Because the agelessness of man, as a child of God, is not generally understood, the fear of old age besets men in one way or another, saddening their thought and interfering with their usefulness. The dread of what seems an inescapable decline often looms in the thought of individuals even before what is commonly accepted as mankind's prime is reached, and youthful vigor is thus robbed of its joyous spontaneity.
Christian Science, with its revelation of man's immortality, has engendered hope in place of dread in countless hearts, and since its discovery by Mary Baker Eddy, in 1866, in unnumbered instances the years of usefulness have been lengthened. With the overcoming of mortal faults, including the tendency to fear, individuals add to their number of days, thus increasing the average longevity of the human race.
Examination of the beliefs of old age enables one to refute their illusory nature with the spiritual facts of being which Christian Science reveals. What constitutes an individual's concept of age? It is his sense of himself as a mortal, living in a material universe, between birth and death. It is his belief that so-called material existence is real. It is his acceptance of the general beliefs of the world. Reasoning from the basis of the spiritual facts of creation shows the mesmeric and illusory nature of this material concept.
