Editorials

Suppose someone asks, "Does your Church have any burning sense of mission about helping humanity? Are Christian Scientists just trying to be healthy and happy?" You would probably convey in some way—to a great extent through the quality of your love—the total conviction that the Church you belong to was formed for the definite purpose of helping mankind. As Christian Scientists we may not have thought recently about the full sweep of the Cause of Christian Science.

The Bible calls God "Spirit" and "truth," "the author .

In working out our salvation it's essential that we learn to distinguish clearly between what is good and what is evil, what is truth and what are lies. This is fundamental.

During previous Christmas seasons, in the United States, there has been much controversy about whether it is appropriate to display religious symbols of Christmas on public property. But many people can agree on one vital point: Christmas touches our deepest feelings.

Christian Science presents the law of divine good, redeeming mankind from sin, sickness, death, and from all the finity of believing that life and intelligence are in matter. There is no more important message to share with the world than the message of pure, scientific Christianity.

This month's issue of the Journal includes a report of the meeting held in Boston August 16-18 for members of Christian Science organizations at colleges and universities. Those who attended this meeting are now addressing the challenges on their respective campuses of putting into practice the inspiration they gained at the meetings.

The revelation of divine Science, which means everything to us as Christian Scientists, is that God, Spirit, is All—and that nothing exists other than Spirit and its creation. We agree this isn't something we can ever, for any reason, afford to set aside as "too metaphysical.

Don't you feel we can probably do better in having an open, caring affection for each other—among Christian Science teachers? practitioners? church members? Selfless love among loyal members of the Christian community helped make the early Christian Church a bloc that no hammering of persecution could break. And what an obvious difference this spirit of love and unity makes in a church or in a Christian Science Students Association! It's like walking out of a patch of fog and into a field full of sunshine.

How we all long to feel loved and cared for—to feel that there is a safe haven where we can go for peace and rest. Especially in times of trial, temptation, and weariness we look for this safe place.

Only a "hair shirt" theology would impugn joy—suggesting that even the unselfish happiness of our lives is a sin and that virtue is to be found only in suffering. The human spirit naturally rebels at such a cruel notion.