Once there were placed before a certain man great opportunities for attaining material success and personal prestige. He needed only to concur in the generally accepted material theories concerning life and follow the path designated and made plain and smooth by the tread of many others. A simple thing, was it not, just to say "Yes" and to be at peace with the world? But this man, Jesus, said "No" and with that "No" and the positive stand which he took for God and His righteousness he changed the entire course of the world's thinking and activity, demonstrating to mankind the living presence of Christ. Through his teaching other men found the courage and inspiration to say "No" to false concepts of life, and Christianity prospered—God was glorified and loved because He was revealed as Love, unchanging and omnipotent Love.
Had these individuals, and many more, met this challenge with indifference, halfheartedly promising some day to look into the matter, the world would have been deprived of the many blessings which their Christly understanding and example have brought forth.
Many centuries passed, and some of the good his Christly example brought to the world was forgotten, notably the healing work he practiced, because it was found easier to say "Yes" to mortal mind. In the nineteenth century Mary Baker Eddy was confronted with the same question: Would she submit to error's decree, the idolatrous suggestion of life and intelligence in matter? Again a clear "No" rang out, and again the foundation of matter's world was shaken. Again we see the course of the world's thinking undergoing changes that continue to unfold good to all mankind, as Christian Science is taught and practiced.
Mrs. Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, speaking of Jesus' work, makes the following statement in ''Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 52): "The 'man of sorrows' best understood the nothingness of material life and intelligence and the mighty actuality of all-inclusive God, good. These were the two cardinal points of Mind-healing, or Christian Science, which armed him with Love." Fully to accept these "two cardinal points" as the all-in-all of metaphysics will bring us into harmony with the great Principle that Christ Jesus expressed so clearly. And in its simplicity and directness we too shall find the assurance and boldness issuing from a clearly defined theology. Should we expect the study of God and His all-inclusiveness to be a complex and complicated undertaking? Indeed, it is not! Truth is simple and understandable. It is the acceptance of erroneous beliefs concerning God and His creation that beclouds our reasoning and confuses us.
Consider these opposing statements: God's law declares only facts; error's supposed law utters only mortal beliefs based entirely on supposition and the change-ableness of human opinion. One maintains the fact of God's all-power; the other extols a false power believed to be greater than God and resident in matter. One points to the spirituality of man and reaffirms his likeness to infinite Love and Spirit; the other urges the theory that man is material—made by mortals out of matter. One is permanent and enduring; the other is illusive and threatens dissolution momentarily. God's law imparts peace, purity, love, and harmony; error presents to humanity wars, vice, inharmony, and suffering.
Is it an easy matter to make a choice between these opposites? It seems as if it should be; and yet since the beginning of time mankind has argued pro and con over this question—ever desirous of happiness and peace but seeking it in matter and crying out in defeat and frustration that their prayers were not answered.
Jesus went straight to the heart of the problem when he said (John 6:63), "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing." So clearly did he see the nothingness of material life and intelligence that his example has made it clear to countless thousands. If we admit the reality of evil or the fleshly dream of life in matter and accept it as man's real being, we have accepted an illogical kind of reasoning in which we have admitted that omnipotent God is not omnipotent and All-in-all, as the Bible affirms, but is eclipsed by a lesser power called matter. Christian Science is proving the truth of Jesus' words by healing the sick and sinning through holding consciousness to the truth of God's omnipotence and all-inclusiveness and man's spiritual likeness to Him.
A very striking example of stanch determination to solve the problem of righteous thinking was evidenced in the stand of Jacob. (Read Genesis 32 and 33, also Science and Health 308:16 to 309:23.) His desire to solve his problem was so impelling and insistent that he refused to let the divine message leave his consciousness until he had fully mastered its content. Is it peculiar that you and I should have to answer this question as to what we accept and follow? The question may sound different each time it appears, but when the disguise is removed it will be recognized as the same. If through the dark hours we hold fast to the Christ-visiob, vision, God's perfect man, the dawn will reveal the blessing. Jacob saw his brother as though he "had seen the face of God," and it was thus that all enmity was healed. When error presents itself to us for acceptance or rejection, let us do as Jacob did, turn our gaze confidently to the perfect concept—perfect God and perfect man—and cling to it steadfastly. God is all-inclusive, and His infinite care encompasses all His children.
The Master has left us a most striking example of the effectiveness of firm refusal to accept error's argument. When he was confronted with the task of feeding the multitude, the material evidence indicated that the supply was inadequate. His refusal to accept the error left it powerless, inoperative, and the fact of God's infinite abundance became instantly discernible. It did not take four months or a year to produce the food that the five thousand found more than sufficient for their needs; it was immediately available. God, good, is ever present. Such proofs are a constant source of inspiration to us when we realize that they have come about solely through a right understanding of God and His idea, man.
Mrs. Eddy writes (Science and Health, p. 468): "There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all." In the complete acceptance and spiritual understanding of these few words all our needs are met. Jesus said (Mark 10:15), "Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." The childlike faith that in its very simplicity lives the glorious prayer, "Not my will, but thine, be done," is the full and adequate answer to any question that error may present and reveals the ever-present and divine provision which Christian Science defines as peace, security, harmony, and abundance.
