One begins the practice of Christian Science the moment he begins to apply it in his daily life. Whatever our occupation, our surroundings, our problems, our difficulties may be, each one is free to enter upon this work. Regardless of handicaps, disadvantages, or past errors, or how far we may believe we are from measuring up to the standard set by Christian Science, the opportunity to live the teachings of Christ Jesus, each day, is always present.
The opportunities each one of us has are just as numerous as those of any one else; and the advantages ahead that we hope for always come when we make full use of what we have. The seemingly greatest obstructions may be our greatest opportunities. Doubtless, many have found it difficult to see this—do not, perhaps, see it now. It is a lesson we all have to learn: that the very things we call obstacles, or seeming hindrances to our success, even the petty discords that make us wish we were in some place where we did not have them, are but so many golden opportunities to demonstrate Christian Science. If our desire is to live a life of Christlikeness, blessing and healing and bringing out harmony,—blessings which have so freely come into our lives,—let us not wait for more favorable conditions, expecting that then we shall find no error to contend with. Until we use the talents that are given to us, we are not worthy of more.
Divine Love always gives us the opportunities we are ready for. Our problems are for us to solve, rather than to avoid. The very things that we may overlook or tend to run from are occasions to apply what we have learned. If we already knew the solution, they would not be problems in the sense we think them so. To avoid a question in mathematics does not solve it; for when presented again it is still unanswered; but once solved, the problem, as a difficulty, has disappeared. It is through victory, instead of retreat, that we gain permanent freedom from evil. This does not mean that we should unnecessarily face danger or evil. Where God, divine Principle, requires it, and there is a moral reason why we should do so, He will free us from error's illusions. God reveals to us the way to overcome every difficulty; as Mrs. Eddy tells us in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 385), '"Whatever it is your duty to do, you can do without harm to yourself."
Then, let us begin where we are. Perhaps error tells us that our surroundings are wrong; that we are not wanted where we are; that if we could only be somewhere else all would be well; that under the circumstances we are not free to progress, and should therefore make a change; that we should move on. Evil would always like the good that is beginning to unfold in our thought to move on; for where good endures, it displaces evil. If we seem temporarily to retreat, it should only be to strengthen our fortifications, or to gain needed reinforcements from Truth wherewith to prevail. If we maintain spiritual qualities in our thinking, they will maintain us in our rightful place. If anything is displaced, it will be error; for error cannot displace Truth or its expression. Since man's right place is in God, what we need to find is a right state of consciousness consisting of true spiritual qualities, which are always desirable. The good we reflect protects us from evil, and awakens good around us.
That there appears to be much around us which is inharmonious is not always a sign we are in our wrong place. Truth is most needed where it least appears. Because we are where we are, we may be there for a purpose. We think of the value we should like our environment to be to us; but do we stop to think of what service we can be to our environment? Selfishness will not make us happy in any surroundings. In trying to escape, and thus exchange one error for another, we do not heal either, but carry the old one in thought,—the only place where it can ever claim to exist,—and add to it a new one. We try to escape from error, but are unwilling to surrender to divine Life and Love, which is our only haven of safety.
The reason of human failure to demonstrate harmony is the unwillingness of mortals to immolate self, to give up the materiality we call our own, and to love our neighbor as we do ourselves. It is beautiful to see how many conditions of disease and discord yield or disappear as the kindlier elements come into thought. There is no place so dark that we cannot lighten it a little, at least for ourselves. What we need to do is just to hold to Truth until we shut out all sense of the reality of error. The more difficult this seems to be, the greater will be our blessing and reward.
It is not really the hatred or resentment of others that harms us, but the amount of it in ourselves that we reflect back. The tendency to become annoyed by the actions or words of others indicates that error still appears to be a reality to us. One is never disturbed by that which he recognizes as nothing; and, surely, in the divine Mind no single condition of error, whether of thought, word, or action, ever has existed or ever will exist. The light is always wanted; but, as Jesus said, "if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" And can we then wonder that other people seek to shun it?
It is the kindness we give out, even to those who do not appear to like us, which removes the thorns from our path, and dissolves away sickness, discord, and pain. Are we, then, even as the Master commanded, letting only the sunshine of our loving thoughts fall on both the evil and the good, that we too may reflect perfection; or are we blessing one and intolerant toward another? To love our enemies is far more than simply to refrain from hating them, or even appearing friendly. Just as soon as we admit there is an imperfect child or thing in God's universe, we have, in belief, made imperfection a part of our consciousness. We can see ourselves as God's children only as we are willing to see others as His children also.
By solving our own problems, it is easy for us to help others along the lines we have worked out. The guide is able to lead others, because he knows the pathway well; the teacher is able to impart knowledge, because he has worked out practically and clearly for himself the subject he teaches. Similarly, what we demonstrate for ourselves enables us to be of service to others; but in a continual shunning of our problems, our help for others along the same lines may be the same makeshift for them that it was for ourselves,—a human policy, based on the evidence of the material senses. Not that we cannot be of aid to another, even though our own problem may not be entirely solved; but the work can be done more quickly if our own vision is clear. In Science and Health (p. 455) Mrs. Eddy writes, "If you are yourself lost in the belief and fear of disease or sin, and if, knowing the remedy, you fail to use the energies of Mind in your own behalf, you can exercise little or no power for others' help."
Every true Christian Scientist desires to be of service to others; and he can do this often in ways he has not recognized. To help lift another's burden does not always mean that one must give a Christian Science treatment. Any false sense we may have been entertaining about him, or about his problem as real, may apparently add to the seeming reality of his problem. We can therefore begin by lifting the burden of any opinion or fault we may all unconsciously have been placing upon him; and what a wonderful help it is for one thus to be released, even a little, from the burden that sometimes comes from the false opinion and condemnation others may be entertaining of him!
When we desire others to have the good we ourselves have demonstrated, we do not fear that ours will be taken from us, but find, rather, that our sense of infinite good has been increased. The good that others possess does not deprive us, for good blesses all equally.
Then, instead of waiting for other people to change, we can do some of the changing ourselves: we can change our attitude toward them. Our difficulty is not so much with them; it is with our own false sense of man. Let us refuse to admit as real any sense of man other than as God knows him. There went forth virtue out of Jesus, not because he overlooked evil, but because he recognized good as real and evil as unreal; and this destroyed the evil belief. Admitting no other than the perfect man, seeing no other, and meeting no other, we find our difficulties beginning to vanish, and that our conflict was with the obstinate error in our own thought, which did not want to surrender to divine Love to be healed of its false sense of our neighbor.
Now is the time for each one of us to apply and practice Christian Science. Even though we may be where we cannot speak the truth aloud, our lives can reflect Truth to every creature. There is no greater need than for all to practice the teachings of the Master in every activity of daily life. There is no higher earthly position to fill than this. In Science and Health (p. 15) we read, "Practice not profession, understanding not belief, gain the ear and right hand of omnipotence and they assuredly call down infinite blessings." Each one has all-the hours of each day in which to practice Christian Science. We can then each moment heal the claims of discord or evil that present themselves to our thought. In this way we shall realize the ability both to bless and to be blessed.
