Unexpected solutions

There may be times when it seems we've finally reached an impasse. Heaven may feel a very long way off when disagreements in a marriage reach the point where reconciliation appears impossible; or when striking workers and management are at loggerheads, and efforts to find a resolution have come to a dead end; or when an argument with a next-door neighbor becomes so tangled that all communication has broken down.

In a way, these examples illustrate the limitations of human mentality. All too often the so-called material mind turns out to be more a collection of restrictions and uncertainties than the source of inspired solutions. Actually, during a confrontation the more significant issue may not be so much the disputed factors everyone has focused on; the real issue may be a question of how creative people are in rising above stalemates of the human mind. In other words, perhaps what's actually being tested is our ability to innovate in breaking down fixed mental stubborness, and to discern new possibilities, solutions entirely unexpected by a mortal mind set in its certainty that there is no solution.

How can a person break away from a mesmeric kind of emphasis on the details of disagreement and gain a broader, more insightful state of thought? Ah, if only we had the wisdom of Solomon!If we're really serious about such a desire, the Bible points the way. Solomon, in his prayers, could have reached for the material things -- long life and riches. Maybe, as we've struggled with an impasse, our prayers have been tinged with just how we would like the material aspects to develop.

But of course Solomon prayed for something much more spiritual -- for understanding. And the Bible records God as saying, "Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart." n1 this new-found wisdom and understanding led to some very perceptive action. The "wisdom of Solomon" came through clearly in such memorable events as the completely unexpected solution he brought to an impasse between two women in a child custody case. (See I Kings 3:16-28.)

n1 I Kings 3:12

Christian Science explains how any of us can seek and attain the fresh spiritual insight that breaks through dilemmas and opens up wise and novel answers to perplexing situations. The answer is not a matter of trying to develop a more brilliant human mind; the need is to be more willing to relinquish the belief that a mortal mentality is man's true consciousness.In reality, God is divine Mind, the true source of wisdom.Man doesn't have a little , finite, independent mind; he is the individual expression of one God, the one infinite Mind.

An honest recognition of this eternal truth can have a powerful impact on human affairs. The boundaries of a mortal mentality begin to dissolve, and we experience a much deepter sense of intelligence and perception -- in a phrase, we discover a taste of heaven. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes, "Heaven is not a locality, but a divine state of Mind in which all the manifestations of Mind are harmonious and immortal, because sin is not there and man is found having no righteousness of his own, but in possession of 'the mind of the Lord," as the Scripture says." n2

n2 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,m p. 291.

Christ Jesus gave unparalleled proof of what it means to reflect a heavenly state of thought -- to know oneself as the very image of divine Mind. His expression of spiritual intelligence brought unexpected solutions time and again. The people hardly expected Jairus's daughter to revive once she had died , nor did the mob anticipate Jesus' request that only he who was without sin should cast a stone at the woman taken in adultery.

All of us can contribute to more perceptive solutions, both in our own affairs and those of society, as we grow in our admission that Mind is God; that He is all intelligent; and that man's true nature, as proved by Christ Jesus, expresses infinite wisdom. DAILY BIBLE VERSE O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! Romans 11:33