Peter B. Biggins, C.S.B., of Seattle, Washington
Member of the Board of Lectureship of The
Mother Church,
The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in
Boston, Massachusetts
The lecturer spoke substantially as follows:
Many centuries ago an ancient king, Saul of Israel, sought a remedy for the evil spirit, or mood of depression, which afflicted him. The young shepherd of Bethlehem, David, was invited to play upon the harp to alleviate the king's distress. Thus the angry humor was dispelled. We read in the first book of Samuel this picturesque statement: "David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well."
From time immemorial the worship of God has been accompanied by song. Indeed, praise and song go hand in hand, bringing harmony where discord has seemed to be. The Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, has expressed this beautiful thought in one of her much-loved poems, which we now use as a hymn:
"O'er waiting harpstrings of the mind
There sweeps a strain,
Low, sad, and sweet, whose measures bind
The power of pain."
(Poems by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 12)
How much humanity needs the uplifting influence of this heavenly harmony today! Mankind needs to throw off its ill-humors, its fears, its envyings, its diseases, its headaches and its heartaches. What better way can be found than by the expression and enjoyment of spiritual harmony? Christian Science has brought this precious boon to mankind.
The evidence grows day by day with increasing and irresistible cogency to show that disease is healed and difficulties of every kind are remedied by the method discovered and practiced by Mrs. Eddy, to which she very fittingly gave the name Christian Science. She discovered and brought back into active use the method of healing employed by Christ Jesus.
In the sixth chapter of John's Gospel, we read that the disciples of Jesus on one occasion came to him and asked, "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?" The Master replied, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent," in other words, that ye understand Christ, Truth.
Christ Jesus proved the truth of what he taught by his works of healing. We read in the eleventh chapter of Luke: "He was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered." As well they might.
However, some of them did more than wonder. When they attempted to misrepresent the basis on which he did this healing work, Jesus effectively answered these false charges. He refuted their accusation that "he casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils." He made clear that in destroying evil beliefs he was utilizing God's law of harmony. "If I with the finger of God cast out devils," he said, "no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you."
Christ Jesus consistently taught that God is perfect, and that His creation, His reflection — man and the universe — is perfect. Our work lies in awaking joyfully to this fact of present unchanging perfection. This is true prayer. It is reflecting the harmonious activity of the one divine Mind, infinite Principle, or Soul. The expressing of this harmony is health-giving, because health is a manifestation of harmony. It is spontaneous, unlabored, inspired and inspiring. It can never become monotonous, because it expresses the boundless variety of infinite Mind. It brings new energy to the worker and to those for whom the service is rendered. Put joy into your work, and it cannot fail to be enjoyable.
This work is not arduous. It is uplifting and happifying. It is, actually, the spontaneous expression of the ever-active divine Mind, God. Truly does Mrs. Eddy write in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 462), in regard to the work of healing the sick, "There is nothing difficult nor toilsome in this task, when the way is pointed out; but self-denial, sincerity, Christianity, and persistence alone win the prize, as they usually do in every department of life."
The harmony of being is unchanging. It is always here, in reality, because God, divine Truth and Love, is here, and harmony is an attribute of God. Christian Science is enabling us to utilize and demonstrate this eternal fact. This truth extends to all our affairs, improving all our relationships, affording the solution of all our problems.
It is no small thing to awaken to the fact that, in reality, all is harmony always. It gives such a solidity and substantiality to the human consciousness as can be imparted in no other way. As the individual realizes that there is but one Mind, and that man is the reflection, or expression, of this one Mind, he is able to lay hold of specific truths which ensure an ever-increasing steadiness of thought, joyous strength, and permanent security. These blessings are, indeed, a foretaste of heaven. The Psalmist sang: "I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. . . . Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy."
The helpfulness of the Bible lies in the fact that it states or foreshadows absolute truth, related practically to our human needs. Like a light which shines steadily and clearly, whether mortals turn to it or not, the Bible continues infallibly to enlighten human consciousness, and especially so when we turn to it wholeheartedly and read it understandingly. Glorious is the awakening to the fact that God alone is the creator of all that is real. Satisfying, indeed, is the assurance that God, infinite good, is really governing all the affairs of men, including the individual affairs of each one of us. Our research in the Bible is well repaid, because it opens up to us the enjoyment of unlimited good. Christ Jesus said, "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me," the Christ, the true idea of good. The coming of Christian Science has given a new impetus to the effective study of the King James Version of the Bible.
The Psalms of David contain much about the eternal attributes of God. They show forth His perfection, goodness, power, glory, and majesty. They testify to His justice, mercy, wisdom, and loving-kindness. As we praise God by using the Psalms, we are utilizing these divine attributes. Thus they spiritualize our thinking, identifying us with divine Principle, the unfailing source of all good. They lighten thought, lifting us above the heaviness of mere intellectual reasoning. The Psalms contain many effective prayers. By praising God, we lay hold of and utilize the goodness of God. We are making practical use of the harmony to which the writer of the book of Job referred in these words: "When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy."
The Psalmist has said of the man "that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly," "his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night." This may be said truly of Mary Baker Eddy. In obedience to the Master's injunction, she searched the Scriptures tirelessly. After her recovery from a serious illness by spiritual means, she applied herself to find out how the healing was accomplished. She found the solution in the Bible. Of this Scriptural study she has written in Science and Health (p. 109), "The search was sweet, calm, and buoyant with hope, not selfish nor depressing."
In her practice she was remarkably successful, healing cases of supposedly incurable disease in from one to three treatments. Even when no direct effort was made, healings frequently took place as a result of her spiritual understanding of God.
On one occasion Mrs. Eddy was called to speak at Westerly, Rhode Island. When she arrived there, her hostess informed her of the illness of a next-door neighbor, who was believed to be on her deathbed. The disease was said to be the result of an injury received from a surgical operation at the birth of her last babe.
Mrs. Eddy called on this neighbor. She found that the attending physician had given up the case. She healed the patient in fifteen minutes, after which the woman rose from her bed well.
The natural musician mentally hears harmony echoing and re-echoing in his consciousness. He reproduces what he hears. As a result we have the work of our great musical composers. So it was with Schubert, Handel, Beethoven, and many others.
The harmony of spiritual being echoed in the thought of our revered Leader. She explains this in a measure in these words in "Retrospection and Introspection" (p. 27): "As sweet music ripples in one's first thoughts of it like the brooklet in its meandering midst pebbles and rocks, before the mind can duly express it to the ear, — so the harmony of divine Science first broke upon my sense, before gathering experience and confidence to articulate it." And she adds this significant statement, "Its natural manifestation is beautiful and euphonious, but its written expression increases in power and perfection under the guidance of the great Master."
If the proverb is true that "the child is father of the man," it could have no better verification than in the life of Mary Baker Eddy. Men active in the public life of her native New Hampshire and of the United States were visitors in her childhood home, or came in contact with her family in other ways. Mary, with her keen perception and retentive memory, let nothing pass unnoticed. Her habits of thought were being formed, her judgment matured by the opportunities which she enjoyed. Her devotion to the study of the Bible was an outstanding factor in the development of her character. Through this study she realized eventually the present perfection of harmonious being.
In her childhood days, the education of women and girls had not advanced very far. Reformers who stood for equal education for women were girding themselves in the cause which they so worthily and successfully championed. But Mary Baker had opportunities to gain a liberal education in a way that was well suited to her genius.
She was taught privately by her brother Albert, who studied law with Franklin Pierce — later Governor of New Hampshire, and still later President of the United States. Albert was an able scholar, a graduate of Dartmouth College, and he taught her Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. She learned more readily than most children. Her spiritual perception enabled her to avoid nonessentials and to get at the essentials, whether in the ancient classics, in Christian history, or in the swiftly moving drama of current events.
When President McKinley passed on, Mrs. Eddy wrote a beautiful tribute to him which called forth favorable newspaper comment at that time. She also wrote a personal letter to Mrs. McKinley, in which she said in part, "Divine Love is never so near as when all earthly joys seem most afar." She added: "'I knew that Thou hearest me always,' are the words of him who suffered and subdued sorrow. Hold this attitude of mind, and it will remove the sackcloth from thy home" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 290).
Many people today, in overcoming a sense of grief at the passing of a loved one, have been lifted out of gloom into joy by following the advice given so helpfully by our Leader to Mrs. McKinley. They have awakened to see that man is immortal, because he is the spiritual idea of God.
Mrs. Eddy, in the fullness of time, revealed the fact that God is Mother as well as Father. With her discovery has come a fuller acknowledgment of the rights of woman. The same wisdom which Mrs. Eddy expressed in insisting on the rights of woman applies equally to the rights of man.
She often wrote and said the thing which was unexpected by those who read or heard her words. She, like the Master, spoke boldly. She had the courage to stem the tide of current thought when it flowed in the wrong direction, toward materialism in all its phases. She has done a truly great work in turning the thought of humanity into the currents of God, Spirit, that is, in the right direction, toward true spirituality.
Mrs. Eddy was naturally endowed with qualities which enabled her, through guidance from God, to found the Christian Science movement, so as to perpetuate and extend the practical use of her discovery. Her husband, Asa Gilbert Eddy, said of her (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 35), "I never knew so unselfish an individual." Mrs. Eddy doubtless gives a clue to the unselfishness which she expressed, when she writes in her Message to The Mother Church for 1900 (p. 11), "Hold in yourselves the true sense of harmony, and this sense will harmonize, unify, and unself you."
Here is a remarkable model, a practical ideal, for all of us in our home and family circles, in our branch churches, in the councils of men and nations everywhere. The poet Tennyson had apparently glimpsed this in some degree when, through inspiration, he wrote,
"Love took up the harp of Life, and smote on all the chords with might;
Smote the chord of Self that, trembling, pass'd in music out of sight."
The Church of Christ, Scientist — The Mother Church and its branches — which she founded, is the logical outcome of the truth which she has so clearly proclaimed in her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." The services of our church are open to the public, as also are our Reading Rooms. Our quarterly, monthly, and weekly periodicals are bringing messages of healing, hope, and happiness to every home into which they enter. The system of class teaching carried on by The Mother Church is equipping teachers and practitioners for the sacred tasks entrusted to them. All the details of this work, including the conduct of Christian Science Sunday Schools, were carefully planned by our Leader, acting under the guidance of divine Love.
When, at one time, critics were pronouncing that she was sick and disabled, she invited her reading public to call at her college, where she was carrying on her work, telling them, in effect, that they could see for themselves that she was in good health, and able to laugh, too!
The establishment of The Christian Science Monitor by Mrs. Eddy in 1908 gave evidence of the ever-broadening work which she was able to do. She was a tireless worker, ever sustained by her vision of the Christ, which imparted to her remarkable buoyancy, elasticity, and spiritual strength.
The Monitor gives constructive support to all worth-while measures in national and international affairs. It is aiding in the great work of healing the nations, helping to bind up the wounds of the peoples of the earth. This healing is made possible as individual Christian Scientists continue to demonstrate the power of Truth, as taught by Mrs. Eddy.
The Church of Christ, Scientist, continues to carry out the ideals which animated the lifework of our intrepid Leader. It is bringing comfort and strength to those who need its healing balm.
A young man who had learned of the benefits which Christian Science had brought to others decided to seek help to overcome the ills which beset him. He was in need of good health and a better outlook on life. Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy had helped him greatly. He had diligently studied the Lesson-Sermon each morning and had made good use of Christian Science Reading Rooms.
Hoping to learn better how to help himself through the application of divine Truth, he called on a Christian Science practitioner. In the course of their conversation, the practitioner drew the young man's attention to page 113 of Science and Health. There he read simple truths bringing out the fact that God is All-in-all and that good is omnipotent. He read from the same page the following words also: "The divine metaphysics of Christian Science, like the method in mathematics, proves the rule by inversion. For example: There is no pain in Truth, and no truth in pain; no nerve in Mind, and no mind in nerve; no matter in Mind, and no mind in matter; no matter in Life, and no life in matter; no matter in good, and no good in matter."
He caught a glimpse of the method of work made possible by Mrs. Eddy's priceless instruction. He perceived in some measure the fact reiterated throughout her teaching that harmony is always present, in reality. He saw the joyous opportunity to keep this fact in mind and so to reverse at every point the false evidence of the physical senses, which claim to shut out this eternal harmony. This scientific method of work, joyfully pursued, awakened him to a new and higher understanding of God and man. This brought to him the health which he needed, and afforded a basis whereby to deal with the various problems which seem to beset the human family.
This is what Mrs. Eddy's great discovery has brought to humanity, the true understanding of God and man. She has made abundantly clear that God can be known, not merely believed. God is infinite, ever-present good. Since He is All, as the Scriptures imply, there is no room left for an opposite anywhere. To the human senses, evil appears to be everywhere. The truth about this is the very opposite: that evil, in reality, is nowhere, since God, good, actually fills all space. Evil claims to be omnipotent. Truth reverses this error with the fact that evil is impotent, because God, good, is omnipotent. Evil claims to work by means of physical laws which bring disaster. Truth overthrows this lie and reveals the fact that God, good, works through spiritual law, bringing unlimited good ceaselessly to man, God's well-beloved child.
According to the evidence of the material senses, man is liable to suffer from innumerable phases of evil. The reverse of this is actually true, namely, that man is subject to good only, expressed and enjoyed in countless ways.
We do not need to wait long before we put this method into practice. We can begin right where we are. In fact, the more pressing our need, the greater is our opportunity and the grander the victory won. This practice imparts courage and strength to the human consciousness. It enables us to work with a song in our heart, in accordance with Mrs. Eddy's statement in her Message to The Mother Church for 1900 (p. 2), "The song of Christian Science is, 'Work — work — work — watch and pray.'"
At the Wednesday evening meetings in Christian Science churches throughout the world, grateful people testify to healings and other benefits derived from Christian Science. At one of these meetings some time ago, I heard a young woman give a very helpful testimony. She said that at one time she believed that it was smart to drink and smoke. Through the study of Science and Health, however, and the use of the Manual of The Mother Church, she was awakened to see that in indulging these habits she was not expressing intelligence. She was quickly freed from all desire for liquor and tobacco. This is the experience of many today. Many a time at the end of my lecture, grateful people have told me of their joy in the freedom they have thus won. They are happy because, through this overcoming, they have become members of the local branch churches. Many of them are grateful because they have been able to become teachers in Christian Science Sunday Schools, thus imparting to the young people there the inspiration and liberation that Christian Science has brought to them.
Educators, entrusted with the training of young people, are realizing more and more the priceless value of the Bible in this training. The wise man has truly said, "Train up a child in the way he should go;" and he goes on to say that "when he is old, he will not depart from it." This points to the great opportunities for good which lie before us in helping our young folks on the basis of Christian Science.
A young lad, a pupil in a Christian Science Sunday School, was having an examination at the academy which he attends. Some time before, the professor had assigned a book for home reading, with the remark that the boys should be prepared for a written examination on it.
In reading the book the boy saw that its whole purpose was to bring out the thought that any evil which one may commit sticks to him, that he can never get rid of it. The boy had learned in the Christian Science Sunday School that this is not so. Accordingly, when he came to the last question on the examination paper, "Do you believe this?" he wrote, "No." Then a Bible verse came to his thought, and he wrote further, "The Bible tells us that 'when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.'"
When the professor came to this paper, he looked up and asked the boy, "Do you believe what you have written here?" The boy answered, "Yes, sir, I do." When he received his paper back, he found he had been given 100%, with a personal message from the professor, saying that it was the most intelligent answer he had received. The professor further added, "Who could dispute what the Bible says?"
Hasten the day when the entire education of our children will be such as to preserve the wholesomeness, purity, and keen insight of youth, as they grow to the manhood and womanhood of spiritual understanding!
It is a truism that God, divine Love, provides bountifully for His entire creation. Christ Jesus, in bringing home this fact to his hearers, used a simple and beautiful symbolism. "Behold the fowls of the air," he said, "for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them." And he made practical its application to the immediate experience of his listeners by the searching question, which has the effect of a positive affirmation, "Are ye not much better than they?"
Even a casual observer of the ways of the feathered folk of wood, mountain, and plain cannot fail to note how wonderful is God's provision for them. The water ouzel runs along the bed of the mountain creek and picks up his food from it. The woodpecker finds his daily supplies in the bark of a tree. In every case the mode of supply is best suited to the particular need. In each instance the bird has something to do to gather his supplies. Reasonable and congenial activity, with trust in God, is all that is needed for man to enjoy these blessings of abundance. How much more fully can man prove the infinitude of divine Love's provision and supply!
In the light of Christian Science, we see that we live in a spiritual universe, in which our every need is fully met. This spiritual fact, made plain in Christian Science, corrects the belief that we live in a material universe, made up of innumerable physical objects, animals, people, and things, and supposedly governed by material law. Mrs. Eddy writes in "Unity of Good" (p. 46), "The scientific man and his Maker are here; and you would be none other than this man, if you would subordinate the fleshly perceptions to the spiritual sense and source of being."
As with men, so with all the lesser objects of creation in their degree. All is really Mind and Mind's ideas, and there is no material sense. God's provision for man and the lesser ideas of creation, even as enjoyed here now, hints the spiritual reality.
Christ Jesus revealed a source of supply that can be practically utilized by every one of us. His recognition of spiritual reality was such that he could draw at once on these unlimited resources. Thus he met his own needs and the needs of those who were with him and for whose welfare he was deeply concerned. When he fed the multitude, he did more than satisfy their physical needs, allaying their hunger. He brought home to them the fact that the supply provided by divine Love is infinite and ever present. Christian Science makes clear the way whereby we can enjoy this unlimited supply today.
The fact is that God, Spirit, is infinite good. Man, as God's reflection, is inseparable from Spirit. Thus man cannot fail to enjoy the good that rightly belongs to him by reflection. The realization of these simple truths makes the good that is really ours practically available. As we continually thank God for the unlimited good that belongs to us, it inevitably comes into our experience.
The bird expresses a spiritual quality whereby it is protected in a remarkable degree in its flight. Man, through obedience to spiritual law, has in reality all that he needs to know in order to protect himself while in the air. The divine Mind, which has released human thought from its old-time fetters and limitations, provides the intelligence that is needed to cope with all new conditions resulting from this newly found freedom. In spiritual law is the answer to every question that may be posed by so-called material laws or conditions.
Modern research in the Bible in the light of Christian Science brings to view the infinite power of divine Mind, providing for man's safety and welfare. This is sufficient to offset the beliefs and fears as to the destruction of this planet by man's inventions, unwisely misdirected. Spiritual law has supreme dominion over so-called material law; and man has the right and ability to utilize this spiritual power to ensure human safety and security.
Every true thought thrown on the right side counts. We here, now, as we consider these questions, can by realizing these truths and by acknowledging their power throw the weight of thought on the right side and so help to outweigh the seeming power of wrong beliefs. Actually the only power is on the side of God, good, and we rejoice in knowing it.
Students of Christian Science have proved time and time again that by singing songs of praise they overcame difficulties in a very practical way. The seeming problem is a manifestation of inharmony. To replace the discordant sense — whether it be a seeming lack of health or a lack of anything else that is good — with the joyous realization that infinite good is present enables us to lay hold of the good. The early Christians knew the power of harmony to dispel discord in this way. You remember that Paul recommended to the Ephesians the practice of "speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord."
It is significant that the Master used the bird as a symbol of unlabored, joyful work. Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health (p. 220), "The snowbird sings and soars amid the blasts; he has no catarrh from wet feet, and procures a summer residence with more ease than a nabob." As we learn to sing at our work, we shall rise above the penalties that mortals seem to suffer in attending to necessary duties. The fact that God's universe is spiritual and not material underlies the proofs of divine Love's supply as enjoyed by the birds, and as experienced by men and women who know enough of spiritual law to make it practically available in their daily lives.
Man, reflecting God, has dominion over all wrong conditions relating to inclement weather. He is not subject to so-called laws of disease, because he is governed solely by God's law of harmony. Glorious, indeed, are the victories won in these simple ways by students of Christian Science, as they demonstrate the harmonious facts of being.
The fact that man lives in God is properly expressed in harmonious home conditions. This truth is definitely applicable to the belief that there is a shortage of houses and that one can be at any time deprived of a suitable home. Divine Love not only provides the home, but meets every need in securing it.
Home, as provided by divine Love, expresses beauty, purity, and security. It affords the opportunity to extend hospitality to others. As these qualities of beauty, purity, security, and hospitality become paramount in one's thinking, they are expressed outwardly in a suitable habitation, for the real home is a state of consciousness. The sparrow's house and the swallow's nest are provided by divine Love. Are we not much better than they?
A good friend of mine, not a student of Christian Science, desired eagerly to learn what Christian Science teaches, because he saw that it makes people healthy and happy. One day he said that he was perplexed by the theological belief that in the "hereafter" the redeemed would play on harps all the day long. He expressed the thought that this would be very monotonous and tiresome. It was explained to him that the Scriptural statement to this effect is symbolic, not literal, that in the light of Christian Science, we see that this refers to the expression of harmony resulting from the enthronement of divine Love in consciousness. He accepted this readily as satisfying. Hungry and needy humanity actually loves spiritual truth.
Mrs. Eddy in her teaching repeatedly emphasizes the fact that God is one Mind. She stresses the fact that the understanding of this truth effectively nullifies evil of every sort. The fact that God is one Mind, infinite good, is counterfeited by so-called mortal mind as one evil. Good is expressed in countless ways, and this fact antidotes the multifarious phases of the one evil.
The Revelator exposes this claim of evil to power. He depicts evil as a dragon that makes war on the true idea of God. But the true idea of God overcomes the evil which claims that man is created physically, a false claim that is the accuser or calumniator of man. Evil, accusing man of being a physical organism, claims to convict him on that count. The truth of being, revealing man as spiritual, sets man free from this and every other false accusation. Thus, as the Revelator proclaims, "The accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night."
At last humanity — too long deceived by animal magnetism — is responding to the harmonies of divine Truth, revealed in Christian Science, and so is awakening to the possibility of present salvation. This salvation is enjoyed progressively, not only in the lessening of sin, but in better health, an ever-increasing freedom from sickness and disease.
When the Israelites were moving forward gradually to the land of promise, they had to pass through the land of Moab. Balak, the king of the Moabites, who believed in the power of incantations, invited Balaam to curse the Israelites with the belief that thus their progress would be arrested. According to the Bible narrative, Balaam finally refused to do this, saying that God had blessed and that he could not reverse it.
Balaam had caught a glimpse of an eternal fact, and in spite of his many mistakes, he was able to see the inevitable victory of the true idea of God. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, has said, "We can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth."
So, reversing the evidence of the material senses today, and claiming the spiritual opposite as true, we see that all men in reality can express the truth of being; all nations can live in harmony and accord; all human inventions can be controlled by the wisdom of God, as good servants, and not allowed to usurp the place of masters. Healing by spiritual means is well adapted to promote human welfare, health, and happiness. This fact is now being more widely understood and acknowledged. All human problems, universal, national, and individual, can be solved on the basis of the Golden Rule. Economic problems between employer and employee, between labor and management, can be solved on this enduring basis; and that is being proved step by step.
The realization, made possible by Christian Science, that all is harmony always is not mere superficial optimism. It is not a case of declaring that everything is lovely, when in practice it is the very opposite. No. It goes much deeper than that. Christian Science reveals the perennial reality of being as perfect and harmonious now and always. It does not say that everything in material sense is harmonious and right. But by the practice of the Science of being, the discords and wrongs in material sense are subdued by the harmonies and perfections of divine Mind consciously utilized. Jesus said, "Cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also." This is the basis on which Christian Science operates.
God used David to contribute much to the harmony enjoyed by humanity. In spite of many blemishes, David expressed grand and noble qualities. His willingness to acknowledge before God his mistakes enabled him, like the publican in Jesus' parable, to gain justification, which self-righteousness, as typified by the Pharisee, would shut out. David's magnanimity was seen, when Saul was seeking to slay him, and David would not return evil for evil when he had Saul at a disadvantage. David's victory over self to that extent led to higher successes and greater conquests. He conquered the enmity of Saul by loving him. He overcame Saul's false accusations by the power of Truth.
When, in the light of Christian Science, we are able to clear out of consciousness the wrongs and ills of mortal belief, we are being ushered into heaven itself. This is not ignoring wrong, nor putting one at the mercy of evil. It is the correcting of evil through divine Love, with the omnipotence of infinite Truth. It is the way of salvation.
While driving through a desert region in southern Arizona some time ago, a party of Christian Scientists learned many valuable lessons in Christian Science. The words of the prophet Isaiah were recalled, "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose." According to the evidence of the physical senses, there was not a great deal of blossoming or rejoicing, but the consciousness of God's dear presence was very tangible.
This brought back to mind to these students of Christian Science many experiences in which, when evil appeared to be very active, this lie was reversed, and Truth was proved to be the only real power. Seeming defeat was turned into victory.
Healings of physical disease, the establishment of greater security and harmony, and many other proofs of the power of Christian Science were recalled. It was realized that, as Mrs. Eddy so helpfully expresses it in Science and Health (p. 596), "Christian Science, contradicting sense, maketh the valley to bud and blossom as the rose."
Yes, it is being proved through Christian Science that what mortals have regarded as a "vale of tears" can be turned joyfully into a "valley of decision." By deciding to dwell on the reality of being, which is ever spiritual, perfect, and harmonious, we find that the discordant sense of things yields to the harmonious fact.
A healing wrought by Christ Jesus, the healing work of Mrs. Eddy, and the benefits enjoyed by those who study her teachings, have been referred to in this lecture. All these are convincing evidence of the unchanging harmony of being which it is our privilege to understand and enjoy. Like Saul of old, who responded to the harmony of David's music, humanity can throw off all sense of discord and enjoy the unchanging, ever-present harmony of Soul, brought to light by Christian Science.
Mrs. Eddy has written in Science and Health (p. 568), "For victory over a single sin, we give thanks and magnify the Lord of Hosts." And she asks a vital question and answers it: "What shall we say of the mighty conquest over all sin? A louder song, sweeter than has ever before reached high heaven, now rises clearer and nearer to the great heart of Christ; for the accuser is not there, and Love sends forth her primal and everlasting strain."
[April 27, 1950.]