Articles

ONE of the most cruel taskmasters that would seek to enslave mankind is a mistaken belief of condemnation. It would bind mortals with heavy chains to an unhappy material past or a seemingly useless present, weighing them down with vain regret, disappointment, worry, and fear, until the one struggling with these errors seems to be in a state of confusion, "having no hope, and without God in the world.

FROM the very nature of his faith and of his general attitude towards life's problems, the Christian Scientist is necessarily optimistic. Just at present it seems he does not need any very great development of that particular mental quality in order to feel grateful satisfaction with the signs of progress within the all transforming movement with which he is identified, and with the changing attitude of the world, or at any rate of many of the leading thinkers of the world, towards it.

THE word "sacrifice" implies a giving up of some cherished personal possession, or of a desire thought to be profitable or necessary to one's happiness, if not well-being. Our Way-shower, Christ Jesus, pointed out that only that which is unprofitable or undesirable can in reality be sacrificed.

OPPRESSED by the trials and troubles of their daily lives, mortals have looked with longing eyes either to a golden age from which they believed themselves to be separated by the mists of antiquity, or, in more modern days, to a heaven in an unknown future, to be found only after death. The beginner in Christian Science may accept as a logical deduction from the nature of God as Spirit, infinite good, the only cause and creator, that His offspring, man, must express God's spiritual, perfect nature and be now in heaven.

THERE are in the Christian world to-day many workers to whom has come with great clarity a vision of the necessity of loving and serving their neighbors, but who are still in darkness as to the need of performing properly this function for themselves. They hesitate to give time and thought to their own specific needs, and feel that such a course would rightly be characterized as selfish and self-centered.

IN fulfilling his earthly mission of healing and saving mankind, Christ Jesus, the master Metaphysician, did many wonderful works to prove that the power of the Christ, Truth, triumphs over every seeming power opposed to God; and he left many assurances of the ever-presence of divine Love to those following in his footsteps. He said that those who believed in his word would be able to do the works he did, and even greater works; and his immediate disciples, as well as those who followed him for about three centuries afterward, did prove this promise by their works.

THE golden thread of a living faith is woven into the web of Bible history from first to last, exemplified in numerous cases of deliverance and protection. Many of these examples of spiritual faith embraced by the ancient worthies stand out in grand relief against a background of traditional blind belief, showing that these inspired heroes understood God; and not only this, but that they were willing to submit their understanding to the test of demonstration.

On page 274 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy writes, "Divine Science is absolute, and permits no half-way position in learning its Principle and rule—establishing it by demonstration.

"Unwillingness to learn all things rightly, binds Christendom with chains," writes Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, on page 96 of our textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. " From this it is reasonable to assume that when Christendom is willing to learn all things rightly, its chains will be broken, its freedom established.

" Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. " The generally accepted understanding of this commandment is that it prohibits the use of profanity.