A call to exercise spiritual perception

There is little in our human experience that seems more impressive than what we see. The pictures the world presents include war, disease, poverty, racial tensions, fraught relationships, and personal tragedies, right alongside things we consider to be good.

The Scriptures, however, encourage a second look to perceive what’s really present where these dark images seem so real, and highlight the contrast between the commonly accepted view of everything as material on the one hand, and spiritual perception, or the apprehension of God, Spirit, and His perfect, spiritual creation, on the other.

God, infinite good, is the only creative power and the singular source of our being, which is therefore spiritual, not material. So, to behold something spiritually is to perceive the harmony of this divine Truth as a present fact, where before the observer had seen only a limited, material picture.

A beautiful example of this is the account of the prophet Elisha at Dothan (see II Kings 6:8-17). The king of Syria, frustrated that his army’s tactics were proving ineffective against the Israelites, suspected a spy within his own ranks. When his advisors explained that it was actually Elisha in Israel who, through his prophetic office, was revealing Syrian plans to the king of Israel, the king tasked his army with capturing the prophet. Soon after, Elisha’s young servant stepped outside to discover that they were surrounded by a powerful military force, complete with horses and chariots. His fearful reaction was understandable based on the picture before him: “Alas, my master! how shall we do?”

Elisha’s response is remarkable: “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.” His prayer is a simple call to exercise spiritual perception: “Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see.” The result? “And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”

This reveals that scientific prayer is not a request for God’s supernatural intervention in a material world, but rather an act of spiritual perception that brings into view the ever-present reality of God’s infinite goodness and power already at hand. It is this perception of Truth that corrects, clarifies, and heals.

This story took on new meaning for me while I was serving as a chaplain in the United States Navy. On one occasion, I was deployed with my Marine Corps unit to a combat position in Syria. Our post was in an embattled village that had, until a few months before, been a base for violent extremists, who had terrorized the local population and much of the Middle East. I was there to bring spiritual perspective and nourishment to the unit.

A couple of days after my arrival, we held a simple church service, during which I shared the story of Elisha at Dothan. I pointed out to these young men that they had a choice before them. They could see all around them the stark and disturbing picture of a brutal war – or they could open their eyes to the ever-presence of God, good, and His government.

It was a moment of real celebration – not of a military victory but of a mental one. It was the recognition that right where evil seemed to rear its head in dramatic fashion, right there we could celebrate God’s presence and rejoice in His power to supply freedom, peace, and security.

In the following months, the unit’s mission was completed, and all the Marines and sailors returned safely home at the end of the deployment, for which I remain deeply grateful.

Mary Baker Eddy describes this distinction between false, material sense and spiritual perception. In her book “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” she writes, “Human sense may well marvel at discord, while, to a diviner sense, harmony is the real and discord the unreal” (p. 563).

We can daily, even hourly, consider what God is and what He knows about us and our situation. Understanding God as ever-present, all-knowing, and all-powerful Life and Love, we can rest assured that Love is caring for our every need and surrounding us with evidence of Life’s goodness.

The beauty of spiritual perception is that it is not the exercise of some force of our own will. Rather, it is a humble turning away from a material sense of our world, however impressive, and allowing God to reveal to us the perfect, spiritual reality that Christ Jesus brought to light in his healing ministry. God has provided us with the innate ability to do this. Our task is simply to see what God has revealed.

Adapted from an article published in the Aug. 16, 2021, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.