What? More information?

THE current deluge of information from seemingly all quarters, precipitated by mankind's curiosity and inventiveness, may cause us to wonder how we can handle it all. Is it possible to know all that we need to know? What do we do with what we already know? Will we recall it when we need to? How do we know for sure what's worth remembering? If we had to trust brain cells or computer banks to acquire, sort out, store, and disseminate everything there is to know, there would be cause for panic over such questions. But we have a much more reliable source to turn to: God.

The one God is not a mythological deity whose intelligence derives from human imagination. Nor is He some celestial memory bank with whom we deposit our thoughts and withdraw them at will. God is the infinite, all-knowing Mind, the source of all true knowledge, understanding, and memory. And man, as created by God, is the very image of the one Mind.

Of the continuous availability of Mind's resources, the Psalmist writes, ``The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.''1

Learning to rely on His infinite understanding and wisdom in the handling of information strengthens our ability to collect, recall, and utilize that information. Our mental acumen proves keener when seen to be derived from the divine Mind than when believed to be confined to the dictates of physical laws and human resources. So does our vital moral capacity to discern right from wrong, truth from error, in what we hear and read.

Christ Jesus, who broke through static mental barriers to perceive realms of thought mankind hardly knew existed, had whatever he needed to know right at hand by turning to his heavenly Father, divine Mind. He said, ``Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.''2 This is as applicable to our need of accurate, useful information, and a right use of it, as it is to other needs. So when we do ask God in prayer, we can expect fitting, practical answers. Once I had to take an examination in an advanced history course with only a beginner's exposure to the subject. There had been no formal lectures, no quizzes, no grades, and the textbook was considered nominal to the course. The test consisted of one question, which concerned how what we had studied would affect the following century. The other students had already taken related courses, which I lacked.

So I put my pencil aside and sincerely prayed--not for human knowledge but for an understanding of man's inherent ability to reflect God's intelligence, including such faculties as recognition, perception, comprehension. This freed my thought. Consequently I was able to recall an obscure reference made by a professor two years earlier, a reference that enabled me to make historical relationships on the exam I could not have made otherwise. The resulting grade was one of the highest in the class.

This experience proved to be valuable years later when I was working on a project with the legislature to protect important freedoms for the people of our state. It appeared that these rights were being threatened. Needed information came in from various sources but seemed all too fragmentary. Affirming that God is not the creator of evil or confusion, I prayed diligently for His unfoldment of what I needed to know. This prayer brought all the facts together to reveal the source of resistance, and I was able to counter it effectively before unjust legal action was taken.

Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered and founded Christian Science, writes: ``The divine Principle, or Spirit, comprehends and expresses all, and all must therefore be as perfect as the divine Principle is perfect. Nothing is new to Spirit. Nothing can be novel to eternal Mind, the author of all things, who from all eternity knoweth His own ideas.''3

Whether it's a matter of analyzing a multitude of facts, choosing and organizing the best concepts, remembering instructions, finding the right words, locating that data in the computer, or simply taking in the day's news reports, we can more readily prove our dominion over quantities of information through reliance on the one Mind.

1Psalms 33:11. 2Matthew 6:8. 3Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, pp. 518-519. DAILY BIBLE VERSE Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite. Psalms 147:5
