Every one feels intuitively, if he does not understand it, that true freedom is the highest good, the one goal of all human endeavor. Love of freedom has always been the greatest theme of philosopher and poet, the inspiration of the reformer as well as the source of courage for the true patriot and soldier. A modern writer has said: "The cry of the soul is for freedom. It longs for liberty from the date of its first conscious moments." But in all of their desires for freedom and in their struggles to obtain it, mankind have fallen into two very serious errors of belief which have produced the greatest confusion of thought and have made abortive most of their efforts in this direction. The first of these errors is the belief that man is material, possessing a mind or soul of his own, this mind or soul being itself the product of material experience and sensation, located in a material body and subject to that body. The other is the belief that man is mortal. These errors were exposed by Christ Jesus nineteen centuries ago, and the truth he taught became the vitalizing power of the early church, the foundation of all true Christianity. Had mankind kept this truth unobscured and uncontaminated, it would have been the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night to lead humanity out of the Egypt of darkness and bondage, up into the promised land of light and liberty, of peace and plenty. His teaching was, however, gradually hidden by material beliefs, personal ambitions, sensual desires,—and so darkness ensued.
About fifty years ago Mary Baker Eddy discovered, and after years of patient, loving study and preparation, restated to the world the truth which Christ Jesus taught, and to-day an ever increasing number of people are rejoicing in the growing understanding of true freedom and the blessings that follow therefrom.
What is freedom? It is not merely the escape from any particular undesirable conditions. Our fathers sought in a new world freedom to worship God after the dictates of their own conscience. Great wars have been fought to free mankind from political and religious tyranny. We often speak of freedom from sickness and trouble or from anything undesirable, but true freedom is broader than any of these things. It implies the opportunity and ability of man to express his real nature, untrammeled and without interference or influence of any kind. "He is free," says Epictetus, who "is neither subject to compulsion nor to hindrance nor to force."
