The present age is one of the most enlightened in the history of the world, and never before, probably, have men been so keenly alive to the possibilities of human development. Every civilized nation values its educational systems; and the endeavor is constantly being put forth to increase their efficiency in order that men and women may be more thoughtful. It is highly probable that knowledge of the arts and sciences has never been so extensive or has exercised such an influence on mankind, generally, as now. And all this at a time when spiritual enlightenment exists on a scale never surpassed. It is an interesting situation; one that is bound to arrest the attention of every thoughtful person.
The student of Christian Science perceives clearly what is taking place; and he is able to do so because of his knowledge of the divine. This knowledge is to him as a great lens, which he can focus on any and every human question. And what is the nature of the knowledge? It is defined with the utmost lucidity by Mrs. Eddy in Christian Science. The divine is that which pertains to God. God is infinite, all-inclusive Mind or Spirit, infinite Life or Love. God's or Mind's creation consists of spiritual ideas, and is divine. And here we have one of the mightiest discoveries ever made. Holding to the fact that Mind is infinite, Christian Science consistently maintains that there is no reality in matter, pronouncing it to be an illusion of the physical senses, a false or erroneous belief of a hypothetical mentality, which it terms mortal mind or the carnal mind.
It will be obvious from this what the nature of the lens is, which Christian Science focuses on human life and its seeming modes of activity: it is the simple truth about the divine. And what a powerful lens it is! It sees mankind engaged day in and day out with what Christian Science has discovered to be unreal,—material pursuits, taking up an enormous proportion of its time, pursuits some of which have assumed a subtlety never before approached. Witness the applications of electrical energy, so called. This belief of mortal mind, as Christian Science terms it, which is extensively used to illumine and to heat, and is one of the most readily applied powers for the driving of machinery, is being adapted speedily to convey messages from one center to another over immense distances. In no previous age has the human mind been able to utilize one of its own beliefs to annihilate space—another of its beliefs—to the extent it is doing to-day.
