Editorials

How easy it is to mouth glib assurances! How simple to say to another with airy confidence, "Don't be afraid!"—as though mere human will could turn fear off like a faucet. But our encouragement of another can be genuinely helpful if based on something deeper than mere words—if founded on an understanding trust in the all-presence and all-power of God, infinite divine Love.

Matter does not really exist. All is Spirit.

Christ Jesus made a point of warning us not to try to reap the fruits of our work before we are ready to complete it. In the parable of the wheat and tares he had the householder say, "Let both grow together until the harvest.

How would you feel if someone told you that every day, after reaching early middle age, you are losing some of the physical means with which to think clearly? Well, most of us would be appalled, unless we understood that our intelligence did not depend on the functioning of organic matter. Christian Science has opened a new vista of possibilities for mankind by revealing the true nature of thought and its source in God, the infinite, living, ever-conscious Mind.

How often a Christian Science practitioner hears the words, "I just have to have this healing so my family will know that Christian Science is the truth!" The wise practitioner recognizes this as a suggestion of the one evil, mortal mind, and he rejects it. Such a suggestion is not unlike the devil's taunting when Christ Jesus was looking out from a pinnacle of the temple.

The beginning of a new year is a good time to take stock of our spiritual resources. It's an ideal moment to have an honest look at ourselves, to see where we can pull in the slack.

It was a great occasion for the young Christian Church when, in one day, three thousand people were converted to the faith and became members. On that day of Pentecost, Peter preached to a large crowd in Jerusalem, and he so eloquently described Christ Jesus' God-inspired mission that his listeners' hearts were deeply touched.

The function of the Christ is to manifest in human consciousness the presence and power of God. In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Mary Baker Eddy defines "Christ" as "The divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error.

If we were to believe some of the advertisements in circulation today, we might assume that happiness, success, health, serenity, security, beauty, and joy are dependent on matter. But there are probably very few people who really do believe the more fanciful claims—that to eat Krunchy-Bitz for breakfast will enable one to score a home run that wins the game.

A practical spiritual solution can be found for every human problem. Many times controversies rage in public affairs, neither side looking beyond fallible human reasoning and emotionally charged personal opinions for a right answer.