"When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh" (Luke 21:28). Christ Jesus uttered these stirring words of hope to all who would heed his warnings that much evil would come upon mankind and great fear overshadow the world. Many individuals are living in a state of fear either for their own welfare or for that of their loved ones, groping for the solution everywhere but in the right direction, apparently ignorant of the fact that these words of the Master's point a way of deliverance from evil.
Belief in a corporeal God and in material life has led to literal interpretation of many of the Master's inspired sayings, rendering them of seemingly little avail in difficult or terrifying situations such as confront many today. Through Christian Science, however, Jesus' words and works are illumined and proved of vital significance and practical application in the lives of every man, woman, and child. Christian Science teaches that God is incorporeal Love, the omnipotent power against whom no enemy can prevail. Other synonyms used in Science to describe God are Life, Truth, Soul, Spirit, Principle, and Mind. A study of these synonyms leads one to the truth of man's relationship to God as the embodiment of the divine character. This unfolds the meaning of redemption and shows how all may look up and lift up their heads with joy. Christian Science enables men to find freedom from affliction here and now, because it teaches them to pray as Jesus prayed.
Mary Baker Eddy writes in her book "Unity of Good" (p. 11): "Jesus taught us to walk over, not into or with, the currents of matter, or mortal mind. His teachings beard the lions in their dens. He turned the water into wine, he commanded the winds, he healed the sick,—all in direct opposition to human philosophy and so-called natural science. He annulled the laws of matter, showing them to be laws of mortal mind, not of God." These words of the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science help us to understand that Jesus, in exhorting us to look up, was telling us to lift our thought above the falsities of materialism and prayerfully to find safety in the realm of spiritual reality, instead of seeking relief in matter, where it cannot be found.
