In these days of world upheaval, right-minded followers of the Christ, Truth, must be more than ever on guard against aggressive atheism. By this is meant not the official atheism fostered by organized groups, but the vastly more subtle and destructive temptation constantly knocking at the mental doors of well-disposed Christian folk, namely, the fear that, somehow or other, God may not be quite equal to the task of governing this universe, including man, which He created. Mary Baker Eddy sensed the situation long ago and warned us pointedly. On page 135 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" she writes: "There is to-day danger of repeating the offence of the Jews by limiting the Holy One of Israel and asking: 'Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?' What cannot God do?"
The temptation to limit God is usually accompanied by another, which would suggest that even if all things are possible to God, they are beyond human possibility or capacity to achieve. This aggressive evil suggestion is expressed in such mental states as apathy, complacency, self-satisfaction, only moderate success in healing and business activity, unsatisfactory human relations, in indisposition daily to study and practice Christian Science, in acceptance of the belief of age, and in cessation of joy in service.
The acceptance of this belief in limitation is an error which needs vigorous treatment. How shall we handle this claim? We should know that all things are possible to God, and therefore all things are possible to God's image and likeness, perfect, spiritual man. Just to the extent that we understand who and what we really are do we begin to put off the materially finite and put on the spiritually infinite. We ourselves put a limit upon our possibilities of healing, of harmonious human relations, of bringing in a world of peace and order. There is no barrier of statutory limitations of time or any other sort upon the struggle to rectify our attitudes, our desires, and our methods until they evidence divine Principle and the Mind of Christ.
Mrs. Eddy's life was one long series of achieving the humanly impossible. The building of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, won a victory for Science over human impossibilities, during which "every claim of error was met and overcome" (see "The Mother Church," by Joseph Armstrong, pp. 35, 36, 98, 99, 100-102). The establishing of The Christian Science Monitor recorded another chapter in overcoming the appearance of impossibility; and the building of the Publishing House at the very depth of the so-called depression was still another.
Our Leader recognized that it is humanly impossible to know the infinite at one bound, and she tenderly admonishes us to work steadily, gradually, gently, and persistently Spiritward. She never asked the impossible, but counseled wisdom, caution, and discretion in the truth, while knowing always that the truth of Christian Science is absolute and unerring, however far short one may seem to fall of its high goal. Hence one should avoid extremes. We must begin with the simpler problems and work upwards. Our ideas of what should be possible are subject to correction by the one Mind. Jesus prayed in Gethsemane (Matt. 26:39), "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me." But it was not removed; and he made his consummate demonstration over "the last enemy."
We must be careful, then, to distinguish between absolute Christian Science as the revelation of God's omnipotence and omnipresence, on the one hand, and human failure to attain the absolute at this time, on the other. For the present we must be modest in our claims while reaching forward to more perfect demonstration. Therefore we shall not attempt to stop eating and drinking or refuse to share in the defense of our country. Christian Scientists are not faddists or foolish fanatics, but reasonable folk, because they are trying consciously to be what they eternally are in reality, the expression of God, the all-knowing, all-wise, all-acting. They realize that they must learn little by little the way pioneered by Christ Jesus and exemplified by our great Leader, Mrs. Eddy.
Even the seemingly persistent belief in death need not discourage us. For that belief does not make death any more of a reality, nor can it make us believe that we shall not finally overcome "the last enemy." Belief in death does not in the least disprove Christian Science teaching that death is an illusion, a dream, an unreality; neither does it hinder us from making the most positive declarations regarding the unreality and nothingness of death and of all that is supposed to lead up to it.
In the face of human obtuseness and resistance to the healing truth, of moral obliquity or of the presence of opposing mentalities, we shall continue to labor for that spiritual maturity, patience, and love with which to dissolve even these presumed obstacles to healing. And in the presence of world turmoil, disturbed human relations, violence, bloodshed, we shall continue to make the most vigorous declarations of God's government and, to our utmost, try to prove His presence, power, and oneness.
We should be very careful not to limit ourselves, or take refuge too easily in the belief that this or that is not humanly possible. Hence certain cautions against accepting situations with too wide a tolerance or departure from perfect standards are necessary. For example, it is a sin to believe in anything short of omnipotent and eternal Life. Spiritual understanding is not denied to anybody who earnestly works for it. Jesus told his disciples that with even a grain of faith nothing would be impossible to them, because he knew and reiterated that all things are possible to God. It is possible and it is our duty to comprehend fully that we are here and now the children of God, and to begin now, this very minute, to "put off the old man" (Col. 3:9, 10) and "put on the new," to partake of spiritual regeneration and resurrection. The imperfect gives way to the perfect as we grow in spiritual understanding. Since we cannot prove what we do not understand we must lay aside everything which would interfere with our gaining more understanding and our resolution to put into practice all we know of truth until it becomes the chief end and aim of life. Failure persistently to behold that the only real man is perfect will shackle our possibilities and hinder growth in demonstration.
In short, strict adherence to the teachings of Christian Science and its rules enlarges the scope of the humanly possible and brings infallible results. Recall that grand promise of our Leader (ibid., p. 448), "If the student adheres strictly to the teachings of Christian Science and ventures not to break its rules, he cannot fail of success in healing."
We should be careful not to let the mere seeming quantity of error mesmerize us into accepting it. The fact that we alone seem to be standing for the highest ideal, while many of our neighbors are accepting a contrary and lower ideal, is no reason for thinking there must be something unreal and out of line with us and our ideal. The glorious fact about Christian Science is that one right thought uttered can destroy a wrong belief held by perhaps a thousand. The idea, the attitude, the activity which blesses one blesses all. World history centers about the right thinking of courageous individuals and dynamic minorities. In the Old Testament, Moses, the three Hebrew captives cast into the fiery furnace, Daniel, and others, helped to prepare human thought for the advent of Christ Jesus, the Founder of Christianity. Later down the centuries, Wycliffe, Huss, Luther helped to prepare the way for greater unfoldment of the spiritual idea, and the Declaration of Independence of the United States revealed a freedom of thought which was an aid to the discovery of Christian Science by our Leader, Mrs. Eddy.
Let us patiently continue our affirmations of Truth, until we attain serene conviction and know that the error has been destroyed and wiped out, not merely relieved or appeased or staved off. Thus we protect our work. We must be alert, unafraid, and clear our consciousness of any desire for personal glory; of any belief that we have of ourselves done anything as of ourselves; any tendency to dwell on the pathological details or circumstances of the problem we have treated; any temptation to believe that the situation or erroneous condition was ever real; any doubt as to the omnipotence of Truth or the ability of Christian Science to heal.
Finally we must hold to the fact that whatever good seems humanly impossible is divinely possible right now. Today, now, is the acceptable day, not tomorrow. There should be no thought of deferred benefits, but rather the acknowledgment of the instantaneous effectiveness of Truth. "Now are we the sons of God" (I John 3:2). If so we should never accept partial sonship, contingent healing, by saying to our practitioner, "I certainly feel better, and I guess the difficulty is healed, but don't you think it might be well for you to give me one or two treatments a week for a while?" What an insult to God and to the healer!
How are the tons of barnacles removed from a ship's hull nowadays? By complete immersion or baptism in fresh water at the dry dock, one inclusive complete treatment, not by an interminable chipping away at each individual barnacle—a process too long and costly. When we are purified by and submerged in Spirit, that is, when our consciousness is completely aware of the presence of the loving and omnipotent Father-Mother, we shall realize in blessed results that whatever is possible to God is possible to His representative, spiritual man.
