HOW varied are the feelings of men and women as they look ahead into a New Year! Many of them are anxious as to what it may hold in store for them. Some of them are wondering if the sorrows and sufferings of the past will be repeated; others, if the sunshine of prosperity and health, which perchance they have enjoyed in the year that is gone, will continue to brighten their way. Varied, very varied, is the gamut of human feeling as the New Year begins its course, running from the depths of despondency even to the heights of exultant hope.
Where does the Christian Scientist stand? He certainly is not of those who are still in the valley of uncertainty; he has ascended the mountain, and is looking far into the promised land with a great hope, an inspired hope, a hope that is based on the understanding of absolute, unalterable truth. One of the things which distinguishes the Christian Scientist is his hopefulness. He may have his difficulties; he may be battling with some form of sickness or combating some form of evil, and not by any means allowing himself to be deceived by the attempts of error to make him believe in its reality; still, his hope continues to burn brightly, because it is founded on spiritual truth, which he already has demonstrated, probably in numerous instances.
If anyone will ask the Christian Scientist concerning the basis of his hope, as a rule he will not have to wait long for an answer. The Christian Scientist will tell him that Christian Science has revealed to him the true nature of reality, the true nature of God and His creation; and this revelation has made clear to him the entirely dependable nature of God and the spiritual creation of which he, as an individual, is part. Here is the very core of the Christian Scientist's faith and hope: God is infinite Spirit, unlimited good; and God's creation, therefore, is altogether spiritual, altogether perfect. And having perceived the truth of Spirit and Spirit's creation, its entirely spiritual and perfect nature, he now comprehends what Christian Science states so emphatically and unequivocally, namely, that matter and evil and all their derivatives have no real existence, but are only an illusion of false material sense. When the Christian Scientist has arrived at this standpoint, he can echo with profound confidence these words of Mrs. Eddy on page 298 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures": "When the real is attained, which is announced by Science, joy is no longer a trembler, nor is hope a cheat."
