The Way

In common parlance, human experience is one’s journey through life. The phrase is predicated, however, on a false concept of life, that life has a beginning and an ending, and that man, once born, immediately begins his journey toward life’s end, death. Christian Science, teaching that Life is God, makes it clear that Life could have no beginning or ending, because God never changes. Hence man, made in the image and likeness of his creator, is the expression of eternal Life, and can therefore no more have a beginning and an ending, be born or die, than can God. So it is evident that a journey, in a limited sense, through Life is impossible.

How, then, can the human experience of birth and death be accounted for? It is explained in Christian Science as the projection of a supposititious dream of life and intelligence in matter, the only evidence of which is testified to by the five physical senses, whose witness has ever been unreliable. It is not until the study of God and man as given to the world by Mary Baker Eddy through her writings, awakens us from this dream-sense of things that we begin to learn what living really is.

The awakening to spiritual facts is also spoken of as a journey—one, however, away from the false material sense of existence toward a full realization of what constitutes eternal being. This journey is an individual experience, a daily, hourly, constant effort to advance in the desired direction, to leave behind all the beliefs of sin and disease engendered by a false sense of life in matter, and to press steadily toward the goal of conscious unity with God. Each one of us, then, faring forth toward this goal, may be termed a traveler, a pilgrim, and being such is concerned with the way his steps shall take.

There was a time in the early days of Bible history when the only means of communication between towns and villages were narrow paths winding over the rugged slopes or dipping into the lowlands. Great rocks made these paths almost impassable in places, and at best they were only wide enough for men and animals to travel in single file. Later, the idea of building highways developed. These new thoroughfares were literally high ways—far different from the former narrow bypaths. They were level, broad, straight, and more direct than the paths, for the hills had been cut through and depressions raised. All this tremendous labor had been undertaken not only that the king might have easy access to his domain, but that his advance might be accorded proper honor.

So it is with peculiar significance that we find Isaiah thundering to a wayward people: “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.” Is not this just what must be done to-day in the experience of every individual who may still be wandering aimlessly, and perhaps without hope, through the byways of physical sense, or jogging carelessly along the paths of material pleasure? Hear the similar admonition from Mrs. Eddy’s pen in “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” (p. 61): “Every valley of sin must be exalted, and every mountain of selfishness be brought low, that the highway of our God may be prepared in Science.” This leveling of human thought makes it possible for us to progress more readily into the realm of God, divine Mind; and when the boulders of self—self-righteousness, self-will, self-pity—are cleared away, our mental avenues are in a measure prepared for the triumphal advance from sense to Soul.

What joy is ours when we first learn through Christian Science that no one need continue to wander forever through the mazes of mortal mind! It is possible for each one of us right now, in the very place and circumstance where we may find ourselves, to make a start in the right direction. The way has been marked out for us by the words and works of Christ Jesus. Indeed, we have his own statement to that effect: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Although in the past mankind seems to have had difficulty in tracing this way as it is recorded in the Bible, confusion should no longer endure; for the route has again been definitely laid down for this age and for all ages to come, through the spiritual interpretation of the Scriptures which Christian Science gives.

Then with the goal before us and with the route mapped out we have only to follow, and our advance will be in proportion to the effort expended. If our steps seem slow at first, they may nevertheless be sure; and there can positively be no prolonged, unhappy halting as long as we make certain that it is the understanding of divine Love which motivates our endeavor. With an unselfed desire for progress, we shall press forward steadily, finding strength for each day’s need in the sustaining power of infinite Truth. This regular advance will be unbroken by hasty, erratic attempts to rush ahead in a vain striving to occupy a place whereunto we have not attained in an orderly way. False ambition blinds one to the beauty which accompanies each step; while, on the other hand, gratitude takes note of every blossoming blessing.

So we may know that whenever the journey seems laborious we have been plodding along with unseeing eyes. Look up, and see what glorious vistas stretch before! If the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, could say (Science and Health, p. 426) that she “finds the path less difficult when she has the high goal always before her thoughts, than when she counts her footsteps in endeavoring to reach it,” surely we shall do well to follow her example.

Should our too eager expectation resolve itself into impatience, however, and we stray off on what appears to be a more profitable byway or a shorter, pleasanter path, let us beware! There is but one source from which all good can emanate, and that source knows “no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” Following the tortuous trails of human belief is always a hazardous proceeding; and walking thus unprotected and alone, as one must upon such a path, the pilgrim is an easy prey for lurking errors. Or, perchance escaping therefrom, he may discover that the very lane which began so invitingly meanders off into a dreary waste of disappointment. In any case, the steps must be retraced until the highway is again attained and the traveler is once more upon safe footing. Love, ever ready with fresh inspiration and opportunities, beckons on. So let no one lose time in remorseful lamentation over such a detour. The lessons of humility and loyalty learned thereby should bridge over all similar temptations, so that in the future one may avoid them.

As long as we hold to the right course, we are safe. The angel guardians that patrol the highway are never off duty, and the lawless hordes of doubt, fear, or lack can make no inroad upon their province. Every individual’s advance along this way renders the path smoother and wider, making it just that much easier for all who follow. The same intelligence guides each pilgrim; so that we may look ahead toward those whose advance has perhaps carried them beyond our gaze, without anxiety or sorrow, knowing that their experience is also progressive; and with the same assurance send out a cheery hail to those whose footsteps seem to lag behind.

However, let us not imagine that it is practicable to make satisfactory advance if our gaze turns continually to the valleys behind. Having been lifted out of the depressing lowlands of misfortune or ill health, we cannot afford to allow our steps to retrograde by a frequent rehearsal of those experiences. Standing simply as milestones along the way, these incidents should be reviewed only to recount the clearer glimpses of good gained in their overcoming, milestones from which further progress may be joyfully reckoned.

If at any time our sense of direction becomes dim or our view of the goal obscure, the familiar warning holds good: “Stop. Look. Listen.” Stop wondering and worrying; wait on God. Look away from the immediate problem and see the allness, the vast perfection, of spiritual creation. Listen for the voice of Truth, and “thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it.”