At the time of the Saviour's birth, the shepherds, watching their flocks on the Judæan hillsides, heard the angelic message, "Fear not for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people"—and the heavenly host, uniting in the strain, sang, "On earth peace, good will toward men."
Thus is the advent of the spiritual idea ever heralded, as it comes afresh to human thought. Its salutation is ever, "Peace," for it is the angel message, the spiritual intuition, directly from the fount of infinite Love. It is the rising of the Sun of Righteousness that comes with healing in its wings, and its benign and holy influence rests like a benediction upon every waiting and receptive thought. It is the true idea of being, the only begotten son, that testifies always to the reign of omnipotent Spirit, the good, in which matter and evil have no place nor part. Such is the divine birthright of man as the child of the Eternal, and it includes freedom and dominion, strength and peace unalloyed.
Christian Science, in these latter days, is bringing out the true significance of the covenant that was established with the patriarchs of old, but which was so mistakenly interpreted by them. The promised inheritance, to outward sense, was only a tract of land which was to be their permanent home, but this was typical of man's eternal heritage of spirituality, abounding in the peace and plenty of the heavenly kingdom that is always at hand, because it is the domain of omnipresent Spirit. According to that ancient covenant, the fathers were to inherit the land of promise,—they and their children after them, forever. But it was stipulated that they were to possess and enjoy their inheritance, "after they had driven out the inhabitants thereof." The five nations then in possession of the land were to be dislodged and dispersed, before the children of Israel could enter into full ownership and dominion in their promised country. To carry the analogy into the realm of Mind, these five nations represent the five physical senses, with all their attendant conditions, which, according to mortal belief, have entered a claim upon man's rightful inheritance, and are disputing his title thereto.
Under their false rule, the real basis of divine government, the one God of Israel, the one Mind, all-powerful and altogether good, is lost sight of, and the true tone, which is the blending of all expressions of good into one harmonious whole, is to all appearance lost. Then follows the whole train of beliefs in evil, sin, sickness, and death. It is a very noticeable fact that every one of these fleshly ills that man dreads and ever seeks to escape, will be found in the realm of material sense, and there only.
Outside of the belief in the reality of matter and in its power to help or harm, all is perfect peace and order and harmony. Nobody ever thought of Spirit as being sick, or weak, or sinful, or perishable. It is only when the supposition of another substance, another intelligence, is admitted, that there is even a seeming basis for these inharmonious elements to rest upon.
But to admit more than one substance or intelligence, is to admit more than one Principle and power, and it brings one immediately to the un-Christian, untruthful platform of admitting more than one God. This belief in life, substance, and intelligence apart from God, is the serpent that bites at the heel of harmony, the adversary that opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, the dragon that wars with Michael and his angels, and that can be overcome only by the blood of the Lamb, the spiritual idea of Love. In the prophetic vision of the Revelator, it was seen that this false belief and its hosts were cast out, "neither was their place found any more in heaven."
When, through the sacrifice of self-immolation, typified by blood, the spiritual idea of Love fills the consciousness of each and every one, there is such harmony and security as leaves no room for an opposite. This is the salvation that each one must strive for, until he can say with the Master, "I have overcome the world." This is the way it should be, and would be, if mortal belief could but hear and respond to the divine message of peace and good-will that always announces the advent of a higher sense of Truth,—a purer and more unreserved acknowledgment of the one God, one Mind, one Life, Truth, and Love. Then error would at once willingly surrender its false and feeble claims to supremacy, and there would be no sense of strife or conflict. This is the way it should be, always. Our Master, Jesus, should have been allowed to fulfil his mission of mercy to humankind, undisturbed by the opposing claims of mortal sense. His every object and desire lay in the direction of that which would heal and save and bless the sons of men. To this end, he laid down his life in matter daily and conditionally, and in return, he should have received the utmost confidence and love.
But not so. Then as now, and now as then, "The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." It yields up its claim to power and control, only after a desperate struggle. Even on the mortal plane, it may be easily noted that every advancing thought, either in science or religion, that tends to uplift and benefit, or that in any way approaches a better interpretation of the divine, must meet first the scorn and suspicion of a too conservative attitude of thought. Afterwards, as its claims to recognition become more apparent, it must breast the tide of human envy and wounded pride, which later ripen into hatred, malice, and revenge. If the idea have its foundation in eternal Truth and Love, we may not doubt that it will outlast and outlive all seeming obstacles. It has been said that the way of the cross is the way to Life, and Jesus' demonstration has proven the truth of that saying. Then surely none should shun the path, but rather, taking a clear and fearless view of the situation, each should determine what is required of him, and then, in the strength and majesty of power divinely bestowed, go forward. This is what the great preacher, Spurgeon, was doing when he said, "Come, my heart, canst thou go against the stream? It is the way of Life. The opposing waters will but wash and cleanse thee, and thou shalt ascend to the eternal river-head and be near and like thy God."
This apparent contest between Truth and error, between good and evil, has from the earliest times been likened to and denoted as warfare. In the opening chapters of the Bible, the guardian at the gate of Paradise is metaphorically spoken of as a flaming sword,—and the figure is borrowed from a warlike custom of early times, of hurling into the enemy's camp discs of metal so brilliantly polished as to leave in their wake a train or flame of light. Truth is just such a flaming sword to all false pretensions of evil, destroying even the supposition of their presence and reality. Jesus said plainly, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." The spiritual idea that, at its advent, is heralded by songs of peace, becomes a sword to all persistent claims of error. "There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked." "The way of peace they know not... they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace."
To the mortal elements that claim life and intelligence and power in matter as opposed to Spirit, there is no peace. Truth shares not its benign reign with such unlawful intruders.
We may not say, "Peace, peace," when there is no peace. We have no right to be at peace in error nor with error. It is one thing to say there is no evil; it is quite another thing to demonstrate the fact by showing forth the nothingness of evil. This must be done at any seeming cost, before we can claim the victory. It is sometimes said that because Christian Science teaches the infinity of good, of Love, we need not speak nor think of conflict, of warfare, but rather enjoy the peace and freedom of the sons of God. Science makes no laws to bind or hinder any one, but it does demand that he who claims to have escaped all the shoals, or to have outridden all the blasts of mortal sense, shall attest the truth of his statement by wonderful demonstrations of power over the ills of the flesh. "By their fruits ye shall know them." An advanced degree of understanding will be made manifest in such abundant peace and power as the world has seldom seen.
The spiritual idea of Life and Love has, from the foundation of the world, been carrying on its silent, but effectual warfare against the dragon of material sense. During the last three decades, this true idea of being has been made more plain and more aggressive than ever, through the teachings of Christian Science,—and now along the lines of medicine, of theology, of civil government, we see the flag of truce frequently displayed.
In an address delivered before a state medical society, one of their prominent members said "Material medicine must find its proper level, for it is limited to matter by its own law. All nature proclaims the truth that Mind,—God,—not senseless matter, governs all creation,—that all living, intelligent beings are subject to the benignant and generous laws of Mind."
Count Tolstoi, seeing the need of a diviner ruling; in the affairs of State, wrote a book which won for him the title of the "Christian Anarchist," because in it he foretells the not-far-distant abolishing of all the present modes and machinery of civil government; that, as all are children of God, and brothers of each other, this artificial mechanism is to be superseded by a general recognition and demonstration of love as the only true law of life. So we read in these signs of the times the assurance of a triumphant outcome not many leagues ahead. We must be humble and unselfish enough to know that the foes we combat are the false beliefs in evil in our own consciousness; that the principal point of attack is right at home, wherever we find evidences of any weak or wicked yielding to error. A man's foes that are "of his own household," are the dark, unrighteous, unspiritual thoughts that mortal man cherishes and claims relation to. These must all be routed by the sword of Truth.
We must be prompt and obedient enough to enlist at once, at the call of Truth, to "fight the good fight,"—to "lay hold on eternal life,"—not waiting to be drafted or dragged unwillingly into the service of Christ,—not waiting till the hardest of the fight is over. The true soldier, whose bosom thrills with patriotism and love of the right, does not remain long outside the ranks, to see whether the cause is really popular or not, nor does he wait for a time when the army will be in more favorable condition. As soon as he is convinced of the rightness of the cause, he enrolls his name and throws his whole heart and soul and interest and purpose into the work, and so, by his presence and resources, helps to achieve the desired end. We must be fearless and faithful, never showing the white feather at the appearance of error,—never being overwhelmed by the uncovering of how-many-soever of Satan's minions.
Our Leader has taught us to recognize in the aggravation of error, a prophecy of its approaching end. So, in the midst of the battle, we shall find perfect safety, and shall say with the Psalmist, "I will fear no evil," knowing that its boasted pretensions need not and cannot be feared.
Lastly and always, we must be watchful. More than ever, it is true in Science that "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." After each day's march, the army encamps for rest and refreshment. But there is never a moment when the whole army is asleep. The picket-line extends every step of the way around the camp, and all along its course the faithful sentinels keep untiring watch. So at the end of a day's march in this journey from sense to Soul, if there comes a sense of well-earned victory over some of the claims of the flesh, and we feel that we may lie down in green pastures and rest beside the still waters, yet the sentinel thought, that Mind "slumbers not nor sleeps," still keeps guard to prevent the mesmeric sleep of error from taking possession. True rest comes in the living, acting, inexhaustible energy of divine Life and Love. There is no sense of mortal weariness nor weakness in that divine consciousness of strength, and the final conquest over all the seeming powers of darkness is celebrated in the "peace of God, which passeth all understanding."
"It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. ... and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."
