Independent Christian Science articles

The Call of Duty

From the December 26, 1903 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel by

The Bible says, “Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion, … shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.”

In our text-book the same rousing thought is given: “Sleep is darkness; but God’s creative mandate was, ‘Let there be light.’ In sleep, cause and effect are mere illusions. They seem to be, but are not…. Even so goes on the Adam-belief, of which mortal and material life is the dream” (Science and Health, p. 556).

When Christian Science first dawns upon our thought, we are like people awakened from a long sleep. Life suddenly takes on a new phase. We are made aware that the Biblical promises of salvation, healing, and peace are not the voicing of mere emotional ecstasy, but they are an earnest of results which ever attend the discernment of and obedience to, a true conception of God. Great thinkers, from Moses to Paul, realized, in greater and lesser degrees the spiritual law and its practical application to the needs of mortals.

We are also impressed with the conviction that God is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever; that what was true to Jesus, is true to us; and life and its opportunities appear to us in a new and radiant conception of good.

This discernment of the available truths of the Bible is a universal experience to Christian Scientists, but because our awakening is not yet complete, apathy sometimes steals upon us, and before long we may grow accustomed to this changed attitude towards life. Our work, which we formerly undertook with so much zeal, grows arduous, and we begin to wonder why our labor does not come to its fruition, and why there is so much of it to do.

But instead of yielding to such thoughts of “a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep,” we should see that this is the time for Christian Scientists to be awake to their opportunities. Solomon said, “Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.”

However small our understanding seems to be, we have enough with which to begin our work, and if effort be faithfully made, knowledge will unfold itself to us, and with it, the necessary results of knowledge, power, and demonstration.

And of what is our labor to consist? First, daily, prayerful, intelligent study of the Bible with Science and Health. Second, prompt and efficient fulfilment of the duties that come to us as Christian Scientists.

Even when there is no definite, specific object in view we should not allow our work to grow slack. Indeed, such a time should be the very one for greater, more conscientious effort. “Take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

We know that in military campaigns the most important work is the persistent drill in which soldiers learn the methods of warfare and obedience to those in command. History has often recorded the victory of a few well-disciplined soldiers over a large body of raw recruits.

As working Christian Scientists, we should not be found sleeping at the post of duty, but awake and doing, and as soldiers in a common cause we should be loyal and obedient to our Leader. We should never allow ourselves to fall into a state of apathy, indifference, or discouragement; since each of us has work to do that no other can do for us. We need to heed well the text on our Sentinel as it comes to us every week, “What I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch.”

Identity And Individuality

From the May 1919 issue of the Christian Science Journal by

The great struggle of humanity has undoubtedly for its object the full realization of man’s identity, with all that this implies. It is needless to say that mankind is by no means conscious of this, unless a large measure of spiritual enlightenment be granted; but just the same it is the dynamic influence forever at work shaping the destinies of the race as no lesser consideration can ever do. It is as if the power which governs the universe was forever whispering to each individual, Be a man. While the world’s greatest philosopher, the Nazarene Prophet, called upon men to deny self daily, he did not deal in contradictions when he asked, “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”—in other words, lose his identity.

It is very clear that the false sense of selfhood must be given up before man’s spiritual identity in the likeness of God can be realized, and yet this outweighs the world. On page 104 of “Miscellaneous Writings” Mrs. Eddy says: “Clothed, and in its right Mind, man’s individuality is sinless, deathless, harmonious, eternal….In obedience to the divine nature, man’s individuality reflects the divine law and order of being.” To this she adds, “Who wants to be mortal, or would not gain the true ideal of Life and recover his own individuality?” One does not live long on the human plane, as a rule, until the so-called struggle for existence takes form as a tremendous effort to lay up treasures on earth, which when acquired always disappoint the one whose real need is spiritual riches. What one possesses of material things counts for nothing in the end, for the true appraisement is finally called for, namely, what one is, and this will explain what he has done and what he possesses.

At the present time as never before men are demanding man’s inheritance of opportunity, of justice, and of freedom to be and to possess all that God gives. When Jesus was challenged for claiming, not for himself alone but for all men, man’s spiritual inheritance, he must have startled his opposers when he asked, “Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?” One can easily imagine his fine irony when he reminded his critics that “the scripture cannot be broken,” and held to man’s dignity as the Son of God. What Jesus accomplished as the type of real manhood, brings light, in every age, to those who sit in darkness.

In this age we hear too much of the majorities and minorities, and so lose sight of God’s idea, man, and of its human expression through the individual. We fear and resist tyranny, and we may well resist it, but we should never forget that there is no tyranny so oppressive as the belief in minds many and subjection to the selfish and short-sighted demands arising therefrom. One thing is sure, that no cloud of superstition or injustice can longer hold back the reign of right, and it must be the rule of Principle, whoever may be sobered or shamed thereby. Though “the heathen rage,” and the people imagine vain things along economic and political lines, the Ten Commandments stand through the ages more solid than the enduring hills, and because the spiritual light shines for us of to-day nearer and clearer than ever before they must perforce be obeyed. Thus we shall, as Lowell says,

Find out, some day, that nothing pays but God,
Served whether on the smoke-shut battle field.
In work obscure done honestly, or vote
For truth unpopular, or faith maintained
To ruinous convictions, or good deeds
Wrought for good’s sake, mindless of heaven or hell.

In all history there is nothing more sublime than the record of Jesus’ trial before Pilate. John tells us that this coward and political trickster declared Jesus innocent, yet had him scourged, and allowed the soldiers to crown him with thorns and array him in a purple robe. Then when this God-empowered Galilean stepped forth before the mocking multitude, it must have been a flash of light from above that made Pilate say, “Behold the man!” Well may we recall that vision in the crises of human experience and know, as know we must, that no less a type of man can really meet the need of any hour. Then let us take heart of grace that some such men have arisen when the need was greatest, and because they were above the lust of selfishness and superior to fear or favor, either of one or the many, the world in their day drew a deeper breath and took a step forward. It should not, moreover, be forgotten that the inspiration which possessed such men never came from the masses, although the desperate needs of humanity prompted the sacrificial endeavors of the best; but it needed unflinching faith in right and in what to the Christian Scientist is the demand of Principle, rather than a mere concession to the pleadings of so-called rich or poor, high or low, or, to use the verbiage of the present hour, of capital and labor, to right intrenched wrong as by the outstretched hand of God.

One thing is sure, that there are many wrongs to be righted until all men (and this includes all women) are not only free to express their identity, but do express it, and this last depends wholly upon themselves. Have not the greatest men risen to their high positions, not because of the favors of fortune, but wholly because of the innate greatness which can neither be restricted nor repressed by any material considerations? In view of this we can understand why Jesus refused to interfere between the brothers who were disputing over the division of an inheritance; and again, when his enemies sought to ensnare him with the question of paying taxes to the Romans, he laid down a fundamental law of human rights when he bade them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Cæsar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

In the United States we at this time think with ever growing reverence upon the character of Abraham Lincoln, and as we pause to wonder at his heroic nature we recall Mrs. Eddy’s words on page 360 of “Miscellaneous Writings.” Here she says, ”Great only as good, because fashioned divinely, were those unpretentious yet colossal characters, Paul and Jesus.” Then, too, we recall the psalmist’s question, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?” What indeed is autocrat or artisan, prince or plowman, save as he individually expresses man’s identity as known to the creative Mind, with ever unfolding possibilities for greatness and goodness because he expresses the one perfect Mind. In Tennyson’s great poem, “In Memoriam,” are these lines:—

O living will that shall endure
When all that seems shall suffer shock,
Rise in the spiritual rock,
Flow thro’ our deeds and make them pure.

Cain and Abel

From the December 6, 1919 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel by

THE story of Cain and Abel as recorded in the fourth chapter of Genesis and as interpreted by Mrs. Eddy on pages 538 to 543 of “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” may be regarded as a key to the enigma of mortal existence throughout all time and is specifically applicable to the problems which come up to-day to be solved in Christian Science. The poet Byron once declared that “a man that hath no virtue in himself, ever envieth virtue in others.” This fact is well illustrated by the characters of Cain and Abel, who represent in embryo two antipodal qualities, which by reason of their antagonistic and irreconcilable natures must continue to oppose each other until the former is finally destroyed by the latter.

Briefly speaking, Cain stands for a mental condition in which the Satanic suggestion, “Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil,” has been accepted. Hence Cain places himself above the law of God and acknowledges no law but his own will. According to Cruden the name Cain signifies “possession,” or one who is “possessed;” in a word, it stands for materialism, including its complete range of social and political evils from absolute autocracy to abject slavery.

Mrs. Eddy concisely describes Cain’s mental attitude on page 89 of Science and Health, where she says: “Cain very naturally concluded that if life was in the body, and man gave it, man had the right to take it away. This incident shows that the belief of life in matter was ‘a murderer from the beginning.’ ” Instead of emulating Abel’s good example or learning a lesson from his own mistakes, Cain seeks to quiet remorse with the opiate of envy, thereby plunging himself into deeper error. Envy, being a murderous quality, moves Cain to kill Abel, and afterwards when questioned by God, he denies all personal responsibility, saying, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain, under whatever alias he has since been known, never seems to realize that he is and always has been the keeper of his own concept of his brother. He is, therefore, quite oblivious of the fact that envy has poisoned his thoughts and reversed his natural feelings of affection.

Abel, on the contrary, is a primitive type of the Christ; his acceptable offering prefigures the living sacrifice, which is the overcoming of self and involves a recognition of the unreality of matter. The name “Abel” is defined by Mrs. Eddy in the Glossary of Science and Health (p. 579) as “watchfulness, self-offering; surrendering to the creator the early fruits of experience.” Because of his naive and ingenuous nature, Abel does not understand the necessity for handling the destructive claim of malicious animal magnetism, and so temporarily falls a victim to its seeming power. Wholly unsuspicious of Cain’s deep-seated resentment, Abel goes daily about his own affairs, apparently without the slightest idea that his example of righteousness is perpetually inflaming his brother’s smoldering hatred. Was it not inevitable that, in these circumstances, the one result would follow and the moment arrive when the accumulated malice in Cain’s heart would break forth and give vent to its murderous impulse? When the tragic moment did at last arrive, it may have seemed at the time that brute force had actually triumphed over goodness. This, however, was not the case, as a further study of the narrative shows. In the twenty-fifth and following verse we read that Eve bore a third son and called his name Seth (meaning renewal), “For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.” And the passage concludes, “Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.”

The seed of Cain, according to the writer of Genesis, rapidly degenerated until the time of the flood, when it had become so corrupt that it was temporarily extinguished. The offspring of Seth, however, was spiritually progressive, and by reference to the genealogy set out in the third chapter of Luke’s gospel, we find that it included such illustrious names as Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and Jesus. Regarding the seed of Seth from a metaphysical point of view, and not merely from the human standpoint, we are enabled to follow in some measure the spiritual evolution which is traceable throughout the entire Scriptures; as, for example, Enoch’s ascension, Noah’s preservation in the ark, the divine guidance of the Hebrew patriarchs, the journey from Egypt to the promised land, the establishment of the Mosaic law, the period of prophecy and the fulfillment of the same in the coming of Christ Jesus, and finally the revelation of John, with its promise of the eternal triumph of good over evil and the permanent establishment of God’s kingdom on the earth. All these are human footsteps marking the unfolding of the compound spiritual idea, known in Christian Science as the Christ, “the Son of the living God,” of whom Abel is the earliest type in Bible history.

The difference between the characters of Abel and Jesus lies in the degree that each had put off the human and had demonstrated the divine. This fact was clearly perceived and stated by Paul, when he wrote in his epistle to the Hebrews, “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.” Christ Jesus, however, is described as “the mediator of the new covenant” and “the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” Abel, as has been previously pointed out, did not understand, as Jesus did, how to deal with the problem of evil. It may be said that Jesus had his Judas just as Abel had his Cain, but Jesus was able to prove the futility of Judas’ treachery through his victory over the flesh whereby the Messiah or Son of God was revealed. It is evident that Jesus was by no means ignorant of the character of Judas. Foreseeing as he did that Judas was planning to betray him, Jesus took no precautionary measures to frustrate his design, although he prepared himself scientifically to meet it. “Now,” he cried in that wonderful prayer in the twelfth chapter of John’s gospel, “is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

Here we have both the theory and practice of absolute Christian Science. Jesus in this perfect sacrifice left for all mankind the illustration of true self-abnegation, whereby evil is overcome, not through physical resistance, but is destroyed forever through a demonstration of the Christ. It is plain that Christ Jesus’ great proof of man’s immortality was not in any sense a vicarious atonement but was a living example bequeathed to all mankind as a standard for demonstration. Christian Science is enabling humanity to understand and follow divine Principle as exemplified by Christ Jesus, and it explains those remarkable words of the Master: “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” In other words, he that reverses the so-called first law of material nature and makes self-abnegation rather than self-preservation his rule for scientific demonstration, shall indeed find the true life, of which mortal existence is merely a counterfeit.

Surely, it ought to be possible now, with the immense advantages conferred on mankind through Mrs. Eddy’s teachings, to maintain such an armor of right thinking as to render harmless the fiery darts of every and all uncharitableness. The unity of man with the Christ, or only begotten Son of God, must be demonstrated in Christian Science, for it is the immutable truth and cannot forever be obscured. The footsteps in this demonstration, however, like charity, must, in the words of the proverb, begin at home, and now is the time, as our Leader has pointed out (Miscellany, p. 213), to “be more zealous to do good, more watchful and vigilant.”

The Dream Dispelled

From the September 26, 1914 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel by

“Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” This clarion call of Paul is just as applicable and significant to the Christian of today as it was to the Ephesians of the first century, but until the advent of Christian Science the real import of Paul’s peremptory yet loving command was not understood by mortals, though there is embodied therein the most important advice in all Christendom. Parallel in importance is Mrs. Eddy’s statement on page 40 of Science and Health, “The nature of Christianity is peaceful and blessed, but in order to enter into the kingdom, the anchor of hope must be cast beyond the veil of matter into the Shekinah into which Jesus has passed before us.”

One of the things which Christian Science seeks constantly to impress upon its students, is that there is no resting-place in matter. This Science clearly teaches that matter, or material consciousness, is but the Adamic dream from which all mortals must awaken before peace and happiness can be attained. When one is convinced of the truth of this statement, there is seen to be but one real business in life, namely, the continuous effort to awaken one’s self and others to a consciousness of the real universe of God’s creation. Accompanying this conviction comes a quickened condition of thought which realizes the foolishness and danger of dillydallying by the way, and thereby prolonging the dream of life and intelligence in matter.

What gratitude the world owes to Mrs. Eddy for instructing mortals as to the facts of existence, showing them that the mortal sense of it is but a dream, to be dispelled through a knowledge of the truth of being! This is what Paul taught the Ephesians. “Awake,” he tells them, “and Christ shall give thee light.” It is Christ, then, that is to awaken dreaming mortals. Here again Christian Science confers eternal blessing on mankind by giving a spiritual understanding of Truth and imparting the ability to apply it practically to all the affairs of daily living.

To those who have wondered and mourned over earthly existence, with its sin, sickness, and death; with its cruelty, selfishness, and inhumanity; with its strife, competition, and rivalry involved in the mere act of existing, there comes a great sigh of relief to know through Christian Science that it is all a mortal and unreal dream, and that in place of the hopeless task of unraveling the tangled medley of centuries, one has only to awaken to a higher consciousness which knows the universe as God has ever known it, unchangeably perfect, harmonious, and indestructible, every idea forever in its rightful place, doing its own work, always provided for. This view illuminates the declaration of Paul to the Corinthians, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” Here the terms Adam and Christ unmistakably refer to mental conditions, and this interpretation is further strengthened by the rendering given in another translation, which reads “the Christ.”

That mortal existence is but a dream, is clearly taught by the Scriptures, which employ the terms sleep and awake repeatedly in connection with the all-important question of salvation. To the Romans Paul said, “It is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” Again the psalmist sang, “I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.” So, then, the most important thing in life, the true goal of mortal existence, is to awaken from the Adam dream or consciousness, to perceive the universe as it really is, spiritually perfect. To this end, therefore, must be brought all effort and endeavor, that we may bring into captivity “every thought to the obedience of Christ.” That is, one must plant one’s self on the rock of truth, knowing that God, man, and the universe are eternally perfect; and standing there, one must deny every argument or suggestion which would contradict this great truth. In other words, one must strive to know that he is a child of God, and must act accordingly.

Those who are convinced through Christian Science that the real business of human experience is to awaken from mortality’s dream, make no compromise with error, have no time or inclination to gossip or listen to slander, have no surplus time to kill in foolish amusement or frivolity, but on the contrary deem every moment precious and an important factor in life’s problem. “With Christ,” Mrs. Eddy declares, “Life was not merely a sense of existence, but a sense of might and ability to subdue material conditions” (Unity of Good, p. 42), and on page 56 of the same volume she points out the landmarks which indicate progress in this overcoming. To experience such progress, it is well for one constantly to observe the admonition of the Founder of Christian Science, she who discovered the way of awakening from the Adamic dream. “To understand God,” she tells us, “is the work of eternity, and demands absolute consecration of thought, energy, and desire” (Science and Health, p. 3).

The Joy and Satisfaction of To-day

From the January 24, 1901 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel by

The mission of Christianity is to bring joy and gladness into the lives of mortals. “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” The world has nothing to lose but everything to gain by the advancement of the true idea of Christianity. If the world has opposed the Christian religion or has been indifferent as to its acceptance, it is because the life and teachings of its Founder were not understood.

A thought that frequently presents itself to the man or woman of the world is that Christianity, while it may prepare one for death and insure a happy and harmonious existence beyond the grave, it will take away the joy and satisfaction of living in the present. This thought is due to a misconception of the character and mission of Christianity, and when this false sense gives place to the true it is seen that Christianity bestows all things and deprives man of nothing that is real and eternal.

Jesus’ mission was to give to the world the true idea of God—what He is; what He can do and will do for humanity. Mortals read that “God is Love,” that He is unchangeable, “the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever,” and yet how little do they realize of what there is in this Scientific statement of God’s character to bring heaven down to earth. The thought of serving God through fear rather than through love is the idea of Christianity entertained by many. They think of God as an all-powerful personality who inflicts terrible, and perhaps endless, punishment upon those who do wrong. They can hardly conceive of a person choosing to serve God because they love Him and because they find their greatest joy and satisfaction in so doing.

When this thought gives place to the understanding that “God is Love,” then it is seen that “He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Neither the fear of punishment nor the hope of a future reward is the motive which inspires one to serve the Giver of every good and perfect gift. The fact that such service brings the greatest joy and satisfaction to-day is a sufficient reason for accepting and putting into practice the teachings of the Master.

Paul declared that the kingdom of God is “righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost,” and Jesus said, “the kingdom of God is within If these sayings be true, then the Christian has a right to expect peace and joy and harmony and satisfaction, here and now. The Psalmist sang, “In thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.” “Fullness of joy” and “pleasures forevermore.” What then would not man give to abide in the presence of the most High?

Since Christianity offers so much for the present as well as everything for the future, then that teaching that will enable man to take a firmer hold upon Christianity or cause Christianity to take a firmer hold upon him is worth more than anything else, more than all that the world has to offer. That Christian Science is accomplishing this grand work thousands upon thousands of living witnesses are daily testifying.

Christian Science is demonstrating that the saving power of Christianity is a present salvation. It brings God nearer to human experience, or rather it opens the blind eyes and causes them to see that God is here, an ever-present help. It shows how it is possible for man to trust God implicitly and to know that He does give the needed help.

That Christian Science heals after all material means have failed is no longer an open question. That it has brought joy and peace into the lives of thousands of those who were bowed down by care and sorrow is also an established fact. That these same persons believe more firmly in God than evil before, and that Christianity is to them no longer a theory but that which is capable of proof at all times, is evidence of the practical worth of Christian Science.

Ask any person who understands Christian Science, if he believes in God and has faith in Christianity, and he will tell you that he believes in God more firmly than ever before, because he understands more of what God is and he sees more clearly what is man’s relation to God. He will also tell you that his faith in Christianity was never so strong as it is to-day, because it brings him richer blessings in the present and promises infinitely more for the future.

In Christian Science he has found health and strength. Whereas he was once burdened with the weight of many cares now he is joyous and free, all because of the understanding of Truth he has gained. Who can say to such an one, Your faith is vain, or you do not believe what you profess? He knows in whom he has believed and he has within himself the assurance that his faith is not in vain.

When he recalls how he was restored to perfect health after the physicians had said there was no hope; when he remembers how that at one time there was not even a silver lining to the dark cloud above him, and now he has been restored to health and the dark clouds have disappeared and he enjoys the glorious sun-light of God’s unchanging love, is it any wonder that he is often heard to exclaim in the language of the Psalmist, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever”?

This has been the experience of thousands and it may be the experience of ad who are willing to seek diligently the understanding of Truth which Jesus declared would make free indeed. Christian Science emphasizes the Scriptural teaching that God is Love; that He is unchangeable: that He is no respecter of persons. This thought of God lifts one above the discords of earth and causes him to sing with the Psalmist, “O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.”

The Humanity Of Christ Jesus

From the March 9, 1912 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel by

In John’s gospel, third chapter, we read: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” This is a declaration that humanity is saved by and through belief in divinity and the demonstration of this faith, which gives special significance to Mrs. Eddy’s statement that “the divinity of the Christ was made manifest in the humanity of Jesus” (Science and Health, p. 25). A careful study of Jesus’ life, words, and works emphasizes a humanity rising higher and higher until it disappears entirely in divinity and is replaced by spiritual being.

Jesus was born in a manger, and he submitted step by step to the customs of the age in which he lived, saying, when baptized by John, “Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” His ever-ready sympathy for those who were overburdened with the cares of this world, in need or in distress, is expressed in such words as, “He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted;” “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,”—conveying a promise of deliverance to the captives of sense, and reward to those who value spiritual gifts more than worldly ones, seeking Principle rather than personality. Consider the comforting assurances and hope he brought the sorrowing, as when he said: “Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted;” and when he restored to the weeping widowed mother her only son; to Jairus, his cherished daughter; to Mary and Martha, their beloved brother.

His pitying tenderness was shown toward repentant sinners (those who had suffered for their sins), as in the case of Mary Magdalene, whose sins were completely obliterated by divine Love and the sinner reformed; his parables of the “lost sheep,” the “lost piece of money,” the “good Samaritan” whose mercy toward the unfortunate was symbolical of divine mercy, and the “prodigal son.” The spirit of all this is seen in Jesus’ words: “If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.”

When Peter asked, “Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?” Jesus replied: “I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven;” and he followed this declaration by his wonderful parable on the method of divine pardon, and how to obtain it forgiving others as we would be forgiven! Even when nailed to the cross, Jesus interceded for his enemies, praying, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Divine Love blotting out the sins of the world! What infinite compassion he had for the helpless sick and suffering, a compassion that carried healing in its wings, as in the case of the man “sick of the palsy,” who was brought to him on a bed. With what tenderness and helpful sweetness he spoke to him: “Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee,” and healed him of his physical ailment! Again, where the woman who had suffered for so many years thought, “If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole,” he turned to her and said: “Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.” He did not repulse or judge her for her infirmities, but blessed and healed her because of her faith in the Christ,—his divine power.

Jesus did not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax, but he demonstrated in all ways the power and victory of divine Life, Truth, and Love over every form of error,—sin, sickness, and death. His mission was to present the true concept of God and man as divinely reflected in the true humanity! What a lofty ideal, for us to reflect as in a mirror the divine Principle that blesses, heals, and saves! to redeem sinners and raise the fallen; to relieve the oppressed; to restore to life, hope, and freedom the spiritually dead; to give health to the sick and suffering; to love our enemies; to return blessing for cursing, and lift the world out of the mire of belief in evil into the glorious freedom of the sons of God!

Jesus never acknowledged any condition of sickness, sin or the sinner, as hopeless or beyond the reach of divine power, but steadfastly believed in the omnipotence and efficacy of the redemptive divine Principle, God, even though persecuted, reviled, crucified, for this faith! In the instance of the woman of Canaan, who so persistently pursued and cried after him to save her daughter, his disciples begged him to send her away. But he would not, and replied: “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” He did not answer the woman’s importunities when she called upon him as the “son of David,” but when she recognized and admitted his divine sonship in the words, “Lord, help me,” his reply to her humble pleading was immediate, and her recognition of his divine power and of her own unworthiness won for her the healing of her child.

In every case where Jesus’ divinity was acknowledged as the power that did the work, the healing followed instantaneously as a natural sequence; but where they were slower to perceive that God was the power, the healing was more gradual; and in some places the “mighty works” were not accomplished because they would not accept or believe in his divinity (or Christ nature), which was spiritual and inseparable from God. He referred to this when he said, “I and my Father are one;” and again, “The Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” But when one would have confounded his human personality with his divinity, he said, “Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God,” showing how sharply he drew the line of distinction between flesh and Spirit, at the same time acknowledging no power for good apart from God.

In following the Master’s demonstrations, as he rose higher in the scale of being, it is well to ponder the meaning of each step as mortality disappears and immortality appears; and as we approach Gethsemane (where the human will surrendered to the divine), let us tread with reverent unshod feet, for the ground is holy, wet with the dew of agony, revived with sweet submission to divine will, and the acceptance of martyrdom as the only way to prove the glorious power bestowed on man by his Maker.

He was indeed “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” He prayed that the bitter cup of martyrdom might pass from him, but in meekness said, “Not my will, but thine, be done.” Since in that way only could the victory over death be proved to blind and unbelieving mortals, then he must meekly submit to martyrdom that he might prove the truth of his teachings and words! Led “like a lamb to the slaughter,” he made no murmur, but carried his demonstration to the summit of Calvary and beyond the grave, that all might know and believe in Life eternal.

We who chafe under daily demands and the fulfilment of human duties, let us not forget that at the supreme moment of his earthly career,—when nailed to the cross, bestowing upon mortals the greatest proof of divine Love and immortality the world has ever known,—he gave his mother into the tender care of his best beloved disciple, “Woman behold thy son!” and to John, “Behold thy mother!” What a sublime climax to his humanity, what a surpassing proof of his divinity, thus to crown the humane lesson he came to teach mankind with tender solicitude and care for the human mother, although he realized better than any one of less spiritual origin could, the unreality of all human ties.

The inspired words, “It is finished,” ended this human lesson accomplished for the redemption of humanity by divinity! Yielding to death for our sakes, that he might prove the redemptive power of divine Life over death and the grave, and reveal the great truth that Mind is not subject to death, and that being cannot see corruption or evil of any kind, he rose to a higher, more ethereal form which Mary Magdalene did not at first recognize upon his reappearance after the crucifixion. His personal appearance had changed somewhat, the human being “clothed upon” by the divine,—personal sense melting away, to be replaced by the impersonal, true sense of being; mortality disappearing, “swallowed up” in Life, and death vanquished, overcome in victory!

Let us, then, seek that higher humanity which, as Mrs. Eddy tells us, “will unite all interests in the one divinity” (Science and Health, p. 571), remembering always that the glory, honor, majesty, might, and power, all good, belong unto God, whom man reflects; and let no presumptuous mortal attempt to arrogate unto himself the divine power, or Christ, for this sin is the serpent’s argument throughout all ages, “I will make you as gods.” Let us meekly obey the Principle and rule laid down by the great Teacher who in his divinity served humanity in every instance, thus working out the ends of good.

Holy Expectation

From the September 9, 1922 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel by

Expectation has been defined as “a conviction which excludes doubt.” Now, while mankind is always entertaining such convictions, the difficulty is they are generally based on so positive a belief in evil that the expectations held are only of disaster, failure, distress,—indeed, of all that would result from an evil cause; hence, the evil prophesying in which mortals so frequently indulge. Even the Christian who talks much of his faith in God would no doubt be astonished were his attention called to the vast number of times a day he throws the weight of both his thinking and his tongue on the side of evil expectation. Because of this evil prophesying, this expectation of that which is the opposite of good, is it strange that the world has seemed to reap the harvest of its own faith in and expectation of all that is disastrous and dreadful? “According to your faith be it unto you” should certainly be a trumpet call to examine the quality of one’s faith, to see what it is based upon and what is the nature of its expectations.

When Christian Science first awakens one to the analysis of thought, it almost appears to such a one as though mortals never expect anything but evil, so continuous seems the endless stream of evil expectation which is poured, either from within or from without, into his consciousness. One reason for this is that the world’s education has been largely from the standpoint of evil as a power. Believing in evil as power, the expectation of its activity, with results correspondingly unfortunate, would appear to follow naturally. Another reason that evil has been considered powerful has been the frequently accepted belief that God upheld it and therefore one never knew what to expect, since God was supposed not only to sanction and permit evil, but also often to will or intend it.

The psalmist must have had a very different viewpoint when he sang, “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.” He evidently did not expect the God on whom he was to wait would give him less than good as the result of such trust. So, in spite of the almost universal human tendency to expect evil, there have been those who caught at least a glimpse of the possibility of expecting and receiving good. Paul saw only positive good in the line of expectation when he wrote, “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God,”—even the recognition and appearance of man’s sonship with God. Christian Science, in its teaching of God as all-good, brings into view the possibility of never having aught but holy expectation. Since God, the infinite good, is the only Giver, where could there be any reason for the expectation of less than perfect good?

Think for a moment how wonderful even this present world would seem if, instead of all the evil expectancy which mortals now believe they may indulge in, they were to change their methods and expect only the good which God has for them! Think of the marvelous transformation even this single reform would effect in human thinking and living! In “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” (p. 426) Mrs. Eddy writes, “When the destination is desirable, expectation speeds our progress.” So to begin to recognize that God alone has power and that it is all good,—that good alone is in store for each child of God,—what a joy expectation would become, and how it would speed mortals’ progress from earth to heaven! When we stop to realize that to expect anything but good is to deny God, we are awakened to see that health and holiness, harmony and heaven, are the only expectations we have the right to entertain.

There is another aspect of expectation which we need to contemplate. In “The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany” (p. 230) our beloved Leader tells us: “Scientific pathology illustrates the digestion of spiritual nutriment as both sweet and bitter,—sweet in expectancy and bitter in experience or during the senses’ assimilation thereof.” This shows us a necessity and a privilege: the necessity, that we do not lose sight of the fact that good must be assimilated through constant willingness to yield the false to the true; the privilege, to allow sweet expectancy to go with us through what to material sense may seem the bitterness of self-renunciation. Then our duty as well as our privilege is to cling constantly to holy expectation,—expectation of God’s continual blessing, expectation that all good and nothing less is what His dear love has and intends for every one of us as His dear children.

As we cling to such wonderful expectation, whatever may seem the way to its fulfillment, we shall find joy and peace and assurance going with us all the way, and naught but final victory can crown such a journey.

A Sure Foundation

From the December 8, 1917 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel by

How frequently the spirit of restful confidence finds expression in the psalmist’s references to God as a “rock,” as the immovable basis of faith, assurance, and joy! In all the exigencies of temptation and distress this fact is ever recognized as the one sure thing, the eternal refuge. Thus we find him saying: “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation.” This also recalls the Master’s words to Peter respecting that apostle’s recognition of the Christ,—”Upon this rock I will build my church.”

This Scripture concept of the basis of faith was recalled recently by one while standing in the presence of the famous Woolworth Building in New York. The vastness of its towering sweep at once prompted wonderment how any foundation could have been devised which would prove equal to the support of such an enormous structure. Then he was told how a great gulf had been excavated in the earth, until the mighty ledge upon whose shoulders even the Himalayas would prove but a feather’s weight, was uncovered, and that upon this there was built a great steel and concrete substructure, which is unburdened even by so enormous a load, because the planet itself is supporting it.

That the architect was wise in thus looking to the beginnings of such an undertaking, goes without saying, and this common sense procedure is particularly wise with respect to the building of Christian faith. By way of its emphasis Jesus told the familiar story of the man who, digging deep, laid the foundation for his house upon a rock, and no teaching of Christian Science is more sane and significant than its insistence upon this course. Mrs. Eddy’s supreme appeal to mankind might be said to be of the nature of a searching inquiry respecting the fundamental truths of being, respecting the nature of God and His universe, and man. The faith which Christian Science erects in human consciousness proves stable and permanent, because it removes the ignorance and unverified tradition which material belief has left upon practically every stretch of “good solid sense;” and having thus reached the rock of demonstrable truth, it proceeds to raise thereon a reflex of that building of God which is “eternal in the heavens.”

When one is brought face to face with the sense of a great world tragedy like that of to-day, when hope is well-nigh overwhelmed by the surging tides of conflicting religious belief, or when called to conquer an assertedly incurable disease,—then it is that men feel the imperative need of an immovable foundation for thought. They then with the psalmist exclaim, “My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God;” and in such an hour happy indeed is the Christian Scientist who has proven for himself the presence and availability of that eternal truth the understanding of which crowned Christ Jesus “with the glory of a sublime success, an everlasting victory” (Science and Health, p. 45), even in the very midst of mortal conflict.

Before the paths of scientific thought have become so familiar to the Christian Scientist that his feet can follow them even in the dark, and in the situations which are occasionally precipitated when one meets with those to whom the teachings of the Bible make no appeal, we sometimes come upon yet other foundations for thought. For instance, the initial affirmation of Descartes’ philosophy, “I think; therefore I am,” will not be questioned by the average man or woman.

Now the greatness of human thought, the premises and logical processes by which men are able to determine the orbit of a hundred year period comet, or map out with startling exactness the location of the shadow of an eclipse which is to take place a half century hence; the wondrous constructive and prophetic flight of the imagination, which suggests the order of a truly creative activity and power,—all this marvelous mental achievement must be reckoned as an effect, and, by the universally honored law of sufficient reason, it demands an adequate explanation. There is no escape from this requirement; but when one posits an adequate explanation for these thought manifestations, he has come upon that which is unsearchable in wisdom and power. He has come upon the Christian’s God, though he may call it the unknowable. When the confessedly atheistic physical scientist acknowledges the discovery of the absolutely inscrutable and the infinitely intelligent at every point in the universe,—and this despite his unbelief,—he certainly is not far removed, did he but know it, from the acceptance of the teachings of Christ Jesus, and the teaching of Christian Science that “all is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation” (Science and Health, p. 468).

Thus for all those who are sane and willing to think, who do not assume a trifling, make-believe attitude toward serious things, and who are amenable to a logically progressive search for a satisfying interpretation of mental experiences,—for all such an ascending way may be found out of the deepest bogs of unbelief, the darkest confusions of mental mesmerism. However he may think of “the ultimate,” it is practically impossible for any man to make up his mind that the supreme nature-ruling intelligence is malevolent, and in so far as he refuses to do this he can be hospitable to the teaching of the Master that God, the foundation and explanation of all real being, is Love; and in his efforts to account for that hateful thing called evil he must look elsewhere than to the source of good. Though not thought of by the many, it is easily seen that there is and can be no darkness in light, no error in truth, and no evil in good, however much they seem to be blended in human experience, that is, according to material evidence.

The clear diagnosis of mental conditions, the right perception of the status in which one may find himself or another in a given moment of experience, and the tactful wisdom with which one so addresses and satisfies floundering human sense as to be able to get it out of the mud in which it has mired itself,—this determines the happy outcome of many a struggle, and establishes the victim of mental vagrancy or illogic upon that firm foundation from which his feet may not again be moved. It is thus that the demonstrated truth, in the consciousness of the good and wise, may become a rock of refuge in a storm-swept land; and thus to minister to the mentally distressed is one of the very great privileges of every true Christian Scientist.

God’s Mercy

From the October 27, 1928 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel by

The quality of mercy is not strain’d;
It droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless’d;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes:
…
It is an attribute to God himself.

There are, perhaps, no words of Shakespeare more widely known than these which proclaim the beauty and desirability of divine mercy; and all certainly are wise who cherish this quality in their heart of hearts, allowing it to bring forth fruit after its own kind. Although mercy has frequently been extolled in song and story, it has not yet gained the place in human consciousness which it deserves, and which it must surely attain if God’s bounteous love is to be understood and demonstrated.

The Bible proclaims God’s mercy with great frequency, the Psalmist enriching one of his songs by closing each of its twenty-six stanzas with the phrase, “For his mercy endureth for ever.” Yet again the singer declares, “His mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” Right here is where Christian Science finds mercy united to everlasting truth; and thus joined together, they must indeed go on through all time until all the world has been redeemed through their gracious all-powerful agency.

The true sense of mercy has not always been understood. Men have called that merciful which would excuse the sinner without delivering him from the sin. They have believed that leniency toward evil has meant kindness; but this is not the nature of that divine mercy which is ever associated with Truth. While God’s mercy can never be less than tender and compassionate, it could never be satisfied except by the complete deliverance from all error, the wiping out of every least suppositional cause of wrong, the establishment of Truth itself in every situation.

In her writings Mrs. Eddy too has much to say of divine mercy and she also couples it with truth. For example, on page 538 of “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” she writes: “Truth should, and does, drive error out of all selfhood. Truth is a two-edged sword, guarding and guiding.” And then she goes on to say, “Radiant with mercy and justice, the sword of Truth gleams afar and indicates the infinite distance between Truth and error, between the material and spiritual,—the unreal and the real.” Here she indicates plainly that that mercy is alone divine which goes hand in hand with Truth, casting out all that could result in what is unmerciful, unkind. Here she also allies mercy with justice, but it is always the divine justice which demands the complete destruction of error; for on page 22 (ibid.) she declares: “Justice requires reformation of the sinner. Mercy cancels the debt only when justice approves.”

How naturally, then, in Christian Science does the conclusion follow that God’s mercy is so wide, so loving, so true, so wise, that it never lets go of any situation until Truth has uncovered, rebuked, and swept away all that could harm, until it has proved unreal all that is unlike the Christ, man’s true selfhood. What immense comfort may every honest heart therefore gain from the understanding which Christian Science emphasizes, that this divine mercy is indeed everlasting, and that the truth which is always its companion “endureth to all generations”! Whatever the exigency, however deep the waters of tribulation, there are God’s mercy and truth always at hand, tenderly, lovingly encompassing us until we emerge triumphant over all unlike good!

The question may here arise, How are we as Christian Scientists always to reflect to others this divine mercy and this truth which heal and save? How are we so to understand and express mercy that it shall ever bring forth the divine justice which blots out evil and establishes good? Perhaps one of the most important points for us to remember is that human justice and divine justice are often direct opposites, and it is only as we are willing to relinquish the personal beliefs and personal sense which claim to constitute the former that we can understand and express the heavenly nature of the latter. In “Miscellaneous Writings” (p. 11) our beloved Leader says, “Love metes not out human justice, but divine mercy;” and she later indicates that all retribution must be left to God, for His justice alone can bring blessing. We therefore see that the mercy we reflect must be so divinely just that we shall gladly trust the affairs of our neighbor to that truth which works out every problem perfectly. Then in our experience we shall gratefully recognize that “mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”

“Awake, thou that sleepest”

From the August 27, 1904 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel by

In Mr. Abbey’s pictorial setting of the legend of Sir Galahad and the Holy Grail, he has very successfully portrayed in the knight’s pose and expression, his utter discomfiture at the moment when he finds that he has forgotten the magical word by which he was to have broken the spell of spiritual death that bound King Amfortas, with all the inmates of the Castle of the Grail. At that moment his call, his consecration, his high purpose, his years of devoted preparation for the demands of knighthood,—all counted for naught, because he had not retained right consciousness. Until this awakening was realized, his holy quest must fail, and there was left him only the remembrance of a lost opportunity, the companionship of self-reproach.

The story reminds us of the frequent Scriptural references to this mortal life as, “a sleep and a forgetting;” and of the teaching of Christian Science that whatever of weakness and inadequacy may characterize our present Christian endeavor, it is explained by our fearsome forgetfulness, the feebleness of our grasp upon fundamental truths of Being,—the allness of God and His manifestation, the dignity and authority of man, the nothingness of evil, and the powerlessness of mesmeric belief in the presence of spiritual understanding.

The more common thought, perhaps, of spiritual development is patterned after the growth of a seedling. A center of life assimilates nourishment, enlarges its bounds, its strength, its fruitage, and ultimately reaches the completion of its kind. This figure serves our convenience, but it very imperfectly expresses the nature of our growth into the realization of the divine likeness. This is not a process, it is an awakening, a perception, a discovery of what is, and the significant gain of this true concept is in its sensible elimination of the time element. The generally accepted necessity of this factor means weakness of faith, and according to our faith so is our demonstration.

The tempter would have us content ourselves with slow progress, with modest demonstrations over evil, by reminding us of the naturalness and consequent legitimacy of this order. But we know that God’s thoughts do not come to their perfectness by accretion. “The rays of infinite Truth, when gathered into the focus of ideas, bring light instantaneously” (Science and Health, p. 504). We know, therefore, that this human sense of limitation may pass away at once and forever, as the figment of a dream. Says the Psalmist. “I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.”

It is clear that in the ideal, to escape from the delusions of materiality is to be aroused from our Adamic torpor at the noonday of that spiritual manifestation whose glorious effulgence awaits now. our vision. “If sickness and sin are illusions, the awakening from this mortal dream, or illusion, will bring us into health, holiness, and immortality. This awakening is the forever coming of Christ.

. . . This is the salvation which cometh through God, the divine Principle, Love, as demonstrated by Jesus” (Science and Health, p. 230).

The immediateness of the possibilities of faith is not realized as yet in human experience, but the perception and maintenance of the ideal very significantly conduces thereto. The day has its dawn because of the visual obstruction of the earth, and, similarly, spiritual realizations are retarded, not because of any reserve in Truth’s radiation, but solely because of the disabling earthiness of human sense, and our repose in its seeming.

It is the mission of Christian Science to awaken sinners (Science and Health, p. 342), among whom all are numbered; and its loving appeal has so far broken the material slumber of many that they are opening their eyes to the day. They now see that the listless face and the idle hands of inefficiency are the signs of our forgetfulness of God and of the Christ-man. They are quickened and impelled by a higher sense of love, of purity, of unselfishness, of duty, and of freedom than they have known before, and they love and honor her who, in faithfulness to the divine impulse and command, has awakened them from a condition of thought and life which is “as a sleep.”

Love is the liberator.