There is probably no message of the Scriptures given to mankind which would afford more relief to the wayfarer in the wilderness of doubt and discouragement, discord and woe, than that proclaimed by John the Baptist, who said, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand," — the golden hour of "now" which dawned in its fulness through the ministry of Christ Jesus, the hour in which we may realize health, holiness, and harmony.
Yesterday has gone; tomorrow is but an expectancy. There is no time for us to act but "in the living present." Thoughts that rest in the nowhere of yesterday or the vagueness of a tomorrow are wasted. The glorious reality of life, its beauty, purity, and perfection, is in the kingdom at hand. The only time for us to awake in God's likeness, in the "beauty of holiness," is in the eternal "now," which is from everlasting to everlasting, and knows no past, no future. Now is the hour of Christ's coming; now we may enter into the joy of the divine presence, where all tears are wiped away, all injuries forgotten, all wrongs forgiven, all trials and all hardships obliterated; into the kingdom forever at hand, hallowed by the enveloping presence of Love realized.
Now may we enter into an understanding of harmonious being and rest from toil, worry, fear, and anxiety, secure in the ample provision of infinite good. When material sense argues perplexity, when the next step cannot be seen, when a decision cannot longer be deferred, when human wisdom is found helpless; when the heart is wrung within us, and we utter the cry, "What shall I do?" — without fail, without delay comes the answer, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." And now, "now is the accepted time;" "now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ," — the recognition of the one Mind, and a more positive faith in the operation of divine good; the present found to be hallowed with expectation; the open doorway to manifestation and fulfilment.
