A great service to the cause of progress in the affairs of the world, individually and collectively, was rendered when Mrs. Eddy disclosed the claim of animal magnetism, or mesmerism, that it can becloud the non alert mind so that it fails to recognize opportunities or is insensitive to the need for creative and expanded thinking. The thought that is covered by a pale cast of complacency is not the thought that discerns the needs of the times and explores solutions for individual or international problems.
An example of how one's degree of alertness will operate either to hold him in bondage or to free him for greater achievement may be found in mankind's dealing with water. For centuries the people of the world watched kettles of water boil but thought only in very limited terms of how boiling water could be used. Then, some two hundred years ago, James Watt saw the same phenomenon; but to his alert thinking the potential of steam as a source of power, together with a more effective method of tapping that power, became apparent. Thus, with one individual's inspired, dynamic thinking came a great step forward in the affairs of individuals and the world, an incalculable stimulus to that movement of awakening known as the industrial revolution.
If Watt's vision and practical work in the derivative field of human invention brought in its wake a greater freedom from drudgery and increased men's material productivity, what of Mrs. Eddy's vision and work, unprecedented since Christ Jesus, in the field of Spirit and its fundamental laws? Through the revelation of divine power our Leader exposed the mesmeric claims of evil, and in the textbook, Science and Health, she shows the way to gain victory over them, unshackling men's potentialities in the spiritual field. No longer need the past be taken as the straight jacket for the future. Outmoded ways of thinking and acting need not form a bar to new procedures, new solutions, and new mental horizons.
Accordingly, we rouse ourselves from the stagnation of habit and contentment with the past into a realization of the continuous activity of Mind. As Mrs. Eddy tells us, "God rests in action."Science and Health, p. 519; This statement postulates the capacity of God's image and likeness to be ever alert and ever active. Mankind has often emphasized too strongly the concept of relief from pressure, or rest from toil, and of surcease from coping with life's problems; but we know that man reflects the activity of Life, God, effortlessly and continuously, and this knowledge lifts thought into the freer atmosphere of Mind.
Continuous spiritual consciousness and activity are illustrated in the first chapter of Genesis, where we read that the earth and the heavens were created, not in successive, segmented periods of work succeeded by periods of rest, but in uninterrupted action. Each stage of creation, or revelation, was characterized as "the evening and the morning."Gen. 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31; Mortals think of evening as the end of the day, the time to cease working, the opportunity to rest; but "the evening and the morning" expresses the continuity of God's action. Rest is shown to be only an aspect of the ceaseless dynamism of Principle, in which activity, just as life, never ceases and never wanes.
During a recent visit to a non-Christian part of the world, it appeared to one observer that in many places some of the indigenous religions had paused at the "evening" stage. Whatever the original concept of the teacher or founder of the religion, it had not always been developed by its present adherents. Religion had not evolved in those places to meet the changing world or the multiplying needs of the people. It would perhaps be appropriate to say that the people were still regarding their religion as hot water for a tea making ceremony and had not grasped the concept of religion as a dynamic and liberating force stimulating progress and spiritual achievement for the individual and for mankind.
A practical application of this observation may be found in the case history of a church in a western country, a branch Church of Christ, Scientist, that was wrestling with the problem of retarded growth. Lectures were not well attended, too few Sunday School pupils were applying for church membership, and attendance at church services seemed confined to familiar faces. As the members pondered this problem, they uncovered a smug assumption that Christian Science was the true religion and that members needed only wait until the community wanted Truth badly enough; then growth would take place spontaneously.
Stating it differently, this church had an evening tea party syndrome. Its members were content to watch the water boil, but failed to realize and demonstrate more widely the potentialities of Christian Science. Efforts were not being made to develop, improve, and expand the practice of Christian Science individually or to make the local church an institution affording proof of this Christian practice in the community.
The members studied the definition of "Church" given by Mrs. Eddy in the Glossary of Science and Health:
"The structure of Truth and Love; whatever rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle.
"The Church is that institution, which affords proof of its utility and is found elevating the race, rousing the dormant understanding from material beliefs to the apprehension of spiritual ideas and the demonstration of divine Science, thereby casting out devils, or error, and healing the sick."Science and Health, p. 583;
Then the members sought out ways of demonstrating the utility of Christian Science. The first step was to establish a more attractive Reading Room. Then the distribution of literature was reviewed, revised, and revivified. Other practical steps unfolded as the members' dedication to the task increased and in turn quickened their desire and determination to demonstrate the healing power of Truth more fully in their own lives and in the life of the community.
This dedicated activity of the members broke the mesmerism, the church prospered, a new edifice was erected, and Christian Science became a force for good in the community. Whether the mesmerism that claims to retard growth appears under the label of conservatism, a false sense of respectability, a self-centered thought, or self satisfaction, our practice of Christian Science, breaking the spell of these paralyzing attitudes and letting Mind's activity be manifested, is the certain antidote.
The mesmerism that leads to apathy, and that, unopposed, is so deadly to spiritual progress, is explained by Mrs. Eddy in the fifth chapter of the Christian Science textbook. As practitioners of Christianity, we know that we cannot be satisfied to possess and preserve for ourselves Christian Science as given to us by our Leader. It is selfish and sinful to be content to cherish unto ourselves the truths that have been given us. Our mandate was given by Jesus, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."Mark 16:15; Specifically, our duty is not performed if we take the attitude that we are willing to share our religion only with those who take the initiative to come and get it from us.
Christ Jesus set the example for all Christians by going out from the temple into the streets and countryside, where he preached to the people. The frequency with which the word "preach" is used in the Scriptures, and especially in the sayings of the Master, demonstrates the importance of giving our neighbor healing and inspiring ideas. Jesus' emphasis on preaching coupled with healing works impresses upon us our duty to be ever active in carrying Christian Science to where it is needed. Mrs. Eddy followed Jesus' example by taking her religion to the people and making the healing of sin, maladjustment, and disease practical and immediate.
Christian Science, like Christianity, came into the world as a social and religious revolution. Christian Science will thrive and grow as long as its adherents carry their inspiration and productive lives into all the world and there broaden and develop them, seeking out those in need and in trouble and snowing them the perfection of their own being in Truth. Mrs. Eddy writes, "The Christian Scientist has enlisted to lessen evil, disease, and death; and he will overcome them by understanding their nothingness and the allness of God, or good."Science and Health, p. 450. Accordingly, we dedicate ourselves to a campaign to break the spell of these errors for all men.
