LOVE is the most significant word in any language. It has a varied connotation, conveying different things to different people. To many, love seems to begin and end with human affection. To the student of Christian Science, however, love is a keyword opening the door to all the good that comes into his experience. It is a word of holy import, connoting transcending beauty and gracious comfort; for love, which reflects Love, God, is at once the means of healing, the incentive to spiritual progress, and the inspiration of joy.
In defining God in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mrs. Eddy writes (p. 312), "God is Love, and without Love, God, immortality cannot appear." Christian Science teaches that man is the image or idea of God; therefore, since God is Love, man reflects Love. God is the only source or cause, and all that is good or permanent proceeds from God. All real or genuine love, then, proceeds from God, manifests God, and reflects God, good.
Jesus perceived and understood that God is Love, and that all genuine love proceeds from God, as may be seen from the pure, impersonal, unselfish love exemplified in all his acts and words. Under the lens of Christian Science, his teachings become vital, practical, and possible of individual application in this present time. Jesus repeated the commandment, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." He called this the first and great commandment, and then said, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." The following correlative statement is found on page 496 of Science and Health: "You will learn that in Christian Science the first duty is to obey God, to have one Mind, and to love another as yourself." Hence, to love is requisite as a starting point and necessary to achievement in any Christian Science demonstration. To love is a duty which, fulfilled, lays the foundation for progress. How important it is, then, for each one to make the effort to enlarge his capacity for loving and to attain the ability to love spontaneously and joyously!
