TO an earnest student of Christian Science, each dawning day can be an opportunity for real progress. When the gaining of "the wondrous glory" of spiritual enlightenment is recognized as paramount, human wants and desires become of minor importance.
Eliphaz advised Job in his time of trouble (Job 22:21), "Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee."
Today there are thinkers who see that acquaintance with God is the world's real need. Jesus, the great Master, was fully acquainted with God. He knew and declared his at-one-ment with and inseparability from God; he knew, taught, and practiced divine Science.
In speaking of her discovery of Christian Science and of her own spiritual unfoldment after her healing of a severe injury caused by an accident, Mrs. Eddy says in her book "Retrospection and Introspection" (pp. 27, 28): "The divine hand led me into a new world of light and Life, a fresh universe—old to God, but new to His 'little one.' It became evident that the divine Mind alone must answer, and be found as the Life, or Principle, of all being; and that one must acquaint himself with God, if he would be at peace." And in the next paragraph she explains, "Our reliance upon material things must be transferred to a perception of and dependence on spiritual things." And on page 42 of Science and Health she writes, "Because of the wondrous glory which God bestowed on His anointed, temptation, sin, sickness, and death had no terror for Jesus."
What was this "wondrous glory" of which Mrs. Eddy speaks? What was this "new world of light and Life" into which she declares she was divinely led? What was it that so completely transferred her reliance upon material things and materialistic methods to dependence upon the things of Spirit?
Was not the perfect understanding which Jesus had of the divine unity of God and man "the wondrous glory" which God bestowed on His anointed? Was not the revelation which came to Mrs. Eddy, namely that divine Mind must be the Life, or Principle, of all being, an impartation of this glory? And if we, you and I, recognize something of the Christ, Truth, even slightly realize the unity of God and man, and thereby find comfort, healing, and redemption, are we also not being touched, made holy, by this "wondrous glory"?
God is the creator. It may well be said that now is the day of creation in the sense that the constant refreshing, restoring activity of divine law continually actuates its own creation. This unchanging divine unity of God and man functions eternally.
Man, inseparable from God, fulfilling the supreme purposes of God, cannot be harmed. His harmony cannot be interrupted or interfered with in any least degree. Man's activity is assured and protected, and the fruitage of realizing through divine law the perfection of this activity is inevitable.
One student had a definite healing as a result of a glimpse of the eternal perfection of this law. She had been troubled with a throat difficulty repeatedly for several years. One night after members of the household, including a guest, had retired, she sat on the hearth with her head in the cushion of a chair to stifle her weeping. The suffering seemed extreme, and filled with self-pity and rebellion, she prayed for relief. Within her heart was the petition, "Why, oh, why, can't I see what I need to see—the truth which I know would bring healing of this misery?"
After a desperate period of wrestling with the false sense, arguing against the error, and affirming scientific statements which had brought comfort many times, she suddenly stopped with the conviction, "One's work is from the basis of present perfection!" These thoughts followed: "What difference whether or not I see what I think I need to see? Divine law governs the universe. This law is established. It is operating now and always will be operating."
Then, with a glow of gratitude, she ceased struggling and went to bed. Although apparently still ill, she was mentally relieved and at peace. The next morning she awakened free and well; and there has never been a return of this trouble.
In "Unity of Good," after telling of some remarkable cases of healing, Mrs. Eddy makes the following vital statement (p. 7): "Certain self -proved propositions pour into my waiting thought in connection with these experiences; and here is one such conviction: that an acknowledgment of the perfection of the infinite Unseen confers a power nothing else can."
Christ Jesus not only taught and practiced divine Science, he also told his disciples that they should understand and practice the truths of this Science. His prayer with the disciples before Gethsemane is a marvelous declaration and elucidation of his purpose and of divine power. He reminds them of their privilege and subsequent duty to establish and carry forward his Messianic design. A part of his prayer is (John 17:20, 21), "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me."
Today we accept these alerting words of the Master. As we watch, pray, and work to follow in his footsteps, do we not find that we have already less anxiety, less dread of temptation, less fear of the diabolical illusions of sin and sickness? We are learning that Mind is the Life, or Principle, of all being. We are learning that Mind does not perish, that Life never dies, that Principle cannot be extinguished.
We know that God is good and that there is in reality only good because God is All. We are becoming acquainted with the great love of God, learning of a fresh universe in which harmony and peace prevail. Let us rejoice in transferring our reliance from material things to dependence on spiritual things. May we not be truly glad to cease clinging to daydreams, which are based upon the shifting sands of human desires? Let us rest in "the wondrous glory" vouchsafed man as the spiritual idea, at one with and forever beloved of his Father-Mother God.
