At a grocery store recently, as I was walking through the olive oil aisle, I noticed the different levels of olive oil purity written there on the bottle labels. It’s curious, but this prompted me to step back and just think about the general purity of my thoughts – that is, how open I am to God’s goodness.
From my experience practicing Christian Science, I’ve learned that when our thoughts purely reflect the intelligence of God, freedom and healing insights come to light. Prayer that opens us up to God’s presence, and to our true nature as His spiritual offspring, helps us see that God’s perfection is expressed in us all. Then we’re truly feeling God’s purifying action, which heals.
God isn’t a harsh judge who tries to make us feel bad. No, the action of God’s love, when acknowledged and accepted, washes away impurities. The Bible explains encouragingly, “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jeremiah 29:11).
So receptivity to the divine purifying action isn’t unpleasant; it’s actually a real joy, though it requires humility and willingness to yield to the divine Mind, infinite Love. If a thought comes to us that takes us sideways, clouding our awareness of God’s pure goodness, we don’t need to feel guilty about it – we just need to reject it. Such thoughts are not from God, so instead of accepting them as legitimate, we can let God purify our consciousness with His love and peace. “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God,” Christ Jesus taught (Matthew 5:8).
In this way, we come to see God more accurately, which leads to seeing ourselves and others more accurately – as spiritual, made in God’s image. The founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, brings out, “The great Nazarene Prophet said, ‘Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.’ Nothing aside from the spiritualization – yea, the highest Christianization – of thought and desire, can give the true perception of God and divine Science, that results in health, happiness, and holiness” (“Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896,” p. 15).
Standing there in that grocery store aisle, I prayed to become more open to God’s purifying guidance. I sure felt God’s love as the inspiration came that when it comes to thoughts that would keep us from a clear view of God’s goodness – such as selfishness, fear, or hate – we don’t create them personally. They’re counterfeits. We’re not stuck with them. They’re not recorded on a stone tablet somewhere to haunt us for eternity.
Instead, we can let our thought become infused with God’s love, which disperses unloving, unhelpful impulses. No guilt. No self-hate. Just the clearing, reforming, healing action of God, who is divine Love alone.
God, Love, isn’t ever intimidated by the world’s ruminations about evil as inevitable, because infinite Love does not create or know evil. Instead, Love expresses itself in and through its entire creation.
Right there in front of the shelves of olive oil, I experienced Love’s purifying action. A thoughtless act had really stuck with me, and the mental rehashing of it had me thinking that it had become a permanently toxic part of me. But now it felt as if God, in the friendliest, kindest manner, was telling me that the only thing that is permanent is what He forms and loves – what is spiritual and good.
Happily, my perspective was transformed permanently as a result of this inspiration, and I wasn’t haunted by those recurring thoughts again.
As we move through the days and spaces of daily life, we can become grateful for how God’s purifying action is incontestable and constant. God’s love and goodness can always penetrate and get through to cleanse, correct, heal, and purify us.
