IT is recorded in the Scriptures that when Jesus came to his disciples walking on the water, Peter said unto him, "Lord, . . . bid me come unto thee on the water;" to which Jesus replied, "Come." Is not this simple statement or command, "Come," significant of the nature of the message of the Christ as it speaks to the human consciousness?
In the Glossary to "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 583) Mary Baker Eddy has given us this definition of "Christ": "The divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error." In this divine manifestation of God—His Son, the spiritual idea—coming to the flesh or human consciousness, could we expect to find aught else expressed than the qualities and characteristics of God? The teaching of Christian Science that God is infinite divine Principle, Love, points to the nature of God's attributes. Furthermore, Jesus' ministry of healing exemplified in practical proof the loving attributes of the Christ in its compassionate message of healing and redemption to the human race.
The message of the Christ, therefore, is always one of tender invitation to partake of the spiritual power it inculcates and includes, for it signifies and expresses to human understanding God's love for His creation. Accordingly, it is always a message of encouragement, expectancy of good, and of our ability to prove the ever-presence and availability of divine power. It ever bids the seeker for Truth put aside material limitations, belief in the supposed reality of matter and in material conditions, in order that he may thereby be enabled to discern and grasp the spiritual facts of Truth.
Because of God's great love for His creation, which is inseparable from Him, this invitation of the Christ must be, and is, impartial and universal. Each of His ideas expresses, in the mode divinely outlined, the qualities God ordains and maintains, all in accordance with divine law. Because God is Spirit, His expression is wholly and completely spiritual. Since He is infinite good, there is no limitation or imperfection in the divine Mind, and His qualities are forever expressed. It is indeed cause for unbounded gratitude that, whether the problem presented to human consciousness be that of disease, sin, fear, lack, inability, or discord in any of its myriad forms, to the one willing to accept this invitation, the healing message of Christ, Truth, is indeed at hand. Each human experience may thus be found to be an opportunity to understand more of the true facts of being, and to prove this understanding for one's self by demonstration. The establishment of such true knowledge or scientific right thinking in human consciousness, as taught by Christian Science, verifies the truth of its teaching, and reveals to us through progressive unfoldment the wonders of God's kingdom forever at hand.
"Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." The very fact that this invitation is extended to all mankind means that it can be accepted. It banishes the terror of belief in material living, for it shows that no material condition, so called, is beyond God's infinite healing power. If it be true that the invitation of the Christ to come and be healed is always extended to humanity, it must follow that there is no incurable condition or disease. It is therefore never too late for healing in Christian Science. There can be no law of limitation regarding our opportunity or ability to accept God's divinely bestowed gifts.
But, we may ask, how is this invitation to be accepted? Through prayer. Since there is no limitation of divine power, it follows that prayer of necessity includes expectancy of healing. Such expectancy further extends to and covers every situation presented to human thought, for there is no reservation in the invitation given. In its true sense, therefore, the invitation of the Christ includes the promise of healing; and this reveals the infinite possibilities and opportunities for good made practical, that is, available, on earth. In our efforts to accept the invitation of the Christ, we learn that we must prove our understanding of Truth in order to receive more.
It will be recalled that in response to the Master's word Peter ventured out upon the water and started to walk towards Jesus. It is further narrated that when he gave heed to the testimony of the physical senses and observed the wind, he became afraid and began to sink. In this extremity he cried to Jesus, and was caught by the Master's outstretched hand.
Who of us, like Peter, has not found on occasion that he has not sufficiently overcome fear? But such an experience, even as did Peter's, may present an opportunity for further proof that the ever present Christ, Truth, is always at hand to heal and to save—to reveal to us whatever of spiritual understanding is necessary to enable us to prove God's will, which is always good. And the availability of this divine understanding is never lessened by the testimony of the so-called material senses. Thus may we prove in increasing degree that divine power is available for each one to demonstrate, and that it enables us to rise triumphantly above material sense and its inevitable, though false, claim of limitation.
Even though we may find it necessary, as did Peter, to retrace a part of the steps taken, we may learn by such experience that Truth does not fail. We may also learn that to the extent that our reliance upon Truth is based upon understanding we shall not fail.
It is thus seen that in order to come to the Christ, thought must at the same time receive the Christ. In Revelation we read, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." To hear the voice of Truth, we must learn to listen for it. Since the Word of God is wholly spiritual, it can be heard or apprehended only through spiritual sense. On our part, therefore, spiritual preparation to hear His voice requires consecration and purification of thought. It means obedience to, and the daily living of, that which has been learned. It includes the earnest, serious effort, to the best of one's present understanding, to shut out of our consciousness a material and mortal sense of living, with its attendant pleasures and pains. To the extent that this effort is earnestly and rightly made, we shall find the fruits of righteousness expressed humanly; for in this measure is spiritual understanding externalized in better conditions of health, morals, and environment.
Thus, to open the door of our thinking to the unfoldment of good there must be willingness to receive Truth. This willingness goes beyond the point of mere desire. It is desire coupled with a measure of realization of the nothingness of materiality, which inspires a further willingness to give up material living and to welcome in Truth. Furthermore, the words noted above, "If any man," show that the problem of receiving the Christ, Truth, is purely individual. They further show that with the individual alone rests the answer to the question whether or not the invitation to come to Christ is to be accepted.
Having opened the door of the human understanding to the Christ in a degree for one's self, one is thereby enabled to help others. The earnest daily effort of the student of Christian Science to think rightly about all mankind is righteous prayer. And who can measure the effect of such prayer in aiding mankind to accept the invitation of the Christ to be healed? By such right thinking the student practices the Golden Rule; and he finds that he is blessed accordingly, in that his own personal problems and affairs which formerly might have seemed of peculiar importance to him are greatly minimized. He finds a growing buoyancy and freedom of spiritual thinking resulting from an increasing measure of spiritual understanding; and his work for others is correspondingly found to be spontaneous, joyous, compassionate, and fruitful.
As the invitation of the Christ to humanity to come and be healed is more fully accepted, its promise is fulfilled in an increased and increasing measure of spiritual understanding and its blessings. As our Leader has so beautifully said (Miscellaneous Writings, pp. 19, 20): "The spiritual sense of Life and its grand pursuits is of itself a bliss, health-giving and joy-inspiring. This sense of Life illumes our pathway with the radiance of divine Love; heals man spontaneously, morally and physically,— exhaling the aroma of Jesus' own words, 'Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' "
