The next attribute of God we are going to consider is Spirit. Spirit is often opposed to matter, but it would be more correct to call it vital essence of material universe. Spirit is the underlying energy of all the creation. It brings into existence and sustains all there is.

"All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being" (John 1:3).

"One God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all" (Ephesians 4:6).

There is no existence apart from God. Everything which exists, expresses God.

As Spirit, God is the Absolute Good. It is necessary for us to realize this fact when we think of so-called evil.

Are people evil by nature - or, at least, some of them? Is there the evil force which opposes to God? In the light of all we know about God being the Universal Spirit, answers to those questions are no. God is the only Power and the Presence in the world, and God is good. God is not double-minded, and cannot be divided in Himself. God cannot be good and evil at the same time, therefore all seeming evil does not have real existence.

Knowledge of this aspect of God directly affects our self-image. God is Spirit, and as children of God we are spiritual beings. We reflect divine goodness. Every time doubts come to our minds, we may declare:

"I am growing and achieving maturity. I may stumble and fail, but I am not in a "fallen state". I may commit so-called "sins", but I am not a sinner. I deny an idea of human sinfulness and wickedness. There is no evil within me. I am a spiritual being in a spiritual world, learning to express my true identity".

The last important attribute of God is Principle, or Law.

In his book "The Science of Mind" Ernest Holmes wrote: "We come to understand that all is Love and yet all is Law. Love rules through Law. Love is the Divine Givingness; Law is the Way. Love is spontaneous; Law is impersonal. We should study the nature of Reality with this in mind, and in this way we shall avoid two grave mistakes: either viewing life as made up only of mechanical laws, or viewing it as made up only of spontaneous actions, irrespective of law and order".

This is true. God cannot be reduced to so-called blind laws of nature. And it would be equally unwise to think that the world is a chaos, and there are no laws on which we may rely.

Divine laws cannot be broken, but we break ourselves by going against these laws. Laws are not restrictive. They don't take away our freedom. The opposite is true: they guarantee our freedom by providing a framework where we can express ourselves. That's why the Bible talks about "the perfect law of liberty" (James 1:25).

So often people pray to God, asking Him to go against His own laws, to make an exception in their case. But such prayers cannot be answered, because God will never violate His nature. Answers to our prayers come to us not as exceptions, not as "miracles" but as natural results of our cooperation with highest possible laws.

So, in every situation the best prayer is the one for understanding of the Principle. We need to learn "where God's winds are blowing" and to "adjust our sails" accordingly so that we may move to the desired point of destination.