Articles

How comforting to students of Christian Science is the Bible story of the one who had been lame for over forty years, and who was laid daily at the Beautiful gate of the temple. The narrative, found in the book of Acts, tells us of an instantaneous healing received by a man long in bondage to helplessness, which enabled him not only to walk but to leap with joy and praise God.

On page 3 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy asks and answers a question regarding gratitude thus: "Are we really grateful for the good already received? Then we shall avail ourselves of the blessings we have, and thus be fitted to receive more.

An old adage reads, "If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing well," meaning that anything not worthy of wholehearted effort scarcely deserves to be undertaken. It also means that every activity engaged in should be carried out, not carelessly, but with the fullest ability of the person who is responsible for it, thus ensuring the "perfect work," which means patient effort.

What a joyous sense of freedom wells up in consciousness when, through the earnest study of Christian Science, one begins to perceive the truth that true supply is God-given and at hand—is not only available to man, God's image, but included in man's existence. Having perceived somewhat the truth about supply, one progresses joyously to prove that supply is not something material to be received, but is something spiritual to be expressed.

The book of Job, a Hebrew poem of rare beauty and force, preserved in the Scriptures for centuries, offers much on the subject of friendship that is valuable to the student of Christian Science. The book is in the nature of an allegory, showing the struggles of an individual with his own doubts as he attempts to reconcile the suffering of the righteous and the innocent with the government of a just God.

Courage is a spiritual quality. Its basis is realization of the allness of God, good; for spiritualized consciousness reflects true courage in thought, word, and deed, in thinking, speaking, and acting.

Among the root meanings of the word "salvation" as set forth by Bible scholars is the inspiriting phrase, "to save alive. " How instantly this thought dispels a sort of theological gloom which has settled upon this word "salvation" from time to time in its Christian history, threatening to rob it of its force and beauty! The original Greek word used in the New Testament, we are told, is also a buoyant word in its root significance, implying health and well-being, so that there is no justification for riveting attention to the idea of escape from evil, when referring to salvation.

One evening when some Christian Scientists were enjoying the splendors of a brilliant sunset mirrored in a placid lake, it was observed that all those present, though standing at different points, faced a glimmering, sunlit path leading directly to the sun. This seemed to typify man's unity with God, for each individual received freely, continuously, and directly his own full view of the mirrored sunlight.

The Biblical account of creation, as given in the first chapter of Genesis, closes with the statement, "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. " All Christianly scientific healing is based upon this premise.

" Whoever reaches the understanding of Christian Science in its proper signification will perform the sudden cures of which it is capable. " So writes Mary Baker Eddy in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" ( pp.