'All systems go'

March 19, 1982

During space shuttle flights, when millions are watching the historic event on TV, the reassuring expression ''All systems go'' assures viewers that everything is functioning properly.

A great deal of thought is given today to the systems of the human body. The concern is that the failure of any of these systems to function properly can be disastrous to health. But Christ Jesus proved through his works that God truly governs man; that we're actually under the jurisdiction of divine Mind, not matter, and that God's jurisdiction is a benevolent one.

It is normal and natural, then, for the human system to function harmoniously. That which disturbs its normal harmony is some disturbance of ungodlike thought, such as fear, resentment, grief. On the other hand, a consciousness filled with an awareness of the goodness and allness of God, Truth and Love, is a healing consciousness. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, states: ''The fact that Truth overcomes both disease and sin reassures depressed hope. It imparts a healthy stimulus to the body, and regulates the system. It increases or diminishes the action, as the case may require, better than any drug, alterative, or tonic.'' n1 And elsewhere she says, ''Truth is an alterative in the entire system, and can make it 'every whit whole.' '' n2

n1 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 420. n2 Ibid., p. 371.

I proved this several years ago when my husband and I were traveling abroad. There had been some criticism of the hotel food on the part of our tour group, and after several days I became ill with a stomach disorder. The condition was so severe that it didn't seem possible for me to continue on the tour schedule. My husband and I prayed together, affirming God's presence and might, and His harmonious control of everything, including man's every action and function. A Bible verse from Proverbs, ''Feed me with food convenient for me,'' 3 was particularly helpful at a time when the thought of eating anything was totally repugnant. As we continued to pray and study, the bodily sickness and pain began to fade. I was able to dress and join the tour group for the scheduled long bus trip over rough roads. My digestive system resumed its normal harmony, and I enjoyed lunch at the noon stop and dinner that evening. There were no further problems during the remainder of the trip - and we heard no further complaints about food!

n3 Proverbs 30:8

God's loving jurisdiction extends not only to the bodily system but to every other system as well. His laws are as surely applicable to the school system as to the economic system. No system, whether it's called electrical, transportational, or governmental, is beyond His universal control. But we have to prove this through the recognition that God's perfect, orderly, spiritual creation is the sole reality of existence.

Christ Jesus challenged whatever claimed to oppose this reality. He challenged many of the accepted systems of his day, including a social system embracing prejudice and revenge. He declared: ''Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.'' n4

n4 Matthew 5:43-45

The Father's heavenly plan, His spiritual standard and divine design, brings order, purposeful activity, intelligent direction, to every system in the universe. It gives mankind the heavenly assurance that ''all systems are go."