Frank T. Hord, C.S., of Washington, D.C.
Member of the Board of Lectureship of The
Mother Church,
The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts
Our great Master, Christ Jesus, taught the people by the seaside, on the hills, and in the valley. His teachings were tender, compassionate, full of the Father's loving provision for His creation. He healed the multitudes who sought him.
Through parables and sermons Jesus illustrated the Father's love. He taught his hearers by the simple things in their daily experience. He said that a shepherd had one hundred sheep and that one strayed. The shepherd left the ninety-nine to seek out the lost one.
Again he said, "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: . . . even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these . . . If God so clothe the grass of the field, . . .shall he not much more clothe you?" He reminded them: "Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt. 6:28-30,32,33).
In this quiet hour we shall consider the kingdom of God, the kingdom of Love within. May we feel the tender presence of divine Love and experience the power of the healing Christ.
John the Baptist came declaring, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 3:2) — joyous news, glad tidings, profound revelation. In reality, right here in this place, right here in your own consciousness, is the law of harmony, the reign of peace. Every detail of man's existence is in perfect adjustment, in perfect concord, now.
In many languages good is a term for God. Hence the kingdom of God means the kingdom of good; the law of perfection and harmony.
John the Baptist preached that this kingdom of good is here and now. As he presented this great truth to the people, he told them how to experience it. He said, "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 3:2). He urged them to turn from the material sense of existence and to be baptized, to be cleansed and purified with the spiritual sense of existence.
John was honest with the people. He told them that he was only the forerunner of one who would come, whose shoes he was not worthy to unloose.
Then Jesus appeared. The humble Nazarene came to John to be baptized of him. Jesus not only confirmed John's teaching that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, but Jesus gave also the fuller revelation that the kingdom of heaven is within.
Luke tells us (17:20,21), "And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." From these inspired words we understand that the kingdom of heaven is not far off; it is not to be gained through the material senses. The kingdom of heaven is a state of spiritual consciousness, the reign of harmony within.
The continuity of this glad theme was prophesied by Christ Jesus. In a parable he likened the kingdom of heaven to "leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened" (Luke 13:21). This prophecy is fulfilled in the revelation of Christian Science.
The Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," is the most revolutionary book of all ages. In this precious volume Mary Baker Eddy sets forth the divine laws of Life, Truth, and Love, the Science of the Christ. This divine Science is the leaven of Truth which is changing the thought of the world.
Thousands are turning from material medicine to the curative Principle, divine Mind, for healing. Material science is fast coming to Mrs. Eddy's revelation of the unreality of matter. Lincoln Barnett has written an interesting book entitled, "The Universe and Dr. Einstein." On page 11 of this book he makes some significant statements. I shall quote.
"Thus gradually philosophers and scientists arrived at the startling conclusion that since every object is simply the sum of its qualities, and since qualities exist only in the mind, the whole objective universe of matter and energy, atoms and stars, does not exist except as a construction of the consciousness, an edifice of conventional symbols shaped by the senses of man."
Does not this remind many of us of Mrs. Eddy's statement in Science and Health (p. 479), "An image of mortal thought, reflected on the retina, is all that the eye beholds"?
Mrs. Eddy tells us that the Bible was her only textbook. She founded Christian Science on the teachings and demonstrations of Christ Jesus and on the lives of the apostles and prophets.
The Bible is essential in the life of every Christian Scientist. Every day we turn to its inspired pages for life, health, supply, and happiness. We use the King James Version of the Bible. It is read in all Christian Science churches in English speaking countries in conjunction with "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures."
In night watches of great distress, in the face of threatening danger, in times of sorrow, and in times of gladness we turn to the Bible for inspiration. We are uplifted. We are comforted and healed. In the words of Isaiah (12:3), "Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation."
God reveals His presence and power through the sacred pages of the Bible. While reading the ninth chapter of Matthew, Mrs. Eddy was healed by the revelation of the power of God, following what her physician considered to be a fatal accident. She says in her book "Miscellaneous Writings," "As I read, the healing Truth dawned upon my sense; and the result was that I rose, dressed myself, and ever after was in better health than I had before enjoyed" (p. 24). This healing inspired Mrs. Eddy to further search the Scriptures until she discovered the spiritual laws of Life, Truth, and Love, which had healed her. She named her discovery Christian Science and presented it to the world in her book "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures."
In 1879, together with a few faithful students, Mrs. Eddy organized her church — a church, to quote her words (Manual of The Mother Church, p. 17), "which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing."
More than half a century ago the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science ordained the Bible and "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" as pastor of The Mother Church and of its branches.
She established the Christian Science Lesson-Sermons which are comprised of selections from the Bible and "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," which are read in our churches all over the world. These Lesson-Sermons are studied daily by Christian Scientists and many others interested in Christian Science.
The Christian Science Publishing Society in Boston, Massachusetts, was also established by Mrs. Eddy. Here all authorized Christian Science literature is published and disseminated throughout the world. Every Christian Science church maintains a Reading Room where this literature may be freely read and purchased if so desired.
The leaven of Truth, this Science of the Christ, is the spiritual understanding of the coexistence of God and man, the absolute inseparability of God and man, Mind and its idea. This spiritual understanding constitutes the kingdom of heaven within, the reign of universal harmony.
The human mind presents many misconceptions of heaven. The divine idea of heaven is defined with clarity in Science and Health as follows (p. 587): "Heaven. Harmony; the reign of Spirit; government by divine Principle; spirituality; bliss; the atmosphere of Soul."
It follows that all true government must be "government by divine Principle." We find the solution of every problem, whether family, business, church, or government, is based on the spiritual understanding of God, divine Principle, Love. Divine Principle is the ever-present living God. Principle is the primal cause, the fundamental law of being. In obedience to divine Principle every thought, motive, and desire must conform to God's irresistible law of perfection.
Someone may say, "How can I uphold and demonstrate a righteous government when everything seems so chaotic?" There are "wars and rumours of wars"; mankind is frightened by medical propaganda of disease and death; and the uncertainty of what we call the atomic age alarms us.
The answer to this question is at hand. It is an imperative answer — final and absolute. The answer is, in the words of our textbook: "The God-Principle is omnipresent and omnipotent. God is everywhere, and nothing apart from Him is present or has power" (Science and Health, p. 473).
At all times and especially when the heads of government are met in conference for the solution of world problems, it is our duty to know that the one infinite Mind is omnipresent as divine Principle, Love. Divine Mind is motivating, outlining, directing, and controlling thought and action. Divine Mind is revealing its plan and purpose. Divine intelligence is present, bringing order out of seeming chaos.
In all places where the arguments of minds many may claim to be present, right there the "God-principle is omnipresent and omnipotent." On battlefields, in the air, on the sea, or under the sea, the God-principle is the omnipresent law of good protecting and healing those who turn to it.
Divine Principle with its fixed rules is demonstrating law and order. The demonstration of its supreme law of perfection forever dispels the lawlessness of the carnal mind. Divine Principle underlies, overlies, and encompasses true existence.
The divine, irresistible God-principle, the infinite, all-pervading intelligence, is everywhere present. This law of God is operative when we earnestly appeal to it and obey it. It is ever available to destroy the errors of the carnal mind. No secret council chamber can resist it; no blind, hypnotic suggestions can oppose it; no mortal mentality can legislate against at.
Everything exists in and as consciousness. The awareness and recognition of omnipresent good brings good into concrete being; that is, good is manifested as our present experience.
The divine law to every situation is stated, in the words of Science and Health (p. 536), "The divine understanding reigns, is all, and there is no other consciousness."
The anticipation of good, like faith, is "the substance of things hoped for" (Heb. 11:1). Then let us live the inspiration and harmony of ever-present good; for all good is here in perfect substance, beauty, and sufficiency. The banquet table of divine Love is spread before us; the "pure river of water of life" (Rev. 22:1) inspires and satisfies us. The Christ-power is present to speak the "peace, be still" to all propaganda and false prophesies. The kingdom of heaven is intact. "O taste and see that the Lord is good" (Ps. 34:8).
A Christian Science practitioner saw the kingdom of heaven appear in the life of a young friend. This young woman believed that she was strongly opposed to Christian Science. Her husband and his family loved Christian Science very much. She asked the family to refrain from any effort to induce her to become a Christian Scientist.
A year or two after their marriage she was faced with a physical difficulty. One of the foremost surgeons in her state advised an immediate operation for a thyroid tumor. Her husband then told her that, since the operation involved him in many ways, he felt that, if she would see a friend of his who was a Christian Science practitioner, he would be relieved. This the young wife consented to do.
The practitioner was asked to come to their home to discuss the situation. This she did. When she arrived at their home the young wife stated her opposition to what she considered Christian Science to be. During the conversation she spoke of her sincere desire to understand God.
Then the practitioner saw the cause of the trouble — the cause was a false concept of God, a misconception of the true nature of God. She knew that ignorance of God could not hide the purity of the Christ and "the beauty of holiness" which were so evident in the young woman. She assured her that Christian Science could heal her. The young woman asked to have Christian Science treatment. The practitioner asked her if she would read the twenty-third Psalm. She responded, "I shall be glad to; I love the Bible."
The Christian Science practitioner turned wholly to God in silent prayer. As the practitioner prayed, her consciousness was illumined with the meaning of the seven synonyms of God as found in Science and Health. These synonyms are Life, Truth, Love, Principle, Spirit, Soul, Mind. This pentecostal light flooded her consciousness with the full realization that God, Spirit, is All-in-all. She realized that this spiritual truth would dispel everything unlike God, for the "word of God is quick, and powerful" (Heb. 4:12), as the Bible tells us.
The next day the young woman telephoned that the tumor was gone. Her statement of healing was verified three days later by the surgeon. A testimony of this healing appeared in The Christian Science Journal (February, 1949).
I think you may be interested to know more about the seven synonymous terms for God that brought this healing. Mrs. Eddy defines God in Science and Health (p 465); "God is incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love."
In considering the seven distinctive terms for God as used in Christian Science, we must realize that they combine as One. There is one God. God, being infinite, must be eternal and perfect. The Scriptures declare (Deut. 6:4), "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord."
As one gains, step by step, an understanding of the spiritual meaning of these terms, he finds that the nature and presence of God is gradually dawning upon his thought and being manifested in his daily experience.
One may say: "Yet, I have read that 'God is love' (I John 4:16), but what can that do for me? I'm lonely. I am sick, and I am poor." Christian Science replies that the acceptance of the divine truth that God is Love, ever-present Love, and that man is the reflection of divine Love, can heal every lonely heart and cure every ill.
The understanding and demonstration of the omnipresence of divine Love is the primal law of Christian Science Mind-healing. The love of divine Love inspires us, and the wisdom of divine Love directs our way when we seek this inspiration and guidance. This vital truth was demonstrated in the experience of a young woman whom I know.
This young woman called at the office of a Christian Science practitioner and asked for Christian Science treatment. She said that because of the excessive drinking of alcohol she was unable to hold a position; her friends were fast disappearing, and her family was desperate. She said she felt disgraced and alone.
The practitioner explained to her that God is Love, divine, all-inclusive Love, and that her true selfhood was included in divine Love, fed, satisfied, and loved by divine Love. They further talked of the power of divine Love, the tenderness of divine Love, the Love that sustains, supplies, and meets all human needs.
This true idea of the nature of divine Love awakened the patient to the deceptive nature of the carnal appetites of mortal mind. Our Leader writes of these appetites (Science and Health, p. 536): "Their supposed joys are cheats. Their narrow limits belittle their gratifications and hedge about their achievements with thorns." My friend had felt these thorns and was so ready to be rid of them.
This spiritual insight of the power of divine Love and the unreality of evil revealed her true birthright of freedom and dominion. The healing began that day and was completed in a short time. The desire for liquors and tobacco disappeared, and her health was restored. A more interesting position was secured. This healing brought happiness to her family and friends.
Our Leader laid great stress on the healing power of divine Love. She once asked a class, "What is the best way to do instantaneous healing?" After various answers were given, she replied in substance: "I will tell you the way to do it. It is to love! Just live love — be it — love, love, love. Do not know anything but Love. Be all love. There is nothing else. That will do the work. It will heal everything; it will raise the dead. Be nothing but love" (We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, Second Series, pp. 49, 50).
The manifestation of divine Love is the functioning presence of the healing Christ. Our Master, Christ Jesus, demonstrated divine Love by healing the sick and raising the dead.
The hearts of Christian Scientists are alive with gratitude and love for our Saviour Christ Jesus. Christian Science makes a distinction between the human Jesus and the divine idea, or Christ.
Jesus was the highest earthly concept of the divine idea, or Christ. The Christ was the divinity of the man Jesus, and the Christ is the divine nature of the real man, the godliness that animates the real man. Jesus understood God as source, primal cause, perfect and eternal, "our Father which art in heaven." Jesus discerned that man is the image and likeness of God and that everything that was true about God was true about himself as God's reflection. To the Jews he said, "I and my Father are one" (John 10:30), and to Philip, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9).
Jesus recognized that this understanding of the true nature of God and man is the Christ, the Son of God. Therefore in his daily affairs he lived the Christ, or true idea of God. This spiritual understanding healed the multitudes, reformed the sinner, and raised the dead. Mrs. Eddy discovered that what Jesus understood and claimed for himself is also true of the real selfhood of each individual. This understanding is here today to be proved by every one of us. The operation of this understanding in our daily experience constitutes Christian Science treatment.
During World War II, I was serving as a General Protestant Chaplain with an infantry division training in Texas. I spent the day before Christmas calling on all the men in my regiment who were hospitalized.
As I was leaving the hospital that night I was told that a soldier had just arrived and was been placed on the "critical list." His family has been notified that he would not live. I went to the ward at once. When I asked the nurse about this soldier her first words were, "Oh, he is such a good boy." Immediately the words of one of our hymns came to me:
"The King of Love My Shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack, for I am His
And He is mine forever."
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 330).
It was clearly seen that God is good, and that the goodness reflected by this young man was his true conscious identity. It was realized that no evil could befall God's image and likeness. He was assured of God's loving care for him. The words of Science and Health came with realization, "The good you do and embody gives you the only power obtainable" (p. 192). I will not go into detail, but, contrary to all the medical laws which seemed to be held over him, he not only lived, but returned after a short period of time to full infantry duty.
The words that came to me so clearly that Christmas Eve still ring in my heart,
"The King of Love my Shepherd is,
Whose goodness
faileth never."
Christ Jesus commanded his followers to go forth, preach the kingdom of God, and heal the sick. The kingdom of heaven was the basic theme of his teachings and of his life-work. He taught that the all-harmonious Principle of our being is ever present. He began the Lord's Prayer with "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come" (Matt. 6:9,10). The Master revealed the subjective nature of the kingdom of heaven. He said, it "is within," that is, within one's own consciousness. It is within one's consciousness that enlightenment takes place, that the Science of being is demonstrated, and that problems are solved.
We read in Science and Health (p. 291). "Heaven is not a locality, but a divine state of Mind in which all the manifestations of Mind are harmonious and immortal, because sin is not there and man is found having no righteousness of his own, but in possession of 'the mind of the Lord,' as the Scripture says."
This clear, scientific fact that "Heaven is not a locality, but a divine state of Mind" dispels the ignorance and superstition of the ages. It forever destroys the false belief that one must die to find a place of harmony and peace. It reveals the divine truth that man must express the Life that is God to experience harmony and immortality, to find peace and happiness. Our Leader writes in Science and Health (p. 266), "Perfect and infinite Mind enthroned is heaven."
Our conscious awareness of the presence and power of divine Love is the "reign of Spirit" within. This divine law of Spirit operates in the inward parts and indeed everywhere. It is the law of harmony to every detail of our being; it is the consciousness of infinite good, the consciousness of the infinity of abundance and the abundance of infinity at hand. Moses was aware of this infinity of good when he heard God say to him, "I will make all my goodness pass before thee" (Ex. 33:19).
As a Christian Scientist was sitting at her desk one morning she placed her hand over one eye. To her dismay she discovered that she could not see out of the uncovered eye. A sudden sense of fear troubled her. Instantly she began to realize the truth. She declared, "This error is no part of God, therefore no part of man, God's image and likeness." After a few moments of quiet prayer, she opened "Miscellaneous Writings" by Mrs. Eddy. She turned to the following passage (p. 277): "No evidence before the material senses can close my eyes to the scientific proof that God, good, is supreme." This was her answer straight from God. She saw that she must open her eyes to a clearer insight that God, good, is supreme. From that moment she began to work with a newness of purpose — to magnify good, to speak only good, to hear only good, to see only good, in fact to know the allness of God, good, and nothing else.
In a short time her vision was normal. The goodness of God had passed before her, and she had experienced the harmony of its presence. Thus she had proved that the kingdom of God is at hand. She had demonstrated that it is accessible, available, and sufficient.
It is from the standpoint of the allness of good that Christian Science demonstrates the unreality of evil, which heals the sick and the sinning.
Mrs. Eddy teaches that the mission of Christian Science is primarily to heal sin. To do this, sin must be self-seen as sin. The deception and ugliness of sin must be uncovered and cast out as no part of the real man. This is illustrated in the incident of the woman of Samaria at Jacob's well. As Jesus talked with this woman he was apparently faced with one of our modern problems. She had disregarded the moral law, and Jesus was aware of it.
But what did the Master talk to her about? He spoke to her of the "living water," the truth of being. He revealed to her the Christ, the true nature of God and man, the kingdom of Truth within (see John, Chapter 4).
Our Leader has so beautifully explained how Jesus healed. She writes: "Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick" (Science and Health, pp. 476, 477).
To see man as God's own likeness is the true method of healing which saves and reforms. Salvation is experienced as the human yields to the divine. It is the daily and hourly putting off of the old man with his fears and sins; it is the putting on of the new man by the recognition of man's divine nature as the image of God.
Salvation is attained through obeying the moral and spiritual laws of the Ten Commandments and by living the precepts of the Sermon on the Mount in our daily affairs.
Does not the Apostle Paul tell us that salvation is not a future state of being, but that salvation is now? Today is the day of salvation from all the ills of the carnal mind. Today all good is present, for God is everywhere.
The question is sometimes asked, "Do Christian Scientists pray?" The answer is, "Yes, we pray spiritually and scientifically."
Scientific prayer is the constant realization of God's allness, God's presence, God's power, and of man's oneness with God as His reflection. It is the prayer of communion with God, based on the Lord's Prayer.
Christ Jesus taught his followers one short prayer, which is called the Lord's Prayer. Mrs. Eddy tells us (Science and Health, p. 14), "The Lord's Prayer is the prayer of Soul, not of material sense." And she further assures us that this prayer covers every human need.
As we study this prayer we discern, that it explains all cause, effect, law, sufficiency, and salvation. The Lord's Prayer contains basic truths such as the nature of God, the presence of the kingdom of God, the will of God in operation, man's relationship to God, and the deliverance from temptation, disease, sin and death. Such truths when understood will heal the sick instantaneously.
Our great Master not only gave us the Lord's Prayer, but taught us how to utilize it. He said, "When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly" (Matt. 6:6). Hence to enter the sanctuary of prayer we must silence the demand of the material senses. We must shut the door, that is exclude from consciousness the personal sense of self and others. Then we pray to our Father. We realize the presence of divine Love and acknowledge our sonship, our inseparability from our Father-Mother God. This is "Immanuel," "God with us." It is in the consciousness purified by prayer that the human yields to the divine, and healing is experienced.
True prayer is the prayer of Love, the law of loving our neighbor as ourselves. Our Leader's healing work exemplified this method of prayer. She once [said] in substance: "I saw the love of God encircling the universe and man, filling all space, and that divine Love so permeated my own consciousness that I loved with Christlike compassion everything I saw. This realization of divine Love called into expression 'the beauty of holiness, the perfection of being' (Science and Health, p. 253), which healed, and regenerated, and saved all who turned to me for help" (We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, First Series, page 74).
This "Christlike compassion" is an essential quality of true prayer. It expresses itself in the tender love that heals the torn wounds; in the quietness that stills "the harsh noises of the day"; in the patience that soothes the fretful brow with the tranquility of Soul.
In the Manual of The Mother Church by Mary Baker Eddy we find the "Daily Prayer" that is used by Christian Scientists throughout the entire world. It reads as follows: "'Thy kingdom come;' let the reign of divine Truth, Life, and Love be established in me, and rule out of me all sin; and may Thy Word enrich the affections of all mankind, and govern them!" (Art. VIII. Sect. 4.)
The purpose of Christian Science treatment is to heal physically, morally, and spiritually. It is the power of God unto salvation.
The compassionate appeal of Christian Science is reaching the heart of the fearful, the suffering, the sinning, reaching it through the tender presence of the healing Christ, the true idea of Love. There is no one so ill, so poor, or so sinful that he cannot turn to this radiant presence and feel its healing power.
Christian Science practice is based on the unvarying laws of divine Principle. It is not one human mind acting upon another human mind; it is not the power of mind over matter; it is the divine law of Truth dispelling false beliefs. In our textbook we read, "Christian Science is the law of Truth, which heals the sick on the basis of the one Mind or God" (Science and Health, p. 482).
The absolute knowledge that God is Mind, one Mind, infinite and omnipresent, forever disposes of the belief that there is a mind separate from God. The one infinite Mind is all-knowing consciousness. What Mind knows about itself — its infinity, allness, and perfection — is manifested by Mind's creation, man and the universe. Christian Science declares that Mind, Spirit, is all, and that all creation, existing in divine Mind, must be spiritual and harmonious.
The one infinite Mind, or divine consciousness, is forever reflected by its spiritual ideas. These ideas manifest the intelligent, spiritual, loving nature of Mind. Scientific thoughts are right ideas. They find expression in right activity and result in the demonstration of prosperity, safety, and health. Likewise do sinful, lawless, and unloving thoughts manifest themselves in poverty, accidents, and disease. But these thoughts are unreal and have no effect on one who understands God, the one Mind, to be ever present.
Christian Science practice is based on right knowing. This knowing emanates from divine Principle and operates as the law of Truth, which blesses and heals.
The spiritual understanding of the incorporeal nature of God and man is a vital part of Christian Science healing. God, Mind is incorporeal, that is, without a fleshly or material body. The spiritual man, the image of Mind, is incorporeal, that is, without a fleshly or material body.
Man is the compound idea of God, the embodiment of spiritual ideas. Does not the Bible tell us, "Ye are the temple of the living God"? (II Cor. 6:16.) Man's real body, or spiritual identity, is constituted of spiritual ideas and governed by the law of Spirit. It follows that the real body is indivisible and indestructible. None of these ideas can be broken, severed, or mutilated. No suggestion of discord, disease, or sin can control the real body; nor can any ugliness of age or decrepitude deface this real body. No arguments either of a personal sense of life or of a finite material body can hide the glorious spiritual identity of the real man.
What appears to the senses as a mortal man with a material body made up of brain, heart, lungs, and other material organs is a misconception of the real man. When the fact that man is not a material physique is admitted, the ills of the flesh begin to disappear. Taking less thought of a material body, we shall experience more freedom and dominion.
I recently read an interesting article in a pamphlet published by The Christian Science Publishing Society many years ago. I quote in part: "According to physics, this material body which is called man is 75% water. If you weigh 160 pounds, 120 pounds of that is water, and according to physiology this entire body undergoes complete reconstruction once in three to seven years. The water that largely constituted your physical body a few years ago, has floated away in vapor and perchance settled in some lakelet. A goose drinks it and then it is goose. Has that water any more intelligence when it says it is man than when it says it is goose? When is it the greater goose, when it struts itself a man or when it waddles itself a goose?" (Christian Science: Pure Metaphysics, by Dr. Francis J. Fluno, C.S.D., page 23, line 10.)
Even this theory is considered out of date. We are now told that we get a new body almost as often as one's wife buys a new hat.
Christian Science is the Comforter promised by Christ Jesus. It is restoring to the world the understanding of his practical teachings and the lost art of spiritual healing.
This Comforter, or "Spirit of truth," is the very presence of the Christ, saying, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). As noted earlier in this lecture, this kingdom is at hand. Christ Jesus said that this kingdom is within you. It is the understanding of man's coexistence with his divine Principle, Love. This heavenly harmony of Soul is a state of divine consciousness. It is a mental state of concord and bliss. It is your inheritance, your riches, and your security.
The destruction of fear relieves the symptoms of every disease and is the "peace, be still" in every Christian Science treatment. John, the beloved disciple, assures us that fear is no part of divine Love and that ever-present Love casts out fear,
The dream nature of fear must be seen for what it is, an illusion of the carnal mind. Fear does not exist as an entity or as a fact. Fear is without basic cause and without law to support it. Neither has fear reality or presence. Fear has only the power you give it.
If fear seems to come in like a flood, we can quietly say, "This is not my thinking; this is an imposition of the carnal mind; it is not true." Thus in the strength of our spiritual identity we lift up a standard against the enemy.
Jesus never admitted that error was any part of his consciousness. He maintained his Christliness in the face of every circumstance. He is our Wayshower.
Let the kingdom of harmony reign within you. Today this liberating law of Love is unfolding the infinity of good.
The beautiful promise God made to Abraham may be fulfilled in your own experience. We read in Genesis, "And the Lord said unto Abram, . . . Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever" (Gen. 13:14,15).
The same promise to Abraham is made to us. This moment let us lift up our vision. Let us look out from the Christ-consciousness through the lens of infinity. Let us behold the allness and oneness of God. Then we shall see the completeness and perfection of Life, one Life and its infinite expression, spiritual man, the male and female of God's creating.
The promise reads, "For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it." How far can you see? Sight is spiritual discernment. Sight is spiritual understanding. Let infinite Truth enlarge the boundaries of your spiritual discernment and reveal the kingdom within.
If you look into this infinity of omnipresent good, all doubt, limitation, and imperfection will forever fall from your eyes. You will experience the kingdom of heaven here and now. This heavenly kingdom is the present realization of the coexistence of God and man, the reign of the all-inclusive Christ-consciousness.
I leave with you the tender assurance of our Leader's words (Science and Health, pp. 573, 574): "Take heart, dear sufferer, for this reality of being will surely appear sometime and in some way. There will be no more pain, and all tears will be wiped away. When you read this, remember Jesus' words, 'The kingdom of God is within you.' This spiritual consciousness is therefore a present possibility."
[Published in The Milwaukee County (Wisconsin) News, Jan. 1, 1959. Also published in The Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 24, 1961, under the headline "Christian Science Shows That Kingdom of God Heals". The word "said," appearing in brackets above, replaces the word "wrote," which is not accurate. Also, the "interesting article in a pamphlet published by The Christian Science Publishing Society" was actually a Christian Science lecture by Dr. Francis J. Fluno; the pamphlet is available, in transcript, on this site.]