The universe of Spirit is peopled with spiritual beings, 265:1 and its government is divine Science. Man is the off- spring, not of the lowest, but of the highest qualities of 265:3 Mind. Man understands spiritual existence in proportion as his treasures of Truth and Love are enlarged. Mortals must gravitate Godward, 265:6 their affections and aims grow spiritual, - they must near the broader interpretations of being, and gain some proper sense of the infinite, - in order that sin and mortality 265:9 may be put off. This scientific sense of being, forsaking matter for Spirit, by no means suggests man's absorption into Deity 265:12 and the loss of his identity, but confers upon man en- larged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent 265:15 peace. Mortal birth and death The senses represent birth as untimely and death as irresistible, as if man were a weed growing apace or a 265:18 flower withered by the sun and nipped by untimely frosts; but this is true only of a mortal, not of a man in God's image and likeness. The 265:21 truth of being is perennial, and the error is unreal and obsolete. Blessings from pain Who that has felt the loss of human peace has not gained 265:24 stronger desires for spiritual joy? The aspiration after heavenly good comes even before we discover what belongs to wisdom and Love. The loss 265:27 of earthly hopes and pleasures brightens the ascending path of many a heart. The pains of sense quickly inform us that the pleasures of sense are mortal and that joy is 265:30 spiritual. Decapitation of error The pains of sense are salutary, if they wrench away false pleasurable beliefs and transplant the affections 266:1 from sense to Soul, where the creations of God are good, "rejoicing the heart." Such is the sword of 266:3 Science, with which Truth decapitates error, materiality giving place to man's higher individuality and destiny. Uses of adversity