The Creeping Things

In the first chapter of Genesis, we read of “the creeping things that creep upon the earth” which God saw as good, and over which man was given dominion. But mortal man has misinterpreted these creeping things that were good, over which man has dominion, and often designates these creeping things as evil conditions which steal upon us slowly and stealthily, conditions which are not good, and over which we have no control.

Some of mortal mind’s creeping things are expressed in the material body as age, obesity, anemia, deafness, failing eyesight, wrinkles, thinning hair, slowing up of organs, and many other conditions which even Christian Scientists accept as inevitable, and over which they exercise no control.

Where is the dominion with which we were endowed and about which we love to boast? Why do we, as Christian Scientists, permit these so-called creeping things to come upon us, or supinely accept them as beyond our control? And what are we going to do about them in the future?

Mrs. Eddy says, “The scientific government of the body must be attained through the divine Mind.” “Mind governs the body, not partially but wholly.” “Immortal Mind feeds the body with supernal freshness and fairness, supplying it with beautiful images of thought.”

It seems to us that it is the body that ages and grows old, independent of the mind, but man’s body or embodiment is but the garment of his thought. The body always visibly manifests the mind from which it is evolved.

Mrs. Eddy was once asked, “Is it possible to change the aged form to one of youth, beauty, and immortality?”

She replied, “You change the physical manifestation in proportion to your changed thought of the effect of accumulative years. Expecting an increase of usefulness and vigor from advancing years, with as much faith as you look for decrepitude and ugliness, a favorable result would be sure to follow.” The added wisdom of age and experience is strength, not weakness, and we should understand this, expect it, and know it is so. Then it would appear.