From the standpoint of Christian Science, every experience is informative and progressive. It is a test of character and an exercise of intelligence. Each one has to decide what he will make of the events and conditions he encounters; whether he will prove with increasing courage and confidence that Principle is his arbiter and guide, or will submit to the jurisdiction of the human mind with its prophecies of suffering and disaster. Every experience calls for alertness, and is an opportunity for overcoming.
"Experience is victor, never the vanquished," writes Mary Baker Eddy on page 339 of "Miscellaneous Writings." With this assurance of success, the Christian Scientist, knowing that the purpose of all right endeavor and the object of every encounter with evil is to prove the all-power and presence of good, welcomes rather than dreads the demands of the hour. He knows that by these means only he learns to trust God more certainly, and to establish his relationship with all that is real and enduring. He learns that even in the midst of violence and hatred there is always a refuge where steadfastness and the supremacy of Love can be maintained, and those lessons learned which lead to divine heights. Thus Jesus, whether by the peaceful Sea of Galilee, in Gethsemane, or in the tomb, was proving that experience is always victor; was proving that nothing could prevent or delay the manifestation of the spiritual idea.
If a mathematician believed that there was no positive rule and no correct answer to his mathematical problems, he would labor at them with little hope of benefit or progress. But with applied and advancing experience, the right solution is assured. So is it with every human problem which presents itself to him who knows that evil is but a semblance of complexity and power, and that divine Love does not withhold progress and enlightenment from men. Only the temporary mesmerism of doubt, discouragement, fear, and inertia can hinder enlightenment.
