IN one of the most appealing lessons taught by the Master, the parable of the shepherd, he declared himself to be the "shepherd of the sheep," their guardian and protector from all lurking danger. "I am the door," he declared: "by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." To Christian Scientists this parable has a special significance, for they know the door to be the Christ, Truth, through which they are privileged to enter the kingdom, spiritual consciousness, thereby winning salvation from all that is false, unreal, and discordant.
He who declared himself to be "the way, the truth, and the life" might well be the open door to the universe of Spirit, where is found man's perfection and everlasting bliss. Christian Scientists have found the Christ to be the door to all that cheers and blesses. It is indeed the way of Life to all that enter therein; and gratitude to our beloved Leader grows apace as we comprehend more and more of the significance of her message, for she has shown us the manner in which we may enter the golden door of Life, even to "go in and out, and find pasture."
Emphatically we are told, and repeatedly, that we can enter this realm of Truth only by the front door, that is, by the way of the Christ, spiritual understanding; for those who would climb up some other way are termed thieves and robbers,—they who seek not the way of Life, but, rather, to gratify personal sense through pandering to the lusts of materiality. In her Message for April 19, 1899, in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 152), Mrs. Eddy admonishes her students thus: "Ask thyself, Do I enter by the door and worship only Spirit and spiritually, or do I climb up some other way?" Every true disciple asking himself this question should formulate an answer in accord with the significance of the query.
