Editorials

OUT of the spirit of renewed consecration to the cause of Christian Science and the teachings of our Leader, that is today sweeping all over the world in a tidal wave of love and devotion, there has come home to many a loyal Christian Scientist the question of how one can best prove the sincerity of his purpose and endeavor. We have not far to look for a definite and authentic answer to this question.

NO truth-seeking student of the Christian Science textbook can have failed to reach a clear understanding that conversion, the new birth, does not signify a new status which has been brought about by a change in God's attitude toward him, the transformation results from a change in his attitude toward God. Christian Science lays the greatest emphasis upon the inherently unchangeable nature of Deity, and finds in those Scripture passages which seem to imply that He has modified His purpose or shifted His point of view, an expression not of the facts of being, but of a mortal sense of things.

AT the opening of this new year the most casual observer of human affairs could hardly fail to note that an assertive spirit of unrest pervades the atmosphere of every field of mortal activity. The diplomatic maneuvering of the dominant nations for vantage in their several "spheres of influence;" the perennial agitation of the asserted need of competitive militarism; the struggle in the entire economic world respecting the rights of capital and labor and the more equitable distribution of wealth; the growing demands of the people for more direct control of legislation and for the elimination of the business monopolist and the political boss; the well-nigh universal protest against the support of the traditional in faith or practice, for its own sake,—all these things are contributing to a mental turmoil which has had few equals in history and which to many seems to imperil the continuance of every established order.

A FEW days ago, the writer received a letter from a lady who said that upon hearing of the passing away of Mrs. Eddy, she was overcome with a great sense of loss, but upon reflection she became convinced that she had lost nothing of the real Mrs.

THE past year has been a most eventful one from every point of view, and marked by advancing recognition of the spiritual idea,—the demand for universal freedom,—which is finding expression in religion, education, Politics, and social life. If we attempt to measure human progress by what seems to prevail, we might not observe any great advance over former conditions, but when we look below the surface we find unmistakable evidence of the divine energy at work in many channels which at one time seemed closed to the demand for righteousness, and because of this we may rest assured that right will triumph more and more as doubt gives place to faith in the supremacy of good in all human experience, individual and collective.

ANOTHER year is fast drawing to its close, and not without some brave records of good achieved for the race, achievements which open wider and wider the gates of human thought for further victories on the side of right, and prepare the way for the triumph of good over every phase of belief in evil. As each Christmas time draws near, we hear anew the angelic message, "On earth peace, good will toward men;" while high hopes spring up to assure us that all the message implies—for men and nations—is an eternal fact which but awaits our recognition of its import and a quickened desire to bring the hope to its fulfilment.

THE days have come again when the thoughts of the Christian pilgrims of every land are Hocking toward Judea. Like homing pigeons they are finding their long way back to the hillside village where "appeared a great light," and out of the midst of it were heard angel voices, singing that sweet song which has echoed through the centuries.

Christian Scientists everywhere will be gratified to know, as announced by Mrs. Eddy's publisher, Allison V.

WE congratulate the editor of The Ladies' Home Journal upon the stand he has taken in an announcement which appeared on the editorial page of the November issue of this widely read magazine, and we feel sure that his millions of readers will gradually if not at once appreciate the wisdom and good judgment which have dictated this reform. The announcement reads as follows: Can we not get away from the universal use of the words "dead" and "death," and even the harsher-sounding words "die," "dying," and "died"? Aside from the harshness of the words themselves, and they are harsh and cruel in their sound, the words no longer express our belief: we are all fast reaching the belief that we do not die: we are not dead.

THE thought is not infrequently ventured that we are living in an age of marked intellectual freedom, and by way of contrast reference is often made by Christian writers to the times of Bruno and of Columbus, when the great body even of so-called educated people were in such abject subserviency to ecclesiastical traditions as to be ready to subject to the auto da fé all those who dared to maintain a conflicting opinion. This freedom from the domination of old ideas, simply because they are old, is generally regarded as most pronounced in the United States, and especially in "the Athens of America," and it is the more surprising, therefore, to find a Boston religious publication, of late date, discoursing upon "The Privilege of Pain" in a way that reminds one of a poet's saying, in praise of sadness, "Who suffers conquers.