In memory of soldiers fallen in battle, Abraham Lincoln said at Gettysburg, "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here." If we remember loved ones for the good their lives reflected on earth, we have little time for self-pity. The spiritual purpose which animated their good deeds demands of us a renewal of effort to accomplish the kind of world for which these dear ones labored.
Christian Science teaches that the real selfhood of every individual is to be found in Christ, the true idea of God. In his earthly experience each individual shows forth the qualities of God in the degree of his demonstration of good. These Godlike qualities alone are real. Nothing else is real. Nothing else is to be remembered.
Christ Jesus exemplified the ideal man. The qualities we find in him are the real qualities of our loved ones. The purpose for which Jesus labored and gave his human life is the only real purpose of existence. The Spirit which motivated him in all his good works is God, divine Love. No other Spirit motivates the real man.
