PROGRESS

It is natural for everyone to desire to progress. The highest progress is spiritual. It is a divine urge. The student of Christian Science who is earnestly seeking an understanding of God is gaining it day by day; and as he gains it, he finds that he has made progress in human affairs as well, for the understanding of God, good, brings God's goodness into view. Thus the student proves that as he seeks "first the kingdom of God" all necessary things are "added unto" him.

However, real progress brings a higher joy than the joy of added things. On page 233 of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," the beloved Leader of the Christian Science movement, Mary Baker Eddy, says: "Every day makes its demands upon us for higher proofs rather than professions of Christian power. These proofs consist solely in the destruction of sin, sickness, and death by the power of Spirit, as Jesus destroyed them. This is an element of progress, and progress is the law of God, whose law demands of us only what we can certainly fulfil." Every day demands that we prove our religion by the destruction of evil and not just profess to be Christian Scientists. Evils are overcome by the power of Spirit, God, not by human power. These overcomings are proofs of the progress which is God's law; and Mrs. Eddy says that God's law never demands anything of us which we cannot do. Herein, surely, is great comfort. No evil can arise in our experience that we cannot overcome. No problem can present itself to us to which there is not a solution.

We must faithfully claim this overcoming every day. We cannot expect to go forward if we work one day and let the next day's wrong thinking undo this work. Steadfastness, sincerity, and persistence make for progress. Every wrong thought replaced with a right thought means progress. Every impure motive replaced with a pure one, every hateful word left unsaid and a kind one put in its place, every wrong action corrected, every sickness healed—all these are proofs of progress and bring lasting joy.

Again, on page 426 of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy says: "The discoverer of Christian Science finds the path less difficult when she has the high goal always before her thoughts, than when she counts her footsteps in endeavoring to reach it. When the destination is desirable, expectation speeds our progress." Are we always expecting the highest and best—God's way, not ours? The high goal should be always before our thoughts. "Always," our Leader says, not just a part of the time. God has nothing in store for us but the highest good. Why not expect it? In the above quotation Mrs. Eddy indicates that our progress is speedier when we are expecting to reach the desired goal. It defeats our purpose to desire to reach a certain height and then feel with despair that we cannot do so. God does not tell us to seek Him in vain; and in finding God we find the fulfillment of all righteous desires. Since good is the only reality, it is the only thing that is eternal. We do not have to accept evil. So let us refuse to accept it, knowing it is not fit for acceptance because it is not true or real. Let us accept only what God gives, which, as James says, is "every perfect gift." These gifts are spiritual, such as health, joy, peace, love, purity, wisdom, and many others. What joy to know that "the Father of lights" gives us every perfect gift! What more could we ask?

Perhaps one may say, "I earnestly desire to progress spiritually, but I am completely overwhelmed by these problems; I can see no way out." Yes, but there is a way! Has not God promised to supply a way in the wilderness "and streams in the desert"? It sometimes takes sublime courage to face and overcome difficulties. We may feel that we are not yet ready for these progressive steps; but taking up the cross means taking up our problems and solving them as they are presented to us. There was apparently no way out of the experience in the lions' den for Daniel, yet he had the moral courage to stand for the highest right as he saw it. He faced the situation which his courageous stand occasioned, and proved that evil is powerless to harm when one steadfastly looks away from the error to God's omnipotence.

There is a verse in the Bible that greatly helped one student who was feeling discouraged: "He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap." Do things look so bad that we think perhaps it will do no good to sow a right thought, a kind word, or a loving deed? It always does good. We cannot limit God, for He is infinite in goodness. It is not for us to outline how soon or how great the harvest shall be, even of the smallest seed sown. Perhaps we ourselves may not always see the reaping of the increase of each good seed we sow, but the reaping is sure to come sometime, somewhere, just the same; for God causes the seed to grow and gives the increase. One cannot forever sow good seed and get nothing but a harvest of weeds. It is natural for the seed to grow. How often we fail to reap all the good that is rightfully ours because we regard the clouds of error and fear instead of looking through and beyond them to the sunshine of Truth and to the ripe harvest! God has endowed us with patience, intelligence, justice, goodness, steadfastness. Let us claim these qualities and express them; then a rich harvest will be ours, a harvest of sin overcome, sickness healed, and evil destroyed.

The desire to hold a particular and coveted church position or be approved for merely worldly reasons is not right desire. The Christian Scientist who desires to know and to do God's will, and to perform each task, however humble or seemingly unlovely, to the glory of God, will progress much faster and more consistently than the student ambitious for worldly gain. One cannot outline his course materially and then ask God to bless willfulness or selfishness. In working out a problem in mathematics we take each step carefully as it comes, and then we know the answer will be correct. God's way is higher and better than anything we could even humanly desire. We must be willing to let God have His way with us and use us for His service. The unfoldment of God's purpose is a beautiful experience for each one of us. We find, when we leave the solution of a problem to God, that in the end, even though things work out far differently than we had hoped, the results are best for all concerned and far better than anything we could have planned. How true it is that "all things work together for good to them that love God"! We can safely leave present and future in the Father's hands.

We must look forward instead of backward, to Truth instead of error. Then we shall find that we express the necessary wisdom and love to overcome each difficulty which seems to be delaying our progress. The correct solution of any problem speeds our progress, for thus we are enabled to rise above matter to Spirit, to draw closer to God. We find, too, that we can realize God's presence when error is tempting us to be most fearful.

At one time a student of Christian Science felt that she was making no progress either in her study of Christian Science or with her problems. Indeed, her problems seemed to become more and more complicated. She earnestly sought God's guidance, used all the time she could find in consecrated study of Christian Science, and earnestly strove to know and to do God's will. The answer seemed to her a long time in coming, but she persisted in earnestly seeking to know more of Principle, recognizing that God does lead His children; and lo! when the answer did come it came with such a flood of light that what had seemed like unsolvable problems and mountains of error faded into nothingness before the understanding of God's ever-presence. Deep and consecrated study is never in vain. It is always rewarded, even though we seem to have to wait for the reward. We live in God and can never be outside of His allness. Realizing this truth brings the assurance of God's allpower.

All our experiences help us onward and bring spiritual gain if we learn the lessons they convey. On page 206 of "Miscellaneous Writings" Mrs. Eddy tells us that ''growth is governed by intelligence; by the active, all-wise, law-creating, law-disciplining, law-abiding Principle, God." We must know that we reflect the intelligence necessary to solve any problem. Knowing through Science that man reflects divine intelligence, we have positive assurance that we can meet any situation or solve any problem, and reach the desired goal.

Progress means journeying forward. This journeying should be joyous, no matter how rugged the pathway seems at times, for divine Love's presence smooths each step of the way and the glory of overcoming evil more than compensates for the trials encountered. God's love illumines the seemingly hardest road.

Let us joyously continue our journey out of the mists into God's blessed sunshine. A stanza in a much-loved hymn reveals the way of progress:

Let us, as Christian Scientists, have the singing heart that rejoices because it has found "the way, the truth, and the life."

People will find that they gain inestimable benefit from daily Bible reading, especially at this time when we, as individuals and as a nation, are seeking stability and anchorage, as well as spiritual direction. —Dr. Ralph Walker.