Access to good

I woke up in the middle of night with intense pain in my body. So intense that it absorbed my thought and was the only thing I could, well, think about. But very soon I was mentally calm enough to start praying - listening for an answer and being unwilling to take physical evidence more seriously than I take God. Is God a continuing presence? Absolutely.

It came to me with much clarity that man as God's child, is always and under any circumstance linked to the creator, the source of all being, the center of Life. And because of this link I could immediately gain access to painless good, that is always there, always where we are. Pain is a distressing feeling of discomfort - emotional or physical - in consciousness, I realized quickly, and in consciousness alone. Since I have access to good, I have access to peaceful feelings of God's care and support, of harmony and health. This access to good overrides the physical access to pain - because instead of having a link to mortality, man is eternally linked to immortality - here and now and always. We have open access to good. It is like being a house guest - you are entitled to be where you are, instead of standing in front of the closed door. You don't ring the doorbell - you are already in! Man has access to good, always! I could not only understand this truth, but feel its impact as God's goodness expressed itself beautifully in my thought. The pain disappeared immediately and I went back to sleep.

Waking up very early I was led with intensive gratitude to ponder some ideas Mary Baker Eddy shares about consciousness. Because consciousness is key to understanding the art and science of healing. What a gift to know our individual consciousness as a place in which God rules and peace is the norm. I found these quotes about "consciousness" especially inspiring, explaining to me the experience of the night:

Entirely separate from the belief and dream of material living, is the Life divine, revealing spiritual understanding and the consciousness of man's dominion over the whole earth. (SH 14:25-28)
Spiritual, not corporeal, consciousness is needed. (SH 67:27-28)
Material sense does not unfold the facts of existence; but spiritual sense lifts human consciousness into eternal Truth. (SH 95:30-32)

Often in the Bible the word "place", "court" or "house" means really consciousness. After all, it is a spiritual God speaking, dwelling in a spiritual creation - everywhere, omnipresent good. So in this light I find this Psalm very inspiring, proclaiming the painless presence of God right where we are - in our own consciousness:

"I've always longed to live in a place like this, always dreamed of a room in your house, where I could sing for joy to God-alive!" (Psalm 84: 2, The Message)

For additional inspiration you will enjoy this interview with Marian English, a Christian Science practitioner and teacher. The topic of the interview is "No more pain - that's a promise".