Whoever is awake to his opportunities looks forward to some goal. With one person it may be the attainment of wealth or position, with another, success as an artist. It makes no difference what the aspiration is, a willingness to persist, in spite of discouragement and even opposition, is an essential part of his equipment. In order to overcome obstacles, however, there must be expectancy. We have all proved in our own experience, to some extent, that expectancy is the open door through which good finds an entrance.
It is equally true that in spiritual progress expectancy of good is the open door through which eternal blessings come into our experience. The world's opposition to Truth would close this door, but through our study of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy we have learned to overcome material opposition as unreal. Because God is omnipotent, we know that there is no other power, and that which seems to darken our thought is only false belief, which has no hold over the man of His creating.
The relationship between God and the real man is indissoluble, and because God is the inexhaustible source of good, man's heritage from God is good. One may lose his hold on good when he ascribes power to matter, either through exalting material pleasures or through bowing down to the material laws of sin, sickness, and death. Thought may vacillate between optimism and pessimism, between hope and fear, until finally, through despair, one is driven to seek divine Love.
As we begin our journey from sense to Soul, it is a comfort to us to read the history of the Israelites. Christian Science has taught us to perceive, through inspiration, the spiritual significance of the Scriptures. We see that this history records the growth of the spiritual idea in the human consciousness, and points to the unfoldment of the truth in the consciousness of each of us. We see that the growth of the children of Israel was in proportion to their obedience to God, and we learn from their experience invaluable lessons of practical use in solving the problems that face the world today.
On the first page of the Preface to Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy states, "To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings." What hope this statement arouses in the human heart! In emphatic words she depicts how expectancy, faith, watchfulness, and purity open the way for truth to be received by men (ibid.): "The wakeful shepherd beholds the first faint morning beams, ere cometh the full radiance of a risen day. So shone the pale star to the prophet shepherds; yet it traversed the night, and came where, in cradled obscurity, lay the Bethlehem babe, the human herald of Christ, Truth, who would make plain to benighted understanding the way of salvation through Christ Jesus, till across a night of error should dawn the morning beams and shine the guiding star of being."
Among those who watched and prayed for the coming of the Messiah were Simeon and Elisabeth, the mother of John. Their sublime expectancy helped to usher in the day for which they were watching. And Mary, the mother of Jesus, because of the purity of her thought and her spiritual expectancy and trust in God, was greatly blessed. When it was revealed to her that she was to give birth to Jesus through the power of the Holy Ghost, she believed. And when she visited Elisabeth she praised God, saying, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." The next verse of this beautiful song reveals the depth of Mary's expectancy. It ends, "For, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed."
Not until this age, however, has the deep meaning of the birth of Jesus the Christ been revealed. Earnest seekers after Truth now are finding the spiritual meaning of the Bible, and through the revelation of Christian Science mankind is thereby being blessed. This Science teaches that whereas sinful and fearful thinking produces inharmonious conditions, expectant, joyous, scientific thinking heralds the appearing of Christ, Truth, in every human heart. In her writings Mrs. Eddy shows in a simple and convincing way that Mind, not matter, governs man and the universe, and that, since Mind is the only cause, the humble, pure, and expectant thought enables one to receive and demonstrate the spiritual idea.
There is a longing in every human heart, a sincere desire for that which is higher and more satisfying than what material existence has to offer. In the words of St. Paul, "The earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." Christian Science reveals that Christ, Truth, is ever present, and that if mortals do not perceive the Christ in themselves and in others, it is not that the Christ is absent, but that their vision is obscured by material belief. If mortals desire to free themselves and others from that which clouds their sight, they must believe that they can do so.
It is encouraging to read how David, when he was threatened by his enemies, prayed to God, expecting to be helped. There are many passages where he describes how he waited on the Lord, as, for instance, "I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry." In this context, to wait for the Lord can only mean eagerly to expect good, and this expectancy is spiritual activity. Passively to wait for God to do something for us is mental stagnation. Those who seem under the sway of envy, pride, fear, or discouragement cannot say that they wait on the Lord. Faith, hope, and love include spiritual expectancy, and expectancy, in turn, is the prelude to success. It makes no difference what race a man belongs to, where he lives, or what position he holds; if, through Christian Science, he earnestly strives to understand his sonship with God, he will receive the Christ-idea and let it shine in the world in which he lives. In Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy writes (p. 230): "If sickness and sin are illusions, the awakening from this mortal dream, or illusion, will bring us into health, holiness, and immortality. This awakening is the forever coming of Christ, the advanced appearing of Truth, which casts out error and heals the sick. This is the salvation which comes through God, the divine Principle, Love, as demonstrated by Jesus."
The seeming material domination in the world today is significant of human submission to the false belief of life in matter. The human bondage which seems so disastrous to civilization, as we know it, is compelling men to seek the only true freedom, the freedom which is attained through the dawn of Life, Truth, and Love in human consciousness.
Like Simeon, Elisabeth, and Mary, the faithful ones, now as then, watch through the dark hours for the dawn of a new day. They are helping to usher in the time when Christ, Truth, shall appear in the hearts of men everywhere. With the intuition that is born of a love for humanity, they are now perceiving the signs of spiritual regeneration which shine faintly at first, but glow more brightly in spiritual understanding. Let all who are thus inspired hold fast to this expectancy of the manifestation of the Christ, Truth, in human consciousness.
Be not uneasy, discouraged, or out of humor, because practice falls short of precept. If you happen to be beaten, return to the charge.
