Margaret Murney Glenn, C.S.B., of Boston,
Massachusetts
Member of the Board of Lectureship of The
Mother Church,
The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts
"Christian Science: The Revelation of Love as Divine Principle" was the subject of the lecture given Monday night by Miss Margaret Murney Glenn, C.S.B., of Boston, Mass., at Cadle Tabernacle under the auspices of Second Church of Christ, Scientist, Indianapolis. Miss Glenn is a member of The Board of Lectureship of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass. She was introduced by Charles W. Hale. Her lecture follows in full:
Christian Science brings the comforting assurance to all men that there is a correct solution to every problem, whether the problem be one of human relationship, of sickness, sorrow, lack, temperamental weaknesses, or sin. Jesus proved this fact twenty centuries ago, but because his life and works are looked upon as miraculous or as a personal accomplishment, rather than as the result of Science, humanity in general, and Christianity in particular, have been unable to repeat those works.
Christian Science is based on the Bible, but it does not require that the Bible be accepted simply because it is the Bible, for this blind belief in the Scriptures does not make them understandable nor practical. Christian Science shows that there is a Science of the Scriptures which not only makes plain the events and statements contained therein, but enables us to repeat the works of the prophets, apostles, and Jesus, and to prove for ourselves the great fact brought out in the Bible, namely, that God, good, is all and that evil and materiality are therefore powerless and non-existent.
In a general way, science is that which is subject to proof. Jesus gave proof of his teachings, which were based on the Old Testament, thus showing that those Scriptural writings were scientific or subject to proof. Christian Science gives proof of the teachings contained in the New Testament, thus confirming the scientific nature of these writings. Through "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, has restored to us the Science of the Bible, of both the Old and New Testaments, so that we too can understand and prove the scientific truth of their statements.
Mrs. Eddy gives the reason for the loss of the Science of the Scriptures and the scientific religion which Jesus taught, in the following words: "There was never a religion or philosophy lost to the centuries except by sinking its divine Principle in personality" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 117), and, "The religious departure from divine Science sprang from the belief that the man Jesus, rather than his divine Principle, God, saves man, and that materia medica heals him" (ibid., p. 348). In order, then, to solve in a scientific way the many problems which come into the experience of every individual, and to be happy, healthy, intelligent, unlimited, and free, we must understand God as divine Principle.
The very first verse of the Bible indicates God's nature as divine Principle. It states: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." The word "principle" comes from a Latin root, meaning the beginning, the foundation, or the first, and in several Latin texts of the Bible this verse reads, "In Principle, God created the heaven and the earth." This name Principle for God reveals Him as the beginning, foundation, or primal cause of all creation; in other words, of man and the universe.
Isaiah, Zechariah, and Amos perceived and described God's exact, undeviating, absolute nature as Principle when they beheld Him expressed as a plummet or plumbline. Amos describes his concept of God as one with a plumbline in His hand, standing on a wall made by a plumbline, and as saying, "Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel." That which is plumb is exact, level, true, and a plumbline is used for the measurement of perpendicularity or uprightness. Could Mrs. Eddy have found a better name than Principle to express this undeviating, exact, upright nature of God?
John refers to the divine manifestation of God as the Word. When you give your word about anything, it is supposed to be an assurance or a promise that is dependable and irrevocable. So God's Word is the immutable, reliable, absolute assurance of God's being, and this irrevocable, perfect Word of God we know as law, or Science. Law must be, is, perfect, immutably right and eternally active, in order to be law; therefore it has its source in Principle. Such law is Science, and is demonstrable. Any mode or motion which is subject to fallibility or improper action ceases at that moment to be law. Mrs. Eddy defines Christian Science "as the law of God, the law of good, interpreting and demonstrating the divine Principle and rule of universal harmony" (Rudimental Divine Science, p. 1).
What is it that we all want to bring out or demonstrate in our lives? Is it not harmony — mental and physical harmony? To be harmonious means to be free from dissension, confusion, fear, discord, suffering, and misunderstandings; it means to be conscious of peace, love, health, perfect activity; in other words, it means to be conscious of our true individuality, which is the creation, or manifestation, of Principle, God.
Even as music expresses the principle of harmony, so man expresses the divine Principle of harmonious being. Just as each musical tone has its exact mathematical relation to every other tone, so every individual man has his right relationship to every other individual in the universe of God, or Principle, and this exact and perfect relationship is harmony. There may be some who believe that they have very discordant relationships with their business associates, with members of their household, or with those whom they meet socially. By pursuing the same course that you would with a musical problem you will solve these problems. If you found a discord in your musical composition, you would eliminate it and replace it with some harmony which would bring out the beauty of music. You would not delay your work by wondering where this discord came from, or why it was there, nor would you indulge in the belief that this discord was somebody's fault; but you would know it was no part of your composition, and therefore you would not be interested in it. Your understanding of harmony would absolutely free you from the belief that this discord could have any actuality or existence as music.
Apply divine Principle, or Love, to your human problem in just this same way. If you are not understood in your home, if you seem to be unhappy, do not waste time wondering why you have this problem, thinking it is somebody's fault, or that this discord is an insurmountable actuality which must be endured, for from the standpoint of Christian Science it is no part of the harmony of your divine Principle, nor of your individuality. There are no ill-arranged, discordant individuals in the harmonious universe of divine Principle, which is Love, and your understanding of this fact will eliminate such a situation from your experience. This may seem a beautiful but impractical theory to one who has the evidence before his eyes of unkindness, carping criticism, envy, hatred, nagging, dissatisfaction, or ingratitude. Christian Science does not indicate that these problems are easy to solve, but it does offer the solution and it is certainly much easier to solve a problem, no matter how long it takes, than to ignore it, or to endure it with suppressed resentment, hopelessness, sorrow, fear, or hatred.
Because the musician has the evidence of a discord on the music sheet before his eyes, and because he hears this discord, he does not conclude that it is therefore real, or a part of music. He corrects what he sees and hears physically with what he understands of harmony. This is what the Christian Scientist does, and he does it constantly; he corrects the false suggestions and impressions obtained through the physical senses with what he understands of the perfection and harmony of his divine Principle and his own being as the individual expression of this Principle. This is purely a mental process, but the solution is discernible to the human senses. A discord in music is merely a mistaken or ignorant sense of music. A discord in our human experience is merely a mistaken or ignorant concept of Principle and its idea, or expression, man. When you discern the fact of man's perfect relationship to his fellow man, the mistaken, discordant concept of this fact vanishes and the human situation is governed by, and manifests, the fact instead of the false concept, or discord. Admittedly evil, error, and discord are unprincipled, therefore without a foundation or cause, and divine Principle, which is harmony's selfhood, causes man to be harmonious.
This true idea of man reveals that he has a perfect individuality which is like its origin, divine Principle. Mrs. Eddy says of it (Science and Health, p. 491): "Man's spiritual individuality is never wrong. It is the likeness of man's Maker. . . . Personality is not the individuality of man." Nothing could be of more interest to each one of us than our true selfhood or individuality. We cannot possibly share wisdom, love, or happiness with another until we have proved that those things constitute our individuality and that we therefore possess them. You would not attempt to share money you did not have with another, so you cannot share happiness or love with another until you have proved that they are part of your own individuality. Claim your individuality which is always right, which is spiritual, perfect, good, infinitely intelligent, and free, and you will thus reclaim it from the limited, suffering material beliefs which seem to surround and hide it. When a sculptor chisels out of marble his work of art, there is nothing in the block of marble which indicates the model he has in thought. But he cuts away all that is unlike his mental model, until only the model remains depicted there. Man's individuality is God’s mental and spiritual model or ideal. As human beings behold and love man's true individuality, they too are able to do away with the personal concepts of man which, like the marble, have hidden this perfect model.
Love your true individuality, which is never wrong. Rejoice in and cherish the loving, intelligent, harmonious thoughts and ideas that constitute this individuality. Then from this standpoint of love you will be able to reject the unworthy, limited, sick, and sinful beliefs that are claiming to be man. We can never love man's, in other words, our true individuality too much. In fact, the more you love it the more you will live it.
Is not this what Jesus meant when he gave us the standard of our love for others, namely, that we should love them as ourselves? Because mankind has not understood this command, it has ignored the part about loving ourselves, and tried to love others. Only by loving our true Godlike selfhood sufficiently to be able to unsee and do away with the disturbing, suffering, envious, unhappy, impatient, loveless qualities which are claiming to hide this perfect model, are we in a position to love others out of their false beliefs of personality. Unless you have loved your true being sufficiently to be able to prove something of man's perfection in yourself, you will not be able to love another enough to do this for him. Prove for yourself that man's individuality is the idea of Principle, that it is wholly pure and free, and you will then be able to demonstrate for others what you have proved for yourself, namely, that "man's spiritual individuality is never wrong."
You may wonder if it is not hypocritical to claim a perfect sinless selfhood when you seem to have false desires, bad habits, and a distressing temperament. These things are the qualities which constitute the flesh and are enmity against God, the Principle of your individuality. They are the false, lying testimony of the material senses about your true being, so that to identify yourself with them is hypocritical, whereas identifying yourself with good, with God, our Father-Mother, is truthful. Ally yourself with good, claim it as your individuality, and this false limited concept, called personal desires, personal traits, faults, and fears, will disappear. This affirmation on the side of good will free from sin and sickness, for it has God, divine Principle, with it.
This truth was experienced by a young woman who had been left alone in an apartment in a foreign city. Shortly after her family had left, she heard the front door open and saw a man go by her room to her mother's room. After she had overcome her fear by knowing that God, good, was the only presence, she went into her mother's room and found that he was engaged in taking some jewelry out of a bureau drawer. Convinced that man's true individuality is good, therefore honest, she said to the man: "You don't want to do this. You really don't want to steal." The man was amazed, but as she continued to affirm the perfection, purity, and loveliness of his true individuality as God's image, he dropped the pistol he had pointed at her, thanked her, and quietly went away.
It was love that arrested that man's act — that love which saw not the block of rough ugly marble, the false personality, but which beheld the individuality of man which is God's idea and never wrong. It is the erroneous, loveless, sinful concept of us which is hypocritical, for it claims to be what it is not, namely man. Mrs. Eddy says (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 104): "Clothed, and in its right Mind, man's individuality is sinless, deathless, harmonious, eternal. His materiality, clad in a false mentality, wages feeble fight with his individuality, — his physical sense with his spiritual senses. . . . In obedience to the divine nature, man's individuality reflects the divine law and order of being. How shall we reach our true selves? Through Love." Jesus never ignored, forgot, belittled, or condemned his individuality, but he recognized that it was one with the Father, embraced in divine Love, endued with the omnipotence, omniaction, and the omniscience of its divine source, or Principle. Because he proved the divine nature of man's true selfhood, of our true selfhood, he was able to prove the spiritual selfhood of everyone who came to him, limited by the false concept of a personality opposed to Principle.
We never think of condemning Jesus because he was tempted, because we see so clearly that these temptations were unlike his true character, and he proved this to be true. We need never condemn ourselves because temptation claims to come to us, for temptation is the exact opposite of our true individuality. Self-condemnation never overcame a temptation, for self-condemnation expresses the belief that evil has a personality through which to act. Condemnation of one's self or another has never healed a case or overcome a temptation. It has simply lengthened the struggle with temptation. But condemnation to its nothingness of the lie, the personal sense of man, releases us from bondage to its suggestions. Man's true individuality is the idea or creation of divine Principle, or Love, so it can never be governed or influenced by envy, fear, hatred, or revenge, all of which are unprincipled qualities. These things are as foreign to man as they are to God.
If through fear or limitation we have placed a cherished or valuable possession where it does not belong and we have been given for it something less than its value, the only way we can recover this possession is by redeeming it through an exchange of some sort. This illustrates what has happened to our concept of man's true individuality and what is necessary to recover it. Through fear and a sense of limitation mankind has placed its concept of man in matter, where he never belonged nor could be, and the only way to redeem mankind from this limitation is by exchanging the human concept of man for the true idea of his spiritual individuality. This human concept is a corporeal, imperfect, limited, unhappy, sick, and sinful concept of man, which we call personality. Sometimes this personality seems good as well as evil, and to be capable of harmony as well as discord; in fact, to be contradictory in its nature; so it could never be the expression of Principle, and could therefore never be man's individuality. Personality is the opposite of Principle, for it expresses and is governed by whims, caprices, material circumstances — by the supposition that man is mortal. It is impossible to understand personality, for it does not think or act according to Principle.
As you probably know, the word person comes from the Latin word, persona, or mask, and its root meaning is, "to sound through." Actors formerly used these masks to hide their own individuality, and to project through them the personalities they were portraying. The character of man can not be expressed through a mask or person, through the five material senses or through material sensation, for this mask seems to hide man's true individuality from our view. The only way we can behold our true individuality as God's image is by removing this mask, called personality, and exchanging this personal, limited concept of man for the true idea of man, as healthy, harmonious, joyous, and free.
In the allegory related in Genesis, the belief or theory that man is a material person capable of knowing and expressing more than God knows, namely, of knowing and expressing evil, the opposite of good, God, was presented through a lying serpent. God beheld all that He created as very good, so this suggestion that man can behold, see, or feel something outside of God's knowing must be a lie. Of course, Eve is not the only person who has entertained or been entertained by this serpentine suggestion that man can know, see, and feel evil, which includes sin, disease, and death. However, the way to handle this serpentine talker was clearly shown to Adam and Eve, for the Lord God said to the serpent, "Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shall thou eat all the days of thy life."
If this is Truth's fiat to the suggestion that man is an evil and good personality, let us side with Truth, God, and let the serpent go on its belly — in other words, let us not give this lie about man a leg to stand on. Also let us uphold the dictum of Mind that the serpent be fed with dust, with nothingness. There is no life, intelligence, or sustenance in dust. When we believe that personality with its sin, sickness, and death constitutes man, or our true individuality, that it has reality, presence, life, we are not feeding the serpent with the dust of nothingness.
Jesus unmasked this serpentine suggestion when he said of it, "When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." When this serpentine lie of personality tries to tempt us it does not say, "I, the serpent," or, "I, the corporeal senses," or, "I, error, am sick," but "I, John Smith, or I, Mary Hall" (whatever our names may be), "am sick, sinful, unhappy, discouraged, or afraid." This lie claims to be our ego or being, our thinking or mind, and to have a personality which it calls ours, through which to express itself. Then through this personality, or mask, the suggestions are voiced: "I am without supply, without work; I am useless; or, I want to indulge in sin." This is but the lie talking about itself; for as Jesus said, "When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own"; in other words, it is showing up its own nature as discouraged, afraid, lacking, inactive, or unhappy.
Jesus taught us the proper way to treat this lie, which is talking about itself, when he said, "Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him." Agree that the suggestions which are adverse to your happiness, health, supply, harmony, and holiness are talking about themselves, their own false concepts, but that these suggestions are not true of you, the perfect likeness of God. Agree that it is the true nature of the adversary to be discouraged, unhappy, afraid, and lacking, and that it has every reason to be so, for it has no Principle to support it, no Life to make it active, no Love to make it happy, no God or good to sustain it. Admit that this adverse thinking, this lie, is talking about itself, not about you, man, the image of God; therefore it is not affecting, governing, or influencing you in any way.
Mrs. Eddy relates the following in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 224): "A courtier told Constantine that a mob had broken the head of his statue with stones. The emperor lifted his hands to his head, saying: 'It is very surprising, but I don't feel hurt in the least.'" So, when a lying suggestion talks to you about its false, material, personal concept of you, man, you can feel as assured as did Constantine that you are not hurt, sick, sinful, or discouraged, because this false concept, this personality which is a material image of your individuality, has never been you, and because it is not God-created it does not exist.
Recently a Christian Scientist told me of the experience which brought her to Christian Science. Her little girl was in the hospital about to have an operation. The child's suffering seemed so intense and the means for overcoming it so inadequate that the mother rushed from the hospital in despair, not knowing where to turn for help. She met a friend on the street, to whom she poured out her troubles. This friend invited her to attend a Christian Science Sunday service. The mother consented and went with her friend. At that service a little boy sat next to her who seemed to be suffering from some physical difficulty. During the reading of the Lesson-Sermon from the Bible and the Christian Science textbook the boy was completely healed. On seeing this wonderful healing the mother of the little girl could not but marvel, and as she left the church she spoke to one of the ushers about it, asking him what had produced this healing. He told her that the Word of God in the Bible was as powerful today as in Jesus' time, and recommended that she study it in conjunction with "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." This she did, at the same time asking for Christian Science treatment for the little girl, who was also beautifully healed. She told me that her gratitude for the services in the Christian Science churches was greater than words could express, for they were indeed a service of good, of healing, and of love to all who would but accept their loving invitation and partake of the "cup of cold water" they offer each one in the congregation.
What had happened to this little girl and her mother? A false, personal, sick concept of man had been exchanged for a glorious, perfect concept of him as God's idea. Man's true individuality had been brought to light, as healthy and harmonious.
Jesus always distinguished between his personality and his individuality, and it is this which Christian Science enables us to do for ourselves and others; for man's individuality, his true character, is the image and likeness of God, the effect of the one and only cause, the idea, or expression, of Principle. Jesus said, "He that seeth me seeth him that sent me," and, "If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also." He must have been referring in these two instances to his individuality, or true selfhood, which is the image and likeness of God. There were many who had seen Jesus' personality, or corporeality, who had never perceived the true nature of God, so he could not have meant these; for, although they had seen his personality, they had not seen his true being, or individuality. Whenever you see your own or another's lovable, loving, and perfect character, you are seeing the Father manifested; in other words, you are seeing divine Principle, Love, and Life expressed.
Mrs. Eddy states: "Jesus' personality in the flesh, so far as material sense could discern it, was like that of other men; but Science exchanges this human concept of Jesus for the divine ideal, his spiritual individuality that reflected the Immanuel, or 'God with us'" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 103). This is what Christian Science does for each one of us; it exchanges the human concept of us for the divine ideal, or our true individuality. Has it ever occurred to you that no one has ever seen and never will see his own face? You have seen the reflection of your face in a mirror, so you know what it is like, and you have probably said or thought as you looked at your reflection, "I see my face." This is not true, however, but because this reflection is exactly like your face, you have seen your face reflected. Actually you have never seen anyone else's face, for all that you perceive in looking at another is a reflection of his face on the retina of your own eye. If, then, we are satisfied that we have seen ourselves as human beings when we see an exact likeness or a reflection in the mirror, and that we have seen others when we see an image or exact likeness pictured on the retina, why can not we easily accept the fact that when we see the exact likeness of God known as man, or true individuality, we have seen God reflected; as Jesus so clearly explained when he said, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father."
No one can ever be deprived of the divine Principle of man's being, for it is universal, impartial, everywhere present. Does not this impartiality, universality, invariability, ever-presence, and harmony reveal divine Principle to be Love?
This view of Love as Principle may be entirely new to many, but this new view need not seem strange, cold, or distant, for when you analyze it you will find that this name best expresses your ideal of Love. First and foremost, we always love what we understand, and we understand what we love. If there is someone we do not seem to love, this lack of love would vanish before an understanding of his true motives and aims, his character, or individuality. If we do not understand him, it is because we do not love enough. Love and understanding are indissolubly linked. Principle is understandable, and it imparts understanding. That which is unprincipled can never be understood. One can only theorize, wonder, or guess about that which is not scientific, not based on Principle.
Ideal love could not be variable, fickle, or inconstant, but it consists of deeds which give proof of its being love. Principle alone can be the foundation, source, or cause of such ideal love, for Principle is invariable, changeless, provable. Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments," in other words, give proof of or demonstrate the laws which I have lived and proved, and you will be manifesting Love. Jesus did not say that we were to love or worship his personality, but that we were to love and live according to the Principle of his being which had given him the law or the commandments. Thus, we would be loving Jesus' divine Principle and his true individuality. Love for another's personality never enables us to emulate the works of that individual. For instance, you may love the personality of a musician, but that would never make you a musician; whereas love for, and practice of, the principle of music and its harmonies would not only enlighten you as to the rules of harmony, and show you how to obey them, but would give you an understanding of that which motivated the musician in his works and his acts as a musician. When two or more individuals understand and practice the same Principle they understand or love each other, and in this is true unity.
Jesus said to his disciples, "I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you." It was not because of what they had done for him that Jesus called them friends, but because he had shared with them that which he had heard of his Father. This made him the greatest, most understanding, and most comforting friend mankind has ever had. It also gave the world an unselfed standard for friendship, such as it had never had before. Only when we share with another the true ideas which come to us from God are we treating another as a friend. When we impart the suggestions of depression, discouragement, and unemployment that are trying to make themselves real to us today, we are not sharing the truth about man's perfect individuality which is never wrong, and which therefore lacks nothing, and we are not treating others in a very friendly manner.
Much has been written within the last few years about the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, for the false impression seems to persist that the Christian Science movement was and is dependent on her personality. As long as the statements in her books can be and are proved to be true, the Christian Science movement will continue, and Mrs. Eddy's place as the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, as well as is Leader, will remain inviolate.
The discovery of Christian Science was not dependent upon Mrs. Eddy's personality. It was the divine Principle of man and the universe, rending the veil of personality or the corporeal concept of man and revealing itself as a Science, through man's individuality which is never wrong, and which is the likeness of divine Principle. Mrs. Eddy, through her love for God and man, had so far overcome the beliefs which constituted a mortal personality that she became conscious of her true individuality as an idea of God, and of this Science which revealed the truth about God and man. Like Jesus, she shared with us that which she heard of the Father, and she did this in the way that God inspired and led her, through her written works, through the establishment of the Christian Science church. Should anyone care to know the salient events of her life which led to this discovery and to the founding of this great movement, they will find her autobiography, "Retrospection and Introspection," most inspiring and instructive. The fact that this autobiography contains but ninety-five pages, much of which is taken up with statement of Christian Science, indicates how little she made of her personal life and how carefully she held Truth before her readers.
Christian Scientists are grateful that she has shared with them, and all mankind, that which she heard of the Father, and that she has thus expressed true friendship for all. Only Love begets love. Mrs. Eddy not only discovered, but she proved, that Love is the divine Principle of man, and that man's individuality reflects the wisdom, love, health, and Science of this Principle. She cherished no hatred towards those who misunderstood and maligned her and her great work, but she wrote, "Each day I pray: 'God bless my enemies; make them Thy friends; give them to know the joy and the peace of love'" (Miscellany, p. 220).
Christian Science comes to you today as a friend, for all it has to give is that which cometh from the Father, from divine Principle. It makes clear to us Love's nature and presence and reveals man's true character. It is because Christian Science makes plain to us God's nature as demonstrable Principle, because it interprets God, man, and the universe to us, that it is our friend and comforter, for Jesus said that the Comforter, or spirit of Truth, "shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak." This Comforter makes plain to us the words and works of Jesus and gives us an understanding of the divine Principle of those works, thus inspiring us to do the same works. What it did for the disciples after Jesus left them it is doing for us today, namely, it gives us an understanding of and love for Truth.
Let us examine some of the ways Christian Science is befriending and comforting us today. Consider the present world situation with regard to unemployment, depression, and overproduction. Christian Science will give you an understanding of that which it has heard from the Father; in other words, of that which comes from intelligent Mind, and it will show you that this is demonstrable, or provable, in your experience. If I may express it so, Christian Science will present and interpret God's viewpoint — the viewpoint of Principle, which is Truth. Really this is the only viewpoint to be considered, for man and the universe express the thought of that Mind which created them. So for a moment let us look out on the universe and man from the standpoint of God, Principle.
God is forever employing man to express good, love, the abundance of Mind's ideas, so you, man, are never without employment. God makes use of every one of us to express Himself, and as He is Mind our employment is wholly a mental activity. There is no lack of employment in God's kingdom, which, as Jesus said, is "within you" — which is within your consciousness, here and now. If this is true, that we are all employed now, what is it keeps us from seeing and experiencing this fact? It must be a state of mesmerism, for if we are deceived into believing that a situation exists which has no truth in it, this belief must be a condition of mesmerism. In this case the mesmerism is induced by fear, depression, anxiety, and mental contagion. These suggestions have no mind to employ them. They are simply lies of the serpent, trying to make us believe that God, good, is not present. Feed them with dust. Know that they come from nowhere, lead nowhere, and are nothing because God did not create them. These suggestions cannot employ your thoughts, for God alone employs man to express Himself.
In one of his parables Jesus relates that a certain man who was going away gave each of his servants a different number of talents and told them, "Occupy till I come." The conclusion of the parable shows that this man expected the talents to increase through utilization. Although Jesus was speaking of money, we can apply this parable to our mental and spiritual talents and abilities.
There can be no superfluous supply in God's kingdom, for Mind employs every one of its ideas or creations. Occupy your thought with these truths until they come to your human experience as demonstrated Truth. Think encouraging, loving, joyous thoughts, until the mesmerism of fear and depression has vanished and the result of your right thinking which is based on a demonstrable Principle has come. Let God employ your thought.
Superfluity, overproduction, and unemployment cannot be true, Godlike conditions, for they are based on the erroneous assumption that something exists which is not utilized. Only through utilization do we become conscious of supply, for supply is activity. Money which is buried in the ground or hoarded is not supply, nor is it even a reserve of supply, but merely an expression of fear, of lack, miserliness, or ignorance — a dead belief of matter doing nothing.
Utilize your talents. But you may answer that you are not given the opportunity to utilize them. God who has given us our talents gives the opportunity or occasion to utilize them. But perhaps we are seeking in the wrong direction for this opportunity. We may believe that somebody ought to give us opportunity, or that our experience in a certain line of work should assure us of opportunity, or that some corporation ought to engage us. When we admit these suggestions we are turning away from the source of opportunity, which is God, who affords man "fresh opportunities every hour," as Mrs. Eddy says (Christian Healing, p. 19).
A person who is looking for employment and who is taking along the belief with him that he is without occupation, will see that belief manifested wherever he goes. But if he goes forth occupying his thought with the truth that he is employed of God and that whatever he is doing, even though to the human senses it may be looking for work, is his opportunity to manifest this truth, such a one will find that the mesmerism of lack, or unemployment, and depression have disappeared from his existence.
It is God's law that we use our talents. This does not mean that because our talent is for architecture we must have work as an architect, but it does mean that the constructive thinking which made us architects has to be employed, for this thinking is the real talent. If we are musicians, the harmonious thinking which has made us musical will have to be persistently used. If we are chemists, our talent for analysis, for understanding the constituency or true nature of things, will have to be utilized. And if we believe we have no talent, this is because we have not recognized that we possess the greatest talent of all, namely, the ability to think intelligently, lovingly, courageously, according to the demands of Principle. Occupy your thought with your true God-given talents, until the mists of fear, doubt, and depression have disappeared and the truth of your being has come, in other words is made apparent, and you see that you are occupied, in your right place, manifesting the abundance of God.
This is but one of the countless ways in which Christian Science is our friend. This Science makes God, as divine Principle, ever available to us. It lifts love out of personal sense with its whims and caprices, likes and dislikes, and places it on high as a divine, demonstrable, impartial, universal Principle, which is forever with us. The friendliness of this divine Principle, Love, is beautifully depicted in one of Mrs. Eddy's much loved poems (Poems, p. 7):
"Thou to whose power our hope we give,
Free us from human strife.
Fed by Thy love divine we live,
For Love alone is Life;
And life most sweet, as heart to heart
Speaks kindly when we meet and part."
[Delivered Nov. 27, 1933, at Cadle Tabernacle in Indianapolis, Indiana, under the auspices of Second Church of Christ, Scientist, Indianapolis, and published in The Marion County Mail of Indianapolis, Dec. 1, 1933. Paragraph breaks have been added in a few instances to make the lecture more approachable to the modern reader.]