Editorials

Possibly no question has been more generally misunderstood, or begotten more confusion and doubt, than that of the relation of suffering to divine law. Even many of those most familiar with the letter of the Scriptures are greatly perplexed, in view of the many statements therein which seem to make God responsible for the capacity in men to resist divine law, as well as for the suffering imposed on those who, when governed by impulses which they think to be divinely implanted, violate the requirements of law and incur its penalty.

To those who have experienced "the healing of the seamless dress," after all material means had failed to bring relief, the thousands of testimonies offered in the Wednesday evening meetings, as well as those printed in our publications, are but so many confirmations of their faith; for to them it is not "a thing incredible" that the "effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man"—"an absolute faith that all things are possible to God" (Science and Health, p. i) — should avail for the healing of sickness as well as the saving from sin.

IT has been said that history is but a record of the reign, influence, and death of inadequate concepts of God: and when one remembers the significance which their thought of Deity has to a people, its relation to their moral, intellectual, and social status, their place and power, civilization and success, he begins to realize how apt and suggestive the definition is. The thought of God as the ultimate source and explanation of all things has sprung up intuitively, it would seem, in the mentality of every nation, and when shaped by inspired teachers it has grown as the race has grown: while on the other hand men have grown as their thought of God has enlarged, been ennobled, through the educational leadership of spiritual seers and prophets.

IT would be worth while to pause each morning, as we pray, "Thy kingdom come," to ask ourselves how much we are doing daily to bring about the fulfilment of our prayer, and to reflect upon the fact that millions, possibly, are uttering the same words at the same time. If we on our part were to pray with faith and understanding, and were then to bend our energies through the entire day to live the spirit of our prayer, and if others did the same, there could be no doubt whatever that all the wonders of St.

IN that wonderful fourteenth chapter of John's Gospei, wherein are recorded those inspiring promises which have brought comfort and courage to so many troubled hearts, there is one declaration of the Master that is of deep significance to Christian Scientists, the authority, as it were, for their endeavor to heal the sick and the sinning: "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also. " We should not he unmindful, however, of the Master's frank acknowledgment that of himself he could do nothing, — "the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works;" nor of his prayer that his disciples — and "them also which shall believe on me through their word" — might have that oneness with the Father which was the source of his power: "As thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us:.

THE history of human progress is inevitably linked with that of the great thinkers who have roused mankind from the enslaving lethargy of stereotyped material modes in religion, education, or the government of nations; but in no single instance did the thinker escape the antagonism of his contemporaries, even though they were compelled to admit that the reforms for which he contended were needed. The task of arousing a sleeper is usually a thankless one, but when the sleeper is thoroughly awake he begins to appreciate what has been done for him.

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.

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.

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.