Lela May Aultman, C.S.B., of Denver, Colorado
Member
of the Board of Lectureship of The Mother Church,
The
First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts
The lecture was held in the Marshall Civic Theatre, September 21 at 4:00 o'clock. The lecturer was introduced by Mrs. Caryl Isham who told of Miss Aultman's dedication to Christian Science as practitioner, teacher and lecturer.
The lecturer spoke substantially as follows:
A well-known news commentator in these words challenged the churches to prove the practical value of their teaching: "Show me what your religion will do . . . Show us frightened, frustrated . . . folk how the product you represent put to personal use, changes lives . . . Life hereafter is a bonus you cannot prove, but you can prove what Christian faith can do to improve life here."
Let us consider the ways in which compassionate love, which is the very spirit of Christianity, does "improve life here." People have looked to religion to rescue humanity from discord and frustration and to show them the way to solve their many problems. They feel an urgent need of comfort and healing, of liberation from sin, and the confidence that they are forgiven. Everyone needs a realization of his own worth and importance in God's plan.
Some individuals may feel that their needs are strictly human and therefore God cannot help them. But the teaching of Christianity, scientifically understood and that's what I'm here to talk about does help us meet even our strictly human needs. In addition to healing sickness it is bringing harmony into relationships which were discordant. It is the leading to the solution of difficult business situations. It is liberating sinners by awakening them to the fact that true satisfaction is found only in that which is pleasing in God's sight.
And how is this accomplished? By the compassionate practice of Christianity, by scientifically understanding and daily bearing witness to the qualities of Godlikeness. The whole of Christian living as taught by Christian Science is rooted in an enlightened understanding of God. And knowing God is the only basis for understanding man; it is natural to expect that God will have created man like Himself, which is the view taken in the very first chapter of the Bible in the book of Genesis. So whatever one may feel is the nature of his problem the vital need is always for an understanding of God and man's relationship to Him, for this opens the door to the Christian compassion that brings the solution of all problems.
Christian teaching includes the Scriptural words from John, "God is love" (I John 4:16); and the life of the Master, Christ Jesus, was the very exemplification of love.
What is this Love which is the very nature of God? It is changeless Love, always blessing its creation; Love, which is one with the divine Principle of all existence, therefore invariably just; Love which is the liberator preserving man's freedom; Love whose will it is that man should have dependable health and everlasting life.
Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes, "True prayer is not asking God for love; it is learning to love, and to include all mankind in one affection." She also says of this prayer, "It makes new and scientific discoveries of God, of His goodness and power. It shows us more clearly than we saw before, what we already have and are; and most of all, it shows us what God is" (No and Yes, p. 39).
There are many devout Christians who are earnestly searching for a more satisfying concept of God. When someone tells you he is an atheist, he often means merely that he cannot believe what he has already been taught about God. The word "God" has sometimes meant to religionists a corporeal deity who was pictured with all the characteristics of a magnified human being. Advancing theological thought has often progressed far beyond the cruder aspects of this concept of God, but too much of the old concept still remains.
When Mrs. Eddy discovered Christian Science, she longed to share with her fellowmen the deeper, wholly spiritual concept of God which had been revealed to her. She found a wonderful way to free human thought from a finite, corporeal view of God. Instead of using just the word "God" which had come to have a limited connotation for many people, she defined His nature through seven names, each depicting some special facet of His infinite Being, in this way expanding the Christian's concept of God. For all of them she found support in the Bible.
She calls God Spirit, which is omnipresent good, unlimited, free, the true and indestructible substance of the universe. A second term she uses for God is Mind, infinite intelligence, conceiving and creating a universe of spiritual ideas. She speaks of Him as Truth, knowing only changeless spiritual reality and perfection; and as Life, self-existent, eternal Being, the source of man's life and its preserver. Principle is the name she uses to indicate that God is the great spiritual cause whose law governs the universe. She calls God Soul, the source of purity, joy and inspiration. Love is the name which indicates God's motherhood and its tender cherishing of its children, comforting, guiding and enlightening.
It is such a God whose representative, Christ Jesus, taught humanity how to express tenderly and faithfully a living Christianity. He applied the law of God to heal the sick, comfort the sorrowing, and redeem sinners. True Christian living, as interpreted in Christian Science, bears witness to the nature of this divine creator. It expresses, as Jesus did, the compassionate love which is deeply interested in solving the problems of mankind.
The model for this Christian living is the life and works of Christ Jesus. He responded to the needs of humanity. He showed compassionate concern with freeing men from bondage to fear and pain.
Those who would be genuine Christians long to follow in the path Jesus pioneered. How can this be done? His teaching is simple and clear. His vital example elevates his theology above mere philosophic theory, and proves that the truth he teaches is capable of solving all problems.
And yet so much that he requires of his followers has been lost sight of through the years. Hear his implicit commands, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15); and "Heal the sick" (Matthew 10:8). His teaching and his works of healing are interlocked.
We have his direct assurance that a spiritual understanding of his teachings results in healing, for he says, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also" (John 14:12).
Mrs. Eddy was one earnest Christian who yearned from childhood to understand the deep spiritual import of Scriptural teaching, and the divine law Jesus applied to meet men's needs. Even as a little girl she expressed the combination of spiritual strength and gentleness, of courage and love, which characterized the life of the Master.
At a later period, she said in her address to the Christian Science church in Concord, New Hampshire: "Christianity is the summons of divine Love for man to be Christ-like to emulate the words and the works of our great Master" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 148).
Many singers with glorious voices never become great artists because their mastery of the technique of singing is not accompanied with a deep understanding of the feeling of the message they sing. Often an actor is able to read the lines of a play correctly but without getting into the spirit of the role. He may need much guidance and direction before he learns how to interpret the character he is to play.
The scribes of Jesus' period were students of sacred writings and they were able to quote accurately the words of their religious teaching. The Pharisees obeyed the letter of this teaching. But Christ Jesus understood its spirit and proved its power to bless and heal. His inspired and fruitful concept of spiritual truth has again been brought to mankind through Christian Science. It is not merely preparation for future salvation. We understand Christian Science to be the Spirit of truth, or the Comforter, which Jesus promised would come and lead his followers into all truth. It meets the human needs today.
This Science is wholly in accord with the Bible and is faithful to the teachings fundamental to Christianity. It is primitive Christianity speaking to a scientific age with compassion and with practical power. Christian Scientists honor Christ Jesus in the most sincere way, by preaching the gospel and healing the sick as he did himself and as he required of his followers.
With the spiritual power given him by God, Christ Jesus was able to heal the sick, to still a storm, to feed a hungry multitude and even to raise the dead. His example teaches us that every man or woman has true power in proportion to his understanding of spiritual reality and his fidelity to God.
A Christian Scientist serving as Naval Chaplain in wartime had a vital proof of the effectiveness of spiritual understanding and inspired prayer. He was assigned to a fleet of minelayers. Their mission took them into submarine-infested waters, and their ships were loaded with explosives. While at their home base, they were shielded by a submarine net which guarded the entrance into the harbor, but the men had great fear of passing those nets into the open sea.
The chaplain did more than just share their fear through human sympathy. He expressed compassion. He prayed for spiritual light to share with them, to heal the fear. A question came to his thought: "Do you believe you are going from a place where God is, to a place where God is not?" The answer was a deep conviction that God is everywhere, that they could never be separated from the protective power of His love. He was so uplifted, so spiritually strengthened, that he was able to impart to his men his trust in God's care. This awakened their own trust, and not only brought them peace of mind, but resulted in the successful completion of all their assigned missions without the loss of one man.
Jesus expressed the Christ, or divine Truth, so fully that he has been given justly the honored title of Christ Jesus, but the Christ is more than any human person. The light of the Christ reveals God's nature to all men. And it reveals the truth of man's being, as God creates him and knows him. It shows us that God, who is omnipotent good, governs His creation with justice and wisdom and that He preserves man's life and health through the irresistible might of His supreme love. All who share this spiritual understanding have power to comfort and heal, and thus to exemplify these words found in the Christian Science textbook "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy, "The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother's need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another's good" (p. 518).
The early years of Mrs. Eddy's life were a preparation for spiritual revelation. She was brought up in a home where her father's moral courage and obedience to God's law, combined with her mother's devout spirituality and deep love for God, had given her the pattern for her high standards of relationship to God and her fellowmen. She turned to the Bible for inspiration and help even in her childhood and had deep faith that the spiritual power which operated in the healing and redemptive work of Jesus was still available. Later in her life, when she glimpsed the nature of this spiritual power through her study of one of Jesus' healings, this enlightenment healed her instantly of serious injuries following an accident.
What did she see in those moments of revealed light, and is it possible for us to see it, too? Yes, she was not content to enjoy her liberation selfishly. She spent the following years searching the Bible deeply, praying to discern its spiritual meaning. Her aim was to give to humanity the Science of Christianity, stated as clear law which each individual could apply as fruitfully as she had done.
The harvest of Mrs. Eddy's years of study was given to the world in Science and Health. This book is studied with the Bible, and it gives its readers the spiritual interpretation of Scriptural teaching. It is read with the Bible in every service in a Christian Science church. Its teaching has enabled faithful students of this divine law to heal the sick and redeem sinners as Jesus did.
The keynote of Mrs. Eddy's life was love generous, tireless; a love for God so great that it was echoed in her love for all of God's creation, and in her yearning to free humanity from cruel bondage to suffering and sin.
In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy writes of Christ Jesus, "The divinity of the Christ was made manifest in the humanity of Jesus" (p. 25). Here she differentiates between the words "Christ" and "Jesus," which is one of the points strongly emphasized in Christian Science. "The divinity of the Christ was made manifest in the humanity of Jesus"; the spiritual light which healed was the Christ, the consciousness of God as infinite good and of the natural perfection of His creation, man and this is the divine impetus which impelled Jesus in everything he did.
This divinity of the Christ, then, was made manifest in the tender solicitude which Jesus expressed in meeting the human need. Jesus' life was so illumined by the Christ that his words and relationships all shone with its light.
We have seen from the lives of the master Christian and the Discoverer of Christian Science that compassion is more than human sympathy with people's suffering, or anxiety for their safety. It is a loving and enlightened application of the law of God to solve human problems and thus liberate mankind.
Critics who are ignorant of the theology of Christian Science sometimes accuse its followers of being callous to mankind's suffering, just closing their eyes to it and pretending it isn't there. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Christian Science teaches us to be concerned with the world's needs, and the Christian Scientist studies earnestly the Bible and Mrs. Eddy's writings to find the specific truths which will help in solving humanity's problems.
The Christian Science church organization is provided for in the Manual of The Mother Church by Mrs. Eddy. This organization includes provision for Christian Science practitioners who devote their lives to the healing ministry; also for nurses trained to give a patient spiritual encouragement, and to care for his human needs, his cleanliness, comfort, and proper nourishment.
Parents who are faced with the many crises connected with bringing up children are thankful for a religion which meets the immediate human need. What a comfort it is for parents to understand that even when children are out of their sight, they are always in God's presence, guided and guarded by the love of their divine Father-Mother.
A Christian Science parent studies daily the Bible and Mrs. Eddy's writings to strengthen his spiritual conviction, and he alertly applies his understanding of God's presence and power to defend his family from all evil.
If a child shows symptoms of sickness, this parent looks away from the evidence of the physical senses. He remembers that God alone made man and outlines man's life experience. So he looks to God for a clear sense of what is in store for the child. Such a parent learns to trust divine guidance in working prayerfully with his child.
You remember the Shunammite woman who turned to Elisha for help when her beloved son had died. The mother must truly have listened for God's assurance concerning the boy. When Elisha questioned her, "Is it well with the child?" she was able to answer, "It is well" (II Kings 4:18-37).
What support Elisha had in his prayers for the child from the mother's courageous agreement with God's judgment of her son's well-being! And through spiritual power, the child was restored to life and health.
Parents with such a trust in God are not only characters in Bible history. There are many of them today to whom the study of Christian Science has given this spiritual courage.
In one home, a young boy awakened in the morning feeling quite ill. He asked his mother to help him to pray for him in Christian Science, and was soon able to go to school. Early in the afternoon the mother glanced from a window and saw the boy zigzagging up the sidewalk as though unable to control his steps. She hurried downstairs, and he fell limply at her feet and lost consciousness. She placed him on the davenport and endeavored to arouse him, but he just lay quiet and still, apparently unaware of her presence.
Instead of being fearful, the mother was prompt in expressing true and effective compassion. She read to him his favorite Bible story. It is the account of Peter's experience in prison, when an angel thought which came to him from God told him to rise up quickly; the chains fell off from Peter's hands, and he was free.
The mother spoke to her son, but there was no response from the boy. She assured him that he had the same God-given ability to respond to the Christly command to be free as had Peter, and that with God's help, his chains whatever seemed to be binding him could fall off as surely and quickly as had Peter's chains.
The telephone rang, and the mother went to answer it. When she returned, the boy was down on the floor happily playing with a toy automobile. He was free and normal, and so complete was the healing that he never once mentioned the problem.
Jesus knew how to give true comfort. At one time when he was passing through the city of Nain, he saw a funeral procession, and with it the sorrowing mother, bereft of her only son. She was obviously in great need of comfort. He did not give it to her through human sympathy. His compassion was expressed in practical helpfulness.
He must have known that it is impossible for man to lose life, right relationship, or joy, because he understood the nature of God. God, who is divine Life, never causes death, and man who is the image and likeness of God reflects Life eternally. Jesus told the mother not to weep, and proved that there was no reason for her tears by restoring her son to life.
Helping people is the heart of the Christian Science religion, just as it was the keynote of Jesus' life. Sometimes the healing is quick as it was with the boy I have just spoken of; at other times it requires patience and persistence. But, as Mrs. Eddy writes: "If Christian Science lacked the proof of its goodness and utility, it would destroy itself; for it rests alone on demonstration." She concludes: "And the secret of its success lies in supplying the universal need of better health and better men" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 365). Not only "better health," but also "better men." As the result of Christian Science healing we have not only healthy physical bodies, but healthy morals, healthy dispositions, a healthy concept of our relationship to God.
Our Master and Way-shower gives us in one of his most impressive healings a model for redeeming the victims of sin. John's gospel relates that Jesus' opponents brought to him an adulterous woman, asking him to pass judgment on her sin. They hoped to trick him into taking some stand which would indicate to the Jews that he was not obedient to Moses' teachings, and they pointed out that Moses had commanded that such a woman should be stoned. We are told that, before answering them, Jesus "lifted up himself" (John 8:7). What does this mean? Jesus' healings, like the healings of Christian Science were accomplished through prayer. We lift up ourselves when our consciousness is so filled with the knowledge of God's goodness and perfection, and of man's spiritual purity and wholeness in the likeness of his Maker, that we see as a false accusation, every claim that he is impure, sick, or impoverished. This is prayer. Jesus' spiritual awareness of God's mercy and justice lifted all condemnation from the woman, though it condemned the sin to utter annihilation.
Jesus' reply to the scribes and Pharisees was consistent with his teaching, "Judge not, that ye be not judged" (Matt, 7:1); for he said to them, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her" (John 8:7). Each man's conscience knew his own guilt, and one by one they left, and Jesus was alone with the woman.
Again we are told that he "lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman" (John 8:10). Beholding true womanhood in the likeness of our Mother God, as the only reality of woman's being; seeing woman as the very evidence of the presence of divine Love with its tender purity and goodness; woman expressing the beauty of holiness, and satisfied with that which is pleasing in God's sight, annuls the cruel lie of sin which may have held a mortal in bondage. This is effectual prayer.
Jesus' prayer was so elevated in its view of womanhood that he was able to send the accused away healed, free to sin no more. Christian Science teaches us to pray as Jesus prayed, not to plead with God as though He needed us to remind Him to care for His own beloved children. Effective prayer acknowledges the good God has already provided, thanks Him for it, and knows this good to be the only reality. When one's application of the law of God defeats the enemy of mankind, the claim of evil to reality, it leaves the individual free to be himself the righteous, beloved representative of his good God, approved by his creator, and by those spiritually-minded enough to see as God sees.
A man, who is internationally recognized for his experience and wisdom in dealing with the acute problems of juveniles, told me the great need in working with these young people is to improve their concept of themselves. Most of them have heard a great deal about their shortcomings, and have grown accustomed to condemnation. The need is to help them recognize their natural goodness, their capacity for fruitful accomplishment, and thus to awaken their self-respect.
This is the basis on which Christian Science heals sin. It fulfills the Scriptural promise, "If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness: Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom" (Job 33:23,24).
When anyone can be awakened to understand that he is created in God's likeness, for an important purpose; that he is beloved of his Father-Mother God; that God approves His creation and takes pleasure in it then self-respect follows, and he begins to recognize his own spiritual nobility and to live it.
Science and Health gives us the assurance that "man's spiritual individuality is never wrong. It is the likeness of man's Maker" (p. 491).
Many of you may at some time have crossed the hot, dry sands of the desert. They evidence no promise of verdure, no hope of vegetation. And yet when the first soft raindrops fall, the desert bursts into bloom, and acres of colorful blossoms cover the sand.
May we all take courage from this example. When some individual gives little promise of usefulness, of beauty of character, or obedience to God's law, let us remember that a desert which shows no hope of color, beauty or blossom can suddenly become a garden.
The parched consciousness needs only the raindrops of compassionate understanding, patient encouragement, and enlightened love.
A Christian Scientist was prison director for one of the largest prisons in the United States. A woman came to see him to plead for her son, who was a convicted murderer. The prison director prayed for God's guidance to know how to help her, and he felt he must express God's love in this interview as tenderly as though the woman had been his own mother. For a whole hour he talked with her, sharing the compassionate, comforting ideas God gave him.
Some years later there was a mutiny in the prison. Some of his associates were killed and the Warden nearly killed. The Christian Scientist was then temporarily made Warden.
Two days later a convict sent word that he wanted to see the new Warden about a very important matter. When the man came he said, "There is a gun hidden in the cell wall." Instantly the Warden stopped him and said, "Please don't tell me until you let me know what you want for the information." And the man answered that he wanted nothing. He explained: "Five years ago an old woman came to see you, and you gave her something of love; a kindness she had never had before. Before she died she told me about that, and I promised myself I'd like to do for you what you did for my mother. That is why I am telling you where the gun is hidden." The Warden of course retrieved the gun.
Some years later, the government of a country which would be described as a police state sent a representative to the United States to ask that some American come to them to study their penal system and make recommendations for improving it. This same Christian Scientist was selected, and approved by our State Department. He realized that his spiritual preparation for the assignment was most important. In quiet communion with God he established his purpose for his mission and saw that it was not to expose crime or classify people, but to represent God's goodness, and particularly to reflect divine Love.
In his prayers he beheld so clearly the perfection of God and man obedient to His wise government that he felt fortified against any temptation to be overwhelmed by whatever material evidence of evil he might encounter. He knew that his true assignment from God was to be a Christian Scientist.
When he arrived in that country he was sent around its provinces to inspect the prisons, but at the end of the tour he knew he had been allowed to see only window-dressing, and that this would not help him to fulfill his mission. He requested of a top-ranking official permission to see other places, but was refused told to submit his report and then go home.
He had to battle an almost overwhelming feeling of discouragement and failure. But he recalled the strengthening, spiritual ideas which had come to him when he prepared for this assignment, and his courage was renewed.
Before making his final report to the government, he was asked to lecture to various groups connected with penal affairs, secret police, judiciary, etc. Each morning he was handed a subject to discuss.
Finally came the day when the subject was to be the defense of the prison. At first he felt he could not tell them it was love, because they would not be ready to hear it. Then he remembered this proof from his own-experience, and he told them of the time when he had expressed loving concern for the mother of a prisoner, and the response of her son five years later After relating his experience, he explained to his listeners that, when he and the prison both had greatest need of defense, the seed of love which had been planted grew into the protection which saved his life and the life of his associates.
The very next day the top official who had refused his request sent for him a man even the American ambassador told him no one was ever allowed to see. This official said he now had permission to see anything in their prison system which he wanted to see, at any time day or night. And this open door led the way for his mission to be a complete success.
The proof he had witnessed of the power of divine Love and its blessing in men's relationships enabled him to go through closed doors. Rays of the Christ penetrated even the thinking in a country which labels itself atheistic, and brought a vital beam of illumination to that land. How far-reaching is such compassion!
Forgiveness is a vital expression of spiritual compassion. In lifting our concept of our fellowman above the sin, the cruelty, the injustice which may claim to be identified with his selfhood, we not only free ourselves from being deceived about the nature of God's creation, but the enlightened love we express helps to lift our brother from a sense of condemnation and enslavement to evil which may have been imposing itself upon him.
When we read the Old Testament, we cannot help being impressed with God's forgiveness. God forgives sin by destroying it, and thus liberates its victims. In other words, God by being all makes sin impossible.
We have many Scriptural examples of forgiveness which it were well to keep fresh in our thoughts. These men gave proof of a love so great it could overrule evil and forgive far greater injury than most of us have ever been called upon to face.
David's life gives inspiring examples of compassionate forgiveness. After this shepherd boy had saved the armies of the children of Israel by destroying the giant Goliath and won other victories, the people who welcomed their returning armies gave special acclaim to David for his achievement. King Saul forgot the debt of gratitude they all owed to David and grew so jealous that he attempted time after time to kill him.
David had to flee from Saul repeatedly to save his life. But when opportunities arose for David to kill Saul, he was never willing to do it. In spite of the hatred Saul had expressed, David persevered in returning love for hate. He steadfastly beheld Saul as "the Lord's anointed" and spared his life.
The New Testament brings its own examples of love and forgiveness. We may think when someone tries to harm us that the reason we are bewildered and hurt by it is that we ourselves are innocent and have clearly done nothing to deserve the animosity expressed toward us. Then let us remember the innocence of Jesus. He gave his life to serving mankind. He healed all the sick who were brought to him. He loved sinners, enough to awaken them from slavery to sin. He taught multitudes to understand God as Love and to use His law to bring comfort and harmony to their lives.
And for doing greater good than any other man had ever done, he was ridiculed, accused falsely, humiliated and crucified. He would have had far more cause than any of us has ever had to rebel at such injustice in return for his unfailing goodness. But there is no indication in the Bible record of his expressing resentment or condemnation of his persecutors. Instead we find on his lips at the very hour of his crucifixion a prayer for his enemies, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).
Jesus commanded Christians to love their enemies (see Matthew 5:44). How can we obey the command? Surely it means something more discerning than calling a faulty mortal a good mortal or speaking kindly of someone's wrong-doing. This would be mere self-deception. We do not look at evil through rose-colored glasses and tell ourselves that it is good. This is not what we mean by compassion. Then how do we love our enemies? By helping to defeat the evil which is victimizing them.
If you saw someone being attacked by a ferocious animal, and you were able to control the animal, its intended victim would be free, wouldn't he? If on the basis of the first chapter of Genesis, we accept God's pronouncement of His entire creation as "very good," then to be consistent, we must admit that evil (despite all evidence to the contrary) is unreal, not substantial, not a power, not a presence. It can only seem real to the befogged or mesmerized thought, which is unable to distinguish appearance from reality.
With this as the premise, one can prove the unreality of envy, hatred, lust for power, animality, or whatever other ungodlike trait has tried to use the so-called enemy to express it. One can see man as God made him, good, intelligent, pure, trustworthy. Jesus saw this correct view of God's creation so clearly that he was able instantly to prove that a man was healthy who had appeared to be sick, that a woman was pure who had appeared to be a sinner.
When we through our prayers destroy evil's pretense to reality, presence or power, we help to liberate those it tried to use. We see that evil could never be the natural inclination of any man. Obviously no one would purposely do anything which would impair his health, destroy his peace of mind, enslave him to fear or even endanger his life and these are exactly the things evil does to one who serves it. Anyone is happy only when he identifies himself with good; has peace of mind when he is conscious of being of service to others; is satisfied when he knows in his heart that he deserves to hear God's "Well done." One who obeys God's law feels safe and free from fear, for he knows that the divine law he obeys also defends him.
So clearly, we love our enemies most effectively when we help to destroy the evil which is imposing on them, and trying to use them to destroy themselves.
Mrs. Eddy added to the inspiring examples we have in the Bible of those who were able to love their enemies. Her way of loving enemies like the Master's, was not closing her eyes to the evil and pretending all was well. She denied the reality of evil as certainly and effectively as Jesus did. And both of them thereby loved and liberated their enemies.
Mrs. Eddy indicates the keynote of Christian living when she writes: "That Christian Science is Christian, those who have demonstrated it, according to the rules of its divine Principle, together with the sick, the lame, the deaf, and the blind, healed by it, have proven to a waiting world" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 22).
The great need is for love, generous and universal love. Human love, as precious as it is, is not sufficient to meet the needs of mankind. What is required is spiritual love love which is concerned with mens problems, love wise enough, and strong enough, and enlightened enough to help in solving the problems, but always from the basis that Spirit and its creation are the realities of being.
The compassionate practice of Christianity comforts the sorrowing, heals the sick, and liberates the victims of sin. A deep spiritual affection impels us to give of ourselves, our time, and our prayers generously enough to meet the great needs of our day.
Mrs. Eddy describes for us the pattern we must follow if Jesus' living of the healing Christ is to be echoed in our lives. She writes, "Through the magnitude of his human life, he demonstrated the divine Life. Out of the amplitude of his pure affection, he defined Love. With the affluence of Truth, he vanquished error" (Science and Health, p. 54).
©1967 Lela May
Aultman
All rights reserved
[Delivered September 21, 1968, in the Marshall Civic Theatre, Marshall, Michigan, and published in the Marshall Evening Chronicle, Oct. 1, 1968.]