Articles

A young Sunday School pupil once happily remarked, "Oh, Christian Science— it's easy!" It certainly can be. The demonstration of Christian Science should be joyful, not laborious or burdensome.

The Christian Science Monitor! What is it? How did it evolve? It represents a Christlike movement of thought operating in the world of journalism with the intent to bless mankind—the spiritual goal that Mary Baker Eddy set for it. She established the Monitor in November, 1908, after a baseless newspaper attack on her and her movement had resulted in a lawsuit against her in the courts of New Hampshire.

There is no age and no recognition of age in the true concept of Church. As an eternal, spiritual idea, Church is firmly based in divine Mind.

What intriguing possibilities are present for every college student in Goethe's words to a youthful poet, A talent is formed in quietude, A character built in the stream of life. Torquato Tasso, Act I, Scene 2; One may long to realize this double promise, but where is there uninterrupted quiet to explore his inmost powers and resources? Or, plunging into the stream of life, how can he avoid total submergence? Sensing the dilemma, a student will often settle for only one or the other of Goethe's lines as achievable in experience: he may assiduously cultivate his talents and become a lone, ivory-tower specialist, or he may label himself the all-round practical type, lacking in depth and sensitivity.

When one brings his innermost thoughts and motives under the beneficent influence of the Christ, Truth, there is always hope for freedom from enslaving mortal beliefs that cause people to suffer. One can joyfully bring his thinking and living into accordance with higher ideals and more spiritual values.

Friday before Easter. Among hundreds of others, a young woman made her way from a crowded auditorium onto the street.

Controversy over Sabbath observance holds a prominent place in the Gospel record. Much attention was focused upon its rules and regulations as interpreted by the rabbis.

I consider it a very important day in my progress in Christian Science—the day I quit reading the lesson and started studying it. Before that, reading the lesson was something I did, a duty and privilege I performed with gratitude, but too often the depth of the message, the multiple meanings, would escape me.

The latter half of the nineteenth century saw the most rapid expansion of scientific thinking in history, based primarily on the willingness of thinkers to test their concepts by experiment, so that these could be conformed to observation. The discovery of Christian Science occurred at this juncture of mental ferment.

For the student of Christian Science there are times when he may feel he is not advancing spiritually as much as he should —and he wonders why. If this is the case, he may be well advised to consider the motives governing him.