A fourteen-year-old gymnast from Romania made world headlines at the 1976
Montreal Olympics. Nadia Comaneci had done what once seemed impossible. She had
made a score of 10 out of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event. Even the scoreboard
computer wasn't programmed to show a score that was perfect according to the
Olympic standards. Participants and spectators from all countries cheered her as
she kept on giving flawless performances, ending up with three individual gold
medals and a bronze medal during the Olympic competition.
Many of us have had that exhilarating experience of watching or being
involved in something that just seemed to meet every standard of excellence.
There is no question that the highest levels of achievement inspire the human
spirit. Whether in sports, the arts, or sciences, we seem to long for the best.
We admire examples of it, and strive to see it in some aspect of our lives.
Excellence in human performance points to an unseen spiritual truth - the
perfection of man as God's offspring. Absolute perfection can only be found in
God, the divine Principle of all creation. ''He is the Rock,'' the Bible tells
us, ''his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and
without iniquity, just and right is he.''
Deuteronomy 32:4.
''His work is perfect.'' Then we, as God's children, as His creation, are
actually perfect. This is the spiritual truth of our being, though certainly not
apparent to a mortal, physical sense of life.
Christian Science encourages us to identify ourselves spiritually, as God's
perfect creation, in order to progressively demonstrate that perfection - not
only in the quality of our work but in the healing of sin and disease. Mary
Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes, ''The
Christlike understanding of scientific being and divine healing includes a
perfect Principle and idea, - perfect God and perfect man, - as the basis of
thought and demonstration.''