With two children in elementary school, it’s been a fun trip down memory lane to revisit many of the school activities that come about at this educational stage – spirit days, book fairs, learning the multiplication tables, etc. Perhaps the most iconic of such happenings is “show and tell.”
Recently I began to ponder a different kind of “show and tell,” thinking of that phrase through a spiritual lens. It occurred to me that “show and tell” is a game that mortal mind – a supposed mind apart from the one, infinite Mind, God – tempts us to play. Our bodies show and tell us a lot that isn’t good. They often display imperfection or deformity or report that they’re in pain, sick, stiff, old, etc. Although these presentations can feel convincing, we don’t have to be taken in by them.
Referring to a view of man as material – limited and very imperfect – Mary Baker Eddy says in “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” “The world is holding it before your gaze continually” (p. 248). Whether we’re seeing news of devastation and tragedy, sensational photos, or ads for medical remedies that come with a long list of potential negative side effects, we have to be vigilant to “stand porter at the door of thought” (p. 392) and to stick to knowing what is true: God, good, and His perfectly good and wholly spiritual creation, which includes each of us.
Sometimes we ourselves can be unintentional presenters of this false show and tell. We can become engrossed in conversations with family, friends, or colleagues that focus on problems, anxiety, distrust, etc. We need to consider whether what we’re hearing or seeing as well as thinking and saying is coming from the divine Mind, which knows and expresses only good.
The Bible contains numerous references to God “shewing” His power and mercy. And many biblical writers ask God to show them His ways. In Deuteronomy we read, “O Lord God, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness” (3:24). And the book of Jeremiah says, “The Lord thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do” (42:3).
The “tellings” that the Bible relays are too many to count. Some of the most precious are the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, the Lord’s Prayer, and Christ Jesus’ healing works. In fact, Jesus provided us with two of the best, most insightful show-and-tell presentations: the feeding of thousands with a small amount of food.
According to Matthew 15:32-38, for instance, not wanting to send the multitudes away hungry after preaching to them, Jesus asked his disciples how much food they had on hand. They replied that they had only a few little fishes and seven loaves of bread.
Jesus, who understood that true substance comes from God, Spirit, and is therefore spiritual and limitless, did not accept the picture of lack in the face of need. Instead, he gave thanks for what they had and instructed the disciples to distribute it. Contrary to supposed material laws and human assumptions, “four thousand men, beside women and children” had plenty to eat – and afterward there were seven baskets of food left over!
Although Jesus had been presented with a bleak picture, he didn’t let himself be fooled into believing it. Surely he knew that our Father-Mother God does not allow for lack of anything right and good but instead supplies all needs abundantly.
Science and Health recommends an outlook that Jesus lived to perfection: “Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought” (p. 495). Despite the picture presented in any bad situation – sin, sickness, lack, etc. – Jesus always recognized only the spiritual truth that man, created by God in His image, is forever governed and sustained by God. God’s omnipotence is never limited or on pause.
What a radical difference between the spiritual facts being shown to us by God and the mirage presented by the physical senses. In essence, the determining factor in whether to trust the veracity of the show and tell of the moment can be found in its source. If God isn’t behind the showing and telling, we should never accept it as true.
As we rely solely on what God is revealing to us, we can get closer and closer to outgrowing any need to be presenters or participants in mortal mind’s show and tell.
Adapted from an article published in the July 28, 2025, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.
