HUMANITY greatly needs a more vivid sense of God's nearness and of His tender, watchful care. Christian Scientists are learning how to come near to God. They have learned that it is ignorance which separates from God. They have found that the Book of books, the Bible, so throbs with God's vital nearness that it is almost a marvel that although from the beginning of Bible history God was proved to be so very near to those who trusted in Him, yet, to-day, to many, He seems so far away.
Mrs. Eddy says of the ancient worthies that they "caught glorious glimpses of the Messiah or Christ, and their truer sense of Christ baptized them in Spirit—submerged them in a sense so pure it made seers of men, and Christian healers" (Message to The Mother Church for 1901, p. 9). Enoch, we are told, lived close to God, "walked with God," and was able to conquer the belief in material life, so that "he was not; for God took him." Noah and his family were saved from the deluge through Noah's apprehension of God's nearness and his realization of divine guidance. God directed Abraham, and was with him when he left the early human associations which might have deterred his spiritual development. When all around was famine Abraham recognized God's provision for himself and his household; he also realized protection in a foreign land amid conditions considered dangerous by others. God taught Abraham to be ever mindful of His presence. Isaac and his servants were taught God's nearness and availability, and Isaac demonstrated these eternal facts in spite of the stress of material conditions. The Philistines among whom he lived became jealous of his prosperity; but he refused to quarrel with them, and God reassured him, relieved his fears, and blessed him. The divine light reflected in Isaac's consciousness shone also on those around, as was evidenced by their recognition that God was with His chosen people, and that He protected them as well as fought their battles. Jacob, when in trouble with Laban, was reminded that the God of his fathers had always been with him. Joseph, in Egypt, served God and was blessed accordingly. His attainments were recognized by the Pharaoh of that time and by the Egyptians, and the blessing of God rested on them because of their recognition of Joseph's nearness to God.
We might go on indefinitely recounting the proofs of God's loving care for His chosen people, who throughout the centuries have realized their nearness to Him. The Scriptures abound in accounts of divine protection and power evidenced for this people even though they sometimes forgot their God and accepted material beliefs and the false gods of the people round about them. The seed of Truth was cherished in some hearts until the coming of Christ Jesus and his pure teaching, which has transformed religion and human experience. History informs us that for about three hundred years after his brief ministry his followers kept so close to God and manifested the Christ-consciousness so purely that they healed the sick and raised the dead. Then, once more, acceptance of the beliefs of mortality and of separation from God, who is the only source of life and well-being, brought about another period of darkness during which spiritual light appeared to burn feebly.
