ON that mournful occasion at Jerusalem when our Master, conscious of the imminence of his approaching crucifixion, deemed it necessary to prepare the thought of his disciples for what was about to happen, and addressed them in the beautiful words recorded in the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel according to John, he nevertheless was careful to supplement his announcement with the most uplifting and momentous promise which was ever poured into human ears. Was it not a joy bringing thought that the Father would send another Comforter, who not only should abide with men forever, but should teach them all things and bring all things that Jesus had said to their remembrance? It is true that his hearers, with but a few exceptions, did not fully understand the significance of this promise, and that it possibly passed out of recollection soon after our Lord's ascension, so that as time went on the realization which his words were intended to effect, of the ever-presence of God as the preserver and mentor of His children, gradually faded almost completely away. Thus the world at large has by degrees come more and more to regard the Master's promise as a mere figure of speech, forgetful of the fact that every word uttered by him throughout his short earthly career was spoken deliberately and sincerely, and was meant to subserve his sublime purpose of uplifting mankind.
This refusal to accept the plain meaning of Jesus' unequivocal assurance has brought inevitable retribution upon mortals by depriving them of the sustaining sense of "God with us" at all times and under all circumstances. Deity has thus seemed to be relegated to some vague far-off locality, where it is by no means easy to reach Him with appeals for help, however vociferous and oft repeated! Well might Jeremiah prophetically represent Omnipotence as asking, "Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off?" This enlightened seer evidently foresaw plainly that not only in his day, when the imperfect concept of God's nature and of His attitude towards His creation gave currency to the belief that the Almighty was too far removed from it to take a lively and sympathetic interest in it,—not only in his day was there an inability to understand the true nature of God's loving, unceasing care for all that He had made,—but even after the coming of Christ Jesus, who conferred upon mankind a better concept of the loving Father of each and every one of us, the great majority would still refuse to accept this assurance as being too good to be true.
But how completely and convincingly does the light cast upon the Master's promise with regard to the coming of the Comforter, by our Leader's explanations in our textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," lift us above these age-long misconceptions! From her exposition we learn that we do not have to look either for the reappearing of Jesus the Christ in fleshly form or for any other material manifestation of his presence; nor do we have to await in fear and trembling what is generally spoken of as "the end of the world," with the accompaniment of terrible calamities, war, and woe, in order to find and to follow the way of salvation. Instead, the Comforter in the form of God's eternal truth and love is already here, as indeed it always has been, to guide and sustain us if only we will reach out for and accept its proffered aid.
