UNTIL thought is leavened by some glimpse of spiritual truth, it is the almost invariable custom of mortals to look upon the problems of life—its illness, sorrows, losses, lack —as hardships to be overcome, if possible; or, as happens all too often, in cases where it is believed there is no remedy, as something to be borne with such fortitude as one can command, even with resignation. There is, it seems, little inclination to look upon such experiences as offering the slightest possibility of blessing the sufferer.
Christian Science is rendering mankind an immeasurable service in making clear that such hardships as befall humanity, rightly utilized, may become blessings in disguise; for they offer the opportunity, even present the necessity, of rising above the material seeming into the realm of spiritual reality, there to behold and declare man's present perfection as the son of God. In discoursing on the uses of suffering, in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 322), Mrs. Eddy writes: "The sharp experiences of belief in the supposititious life of matter, as well as our disappointments and ceaseless woes, turn us like tired children to the arms of divine Love. Then we begin to learn Life in divine Science." Can one doubt the great benefit, even the unspeakable blessing, arising from any experience, however distressful to material sense it may seem, which turns us away from the false concept of man to the true idea, the real man who is the son of God? None can gainsay that the greatest blessing which can by any possibility accrue to a mortal is to learn of his true self-hood as a son of God. For this understanding, in proportion to its depth, ushers him into the very presence of God, of infinite Love, where he finds man perfect and blessed beyond the ability of mortal consciousness to comprehend. How meaningful, then, are our Leader's words!
But the false consciousness called mortal mind, without ability to reach beyond its own limited horizon, struggles to retain its prestige within its own realm; it resists all attempts to replace its falsities by spiritual truth. Why this resistance? Because the false sense foresees its own destruction by the militant truth; it knows its inability to withstand the power of Truth, which is omnipotent. Hence its resistance, a resistance which at times assumes such proportions as readily to be mistaken for reality. Sometimes, mortals are tempted to cry out against what appears like untoward fate, irresistible in its seeming power and terrible in its outward aspect and implications. Not alone the present conditions terrify, but those that threaten would fill one with terror. Mortal mind not only terrifies with its present arguments, but it foretells dire things ahead.
How blessed are we of this generation in having had presented to us in a practical and usable form the perfect remedy for all these phantoms, an antidote so powerful that through its right application every trace of fear and suffering is erased, and peace and joy prevail in place of hardship and terror! Surely no greater blessing has ever been bestowed upon mankind than that which came to earth through the revelation of Christian Science, the Science which heals all our sicknesses, removes all our fears, and comforts all our woes. Notwithstanding all that Christian Science is accomplishing for us, we still at times seem to fall under the mesmerism of evil in some one of its many forms. Then we cry out, Why the necessity for this experience? Why do I have to endure so much of suffering, when I am striving so hard to live in accordance with the letter and spirit of our Leader's teachings? Then it is that we need to go deeply into our mental status, to find what false belief is still cherished as true, what falsity we are holding to as a condition which belongs to man. For we may be assured that some phase of erroneous belief is still lurking in the lairs of mortal thought, else outward discord would be causeless, manifestly an impossibility. Search must be made, and all falsity uncovered and destroyed; for were there not a clinging to some erroneous belief about man, we should not suffer. Error held as real is the cause of our predicament.
And, moreover, right here lies the possibility of turning the trying experience into a blessing, immeasurable in its import for good. For the very search for and uncovering of the hidden foe to our comfort, the false belief we are cherishing, offers opportunity for spiritual growth quite unlimited in its possibilities. It was in contemplation of this that Mrs. Eddy, when denying false rumors about herself, wrote (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 143), "I do not regard this attack upon me as a trial, for when these things cease to bless they will cease to occur."
The indomitable Paul, although beset by many hardships, when contemplating the wondrous glories of the revelation which he had experienced, could affirm, "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." Paul's clear concept of Truth enabled him to realize the utter unreality of the claims of the flesh, the tendencies which would weigh him down; and in looking through the mists of material belief he beheld the wondrous glory of the city of God, foursquare, and peopled withal with spiritual ideas, the blessed of the Father. His trials had become to him so many opportunities for rising above material sense into the atmosphere of Mind, where only reality abides.
