Articles

It is possible that nothing is changing in the life one sees; but is it only that which matters, and is our existence indeed confined to actions we can take in our hand like stones on the highroad? If you ask yourself, as we are told we should ask every evening, "What of immortal have I done today?" is it always on the material side that we can count weigh, and measure unerringly: is it there that you must begin your search? It is possible for you to cause extraordinary tears to flow; it is possible that you may fill a heart with unheard-of certitudes, and give eternal life unto a soul, and no one shall know of it, nor shall you even know yourself. It may be that nothing is changing; it may be that were it put to the test all would crumble, and that this goodness we speak of would yield to the smallest fear.

IN the twenty-first chapter of Matthew there is related a remarkable incident. We read that Jesus entered the temple, cast out all that sold and bought therein, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves.

THE question of temperance is one fraught with much agitation, and in many instances there is such a vast difference of opinion as to the best means of promoting the desired end, that even some of the adherents of the Christian Science faith have found themselves at a loss to know what was the best course to pursue. Christian Science teaches an invariable rule of right to govern every circumstance or condition of human affairs, and if from any seeming cause that rule for the time being is not clearly discerned, we have only to turn to "Miscellaneous Writings" and listen to our Leader, who has spoken to us on almost every subject with which we have to deal.

OUR revered Leader says, "My weary hope tries to realize that happy day, when man shall recognize the Science of Christ and love his neighbor as himself" ( Science and Health, p. 55 ).

THERE are many who, according to material sense, have been robbed of their dearest earthly treasures, as though by some unseen monster against which they struggled in vain, while the clouds thickened and enveloped them in the darkness of despair. These know something of the claim of life in matter which leaves one without hope and in utter helplessness, while a sense of loneliness and of cruel separation would drag him down to the very depths of mortal misery.

IN Matthew's gospel, also that of Luke, we find a warning from Christ Jesus that under prevailing material conditions "offenses will come," but we also find some definite instructions given by him for the prevention or overcoming of these errors. It is a matter of experience in the history of the organization and growth of Christian Science churches, that from time to time circumstances occur which seem to give rise to a great deal of stir and sometimes friction among the workers.

IN the Christian Science practice of healing sickness or sin, the unreal or mortal man is eliminated from consciousness by the understanding of what constitutes the real or spiritual man. Our Leader says: "Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals.

AMONG the laws supposed to govern men, perhaps none has brought more hopeless misery into the world than the belief in heredity. There seemed to be a finality about its decisions from which there was no appeal, and the mystery of its fearful sentences, believed to be supported by the Bible and to originate in an all-wise, all-powerful God, has brought many to the brink of atheism.

WHEN Nicodemus inquired concerning the mystery of the operation of Spirit, the Master replied, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. " Material sense has never been able to comprehend spiritual things, since "they are spiritually discerned.

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE practitioners are sometimes criticized on the score that they do not know enough about disease and its symptoms; but their critics overlook or fail to appreciate the fact that this method of treatment, on the part of both practitioner and patient, is entirely mental. Healing in Christian Science involves the bringing about of better thought conditions, the allaying of fear, and the awakening to a more spiritual concept of being.