IT frequently occurs that an individual who has felt the angelic healing touch of Christian Science, and who has begun the study thereof, experiences wistful longings for Christlikeness. Having caught a glimpse of divine sonship, the human heart yearns for a clearer view of its Redeemer, and even the first intimations of man's perfection inspire the hope of attaining the stature of manhood in Christ Jesus. But it sometimes seems that the vision is too far off; the student sees his perfection only as a possibility that is discouragingly remote. Newly awakened to his need of salvation, he is perhaps so conscious of apparent imperfections that he may allow them to obscure his new-found knowledge of God and His perfect man.
Nevertheless, the longing for holiness cannot be stilled. However faint the desire for Truth, however nebulous the concept of the spiritual creation, it can and must be crystallized into divine understanding and holy purpose. The student can be encouraged in knowing that, in reality, his name is already "written in heaven." God will not let him be lost.
In the second chapter of Revelation we read, "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." Mrs. Eddy refers to the white stone as a "token of purity and permanence" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 320). The hope of humanity is in the discernment of spiritual man's purity and immortality. Purity is a divine quality inherent in man's identity. This identity is the individualized expression of illimitable, invariable Love; and a growing understanding of man's spiritual identity is always externalized in improved humanhood. God sustains all true individuality, and by His law and authority each identity is manifested, since infinite Mind is being eternally expressed.
