The Grand Illusion

One primary fact 'all is Good' excludes the possibility of any thought or thing ever being bad. Since omnipotent good and impotent evil cannot combine, an attempt is made to produce a third quality by mentally vibrating between something and nothing with such frequency that it is difficult to observe. Vacillation between the somethingness of good and the nothingness of evil is what Mary Baker Eddy termed mortal mind. The supposed composite of good and evil demanding a separate identity, if believed, produces a distraction of scintillating energy, light, and matter sufficient to disrupt the view of one universal omnipotent Good.

The current experts present a theory that attempts to explain this distraction. They say that the Big Bang fractured itself into countless subatomic particles that streamed out to form a newborn universe. From the vantage point of its own self-creation, it is quite substantial. Molecular mechanics tills the soil of potential and dynamic energy finding temporary equilibrium in atoms, elements, stars, planets, and complex chemical compounds, some of which appear to be alive. It is here that so-called intelligent life uses its own product to confirm its own existence. A lump of vibrating atoms looks at itself and says, 'I exist. My proof is in my conscious awareness of those very same atoms.' But where did this conscious awareness come from? The physical scientists of today have no idea, and they never will until they change their standpoint. Mary Baker Eddy says, "Mortal existence is an enigma," but she does not say the enigma is unsolvable (SH 70:1). If conscious awareness is derived from a positive all and nothing, how dependable can that evidence be? The impossibility of this deception is obvious, and the solution is simple, but "the looms of crime, hidden in the dark recesses of mortal thought, are every hour weaving webs more complicated and subtle" (SH 102:18). Mortal man chooses to play out his dream to its fullest extent, dancing through the valley of the shadow of disappointments in search of Shangri-La. But "to attempt the calculation of His mighty ways, from the evidence before the material senses, is fatuous. It is like commencing with the minus sign, to learn the principle of positive mathematics" (Un 10:21). The task of trying every wrong number is daunting, but we press on seemingly ad infinitum.

Enslaved in matter, mortal man digs down into the soil of his dust origin. Finding no answers, he looks up to the stars in hope of finding another like himself. Exploration expands the scope of the mystery but does not answer the fundamental questions of "What am I?" and "Why am I?" His attempts to answer these questions with human hypotheses are always inconclusive. Finite logic is not equal to the task; however, mankind continues experimenting with his Tower of Babel as if he is capable of building a pathway to heaven. Modern inventions relieve him of manual labor, and material wealth brings a sense of ease and boastful pride, but this pseudo-happiness is shallow and short-lived because his lustful ego and contempt for his neighbor are still out of control. When artificial intelligence and robotic replication remove all necessity to work at anything, man is forced to look elsewhere for meaning. He must explore and experiment with his mental powers! Eventually, he discovers that the whole material universe corresponds to his mental state. Soon he is able to move mountains and walk above the waves just as Jesus did. He can make lightning fall from heaven duplicating Elijah's demonstration, and even heal the sick and raise the dead without any knowledge of or faith in God. "The senses, not God, Soul, form the condition of beautiful evil, and the supposed modes of self-conscious matter, which make a beautiful lie" (Un 52:26). Man's wrath also encourages all the plagues and chaos on earth and in the cosmos as mortal mind has done from the beginning of opposites. At first, he was ignorant of his mental influence, but now he uses it like a battering ram to get what he wants. He concludes that he is like God almighty, but it is all a grand illusion. Material evidence alone does not and cannot prove the existence of God or of spiritual healing.

Two witnesses are on trial, one is Christ and Christian Science, the other is malicious mental suggestion. Both perform astonishing feats. Like the necromancers of Egypt, malicious mental suggestion keeps pace with the external evidence of the Truth-givers. Without spiritual insight, the jury is unable to tell truth from fiction. Unenlightened and sympathizing with material evidence alone, they are confused and frightened into condemning Christ and Christian Science in an attempt to conform all thought to mortal mind's directive. "Their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified" (Rev 11:8). When spiritual cause is unsought and unrecognized, the end times are upon them, for the greatest wrong is but the opposite of the highest right.

"These be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled." And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken" (Luke 21:22, 25-26).

"Stripped of its coverings, what a mocking spectacle is sin!"
(SH 241:11). Naked and afraid, man will be forced to set aside all material evidence and work it out mentally within his own consciousness. "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven" (Rev 12:7). Ultimately, Christ and Christian Science will force man to unravel the mystery, to see how he was deceived, to lose his venomous nature and his guilt; and, having done all, to stand free of all ability to transmit or receive evil's deceptive ways. Finally, man, seeing that he cannot die out of Life, will resurrect himself, and the grand illusion will dissolve.

We must not wait for a future time for this prophecy to be fulfilled; we must push on with our individual, mutual, and universal recognition of good without vacillation. This recognition is a sure foundation upon which to build. The door to wisdom that we thought was locked will simply vanish, for we are as saints awaiting confirmation. Our finite conception of the infinite must now be replaced by infinite understanding - knowing the why and the wherefore, and living as "I Am." The Comforter that brings all things to our remembrance will arrive without personal effort, for it is in quiet assurance that this prophecy of Revelation is fulfilled.

"When the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them" (Rev 20:7-9, emphasis added).

Thus endeth the mystery of opposites. We ascend beyond the grand illusion to reality. We know who we are and why we are constantly all good and wholly spiritual.

One infinite Mind, knowing and known
One Life, living and lived
One perfect Love, embracing and embraced
One Son shining out from and round about the throne of God

George Denninger ©