything but Love. Be all love. There is nothing else. That will do the work. … Be nothing but love” (We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, p. 134). The womanhood of God is the guardian of spiritual gentleness and divine might.

Recently, a woman who was expecting a child told me about a situation that came up during the tests required by the state she lives in, prior to having the baby. One test showed a high blood sugar level that indicated she might have gestational diabetes. The doctor explained that hormones from the womb can sometimes cause this disease temporarily during pregnancy and that a more thorough test would be required. The woman requested that the first test be repeated a week later, but this time the results were even worse.

A third, more lengthy test was scheduled, and the woman was afraid of the results and the possible harm a diabetic condition could cause the child. She felt there was nothing humanly she could do to modify the results (i.e., improved diet and exercise), and was even told by the doctor that it was probably a problem with an organ, not her lifestyle.

The child of Love’s origin

This woman asked me for spiritual support before and during the test. In the middle of the night before the day of the test, I awoke with a very clear and specific understanding. I saw that this condition was merely the false sense of her true womanhood—the Eve-type mentality that says man is conceived in the womb of limitation, material opinions, and mortality. I saw that the child of Love’s origin was always embraced in the environment of infinite Spirit, held to the order of Principle, expressive of the harmonious, rhythmic action of Soul, and governed by the intelligence of Mind. The child in its wholeness was cradled in the tenderness of divine Love in which there can be no discord or imbalance by any name. Truly, I saw through prayer the radiant womanhood of God shining with grace and victory. There was no doubt about it. I knew all was well, and so it proved true. The results of this test were the exact opposite of the earlier ones, and there was no indication of diabetes whatsoever.

Advancement comes individually and collectively as we let the highest ideal of Love shine forth in our lives. Understanding our unity with Love opens the door for convincing victories over every so-called snare of material life. Mrs. Eddy writes of our unity or divine weddedness with Love: “The very circumstance, which your suffering sense deems wrathful and afflictive, Love can make an angel entertained unawares. Then thought gently whispers: ‘Come hither! Arise from your false consciousness into the true sense of Love, and behold the Lamb’s wife,—Love wedded to its own spiritual idea.’ Then cometh the marriage feast, for this revelation will destroy forever the physical plagues imposed by material sense” (Science and Health, pp. 574–575 ).

At this hour in human history the qualities of Love are urgently needed. Joyously, steadfastly living its gracious sentiments in the core of our being certainly contributes to the elevation of mankind, and will bring ultimate freedom from all mortal limitations.

If we find ourselves feeling defeated by the suggestions of the serpent—whether they come in the form of a medical verdict, abusive relationship, economic challenge, or any harmful condition—let’s rejoice in the presence of our individual expression of the radiant womanhood of God. That perfect Love, which feels, hears, sees—is fully cognizant of—its infinitude!

This understanding is inherent in each one of us as a son or daughter of God. Resting on the wings of God’s womanhood lifts us all to the soaring altitude of ascension, fully conscious of Love’s infinitude and the nothingness of evil, poised for an everlasting victory.