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PREPARATION OF THOUGHT

From the July 1916 issue of The Christian Science Journal


AS mortal mind is unknown to Spirit, it cannot receive the Christ-idea. Only when there has been a breaking down of the barriers of false belief can the light of Truth enter into the hearts of men and heal them. For want of a better term this process may be called the preparation of thought. In Moses' song to the Lord we find these words: "He is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation;" in other words, prepare consciousness to be the home of Truth. The burden of the Messianic prophecies seems to be, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord;" indeed the Old Testament considered in its spiritual import and in the light of these prophecies may be called "the book of preparation."

Every important spiritual step in human history has been preceded by the preparation of thought. A prominent example of this may be found in the going out of the children of Israel from the land of Egypt. Moses, so history tells us, was educated as a prince of the house of Pharaoh. He was therefore trained for the dual position of soldier and priest, and as such he must have taken a leading part in military activities and in public worship. When he discovered that he was one of the Hebrew people, he cast his lot with them, though he must have known their condition only too well. Both he and they seemed to think that deliverance would come by force; but the ambition of Moses was checked and he was obliged to flee to the wilderness.

At that time both Moses and the Hebrew people, though dimly aware of the promise of God for deliverance, knew little of God. It was during his forty years in the wilderness that Moses began to understand God's oneness, and he demonstrated this understanding by the signs, commonly known as "plagues," which proved to the Hebrews the powerlessness of each and all of the Egyptian idols, as well as God's omnipotence. As a great general, Moses was not fit to be the leader of Israel, but Moses grown meek because he understood God's greatness, was ready to deliver his people when they were ready to be delivered. Yet it took not only the experiences of the captivity but forty years of special preparation to equip him.

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