Articles

It may be said that Christian Science has withdrawn the curtains which for centuries have hung before the doors of heaven, and allowed mankind to look within at the wonders of a perfect universe. A glimpse into perfection has instantaneously healed many of their sicknesses, and has redeemed many others from a crushing sense of sin.

Through the study of Christian A Science the Scriptures are becoming clear to me, and passages in both the Old and New Testaments which once were inconsistent, obscure of meaning, or unbelievable, have become "a lamp unto my feet. " The Old Testament with its many instances of God's power to free mankind from evil conditions by marvelous deliverances, causing the sea to roll back and the enemy to be vanquished where mortal means were inadequate, I formerly regarded as mythology, for in the light of reason, as I then argued, I could not do otherwise.

On apt occasions the French people quote one of their old proverbs: " Qui s'excuse, s'accuse " (He who excuses himself, accuses himself). This saying is indeed quite correct in its analysis.

The questions which most deeply concern human existence can never be satisfactorily answered until we gain an understanding of the cause of things. Of necessity, this cause must contain within itself all power because there could be nothing greater than itself; all presence because it could not be separated from its effect; all wisdom because there could be no intelligence apart from it.

In his work of arousing humanity to the all-presence of God and the closeness of our relation to Him, Jesus chose the name of Father as typifying most clearly our utter dependence upon Him, His loving interest in our every-day needs, and His infinite power to supply them. Christians have accepted this term for God in theory, but in practise they have to a large extent set aside all that it implies of protection and maintenance in human conditions, and continued to scramble for one material thing after another to supply their various needs, experiencing as a result all sorts of discord and privation.

In much of the teeming literature of the day, and in the swift-flowing current of popular thinking, the doctrine of heredity is treated solely from a materialistic and pessimistic standpoint, and is associated with the demon rather than with the angel. Popular unbelief in spiritual entities, and popular ignorance of eternal Truth, hold heredity to be a mightier factor in our lives than infinite Love, and so, inferentially at least, as a mightier power per se.

Amid the stress and turmoil of a material civilization embracing widely differing ideals and involving rapidly shifting conditions, most individuals find themselves so beset by a multiplicity of pressing and perplexing problems that they are blinded to the fact, made so clear in Christian Science, that the one really fundamental consideration is spiritual, and that all specific human problems bear a merely incidental relation to this issue. According to the rationale of living which appeals to the world at large, the term spirituality stands for a condition of thought and feeling quite apart from the realistic and so-called called practical things of life.

Through the efforts of earnest men who have appreciated the value of the teaching contained in the Bible, its message of truth has been translated into all the languages of the world. Among peoples who had no written language, the teaching has been given by the invention of signs which would express the sounds of the spoken language.

At this season of the year, when our thoughts are by custom turned to the blessings which brighten our lives, it is well worth while to listen to the ringing note of thankfulness to God which sounds from cover to cover of the Scriptures. In the Psalms it rises frequently to an ecstasy of praise and adoration, now ascribing all power and all good to God, now exhorting the people to acknowledgment of His mercy and kindness.

Looking back over the vicissitudes of King Nebuchadnezzar, "when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride," the pride of indulging the thought of human accomplishment, Daniel's statement to him, "And seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will," seems to be closely connected with the fourth commandment, showing clearly what to avoid in order to come under the protection of divine law. In carefully studying this commandment, a perfect order for the fulfilment of our daily work is revealed, and we find, as we follow this order faithfully in the accomplishment of whatever we have to do, whether it be the lessons of the child at school or the complicated problems of the business man, that all things are brought into unity with God's law.