In what has come to be known as the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said (Matt. 7:13, 14), "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." At first sight this may seem a hard saying; but in the light of Christian Science this way is found to be the way of a full, rich, purposeful, and joyous life.
To mortal sense it certainly is a strict and difficult way, for it means holding without deviation to this fact: God, Spirit, is All, matter nothing, and man one with God as His perfect reflection. Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health (p. 151): "All that really exists is the divine Mind and its idea, and in this Mind the entire being is found harmonious and eternal. The straight and narrow way is to see and acknowledge this fact, yield to this power, and follow the leadings of truth." This advice is to be held to and can be proved practical in all circumstances. In face of the world's belief in a material power separate from God, one may find that holding to this truth is not easy.
In nothing was Christ Jesus more sublime during his ministry on earth than in the realization of his oneness with his heavenly Father. He declared that he could do nothing of himself, but that it was the Father in him who did the works. His perception of the unity of God and man was flawless, and his clear sightedness is wonderfully brought out in his loving discourse and prayer after the Last Supper as recorded in John's Gospel (Chapters 14-17). Moreover, he included his followers for all time in the perfect unity of Father and son through the Christ idea when speaking of his immediate disciples in these words (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."
