Editorials

The new year precipitates for most people not a little thought of the passage of time, of that mighty tide which seems to lave all shores and silently to gather up all creatures and events and bear them swiftly on and away into the unfathomable deep of the past. And yet, emblazoned upon the unfading blue of heaven, men of spiritual vision have seen these golden words, "Behold, I make all things new,"—words that tell of the activity of that Life which knows neither age nor disintegration, and which preserves all reality in the freshness of an immortal youth.

At the beginning of each year thoughtful people instinctively review the experiences of the one just closed, and make a mental estimate of their gains and losses. From the Christian Science view-point both of these are important, and our revered Leader makes this clear when she speaks of the "loss of the pleasures and pains and pride of life: gain of its sweet concord, the courage of honest convictions, and final obedience to spiritual law" (Miscellaneous Writings, p.

It was the wise man who summed up "the whole duty of man" in that terse phrase, "Fear God, and keep his commandments;" and it was perhaps out of his own experience with the fleeting nature of all temporal vanities, that he laid down as a fundamental premise to this conclusion his oft-quoted admonition, "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. " Again, in his admonition to "train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it," King Solomon laid stress upon the early inculcation of divine precepts, that the years of mature manhood and womanhood might be crowned with the blessings attendant on those who love God's law, and loving, obey its behests.

AT this season of the year the name of Jesus of Nazareth is often upon the lips of those who seek to honor his memory by celebrating his natal day, and whatever be the differences of opinion respecting him, there are none who would deny that he deserves the love and gratitude of all men for what he taught, what he did, and what he was. A well-know writer says that "any belief in him—the smallest—is better than any belief about him," and this was a test of discipleship which he himself gave, when he said to Martha: "Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

IT is an interesting fact that, reserved as are the many toward the teaching of Christian Science that the spiritual truth which gave Christ Jesus and his disciples such unmeasured vantage in their address to the human problem, is still available for the healing of sickness and sin, these same people grow more and more sure that the cure of human ills is wondrously furthered by a favorable mental predisposition and environment. They are quite indisposed to accept the possibility of spiritual healing, yet they readily concede the power of the human thought attitude and conditions to contribute to health.

A FEW months ago an item was current in the newspapers to the effect that ninety-eight convicts in the New Jersey state penitentiary were Christian Scientists, it having been worded in such a way as to convey the impression that these men were Christian Scientists at or before the time of their commitment. The facts were that these men had become interested in Christian Science during their incarceration, and in turning to any religion at all they were simply in line with the reformatory influence which is the modern purpose of imprisonment.

IN an age of marked revolt against sectarianism, the essence of which has been well named "adherence to error," and the traditionalism which clings to the old because it is old and not because it is true; when a joyous sense of escape from dogma and superstition pervades the atmosphere of religious thought, the extreme oscillation of impulse, the excess to which many are tempted to carry their self-assertion, inevitably precipitates the question as to what constitutes a true democracy of thought, as to where and when liberty veers into license. The prevailing mental attitude on this subject has always had much to do with the prevailing religious life and habit, and every Christian reform has had to reckon with the glamour of that so-called broad-mindedness which proves itself to be but the well-ridden hobby of the superficial and the erratic.

IT is well for us to recall ofttimes the words spoken by Paul at Lystra, when the priest of Jupiter essayed to offer him divine honors because of the healing of a man lame from his birth. He reminded these Greeks that God, as known to the apostles, was always doing good, and that he had never left Himself "without witness," a statement in accord with that of Christ Jesus, who said that our Father in heaven "maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust;" or, to quote the words of our text-book, "Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals" ( Science and Health, p.

CHRIST JESUS announced his mission to mankind in these prophetic words : "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. " Thus briefly did the Master outline the task he had taken upon himself, in fulfilment of the Father's will, and we find him speedily about the Father's business,—preaching in the synagogues and healing those sick of divers diseases that were brought to him, and often stopping by the wayside, as he journeyed from city to city, to comfort some afflicted one.

During Jesus' earthly ministry he was on several occasions asked by critics of his words and works to show a sign, and it is well to remember that while he refused to accede to this insincere request, he placed upon his followers an obligation to furnish proof that they understood the operation of spiritual law, when he said, "These signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. " On another occasion he said (as we read in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew's gospel) that before the final overcoming of mortal mind with all its delusions and miseries "the sign of the Son of man" should appear in heaven, which, from the standpoint of Christian Science, evidently means that this "sign" must be of the same character as those given at the close of Mark's gospel, which are above enumerated.