Just as the corner stone of any building is that stone which lying at the corner of two walls unites those walls at the foundation, so the Christ, as understood in Christian Science, shows man to be united to his fellow man on the basis of one Principle, God. Just as to build a superstructure without regard to the corner stone or foundation is to sacrifice the strength and beauty of an edifice, so, according to Christian Science, to live without regard to this fundamental spiritual law is to sacrifice the harmony and peace of existence. Every one who lives, builds; and the necessity to choose the corner stone upon which he will build confronts every one. The Bible has much to say concerning building, and when Jeremiah declared, "Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work," he sounded a warning that should have been better heeded.
But mortal mind, which Mrs. Eddy tells us, "constructs the mortal body with this mind's own mortal materials" (Science and Health, p. 402), gives slight heed to these Scriptural warnings and pays scant attention to the chief corner stone of spiritual law in its building. This human mind is powerless to construct anything permanent, because it persists in building with mortal, selfish thoughts and on the evidence of the material senses. According to this evidence it is suicidal to aid one's fellow man under certain conditions, such as in the case of what mortals are pleased to term contagious diseases. According to the evidence of these senses riches are the result of accumulating so much matter called money or property, acquired sometimes by very questionable methods. Placing substance, health, and happiness on a basis of matter, these senses in every conceivable way separate one man's interest from that of another. To build on the evidence of the senses, therefore, is to build a sense of health, happiness, and prosperity that may at any time crumble and fall as do walls that are not built plumb with their corner stone or their foundation.
From this viewpoint it is not surprising that the material world should undergo such a severe convulsion as was the recent World War. The crashing and crumbling of national ideals reared on autocracy, cruelty, and greed served to remind many Bible students of Jesus' prophecy concerning the stone which the builders rejected, and the dire consequences of this rejection. His words to the effect that those upon whom this stone should fall would be ground to powder, seem peculiarly applicable to present conditions. Verily this day is this prophecy being fulfilled. The grinding process is in full operation and will continue until all false methods of being or building are abandoned.
