How much we need patience and perseverance in order to make our demonstrations in Christian Science, thus overcoming material sense and progressing heavenward!
The word "patient" is defined in part as "expectant with calmness and without discontent." What are we expecting? Good or evil? The expectation of good brings calmness and contentment; and only by learning to trust God as all-powerful does one learn to expect and accept good alone. The study of Christian Science naturally makes one expectant of good, for Christian Science is teaching its adherents that God is the only power and presence, and that there is nothing opposed to Him. Evil is the supposititious opposite of good, or God; but, since God is All-in-all, there can be no real opposite to Him. This opposite, therefore, must be only a seeming, an illusion of the material senses, having nothing to do with God and His perfect creation, which was pronounced "very good." The Christian Scientist finds that perseverance in applying these truths in his daily life enables him increasingly to overcome the problems of material sense.
As the Christian Scientist consistently holds to the true idea in the dark hours, when error seems rampant around him, the illusion of error fades away. He knows that anything falsely claiming God's absence is an illusion, for God made all, includes all, fills all space. The Christian Science student learns to accept only good as real; and as evil is seen to be unreal, it fades from his thought, and thus from his experience. He accepts the fact that "now are we the sons of God." He strives to know this truth not only for himself, but for everyone with whom he comes in contact. Thus his thoughts bless all alike, and he learns truly to love his neighbor as himself. He learns to see man as the manifestation of God, expressing nothing but the highest good. This line of thinking brings a joy that nothing else can bring, and that nothing can take away.
