Independent Christian Science articles

“Look unto me”

From the January 12, 1929 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel by

“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” This text indicates the certainty of universal salvation through undivided faith in God, omnipotent good.

It is at once apparent that the demand, “Look unto me,” does not refer to physical seeing, but solely to one’s spiritual outlook. Elucidating the First Commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” Mrs. Eddy writes in “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” (p. 467). “This me is Spirit.” Therefore it is to Spirit that the sufferer must look for his health, the sinner for his redemption, the sorrower for his consolation.

In contrast to this “me” of Spirit, our Leader thus defines the word “you” (ibid., p. 599): “As applied to corporeality, a mortal; finity.” The student of Christian Science learns that he cannot look from this “me” of Spirit to the “you” of corporeality and seek to reconcile opposites; nor can he expect Spirit to heal insensate matter. Spirit does not rain down material health and material blessings, so called, upon mortals; but the power of Spirit lifts mortals to perceive and to prove that health and joy are wholly spiritual in their origin and nature. It may be said that the alert student of Christian Science is constantly “saved” from some form of discord: from becoming sick, irritable, fatigued, discouraged, resentful; from being unwise, uncharitable, selfish, or lazy. This is because he is yielding to Spirit’s insistent and incessant demands that one shall put off the false concept of man as rapidly as is practicable, and adopt and adhere to the true model, spiritual man.

Through the application of Christian Science every frightened, deluded wayfarer on earth may respond to this call of divine Love, “Look unto me, and be ye saved.” Why should this looking towards divine Love heal and save? Because the reflection of divine Love blots out mortal fears and their physical consequences. Is not a little child saved from its infantile terrors when it observes that in its mother’s countenance there is no terror, no apprehension, no anger, but only peace, reassurance, patience, gentleness, and love? Speaking of children, Jesus said, “I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.”

Are we looking steadfastly at the countenance, the consciousness, of our heavenly Father-Mother God? What is to be found there? Invariable beneficence; immortal substance; spiritual joy; the everlasting perfection of Spirit. Small wonder, then, that the Psalmist refers to God as “the health of my countenance.” In the countenance or consciousness of God there is no sadness and no suffering.

It may happen that one who is learning to look away from matter to Spirit seems to have gone but halfway in this process. He may trust Spirit thus far, but not all the way. For instance, he may have a lingering fear of what he still regards as physical symptoms, from the medical standpoint; or, he may still harbor the remnants of a superstitious faith in certain so-called material remedies, in material supports, or in certain climates, as supposed auxiliaries to his spiritual healing. If so, he is not fully heeding the “Look unto me,” for his faith is divided between Spirit and matter. Indeed, one might almost designate his mental condition as one of mental squinting, or looking in opposite directions, while attempting to advance Spiritward.

Christian Science never requires one to attempt that which is beyond present comprehension. Certain material tendencies may, however, be corrected without delay. Undue self-indulgence, for instance, with regard to food, or physical recreation and relaxation, would tend to clasp more tightly the fetters of materiality; whereas, the well-ordered and wise resolve to depend increasingly upon divine Mind for recuperation, regeneration, and recreation results in better health, greater endurance, deeper satisfaction, and a purer peace. Thus the contemplation of this wonderful “me” of Spirit, God, brings about the gradual fading out of the belief in the “you” of corporeality. This exchange of the ephemeral beliefs of the flesh for the substantiality of Spirit will continue to unfold until, as the Apostle Paul writes, “we all come … unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”

One who would rejoice in God’s gifts will discern and enjoy them in the measure of his surrender of material counterfeits. If he comes to Christian Science with one hand still grasping the material, he will receive but a measure of the blessing in store for the single-hearted. If, on the contrary, he strives to be teachable in all ways, eager to intrust his health, his happiness, and his heaven to the “high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,” then he will find

“That, while we travail yet on earth,
Our hearts may be in heaven.”

Soul

From the September 1930 issue of the Christian Science Journal by

MANKIND in general has regarded Soul as chiefly pertaining to salvation in some future state, but Christian Science shows one how to utilize its capacities here and now. The disciple John shows the relation between Soul and the gifts of health and prosperity when he writes, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” Sight, hearing, action, intelligence, which mankind has been wont to locate in materiality, are in fact imperishable faculties of Soul: they are true mental states, exempt from limitation, diminution, and extinction.

“He restoreth my soul.” The true sense of God and man restores to one the understanding of every faculty as wholly spiritual and functioning in everlasting harmony. It reveals these faculties as independent of materiality and exempt from the depredations of the belief in time.

Generally speaking, however, material sense, the counterfeit of Soul, has been accepted by mortals as the frail custodian of the faculties of sight, hearing, and general health; and that of which one has seemed to be deprived through corporeal sense can be restored only through spiritual sense. So-called evil is cognized only through the supposed medium of material sense, and the remedy for it lies in understanding God, good, in all His ways, and man in all his Godlikeness. Christian Science imparts this understanding and the capacity to demonstrate it in overcoming discord. As mankind looks to Spirit, Soul, for all good, the veil of fleshly beliefs is lifted, the imperishable substance of Truth and Love is glimpsed, and one becomes the master, rather than the involuntary slave, of circumstances.

On pages 318 and 319 of “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” Mrs. Eddy states that “the body does not include soul, but manifests mortality, a false sense of soul.” The right sense of Soul gives one the right sense of health, and thereby restores it. Spiritual man, the embodiment of good, is incapable of being made an avenue for sickness, sin, or death.

Studying the definitions of Soul with the concordances to the Bible and Mrs. Eddy’s works and assiduously applying them in overcoming fleshly beliefs, we find ourselves being liberated from the inharmonies and deprivations of material sense.

Of what avail to a sinful mortal is the sinlessness of Soul? It is his refuge from all sin’s accusations and temptations. Sin has never invaded man’s individuality, for it has never invaded Soul or its identity. On page 29 of “Unity of Good” Mrs. Eddy writes, “Hence, as Spirit, Soul is sinless, and is God.” One can correct self-love in all its phases by knowing that each one of God’s ideas expresses universal love. This inspires one to rise above the finite sense of love, which is apt to beget fear, jealousy, mental torment, hate, revenge. The mistaken sense of possession or of monopoly, whether in friendship, health, wealth, or success, gives rise to many fears, heartburnings, and needless pain. But Soul knows nothing of these finite beliefs arising from a personal sense of possession, for Soul conveys all the depth, breadth, sufficiency, and universality of infinite Love. Our way of escape from physical and moral suffering lies in gaining a larger vision of our opportunity and capacity to receive and to reflect the harmony and perpetuity of Soul and its all-enfolding bliss. This vision, held to in our daily lives, makes it easier for us to live harmoniously with others, and for others to live happily with us. In short, a right sense of Soul blesses us and also our environment.

In Soul, God, and in man, His expression, there has never been any seizure of fear, any tempest of anger, any antipathy or friction, any morbidity or sorrow. Man’s consciousness, reflecting God, good, is eternally permeated with spiritual joy and purity. Man in God’s likeness is never shallow or inconstant. So, if we would prove ourselves the individual expressions of God, good, we must obviously cease to think of ourselves as faulty, physical, finite persons born of the flesh and fettered by its beliefs. How far removed from material finity is the grandeur of Soul; and what a sure refuge it offers from the belief that one inhabits a physical body fettered at all points! That which is Godlike is unfettered. Strength, serenity, fidelity, joy, immutability, are characteristics of Soul, and God’s image is not sensual, but soulful.

What student of Christian Science who bravely turns from the turmoil of the physical senses to the Science of being, from fretful speculation to the serene realization of God’s purpose for His offspring, does not constantly find a measure of release from human woe?

“Soul is the substance, Life, and intelligence of man, which is individualized, but not in matter” (Science and Health, p. 477). Mrs. Eddy’s clear analysis of Soul reverses the material sense of being and shows us the way out of the flesh into the realm of true substance. This is the way our Master trod. He was in the world but not of it; and in due course all mankind will tread this same way with triumph and rejoicing. The Christian Scientist, taking Soul as his beacon light, fears no loss of any kind, but looks to the continuous unfoldment and improvement of all his faculties, all his capacities. Spiritual sense cognizes only harmony and eternality, and this true sense of creation enables one to reverse the so-called evidences of time beliefs, to prevent retrogression, and to progress in all ways. This progress every Christian Scientist must maintain and increase daily, preparatory to earning his translation from sense to Soul.

True Inquiry

From the May 25, 1929 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel by

Mankind’s thirst for knowledge is to be commended, for it bespeaks a reaching out for better conditions than the prevailing ones. Materialistic inquiries, however, lead away from Spirit, which is the only source of harmony, health, and the desired enlightenment. On page 268 of “Miscellaneous Writings” our Leader writes: “The Christian Scientist keeps straight to the course. His whole inquiry and demonstration lie in the line of Truth.” This line of inquiry is a divinely inspired and a perpetually blessed line of inquiry.

When a problem of sickness presents itself for solution, so indicating the need of correction, the Christian Scientist asks himself, What quality of God must I reflect in order to heal it? When undesirable traits of character are manifested in a child or in an adult, the Christian Scientist turns to divine Mind and to the contemplation of man’s divine nature, for inspiration and regeneration. He is not tolerant of the error, but he does not condemn himself or another by dwelling upon what, spiritually speaking, is not; he turns to inquire of God, good, what he truly is as God’s own reflection. As he thus seeks and finds the truth, the mental darkness is lost in spiritual light.

The Christian Scientist knows that he must avoid, not only the extreme of brooding over evil, but also of ignoring it, or evading the demands of divine Principle in his thought and his daily life. Hence this admonition from Mrs. Eddy (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 447): “To put down the claim of sin, you must detect it, remove the mask, point out the illusion, and thus get the victory over sin and so prove its unreality.”

The tendency to indulge in merely negative, unprogressive thinking finds this rebuke in the book of Ecclesiastes: “Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this.” The obedient thinker turns in his hour of need to divine Love for inspiration, confident that the divine Mind contains the very quality which can immediately replace the delusive concept which seeks to deprive him of the rights of true manhood. One who delves into a rubbish heap can find only rubbish; but one who diligently seeks the treasures of Truth is blessed in his search. Mortals need to know more about man in order to rise above materiality; more about spiritual perfection in order to rise above sickness and sin.

In his long watches of prayer, Christ Jesus doubtless dwelt on and reflected divine Mind in its purity and power, and this faithful line of inquiry equipped him for each day’s tests and enabled him to glorify God and liberate mankind. On page 20 of “Unity of Good” our Leader, after describing the true reasoning from cause to effect, states: “Try this process, dear inquirer, and so reach that perfect Love which ‘casteth out fear,’ and then see if this Love does not destroy in you all hate and the sense of evil. You will awake to the perception of God as All-in-all.” With this wonderful pasture land of divine Mind in which to roam at will, who would deign to inquire of the physical senses, Why am I sick, why need I be lonely, why cannot I love more, why am I so tempted? Joyously the Christ assures the true inquirer, the inquirer for Truth, that there is no place, time, space, or opportunity for evil to operate in the infinite consciousness of God and His reflection, man. There is no obscuration of thought in the one Mind. All is Light, and Light begets light, and ever more light; and Love begets love, and ever more love. So-called evil with its dire consequences is but ignorance of the infinite manifestation of God, good. Therefore any attempt of evil to get itself accounted for, its origin explained, or its purpose justified, is obviously self-assertive error and should be dismissed as such. Truth never makes any inquiry about its supposed unlikeness. The more one learns about good, the more surely he unlearns all false knowledge and gathers only the fruit of the tree of Life.

Fervently, like the Psalmist, one prays with undivided allegiance to his God, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.” This “one thing” whereby one may dwell in the consciousness of divine Love, is the only thing that heals, redeems, and satisfies. Hence, every day and all day, the Christian Scientist inquires of divine Love what is the truth about any situation. He seeks to destroy everything unbeautiful in his thinking by reflecting the beauty of God, good. Divine Mind it is which guides, guards, and rewards the true inquirer and inquiry.

“While The Bridegroom Tarried”

From the January 1928 issue of the Christian Science Journal by

PATIENCE, untinged by resignation, is a spiritual, steadfast quality which abides through the long watches, and is at last crowned with the joy of demonstration. Mortals who fear that they may fail before dawn breaks into the morning of salvation are not yet relying absolutely on divine Mind for perpetual expression of faith, patience, fidelity, inspiration, and spiritual courage. The definition of “mortal mind,” on pages 591 and 592 of the textbook, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” clearly shows that this so-called mind can neither supply these grand qualities nor hinder their expression; for these qualities are gifts of God, the never failing tokens of the omnipresence and omnipotence of divine Mind. One who looks to God, divine Mind, for these qualities resists suggestions of discouragement and weakness, rises above the mists of self-deception, and learns to abide in the peace and safety of reflected love. The Michael and the Gabriel of God’s presence are always here; and to the humble and receptive heart an innumerable company of angels always whisper the needed messages of divine protection, love, and strength.

One whose healing seems so gradual as to be almost imperceptible will find renewed inspiration in the parable of the ten virgins, in conjunction with the word “bridegroom.” The parable states that “while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.” We may be sure that on God’s side there is no tarrying, no retarded reward, no inexplicable delay, no withholding, either of spiritual aid or of the pure consciousness of good. There is, on the contrary, a continuous outpouring from divine Mind of life, intelligence, love, and health. Slumber and sleep, then, refer to a fitful and intermittent quality of watching, or to a condition of materiality which is seemingly too dense to admit the ever present light of spiritual understanding. Fear, apathy, mental indolence, doubt, ingratitude, self-pity, envy, resentment, are slumbering states of mortal thought which cannot perceive the “bridegroom,” or spiritual understanding of man.

Paul reminds his young converts that they are “children of the day;” and he adds: “We are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.” One who seems mentally asleep is oblivious of good because he is watching error, material symptoms and faults, rather than Truth. True, patient, sober thinking is inspired and rewarded by divine Love. Christian Science explains that the basis of all watchfulness is the scientific fact that God, divine Mind, “shall neither slumber nor sleep.” As God is always mindful of His own ideas and they are always conscious of Him, it is from this spiritual basis that the student of Christian Science banishes all belief in sloth or discouragement, and claims that spiritual awakeness which is the reflection of God’s clear and harmonious consciousness of all His creation. In omniscient divine Mind, divine Principle, the loving Father-Mother God, there is no oblivion, no forgetfulness, only constant, loving remembrance and support of each individual idea.

Sometimes the one who has turned to Christian Science for healing looks only to the summit of demonstration, makes mechanical statements of absolute Truth, but hardly attempts to make practical in character and behavior his theoretical acceptance of Truth. Such a one should heed all that our Leader says with regard to the indispensable footsteps leading to perfection. Another type may see before him little else than the seemingly steep and tedious mental footsteps, and no goal as yet in sight. So his cry goes up, “How long?” To both of these states of thought, Christian Science brings the assurance that through God’s gift of inspiration the goal can be kept in sight, while at the same time every footstep is clearly indicated all the way from sense to Soul.

Sure of the unending inspiration of divine Mind, the Psalmist declared with conviction, “I shall be anointed with fresh oil,” which, spiritually interpreted by Christian Science, means being supplied with heavenly inspiration and divine qualities day by day. Our Leader, too, freshens flagging hopes with the statement in “Miscellaneous Writings” (p. 342), “Each moment’s fair expectancy was to behold the bridegroom, the One ‘altogether lovely.'” Through spiritual perception, coupled with obedience to Truth, the goal of demonstration is approached day by day.

Christian Science assures and reassures the faithful watcher that, in spite of all appearances to the contrary, the spiritual understanding of man, typified by the bridegroom, is quietly enlightening his consciousness in much the same gentle way as the dawn steals through his window every morning. If a room had no window, the occupant would remain oblivious of the rising sun. Now, the sunlight is impartial in its choice of entry, and everyone is sure of the dawn. Would anyone be so fearful, or so presumptuous, as to imagine that he could stay the entrance of the radiant morning light by holding up futile hands to arrest its entrance at the window? On page 295 of Science and Health our Leader refers to “the manifestation of God through mortals” as analogous to “light passing through the window-pane.” Here the word “through” should be noted; for the passage does not refer to the manifestation of God “by” mortals, but “through” mortals. In other words, God, good, shines through, wherever the old has given way to the new; wherever one has yielded up the old personal sense of himself in order to bring to God that divinely cleansed heart “through” which divine Love itself is ready to shine with clear, enduring joy and harmony. However dark and dense the fears may seem to be, Love can outshine them all.

One who is learning to depend totally and continuously on God will not stoop to entertain a suggestion of doubt or possible failure. He knows that doubt and personal sense are both egotistical states of so-called mortal mind. Christian Science enables one gradually to exchange the old sense of mortal personality for the true sense of man’s spiritual individuality, so exchanging the mortal sense of separation from good for the purity and serenity of reflection as God’s child.

In man’s spiritual identity there is continuous activity; and Christian Science throws a new and encouraging light on the meaning of activity. Notwithstanding the fact that for the time being one may seem to be working out his salvation within the four walls of his own room, he can nevertheless express that true mental activity which is the sure precursor of physical healing. One who is slowly awakening out of the dream of invalidism needs to watch lest he allow himself to be governed by the mortal belief of law, which is apt to justify him in being self-centered and exacting in his attitude towards those who lovingly minister to his many wants. Right mental activity and watchful reflection of love and grace will emancipate him from this belief. If, for instance, at the close of the day which has been spent in bed he can look back and say that through God’s power he has remained faithful to Truth; has not consented to entertain suggestions of fear, doubt, impatience, or discouragement; has persistently thought and voiced the truth, and nothing but the truth —then he can thank God for enabling him to prove in a measure that divine Mind expresses through its reflection perpetual motion, perpetual right thinking. One who is learning always to take sides with the bridegroom, the spiritual understanding of man, obeys the loving warning from our textbook (p. 369), “It is error even to murmur or to be angry over sin.”

Perhaps one feels that he is doing all this, and yet the bridegroom tarries. Let him watch, then the quality rather than the quantity of his study. When reading the Bible and our Leader’s works, and studying the Lesson-Sermon in the Christian Science Quarterly, let him carefully observe whether or not he is at the same time assimilating, appropriating, claiming for himself, as God’s likeness, all that he reads there as to spiritual perception, perfection, freedom, purity, health, and Godlikeness.

Too often there is a tendency to read about true being, theoretically admitting the oneness and perfection of God and man, and yet continuing to feel apart from God, separated, a lone mortal looking longingly at this distant vision of God and His image. Such a mistaken method of study is apt to be discouraging, and only partially fruitful; for, to the one who is thus reading without appropriating, the wistful and remote contemplation of the perfection of God and man is apt to intensify and render more acute his own mortal sense of personal imperfection and isolation. To study thus does not truly feed consciousness; it is as though one sat down to a well-spread table, noted all the viands spread before him, took them up one by one and laid them down again, and then rose from the table, still hungry, having beheld but not partaken of the nourishment set before him. The Revelator tells us to take the little book and “eat it up.” Christian Science feeds the famished spiritual sense in proportion as the student realizes his at-one-ment with God. In order to grasp his real relationship with God, he must clearly see that in absolute Truth there are not three factors, God, God’s image, and a mortal, but that, speaking absolutely, there is no mortal, no subtraction from God’s creation, and no imperfection added to it, since “without him was not any thing made that was made.” There is, then, no suffering, sinful mortal anywhere.

Only through the personal sense of one’s self is the argument of isolation from God accepted; only through profound humility, unspeakable gratitude in knowing that God is indeed All-in-all, is that warm, pure sense of at-one-ment attained, that close, safe shelter of Love realized. Thus every page is illumined, and Love’s message rises in his consciousness “with healing in his wings.” Every idea of God is loving, lovable, and beloved; and every idea is always conscious of being beloved. Whatever argument of separation from God besets consciousness through the indulgence of fear, or through ignorant or willful sin, it is silenced by the sincere, heartfelt, and loyal admission that God, good, is universal, impartial, boundless, beneficently available to all at all times.

Foremost among the spiritually transparent qualities, we find gratitude; and foremost among the opaque beliefs which seem for the time being to exclude the healing rays of Truth is ingratitude. Because it sometimes seems impossible to feel, as yet, a sense of gratitude, Christian Science lovingly bids the watcher turn his gaze towards the myriad evidences of divine influence present today in human consciousness in such movements as prohibition, world peace, penal reform. These heralds of universal salvation are trumpeting forth rousing calls to that spiritual gratitude which leads on and up, and does not wait to follow in the wake of God’s ever advancing victory over the human beliefs of sin, disease, and death.

Our victory, our gratitude, blends into and helps towards the universal demonstration of the omnipotence of God, good. God’s soldiers sustain one another in the long march heavenward, and in this heavenly choir every voice is needed. It requires unselfed love to arouse in ourselves a right sense of gratitude for others’ benefits; and so we should pray for that spiritual pure-heartedness through which Love’s own gift of unselfed love may penetrate the dense walls of selfishness and personal sense. Spiritual gratitude is inspired and sustained by divine Mind; and it is in the darkest hour that this angel of gratitude is most earnestly heeded.

Our faithful, courageous, and compassionate Master well realized mankind’s need of perseverance. In his last earthly struggle, even when hard pressed by the fury and murderous hate of the carnal mind, Christ Jesus remained loyal to God. The more he was tempted, the more did he seek repose in the consciousness of Spirit, whose pure, calm strength lifted him above the would-be mesmeric evidence of the senses. Thus, in spite of the terrible temptation to believe himself the target of hate and death, Christ Jesus steadfastly communed with Life and Love, and faithfully, courageously, maintained his at-one-ment with God until spiritual sense came out the victor, as it always must. The false claims of corporeal sense are annulled by spiritual sense, for God is All-power, and the real man is His true witness. The faithful student of Christian Science knows that God will sustain his faith so that he will never turn traitor to his knowledge of Truth.

In the twelfth chapter of Luke are to be found many helpful warnings and admonitions with regard to watching. One such refers to those who are waiting “for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.” One should watch lest he resist the demands of Truth, or delay compliance with what he knows to be God’s will; lest he temporize with error, and postpone the correction of secret faults, of which he alone is aware; lest he procrastinate and take sides with error rather than with Truth. Such procrastination inevitably delays the healing; whereas the more perfect and prompt the obedience, the more perfect will be its results. Christian Science has taught the great lesson of cooperation with God, divine Love, who supplies all the qualities needed by the faithful watcher. God supports; it is for us to lean. No one knew better than did Christ Jesus that the earlier stages of watching seem easier than the later ones; therefore he said: “Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching…. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.” In other words, Jesus emphasized the sure reward of courage and perseverance.

The student of Christian Science does not watch the disappearance of night, but the coming of the dawn of divine Love, which transfigures his waiting consciousness with its own undying radiance.

Quietness

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Genuine quietness, as revealed in Christian Science, is won through courage, fidelity, purity; it is the result of spiritual watchfulness, and of instant surrender to the demands of Divine Principle.

This “great calm” is spiritual and perpetual; it is never invaded by error, by pain, sin, or fear.

“When He giveth quietness, who then can make trouble?” If a claim of sickness, however threatening it may appear to be, is met with persistent, quiet fidelity, born of trust in Divine Love, then the self-destructive claim is bound to relinquish its seeming hold. The joy of life lies in demonstrating man’s true birthright. With what joy one awakens each morning, thanking God for Christian Science, which is progressively unfolding the spiritual, demonstrable inheritance of immortal life, unerring intelligence, limitless love, perfect health, unsullied holiness and purity.

Paul urged the Thessalonians, “Study to be quiet, and to do your own business.” Each one’s business, each one’s holy mission, is to see how abundantly he can express his own true individuality as a child of God; how certainly he can demonstrate this goodly heritage without interference or interruption; how faithfully he can resist false mental suggestion in order that in his daily life he shall reflect only Mind’s beautiful design and purpose.

Through courage and fidelity, this quietness can always be regained and retained; for it is an evidence of the ever-presence of Divine Love and of man’s conscious at-one-ment with Love. In Miscellaneous Writings (page 227) Mrs. Eddy speaks of “a life wherein calm, self-respected thoughts abide in tabernacles of their own, dwelling upon a holy hill, speaking the truth in the heart; a life wherein the mind can rest in green pastures, beside the still waters, on isles of sweet refreshment.”

Understanding God

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We all need to understand God. An understanding of God will solve every problem in our daily lives.

We learn about God through the ideas and thoughts that He sends to each of us; in fact, these thoughts and ideas are actually the very presence of God Himself. These ideas from God give us life, health, and perfect being. God gives us dominion, joy and power.

God’s ideas bring vigor, alertness, tenderness, health, peace of mind and body. There can be no bodily peace without peace of mind. In proportion as our thoughts become spiritual, we find eternal life.

Ask yourself: Does the thought before me at this moment come from divine Truth, Life, or Love? Is it eternal? Is it Christlike? Is it a help or a hindrance to true, pure living? Our choices will determine our peace.

The right choice lifts us out of discord into harmony, heaven itself. The Christ-idea is at hand to lift our thought, to comfort and strengthen us, if we will listen for it.

We can all progress in Christian Science by regular study, and by then applying what we understand. Every condition of health and environment is a mental condition externalized. Therefore, the student of Christian Science finds everything constantly improving, as his thinking is regenerated.

We find our unity with God through thinking good thoughts, and step by step, thought by thought, our connection with God grows. The pure in heart understand God’s ideas more and more. God sustains every idea in creation, and it is in God that we find every need supplied.

The person who lives, loves, thinks, and heals spiritually, through expressing divine Mind’s ideas, can never fail in any right activity.

Love is the liberator.