ONE who had been brought up in slavery and had always thought of himself as slave-born, on being told that it was all a mistake, that he had been stolen from free parents and had really always been a free man, would be overjoyed at the tidings. His thought would leap forward to the privileges of freedom. Wealth, high position, liberty to go about, would all be open to him. And yet, would they? His status would be that of a free man with no money, no education, one who must earn money, must study and go through a long process of training before arriving at his envisioned goal. At first he might be transported with the fact that he was not a slave, and never had been; then, he might be cast down because a long path must be traversed step by step before he could be actually free, as he had dreamed of being free. But as he accepted the situation and began to take the first steps, to study, and to work for a day's pay instead of for his keep, he would find that small rewards came with each day's effort. From this time on a twofold joy would be his—the unfolding beauties of the path he walked, and the vision of the ultimate goal which would be his when he had earned it.
Does not this illustrate the experience of many who receive the blessed message of the Christ Science? Thought leaps forward to the ultimate or absolute revelation of man's freedom as the perfect spiritual child of God. On this basis there is to be no more sickness, no more poverty, no more unhappiness. Then comes the recognition that there is a path to take, and that each step means an overcoming; but that each overcoming means a blessing. The ultimate vision grows clearer with each overcoming, and expectation speeds the footsteps.
Mrs. Eddy's revelation has not only set forth absolute Christian Science with perfect clarity, but it also specifies for us the degrees by which it is to be attained. In her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (pp. US, 116), she has shown the "Scientific Translation of Mortal Mind" in three degrees. The first degree she designates as "Depravity," as "Physical," and, marginally, as "Unreality." The third degree she designates as "Understanding," as "Spiritual," and, marginally, as "Reality." The mental qualities named in the first degree portray mortal mind in slavery to the belief in evil as real, while those in the third degree portray the state of absolute freedom from mortal mind arrived at through the demonstration of God's allness. It seems easier, at least theoretically, for the so-called human mind to desire to part from the first degree and to wish to attain to the third degree, than it is definitely to set itself to the task of demonstrating the mental qualities of the second degree. This second degree Mrs. Eddy designates as "Evil beliefs disappearing," as "Moral," and, marginally, as "Transitional qualities."
