In a time of quickly changing values and resulting apprehensions for the future of the race, it is not only reassuring but essential to ask oneself daily whether one is doing the very best he can to obey the First Commandment of the Mosaic Decalogue, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me," Ex. 20:3; and also the command repeated by Christ Jesus, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."Matt. 22:39; In the degree that we obey these commands, we build on the rock, Christ. In a message to her Church in the year 1900 Mrs. Eddy says of the rock on which Christian Science is built, "It may be the rock which the builders reject for a season; but it is the Science of God and His universe, and it will become the head of the corner, the foundation of all systems of religion." Message to The Mother Church for 1900, p. 5;
Those, then, that keep steadfastly building on the rock, particularly in our present era, which quite apparently is a tempesttossed era of chemicalization, or mental disturbance, are making a contribution of prime importance to the welfare, present and future, of their fellowmen. A review of mankind's past history will indicate how slow has been their disposition to make the necessary effort to demonstrate love for God, the source of all that is truly good, and for their neighbors near and far. The classic writers of Asia and of Greece and Rome, from Homer to Confucius and from Cicero to Plutarch, have traced for us humanity's often losing struggle to rise, self-lessly, above race and class rivalries and the tyranny of despots.
The Old Testament sets forth in picturesque and inspired idiom the means to attain the stability, freedom, and fraternity good men have ever sought. But it also recounts with insight the stumbling blocks in the path of attaining these desired ends. The New Testament tells us in simple and moving terms how Christ Jesus made plain the law of Love, and how he and his immediate disciples demonstrated it, although against mighty opposition and stubborn hostility.
