THE advent of the Messiah was signalized by the angelic prophecy of peace and good will to the children of men, the "glad tidings" that he whose coming was thus heralded was the long-looked-for "Prince of Peace," through whom God's chosen people were again to possess the kingdom. But when, thirty years later, Jesus entered upon his work of redemption, preaching the coming of the kingdom of God, and healing the multitudes of their sicknesses and infirmities, there were comparatively few who grasped his teaching that the kingdom to which they were heirs was a heavenly one, that it was within themselves, and that the enemies to be subdued before dominion could be declared were the evil thoughts which again and again strove to assert their claim to place and power.
Down through the ages this conflict has been going on, and while with each recurrence of the anniversary of the coming of the Christ-child, for a time it seems to be the dawning of an era of peace and good will, when our hearts are so filled with love and gratitude for the blessings which have come to us that they can but overflow and share their joy and happiness with all around, somehow as the days go by we forget to tend the fires of love, until only cold gray ashes are left upon the altar that should be burning brightly with the spirit of self-sacrifice and forgiveness, the tender compassion which rebukes the sin and uplifts the sinner, which uncovers evil only to bid it depart, that those in bondage may go free.
We have failed to apprehend the true spirit of our Leader's teachings unless we have learned that this wondrous healing truth is for today and all the days, that the spirit of love and forgiveness which animated us at the Christmastide will glow as brightly now, if we will but draw from the inexhaustible store of divine Love for its replenishment. In "Miscellaneous Writings" Mrs. Eddy tells us that the star which shone over Bethlehem, pointing the seekers for truth to the place "where the young child was," has lost none of its luster, that it is "the light of all ages; is the light of Love, today christening religion undefined, divine Science; giving to it a new name, and the white stone in token of purity and permanence" (p. 320). He who declared himself "the way, the truth, and the life" nineteen centuries ago, is still our Wayshower, and his "new commandment," "That ye love one another, as I have loved you," his tender admonition to the followers who gathered about him, is no less binding on us today.
