Envisaging the postwar world and recognizing the vital necessity of spiritual objectives for the achievement of a lasting peace, members of The Mother Church and its branches need to see the importance of the Christian Science Sunday School and the far-reaching effects of its spiritual education. Never before have these words of our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, been more timely or prophetic (Pulpit and Press, p. 9): "Ah, children, you are the bulwarks of freedom, the cement of society, the hope of our race!" It is a sacred heritage for which our children should be prepared—a preparation which should come through spiritual enlightenment and a right understanding of God and His laws, that they may be wisely applied in earthly affairs and human forms of government. Their preparation should acquaint them with the allness of divine Mind and show them how to utilize this supreme intelligence in order that they—as the men and women, the citizens and leaders of the world of tomorrow— may possess by reflection those spiritual qualities of Mind which will enable them to fulfill their responsibilities intelligently and ably.
In Article XX of the Manual of The Mother Church we find instructions which must be carefully understood and obeyed, that the work of the Sunday school may be properly carried out. From these instructions it can be seen that parents who send their children to a Christian Science Sunday School have a right to know that their children acquire only the teachings of absolute Christian Science. In addition, parents are entitled to expect that the teachers are thoughtfully chosen, duly qualified, and capable; therefore, those who are responsible for making such appointments should never let it become a matter of "Who will serve in the Sunday school?" but, instead, of "Who is worthy and qualified to serve?"
Consequently, upon those who are worthy and qualified the important obligation rests to give of their utmost in loving service and co-operation as conditions in each particular field warrant. These exactions are spiritual safeguards which protect the pliable thoughts of our little ones from conflicting personal opinions, fanatical viewpoints, or other phases of misinformed teachings which might act as deterrents to their normal spiritual growth.
Qualified teachers—earnest, wellbalanced, and regular in filling their posts of duty each Sunday—will bring to their classes the fruit of daily preparatory work; with clarified thinking they will share with their pupils the spiritual ideas so abundantly revealed by divine Mind. Then, too, such teachers—imbued with divine inspiration and enthusiasm—will not regard their work in the Sunday school as a mere church routine where children are taught religious things by older people. Far from it! For they will see it as a glorious opportunity to nourish the hungering thought of the young with the pure milk of the Word. Moreover, as their thoughts are cleansed from self-complacency and pride of intellect, they will realize that in reality the impersonal Christ, Truth, is the one Teacher—the ever-present provider of all that is required to feed and strengthen the unfolding consciousness of our children and youth.
"Too much cannot be done towards guarding and guiding well the germinating and inclining thought of childhood," our Leader tells us; and she adds, "To mould aright the first impressions of innocence, aids in perpetuating purity and in unfolding the immortal model, man in His image and likeness" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 261). Thus we see that through obedience to our Church Manual, as well as to other helpful instructions that can be found in the published writings of Mrs. Eddy, we can rest secure in knowing that what is being taught, is being wisely and rightly taught; for even as timeliness—or what the children can mentally digest —is an ally of wisdom in the early years of spiritual development, so correctness is indispensable to the spiritual education and training given in the Christian Science Sunday School. Today, as never before, the paramount importance of its teachings, together with the changeless standards of divine Truth, demands the highest and best we can give.
Because children are invariably quick to perceive the truth, it is divinely natural for them when rightly guided to think rightly, and what helpful and healing possibilities the pure child thought engenders! As the true idea of God and His perfect spiritual creation is gained by our young people, in contrast to the mesmeric claims of evil operating through mortal mind, alias mortal man, it is impossible to conceive of the great power for good this spiritual enlightenment will bring—not only to the individual children themselves, but to members of their families or relatives in the service, to their country, to our allies, and to the world at large.
For is not every grain, that is, every clear realization of absolute Truth, omnipotent? Yes, it is! And so the Psalmist declares: "Out of the mouth of babes . . . hast thou ordained strength . . . that thou mightest still the enemy." Even small children may be taught the simple verities of God's unchanging goodness, His infinite presence and limitless power, and in their own guileless ways they may grasp or understand that the "enemy," regardless of the guise evil assumes, is only that which would seek to reverse, deny, obstruct, or destroy, to human sense, the manifestation of divine Life, Truth, and Love. And last, but not least, with their pure and childlike trust in God they know that the "enemy" can never withstand or triumph over the "ordained strength" of spiritualized thinking, which "stills" error and proves its nothingness because spiritual thoughts are the reflection of omnipotent Mind and demonstrate its power.
Thinking on these things, many of us may recall the account of Jesus, who, as a child of twelve, was found in the temple at Jerusalem "sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions." And we are told that "all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers." Is it not a cause for rejoicing and inspiration to know that even at that early age the great Way-shower proved that divine intelligence is always available to human beings at all stages of their growth? Accordingly, let us realize that in Science all God's ideas are receptive to the truth and have access to it, regardless of the human beliefs commonly associated with the mortal sense of time and age; for by so doing we shall aid in removing the shackles of limitation from the thought of children, and encourage and speed them in their spiritual growth and unfoldment.
One reason why spiritual objectives are of such vital import in our postwar aims is this: in human experience the trends of the present are often forecasts of the future. Where such trends are wrong and detrimental to society as a whole, steps should be taken to remove the danger by changing the course of such thinking and its subsequent action. In other words, the trends and teachings of certain "youth movements," especially in countries under the supervision or domination of dictatorships, cannot be ignored. We must keep in mind the fact that those in command of enemy nations have seen to it that their racial and militaristic beliefs have been deeply ingrained in the thoughts of their young people in order that their ideals and regimes may be perpetuated. Such evils, if left alone, are apt to ferment and grow more real, like any other beliefs of mental or moral contagion.
True peace is an attribute of divine Mind; therefore the downward tendencies of mortal mind must be corrected. For the level of human thought denotes the standards of human living; the kind of thinking people do, determines the kind of world in which they live. Wrong thoughts and evil motives must be disarmed by thoughts tending Spiritward. Through the assimilation and unfoldment of right ideas all men must eventually come into the knowledge of their divine sonship with God. Then the underlying laws of Spirit, understood and obeyed, will be seen as the everlasting "bulwarks of freedom"; unity and harmony will be "cemented" by the bonds of universal Love, which encircle all; and the "hope of the race" will be realized and fulfilled in the endless peace, and dominion over all, which this final spiritual awakening will bring.
As we prayerfully consider all these things, the relation of the Christian Science Sunday School to the postwar world dawns upon our thought, and we see with increasing clarity the far-reaching effects of its spiritual education and training shining like a bright light of Truth and Love down the future course of human progress. With the vital necessity of spiritual objectives before us, let this preparatory work be well done. And with gratitude in our hearts for our individual share in this great contribution of spiritual enlightenment to the world, through the unfolding consciousness of childhood and youth, let us trust in God as we remember these relevant words of Isaiah: "All thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established."
