Webster defines "liberty," in part, as follows: "The state of a free person; freedom: opposed to slavery, serfdom, bondage, or subjection." The same authority calls "license" "excess of liberty; freedom abused, or used in contempt of law and decorum; disregard of law or property." A comparison of these two definitions reveals a very wide divergence, and yet the oft-quoted cry of Madame Roland is as pertinent today as ever, "O liberty, liberty, how many crimes are committed in thy name!" Just as evil has always, on occasion, cloaked itself in heaven's livery so as to get in touch with honest but unwary thought, so license comes and whispers honied words surcharged with deadly poison, and thus attempts to wield an insinuating influence which none can resist save those who have put on "the whole armor of God." License is the brazen counterfeit of liberty, and happy is he who always tests well his coin, for license will use countless subtle devices to trap well-meaning people into doing or countenancing those things which bring slavery instead of freedom.
In Christian Science, liberty means nothing more nor less than spiritual freedom, and spiritual freedom never approves any thought or practice which is not in accord with spiritual living, however much the serpent of license may whisper to the contrary. Inasmuch, however, as mortals cannot hope to attain to the ultimate of spiritual living without constant growth in grace for an indefinite period, this statement has no present reference to those things which are deemed essential to human existence, for until greater goodness is gained we must, in a diminishing measure, conform to the conditions imposed by universal belief.
On the other hand, we must not forget that it is our duty now, today, to overcome those things which are generally recognized as possessing an element of positive evil, and which may and can be immediately eliminated from our experience without arbitrarily destroying the temporary means of growth or progress afforded "by what Mrs. Eddy terms "improved beliefs" when she says, "An improved belief is one step out of error, and aids in taking the next step and in understanding the situation in Christian Science" (Science and Health, p. 296). Thus we are afforded a basis on which to stand while working out the larger and more difficult demonstrations which are brought nearer and nearer by every honest effort we put forth.
