Is there a place where one may go and find the solution to any problem, whether individual, national, or international? If so, would he not go there often? And to save himself the journey so many times, might he not eventually make that place his permanent abode?
There is such a place; there are directions for getting there; and there is room for everyone to abide therein. David was at different times confronted with problems of personal relationships and human position. He had to deal with extremes of human hate and love, personal jealousy and national envy. He was called to the defense first of his flock and eventually of his country. Thus he came to know of this place and wrote of his desire to dwell in it (Ps. 27:4): "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple."
When a host of conflicting desires confuse and absorb our thinking, what a focusing point is this verse! "Where shall I go?" cries one mortal. "Whose fault is it?" asks another. "What shall I do?" demands the third. "What do I really want, anyway?" laments the fourth. And spiritual sense, coming gently to the rescue, answers with quietness and assurance, "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple."
What is this "house of the Lord" in which we can forever dwell, whatever our race or country? What is His temple, this temple we do not have to leave when we go to business, or visit relatives, or perform our daily tasks of housekeeping? In the twenty-third Psalm as interpreted by Mary Baker Eddy in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 578) the last verse gives the answer: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house [the consciousness] of [love] for ever." This, then, is that house, or temple: the consciousness of the presence and power of divine Love, the consciousness of divine Life, Truth, Mind, Soul, Spirit, and Principle—in short, the consciousness of God, wherein can enter no sense of error or evil.
How can we reach this consciousness and remain in it? There is only one way, and that is through the attainment of a spiritual sense of being. The false material sense of existence tells us of the chimerical, transient dreams of materiality; while spiritual sense floodlights the realities of Spirit in all their peace and permanence. An honest, earnest, and consistent desire for a spiritual understanding of God and His reflection, man, is prayer. If persistently pursued, this prayer brings a spiritual awareness of the ever-presence and all-power of good, God, in whom dwells man, His expression. In the measure that we come to understand God and His work we are consciously in the house of the Lord, the consciousness of Love, in which man eternally dwells, and from which he can never stray. In the degree we are conscious that only what is spiritual is real and substantial, we perceive that the material is unreal and insubstantial.
What do we do when we come into the house of the Lord? No one who has glimpsed the beauty of Life expressed in spiritually gracious living, the beauty of Love experienced in universal loving, the beauty of Soul felt in deep-rooted spiritual happiness, will be attracted by a selfish, material sense of life; nor will he be satisfied with a possessive or personal sense of love, or a spasmodic sense of so-called happiness. Knowing the illusive nature of these mirages of material sense, he will rather seek to dwell more consistently in the house of the Lord, the consciousness that God alone is the source of all life, love, substance, and happiness, and gain ever-widening views of the beauty of His nature.
The Psalmist longed to dwell in the house of the Lord in order "to enquire in his temple." Oh, that more individuals were as wise! How many hours are wasted daily all over the world by men and women raking in the rubbish heap of a false material sense of existence for a peace which they can never find there.
Think of the peace that has come to you when you have, perhaps quickly and intuitively, or perhaps only after a long struggle and in your final extremity, cast aside the false hopes and fears of a humanly personal sense of life, with its attendant paraphernalia of hatred, jealousy, resentment, and self-justification. When you have inquired in His temple of spiritual being, you have heard His answer there. Think of the peace that will come to the world when men and women, individually and collectively, with great love for their common Father and an unquestioning trust in His unerring direction, inquire in His temple and see His kingdom come in earth as it is in heaven. What a hope there will be for the race when those caring for its health rescue their patients and lead them gently to the temple of the Lord to inquire together of God about the man of His making.
During the recent war a Christian Scientist was assigned to her first command in one of the women's services. Upon arrival she found that there was a considerable difference of opinion among noncommissioned officers and officers as to the most efficient way of running the unit. Some, out of a strong sense of personal loyalty to the last commanding officer, wanted nothing altered; others, out of their diverse experiences, wanted new plans. All besieged the Christian Scientist, who became strongly convinced of her own inadequacy to pronounce judgment.
Withdrawing from the many human opinions, she sought the temple of the Lord, the consciousness of spiritual truth. There she beheld the wisdom and beauty of the Lord governing the universe, from the least idea to the greatest, in freedom, firmness, and love. She beheld the spiritual fact of the harmonious association of the children of God, co-operating in usefulness and love. In this state of thought she inquired of the Lord, sought God's guidance as to the solution of the problem, and prayerfully awaited His answer.
The next day she called a meeting of the personnel concerned and without either timidity or tyranny told them of the plan which had come to her. She felt in doing so that she was merely passing on orders from a higher command, and they were accepted in this spirit by those receiving them. Many were bitterly disappointed, but no word of criticism or resentment was expressed. All were willing to endeavor to make the plan work. Before the Christian Scientist was demobilized, some months later, many of those involved in the change had remarked how things had all turned out for the best, both for individuals and for the unit. The Group Commander, after a formal inspection, told the Christian Scientist that she regarded the unit as a proof that it was possible to maintain a high standard of efficiency together with a free and happy spirit amongst all ranks.
"If ye continue in my word," said Jesus, "then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31, 32). Let us watch minute by minute, hour by hour, and day by day to continue in his word, dwell in the consciousness of Truth and Love. Inquiring in God's temple, we shall behold God, Truth, and, knowing Truth, we shall be made free. With an honest desire to come home to God, let us abandon pride, fear, and a false, personal sense of ourselves and others, remembering Mrs. Eddy's injunction (Science and Health, p. 15), "In the quiet sanctuary of earnest longings, we must deny sin and plead God's allness." So will our human problems be dissolved in the crucible of divine Love and the fragrance of healthy, happy, fruitful living fill the world.
