THE individual who is animated by one thought which is in advance of his present pursuits, practices, and habits, possesses in this an ideal which inevitably molds his thinking and his living into improved form. A human being who does not perceive something better than his present performance is hardly conceivable, for however far down the mental and moral scale of human living a mortal may be, somewhere and somehow he has heard, or seen, or read that which will lift his thought from the lower level, whensoever he will heed its call. To human sense, the sinner of to-day may not apprehend nor comprehend the exalted ideal of saintliness, but if the so-called sinner will hearken to that better thought which does lie within range of his mental seeing and hearing, he will be less a sinner to-morrow than to-day. As he fulfils the demand of what he has already perceived, his vision will necessarily broaden; and growing in this fashion toward his own ideal, he will discern in time the saintly ideal which is the full beauty of perfection, and will continue to grow in the joy of striving to make this holy purpose and achievement his own.
Perhaps no two mortals outside of Christian Science share the same perception of an ideal, nor do any two of them express just the same measure of fidelity to the ideal. Living is individual, and each mortal is the keeper of his own heart upon this question. Concerning those who are journeying toward the ideal, the question is not how much better is this individual than his neighbor, but how loyal is each one to the demand for right living which he himself recognizes. The degree of faithfulness to the good one sees, determines one's eventual individual appropriation of the absolute good. Perhaps he who is expressing better conditions than is a discouraged onlooker, is no more obedient to his highest standard than is the discouraged one to his measure of light. The higher ideal demands of him who apprehends it greater things than are asked of the one who has not yet discerned so much.
To be sure, the individual who sees and lives more of the truth than the individual who grasps and performs less of it, is serving his God and all mankind in greater degree than is his less enlightened and less active brother, but his proportionate devotion to the best he knows may be marked by no greater loyalty, in its relation to its ideal, than is the devotion of the one who achieves less because he understands less of good. This being true, no mortal can claim more for himself, nor expect more from others, than that experience shall be progressive; and thus the elimination of personal comparison and the cultivation of charity for all who are walking in an ascending pathway becomes an easy matter. Again, this being true, every individual who is obeying his highest ideal may be encouraged to hope for ultimate perfection, for he has entered upon a mental journey which can never be hindered, so long as its upward purpose remains, and the logical end of this way of progress can be nothing less than the perfect ideal perfectly expressed. The advancing state of consciousness which actively and reverently chooses good and discards evil, is worthy of honor at any stage of its pilgrimage, and the individual who knows that this mental process means salvation rejoices in every least effort, everywhere, toward better thoughts, better habits, better deeds.
