What a world of trouble we should save ourselves if we met scientifically the burdens of every-day life. Christian Science teaches mortals how to distinguish between the real and the unreal, and how to deal with those things that must be classed as unrealities. It shows that when we credit our material concepts with power and permanence we are strengthening every barrier that obstructs true freedom, and so beclouding our vision that we are blind to the fact that dominion belongs to him who steadfastly holds to the basic truths of being—the allness of God, and His perfect reflection by the real man.
But this attainment comes only by much prayer and fasting. We overcome only as we are conscious of absolute dependence upon God, allowing Him to work in us "to will and to do of his good pleasure." We may rest assured that God will do—indeed, has done—His part in our salvation; but what are we doing? The young student is prone to fall into the error that the beneficent fruits of Christian Science are to be won with ease. As he advances in his spiritual growth, he comes to recognize that Mrs. Eddy strikes right home when she says that "man's enslavement to the most relentless masters—passion, selfishness, envy, hatred, and revenge—is conquered only by a mighty struggle" (Science and Health, p. 407). If he is wise, he will learn so to equip himself, by acquiring a thorough grasp of what Christian Science teaches, and seeking daily to translate his knowledge into practice, that he will rise in the scale of being, and thus prove that the effort to conquer is not in vain.
The Christian life is frequently illustrated by a race: the contestants those who, touched by the "Spirit of truth," have set their faces heavenward; the course that span of existence embraced in the earthly pilgrimage; the prize that attainment of perfect bliss which finds its culmination in dwelling in the presence of God. The better part of humanity has always recognized that a higher and purer existence is possible to every seeking soul. To reach this has been, and still is, a lodestone in all religions. Even in the crudest forms of worship the impelling factor is a desire to propitiate deities, so that threatened evils may be averted and the possession of perfect happiness secured. This all means a struggle, in the form of personal effort, or material sacrifices, or devotion to some ideal. In obedience to the teachings and example of Jesus, it is consecration of life and purpose to God. Though with the "process of the suns" theological groundwork changes, newer and clearer interpretations of Scripture are revealed, creeds are less imperative, and a divine sense of the universe dawns upon the heart of humanity, yet it is no less true than ever it was that the eternal concept is not to be gained save by courageous wrestling with everything that would baffle spiritual growth and obscure
