CONTINUAL unfoldment of good in consciousness rewards earnest, sincere seeking on the part of the student of Christian Science. One of the blessings made manifest is an increasing appreciation of the spiritual messages taught by the parables. When Christ Jesus' disciples asked him (Matt. 13:10), "Why speakest thou unto them in parables?" his reply was, "Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given." The Master knew that only the heart which sincerely seeks, finds the kingdom of heaven. Such seeking demands purification of thought, a willingness to abandon false beliefs for a higher concept of God, good, and an expanding awareness of man's true heritage as the child of God.
A study of the parables reveals emphatically the importance which the Master placed on seeking the kingdom of heaven. Again and again he started a statement with the phrase, "The kingdom of heaven is like," and then he compared it to such things as "a man which sowed good seed in his field" (Matt. 13:24), a grain of mustard seed, leaven, a treasure hid in a field, and a fishing net. Thus he endeavored to reach every type of thought, to awaken every individual yet unaware of his true heritage.
Again and again Jesus warned against a material concept of existence, being vehement in his denunciation of feigned exemplary living intended to hide wickedness by conformation to outward appearances, typified by whited sepulchers. He recognized that evil was the motive in the heart of such false claimants to goodness, and it was there he condemned it. Mary Baker Eddy says in "Christian Healing" (p. 7), "'The new tongue' is the spiritual meaning as opposed to the material." She adds farther on, "It begins with motive, instead of act, where Jesus formed his estimate; and there correcting the motive, it corrects the act that results from the motive."
Criticism by others, the misapprehension of his great career, condemnations and aspersions by the self-righteous Pharisees, moved Jesus neither to self-justification nor to denial. He knew that those who criticized or condemned others while ignoring evil in themselves were farthest from the kingdom of heaven. Yet he imparted the truth willingly to all who were receptive, healing even his enemies, as witness the servant's ear cut off by Peter but immediately healed by the Master.
As a true follower of Christ Jesus, Mrs. Eddy sought diligently for the spiritual concept of the kingdom of heaven. Like the importunate widow, Mrs. Eddy was rewarded for her persistence. In her Message to The Mother Church for 1901 she writes (p. 19), "Jesus said, 'Ask, and ye shall receive;' and if not immediately, continue to ask, and because of your often coming it shall be given unto you; and he illustrated his saying by a parable." The revelation which so illuminated Mrs. Eddy's consciousness that she was able to share this sacred, healing truth with all mankind was possible only because she never yielded to discouragement in her search for the spiritual concept of life and of man's relationship to God.
That Mrs. Eddy appreciated the spiritual significance of the parables is evidenced in her writings, where she constantly, consistently, turns human thought from material sense testimony to the spiritual fact of being. She clearly points out that one cannot make progress heavenward if he persists in regarding his fellow men as mortals and in judging them wholly by actions. Judging according to limited mortal concepts denies one the wider vision afforded by spiritual discernment and awareness of spiritual good.
The parable of the prodigal son points out that the son, after he had suffered sufficiently and had come to himself, frankly acknowledged his fault and returned to his father's house, to the correct sense of spiritual selfhood. Consideration of the spiritual meaning of this parable reveals that riotous living is not necessarily limited to indulgence in vices. It also includes living in a way which caters to material sense, without a proper recognition of man's inseparable relationship to God. To live pleasantly, comfortably, and securely as one takes the human footsteps to perfection through spiritualization of thought is possible. However pleasant material living may seem to be, if it renders one apathetic to the things of Spirit, it is dangerous and ultimately necessitates the return to the Father's house, to God, good.
The parables teach the valuable lesson of the need of continual spiritualization of thought. We must seek the deeper meaning, the spiritual import of each message, in order to replace mistaken material beliefs with true, spiritual facts. There is no danger of the letter stifling the spirit or of self-righteousness stunting spiritual growth when one humbly, meekly examines his thought and yields to a purification of his motives by an understanding of Spirit, God. The denial of materiality's claims to reality aids us in establishing the spiritual counter-fact in consciousness as the only real. The Christly qualities reflected and expressed in daily living bring to the individual's consciousness quiet, calm assurance and a complete reliance on God as the only power, and this is the kingdom of heaven within.
