In recent months I’ve been noticing more and more comments about aging in general conversation. For instance, a friend confided that the health of a mutual acquaintance was “in decline.” Someone else asked me if an individual we both knew, who had health problems, had been given an “expiration date”! Statements such as “I’m having a senior moment” – a moment of forgetfulness – suggesting loss of mental acuity, are common. Sometimes we use these jokingly or without thinking, but even this reinforces the belief that decline is inevitable.
Decline shouldn’t be accepted or expected. The word “decline” relative to God’s creation certainly wasn’t in Christ Jesus’ vocabulary. His teachings reflected the expectation of perpetual advancement and renewal, and his healings demonstrated Christ, divine Truth, revealing to human thought in every age that this is possible and natural. Rather than give in to the belief that expiration and deterioration are normal, he protested this notion by healing the sick and even raising the dead. His thought rested on God, the one divine, infinite Mind – the creator of the universe – who maintains His creation in a constant state of health and harmony.
As a student of Christian Science, I have endeavored to be more alert to follow Jesus’ example and challenge the aggressive belief of aging. Whenever it comes to thought, I declare God’s power and presence and affirm that God made man (meaning all of us, male and female) in His own image, and that therefore we are spiritual, eternal, free from decline or decay.
I have become wise to the fact that any suggestion to the contrary is not believable because it comes from a supposed mortal mentality and not the one infinite Mind, God. Decline is a counterfeit picture of man and the universe. In Psalm 103, we read about a God who lovingly maintains His creation and “satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (verse 5). There are many wonderful examples of this in the Bible, including Moses, who lived to be 120, yet “his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated” (Deuteronomy 34:7).
As my understanding of man’s indestructible, eternal identity has increased, I have found noticeable improvement in my eyesight, after wearing eyeglasses for many decades, to the point that glasses are no longer necessary. My eyesight continues to improve.
In my spiritual study, I have found the following words from a hymn to be extremely helpful and comforting:
Be still, my heart: you rest in Love divine;
God’s gracious touch has silenced grief and pain.
Love’s timeless Christ allows for no decline;
In changeless being shall your health remain.
Be still, my heart: your faithful only Friend
Secures your joyful voyage without end.
(Harold Rogers, “Christian Science Hymnal: Hymns 430-603,” No. 444, alt. © CSBD)
God, our ever-present friend, is the source of perpetual health and joy, and it is impossible for His children to decline in their expression of these qualities – or to have them expire in our lives.
Originally published in the Sept. 23, 2024, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.
