THERE is something inherently good in human consciousness which craves expression. To finite sense one may appear to rejoice in iniquity, impurity, and untruth, but penetrate the mask of indifference and pretension and you will find one who is weary of his sin and failures. Read his thought, hidden it may be even from his own clear consciousness, and you will find the burden of his desire expressing itself in the words of Job in his longing to appear before God: "Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!" Ask the individual why he continues to live in lust or poverty or vice or failure, and he will tell you that his one reason is that he does not know how to live otherwise.
This is true not only of those who live in the "submerged" world, but also of men in every stage of mental and moral development. Multitudes who are living clean, honest Christian lives according to their highest present ability, are craving the fulfilment of lifelong ideals; but the ideals seem ever to elude them, so far as practical demonstration of them is concerned. From sermons and poems, from glimpses of sturdy character, from Bible study, and from meditation, come visions of power and achievement; but after repeated failures in attempting to turn these visions into character, the conviction grows that while the chosen few may dwell in the inner circle, the ordinary man must be contented outside. Nevertheless, they are not contented. They continue to question how peace and success may be found, and grope on through the darkness of sense and the confusion which surrounds them, ever asking: How can I be good? How can I know that God hears my prayers? How can I distinguish between truth and falsehood? How can I attain unto my ideals? These and similar questions insistently challenge all religious leaders, and too seldom do they receive satisfactory answers. We are convinced that the unanswered "how" is responsible for much of the failure on the part of well meaning men and women. They have many of the ideals of the perfect life and a hearty desire to realize them, but for lack of instruction they try in vain to reach that which satisfies.
Christian Science meets the human need at this point. It not only gives men the highest ideals, it gives them satisfactory instruction as to how to attain them. It supplies their spiritual needs, guides them safely through intricate ways, and proves to them that peace and power and success are not given by divine partiality, but are the legitimate and inevitable reward of the earnest seeker after Truth; that "Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals" (Science and Health, p. 13). It gives new hope that God's will may be done "in earth, as it is in heaven," and it provides abundance of courage to continue the search for perfect life.
