Articles

That "none of us liveth to himself," is a basic law of conduct that can be neither ignored nor reversed. The individual who runs counter to this fact by disregarding the welfare of his neighbor, is soon bound to be recalled to this phase of his personal responsibility.

How to be in the world and not of it is a question which has vexed the religious mind from time immemorial; in fact, it is hardly too much to say that the pathway of history is paved with a mosaic, much of it very beautiful, of shattered efforts to reconcile two apparently irreconcilable states of mind. In despair of finding any resting-place for the soles of their feet in the stress of ordinary affairs, men have been driven into the desert, into lunatic asylums, into all manner of extremes, as their times or temperaments dictated, in the desire to find some way of living the religious life.

One of the greatest mysteries in connection with the orthodox creeds is that of the Trinity. Upon this subject there has no doubt been an honest purpose to arrive at the distinction between demonstrable truth and mere human opinion on the part of Bible scholars, but this effort has nevertheless been fraught with much controversy.

To make the assertion that the limits to human accomplishment are imposed by ignorance of absolute law, is to raise at once the much debated question of what constitutes reality. Through many centuries the human mind has grappled with this problem, now scaling the heights of idealism, now falling back upon the plains of materialism, but never ceasing in its endeavor to attain the highlands of scientific knowledge.

Confronted in daily experience with doubts, fears, difficulties and failures, with no certain way of overcoming them and all shrouded in uncertainty; with chance and accident seemingly real, and the good we so much desire apparently dethroned on every side,—we sometimes wonder what is the purpose of an existence which seems devoid of certain good. This is a practical age, because things and theories are being judged by their usefulness, by the help they give in freeing us from the uncertainties and discomforts we experience in our search for good.

Jesus said, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. " The truth of these words was once brought home to me very forcefully, when we were traveling in a part of the country far distant from our home.

Throughout all time, mankind have felt that somewhere beyond the limited sphere of their knowledge, beyond the horizon of the seen, there exists a great cause and creator who has made all that was made. Moreover, men have felt that a knowledge of the creator would bring peace and contentment; and they have sought this knowledge through many avenues,—magic, sorcery, divination, rites, and ceremonies.

The Principle of Christian Science is eternal and unchanging; its truths are eternal facts which can never vary from their inherent perfection. The application of this fact to human lives and conditions is according to immutable law, and the salvation and healing which it brings can only come in obedience to this law.

There has never been a time in the history of the world when the desire to know has been more pronounced than it is today. The world is waking up.

One of the most striking examples of individual consciousness awakening to the demands of Truth, is found in the story of Hezekiah's encounter with the Assyrian army, as told in the second book of Kings. He ascended the throne of Judah when quite a young man, and with a firm and uncompromising hand set to work to wipe out of the land everything that savored of idolatry.