EARLY in his experience in Christian Science the student learns that the present is the time in which to enter into the blessings which the Scriptures promise for all. No longer does he look merely to a future state of blessedness, when every hope shall have been fulfilled and every doubt and uncertainty removed; he finds there are definite spiritual blessings to be experienced now, as well as certain requirements to be met before heaven, or a state of perfect harmony, can be won. This comes as somewhat of a surprise to many. It is so radically different from their former concept of a far-off goal of bliss, which required no effort of their own, either in the present or in the immediate future, to obtain.
The student no longer theorizes as to the conditions of this ultimate harmony, for definite daily proofs of divine protection and healing in his own experience and in that of others give present promise of the fulfillment of all his dearest hopes. The truth in the statement read from the desk at every Sunday service in Christian Science churches, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God," becomes a tangible reality. The mystery which had seemed to envelop many of the Biblical statements has been swept away, even though "what we shall be" when perfection is realized, "doth not yet appear"—at least is not apparent to human sense.
"Progress is the maturing conception of divine Love," declares our leader, mary baker eddy, on page 181 of "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany." Then all that is unlike divine Love must be uprooted in human thought and destroyed, because it is a foe to all progress. One of the traits to betray itself as unlike divine Love is criticism. Condemnation of others obscures spiritual light as effectively as any other manifestation of incorporeal evil could claim to do. In order that this error may be seen aright as error, it is helpful to consider certain narratives of Scripture. Moses found it necessary humbly to declare to his people the divine leading, when he said, "Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind." And, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, the fate of Stephen uncovered this error of all the ages—condemnation.
