When worldly beliefs become more and more aggressive and obnoxious, it becomes obvious that we can't stand on the sidelines in the contest between good and evil. It's essential to exercise our spiritual power and burnish anew the armaments of Spirit. Every weapon we have should be brought into full use. Mrs. Eddy points the way. She says: "The systematized centres of Christian Science are life-giving fountains of truth. Our churches, The Christian Science Journal, and the Christian Science Quarterly, are prolific sources of spiritual power whose intellectual, moral, and spiritual animus is felt throughout the land." Miscellaneous Writings, p. 113;
What could be more needed in our present situation than the animus of Spirit breaking through the hypnotism of material sense and revealing the spiritual status of man in the likeness of God? Many are the temptations to believe in materialism in its various forms, but certainly this is no time to temporize—to be impressed with error or to stand in awe of it. Each one can utilize the spiritual forces at hand. He can consistently handle animal magnetism, or evil, maintain his freedom to think and act under God's direction, and defend himself against limitation, enslavement, and disability.
Because the Christian Science church service is one of the prominent spiritual forces in our society today, we can never afford to lose sight of its utility and power. There has been the attempt of mortal, material thinking to denigrate religion and to subvert the influence of the Church. There's been the attempt of well-meaning religionists to debilitate the spiritual animus through secularization of the activities of the Church. But nothing should be allowed to divert our attention and effort from the main thrust—the spiritualization of our thought. This in turn results in the healing of sin and sickness in individuals and in society. Healing is a basic function of the Church of Christ, Scientist, and it's accomplished only through keeping the clear spiritual animus ever before our thought.
