The Activity of Good

Written by A.D. in 1902 and published in the Christian Science Journal

Original Art by Zari Harat, Germany, 2025

This familiar Scripture, "And we know that all things work together to good to them that love God," helped me early in my experience in Christian Science to realize the omniaction of Mind,—God.

These inspiring words have been the anchor and refuge of earnest Christian hearts in all ages. In the midst of troubled waters, human hope has clung to this promise, confident that God would verify His word, though human vision failed to see the way, or to discover a reason for the fulfilment thereof. I, together with countless others, have been uplifted and strengthened by the calm assurance of this promise; but the teaching of Christian Science alone reveals the scientific basis for it, and enables us to see that "all things work together for good," simply because there is but one action at work in the universe, one Mind, one God, as Moses proclaimed centuries before the Christian era, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord."

And what must be the character of this one God? A combination of good and evil in Deity cannot be conceived of; eternal conflict would be the result. And conflict and discord, sorrow and pain, have been the result of the false belief of mortals on this vital point, until through great tribulation, human thought has at last awakened from its dream of duality, and the enlightened thought now accepts the unity of Good as the only logical basis for true reason. Starting from this premise, the unfoldment of Truth in the consciousness is natural and beautiful. The oneness of Mind settles all vexed questions, and establishes the brotherhood of man. It reveals itself as infinite Good, forever sustaining all its children with impartial, universal love, and comprehending within itself all law, action, power, and government. This is indeed the inheritance of Good reserved for the children of God,—those who understand Him aright.

Like the prodigal of old, after vainly endeavoring to feed on the husks of error,—the adulteration of good with evil,—we turn toward the Father's house, and claim our divine heritage, humbly acknowledging the omniaction and omnipresence of Good. For this opening of the Scriptures to human consciousness in this age, we owe a boundless debt of gratitude to Christian Science, and to its Discoverer and Founder.

Simply and naturally our thought goes out in loving gratitude to her whose spirituality of thought enabled her to rise above sense testimony and grasp the eternal realities of Being. Then follows the stupendous task of establishing this spiritual discovery, of making practical to human understanding these super-sensible facts. And who, save the pioneer alone, can ever know the divine courage requisite to accomplish this task?

When Mrs. Eddy declares in Science and Health (p. 514, Rev. Ed.) that "Moral courage is 'the Lion of the tribe of Juda,' the king of the mental realm," we know that this utterance is from the altitude of highest demonstration. But there were footsteps leading to this high plane of thought, and they are indicated to us in these few tender words, "The Discoverer of this Science could tell you of timidity, of self-distrust, of friendlessness, toil, agonies, and victories, under which she needed miraculous vision to sustain her, when taking the first footsteps in this Science" (Rudimental Divine Science, p. 31). What comment can we make on these words? None. We can only humbly strive to learn their lesson, and thanking God for such an example of patient courage and selfless love, consecrate ourselves anew to God and to humanity.