Violet Ker Seymer, 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
A capacity audience consisting of many residents of Oneida and adjoining counties heard the free public lecture on Christian Science given by Violet Ker Seymer of Boston in First Church of Christ, Scientist, Utica. A Rome delegation was present.
In introducing Miss Ker Seymer, Mrs. Esther Ballard Watt, Second Reader of the church, said:
"Friends: You are indeed welcome to this lecture on Christian Science. We read in the Bible that Paul advised the Philippians (4:8) to think on the things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report. We can all agree that this advice is as good today as when it was first written centuries ago.
"In this present century, when but a young girl, I memorized a passage which appealed to me very much. I found it in a little book called 'The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany' which contains sermons and letters by the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy. It begins with these words: 'Beloved Christian Scientists, keep your minds so filled with Truth and Love, that sin, disease, and death cannot enter them. It is plain that nothing can be added to the mind already full. There is no door through which evil can enter, and no space for evil to fill in a mind filled with goodness.' To do this may seem difficult at first, but I can assure you from my own experience that it is well worth while and produces only good.
"During the next hour it will be easy for each one here to think on the things that are true, lovely, and of good report, — in other words, to keep his mind 'filled with Truth and Love.'
"The lecturer this evening, before becoming a member of the Board of Lectureship of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, was for some years one of the editors of The Christian Science Publishing Society, and is therefore well qualified to speak to us on 'Christian Science: Humanity's Friend and Emancipator.'
"It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you Violet Ker Seymer of Boston, Massachusetts."
Miss Ker Seymer spoke substantially as follows:
It is safe to say that hardly anyone in this audience is satisfied at all points. Whether he seems to be moving forward, slipping backward, or is at a standstill; whether he is going through life with religious fervor, or as a devotee of agnosticism or of atheism; whether he is utterly disheartened, satisfied with material existence, or doggedly doing the best he knows against odds, Christian Science has something illuminating and practical to offer him.
Have not all here this one thing in common: a desire for health, stability, sufficiency, happiness; for something beyond the hazards of daily living; for a definite, worthy purpose in life, and the understanding of how to carry it into effect? Christian Science develops, directs, and fulfills this desire. It teaches us how to learn that which is deeply profitable, spiritually and humanly, and how to drop that which is profitless. This Science frees us from the humiliation of an inferiority complex and also from the fatuity of a superiority complex.
Most of us have believed that good and evil are equally real, and more than this; when disease, depravity, unequal privileges, poverty, war, and other adversities have apparently had the upper hand, it may have seemed to us that evil overpowered good. Hence the pitiful human tendency to slip into the "what's the use?" attitude. This is not surprising, for human creeds and dogmas are apt to preach a checkered existence now, heaven later; storms here, a haven elsewhere; sin and sickness now, righteousness and health in the unknown future. Christian Science rouses us from this aimless speculation and delay.
How can we reconcile a good God with a wicked world and a distressed humanity? We cannot; they are irreconcilable opposites. Only one is genuine. Which shall we give up, God, good, or the belief in evil? Or shall we continue to believe in a perplexing mixture of right and wrong?
Christian Science gives one new
zest in life, new power, new understanding, new dependence on Deity, new
dependability towards one's fellows. It teaches one how to stand in the hour of
temptation, how to be the victor, not the victim.
Now what actually is this Science which does all this and much more? It is the law of God, good, and it is scientifically applicable to human problems. This Science lays bare the errors of mortal thought and therefore is corrective. It expounds the nature of divine Truth and therefore is informative. It brings to light the perfection of one divine Mind and therefore is redemptive. It develops spirituality and therefore is ennobling. It explains the invariable nature of health, therefore it heals the sick. It stands for spiritual joy, therefore it comforts the sorrowing. It reveals the affluence of good, therefore it brings release from poverty.
In her work "Rudimental Divine Science" (p. 1) Mary Baker Eddy defines Christian Science as "the law of God, the law of good, interpreting and demonstrating the divine Principle and rule of universal harmony."
Christian Science, then, is the law of infinite good, in which there is no evil. It is the law of Spirit, in which there is no matter. It is the law of Soul, in which there is no sin. It is the law of perfect Mind, in which there is no mental imperfection. It is the law of divine Love, in which there is no hate. It is pure truth as stated by Christ Jesus. In Mrs. Eddy's words, Christian Science is "a deep-drawn breath fresh from God" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 195).
The vital question is "What is God?" Jesus said, "There is none good but one, that is, God." An equivalent of the word "God" is "good," not as an adjective, but as a noun. In the Icelandic language the word "God" is translated "Mind."
Among the seven synonyms for Deity, Christian Science uses the term "Principle," that is, divine Principle; and among the attributes of God it includes justice and mercy. In Scripture, God is referred to as "a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he."
To know God as divine Truth, is to find and follow the way of righteousness and justice.
Upright business men express unswerving honesty and justice in all their dealings. Are honesty and justice within the brain? If so, an injury to the skull could destroy honesty and justice. Do you believe that a man's integrity could be destroyed in an accident? No? Then you admit that good qualities exist apart from a physical organism. In every good quality we see an expression of the "God of truth and without iniquity;" but no one originates the good qualities he expresses. He reflects them from God, the one good.
In the first epistle of John, God is referred to as Love. On every hand we see the influence of Love, divine Principle. Take, for instance, a mother's persevering care for an intractable child, or that of a father for a wayward son. Where do human parents get the wisdom, the patience, the justice, mercy, love, whereby to protect their young offspring from harmful influences, and train them aright? Whether they know it or not, they get these qualities from God, the one good.
In revealing, the majesty of divine Principle, Christian Science necessarily stirs and dissipates humanity's long-entrenched belief in evil. One who would receive its blessings must respond to its demands. What are the demands of Christian Science? Where the healing of sickness is sought, it demands full reliance on the healing power of Life, Truth, and Love, without material remedies. Where the healing of sin is sought, Christian Science demands that one shall first of all face his faults with a view to correcting them, and then efface them with spiritual purity, gained through the understanding of Spirit, God. Where the healing of grief is sought, this Science lovingly demands of us the acknowledgment of the ever-presence of Life, in which there is no death, and of spiritual joy in which there is no mortal sorrow. Every surrender of the false strengthens one's hold on the true.
Christian Science appreciates the value of academic education and the discipline it involves. But you will agree that this transient education leaves even brilliant scholars faced with unsolved problems relating to health, morality, ways and means, and the complex question of human relationships.
The education offered by Christian Science is helpful to the most advanced professor and the youngest scholar. Where needed, it removes the stigma of limited ability, and also the fear of mental breakdown and failure. It teaches one how to utilize the measureless and unerring intelligence of the one divine Mind.
Young students of Christian Science find that their academic standard is improved, and that their social contacts are protected from demoralizing influences. In the rush of school, college, and social life, they find Christian Science a calming influence. They prove that it is possible and deeply beneficial to dwell on eternal facts in the midst of temporal activities.
In Christian Science we learn the art of intelligent thought-censorship; we develop it enjoyably and use it profitably. True intelligence, a quality of divine Mind, God, is never subject to mental strain, moods or melancholy, fear or suffering. The only genuine mental condition is the condition of divine Mind. That which is not God's manifestation is not your true nature. On this basis Christian Science treatment is healing insanity and other human afflictions.
As you understand that all true intelligence is derived from one infinite Mind, God, you will not be the dupe of personal conceit or personal dejection; for you will know that there is nothing great in mortal personality and nothing puny in spiritual individuality. The true selfhood of each one, as an idea of divine Mind, is spiritually intelligent, serenely pure, universally loving.
However much or however little you know about Christian Science, set yourself this twofold task: to understand more of God, the divine Principle of your being, and to be true to what you understand. This is the way of harmony and emancipation. If something discordant tempts you, at once ask yourself, Is it intelligent? Whatever you understand of this talk on Christian Science, you understand through intelligence. The physical ear records the sound of words, not their meaning. Christ Jesus said to those who understood and loved his teachings, "Blessed are . . . your ears, for they hear." And Christian Science says this to each one of you.
By many the Bible is regarded with theoretical rather than practical respect. By others it is viewed with materialistic doubt due, in part, to modern rationalism, which subordinates spiritual inspiration to documentary data. This attitude toward the Bible freezes the spirit of Christianity, and discounts both past and present-day evidence of the healing and redeeming power of the Word of God, without any human or material means.
Perhaps Christ Jesus, the founder of Christianity, foresaw this resistance to the Word of God when he declared with irrefutable authority, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." Today his immortal statements are being more fully understood, and the healing ministry he inaugurated has been revived in Christian Science. Stamped on the covers of Christian Science literature are his commands: "Heal the sick. Raise the dead. Cleanse the lepers. Cast out demons."
Although Jesus walked among men in the valley of human needs, his thoughts rested in the heights of divine Mind. He was neither dismayed nor deceived by the evidence of sin, disease, and death, because his pure consciousness was inseparable from Christ, Truth. Hence he was called Christ Jesus, that is, Jesus the Christ. In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 332) Christ is referred to as "the true idea voicing good, the divine message from God to men speaking to the human consciousness." Through this same Christ, each one of us can receive the specific healing and the spiritual awakening which he needs; and each one of us can learn to speak the word that comforts.
Had there been a shadow of condemnation in the thought of Christ Jesus toward those who came to him with their sins and their fears, their sickness, their helplessness, he could not have restored them as he did, morally and physically. Christ Jesus was able to set them free because he cherished in his own heart the purity and the liberty of the sons of God, and above all, because he reflected universal divine Love, in which there is no fear, no sin, no matter, no disease, no death. Multitudes were drawn to the Nazarene because of the love he reflected. He was different from all other men. For this reason, those whom he healed of sickness and delivered from sin saw themselves differently from the moment the Christ, which illumined the consciousness of Jesus, touched theirs. This same Christ, "the true idea voicing good," is present to touch your consciousness this very hour.
Christ Jesus, who achieved more good than anyone else on earth, said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and l will give you rest." Without labor, Truth proves itself Truth, Life proves itself Life, and Love proves itself Love. Then let us take our stand for these proofs of the omnipresence and omnipotence of God, good; and for essentials, not nonessentials.
When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by the offer of all the kingdoms of the world, if only he would fall down and worship Satan, that is, the carnal mind and materiality, he remained mentally erect, preferring spiritual reflection to material possession.
The Christian Science textbook elucidates his teachings so that all may understand and demonstrate practical Christianity.
At the mention of yet another textbook, some of you may recall, with a shudder of agreement, this statement in Ecclesiastes, "Of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh." The purpose of this book, however, is to relieve humanity's long-endured "weariness of the flesh." "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" is the full revelation of the Science of being. It opens with a chapter called "Prayer" and closes with one of one hundred pages entitled "Fruitage." This last chapter is a record of the testimonies of a few of those healed through reading this textbook.
Mrs. Eddy wrote Science and Health after many years of profound study of the Scriptures. She was moved by a deep desire to discover the method by which Christ Jesus healed and redeemed those who sought his help. She was convinced that if the spiritual law by which he worked could be discovered, this law could be utilized in our day, and this is exactly what is happening. Before publishing this work, the author proved the accuracy of its statements by healing the sick as Christ Jesus healed, through spiritual means alone. The faultless logic of Science and Health satisfies the intellect, and its tender spirit reaches those in search of comfort.
With the changed concept of God and man, gained through our study of this book, our attitude towards prayer changes. Christian Science presents prayer in a way which appeals both to those who are confused as to the character and efficacy of prayer, and so are disappointed, and also to those hitherto prayerless. Many who are grown up believe that they have outgrown prayer. One cannot outgrow true prayer, but, on the contrary, must grow spiritually, in order to understand its scope and prove its efficacy. Christian Science associates prayer with the bestowals and demands of God, divine Principle. The altitude of one's thoughts is the altitude of one's prayer. Highest prayer is the realization of spiritual perfection; and this prayer does wonders for humanity.
To some, the prayer of appeal to Deity seems humanly comforting, but the premise of this prayer is lack, not completeness; pleading, not praising. Does a student of mathematics pray to the principle of mathematics? No, he sets himself to grasp and prove its rules. Spiritual prayer is aglow with the beauty of holiness, and strong with the strength of divine Principle. The spirit of confidence, peace, gratitude, hallows true prayer. Prayer in Christian Science is the spiritual understanding and inspiration we have made our own. The more exalted our prayer, the more definite its fruitage.
The Christlike purity of Jesus and his abundant love inspired his affirmative prayer, "I and my Father are one." This everlasting oneness of Mind and its ideas is your refuge from harm. If at times discord seems to be rushing in on you, and dominion to be slipping from you, you can prayerfully realize this truth of your God-bestowed individuality, namely, "I and my Father are one." Rejoice in this oneness and you will reap the fruits of your rejoicing.
Christian Science has something practical to say on the vital question of financial supply for daily needs. It directs our thought to fundamental spiritual facts on which we may build substantially, and thereby eliminate fear and want from our thought and our experience. Some of you may wonder, perhaps, how the understanding of this Science which denies materiality brings material necessities such as home, clothing, food, into evidence. The answer is that every demonstration of Christian Science, whether of health, daily supply, intelligence, employment, or happiness, is based on the spiritual understanding of creator and creation. In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy writes (p. 390), "It is our ignorance of God, the divine Principle, which produces apparent discord, and the right understanding of Him restores harmony." Ignorance of God is remediable, and so is poverty, one of its consequences. Accompanying poverty there is usually a sense of fear, morose calculation about ways and means, envy of another's abundance, and in some cases, a rankling sense of injustice and resentment.
Once I was called to the country to see a woman who was beginning to study Christian Science, and who was very anxious about ways and means for herself and her children. I gently explained to her that abundance, not poverty, is the creator's provision for all creation, and that man as the image of God expresses the affluence of good and all the heavenly qualities of divine Love with which he is infinitely supplied. I sought to show her that no belief of lack had ever touched the consciousness of man, and that, as she understood and proved her relation to God, good, she would have the evidence of supply in practical ways. But she listened stonily, still haunted by the ghost of lack.
Being very desirous of helping her, I then said that one struggling with poverty might easily be tempted to envy another's possessions. Thereupon she broke in, "I have never been envious!" So I said no more, and we went for a stroll down a country lane. Presently we skirted the edge of a private estate. Noticing a big field planted with celery, she stopped and exclaimed indignantly, "There, see how some people have so much more than they can possibly need!" At that time she did not seem ready to face and efface with divine truth, the envy and other disagreeable feelings which were the cause of her poverty.
Can you and I accept this mortal picture of a self-deceived person standing there envying someone's field of celery, or, shall we say, envying someone's success and fortune, or someone's health, or someone's home and happiness? We cannot. Envy is an impoverishing but totally unreal suggestion of the carnal mind. Envy implies possession by others of something we lack. Through our study of Christian Science the egotistical belief in personal wealth or personal poverty fades out in the light of the one Ego, the Father-Mother, God. In the measure in which he cherishes universal love in his consciousness the Christian Scientist learns to overcome poverty in his human experience.
From the human standpoint there is much to deplore. From the spiritual standpoint there is everything for all to enjoy. The human extremes of poverty and wealth can be adjusted only through the understanding and demonstration of one divine Principle, and its impartial beneficence.
Many impoverish themselves mentally and financially without realizing that they are doing so. For instance, having written a check and subtracted the sum on your stub, are you then apt to think, "Now I have that much less in the bank; and if nothing comes in, I shall be still poorer next time I have to write a check"? This mental subtraction is depleting. While it is often useful to keep an account of expenditure, it is a mistake to picture your resources dwindling to vanishing point. Job said, "For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me."
So, when you have made a legitimate expenditure, realize that you have gained something in exchange for what you have spent, and that you are not impoverished but enriched by this visible token of supply.
What appear to the physical senses as money, land, a material dwelling, clothing, food, and so forth, are but shadows of real substance. When we look consistently to divine Mind, the source of true supply, we shall not lack daily necessities. Infinite Love is present to furnish a table in the wilderness for one and all. The claim of human poverty is a libel on God, good. You will, I believe, find it very helpful to dwell on these lines in the Christian Science Hymnal (No. 250):
"Our gratitude is riches,
Complaint is poverty. . . .
"O, life from joy is minted,
An everlasting gold.
True gladness is the treasure
That grateful hearts will hold."
You cannot overdraw on the infinite resources which are yours through your individual reflection of universal Love. Therefore give your mental consent only to that which is true about God and His likeness. Be true to divine Truth, and to your true selfhood. This is the way of liberty, which Mrs. Eddy has made plain in our day.
Her life is a record of the power of divine Love. Sibyl Wilbur, in her biography of Mary Baker Eddy, gives a touching example of this in the following incident in Mrs. Eddy's childhood. An escaped lunatic had invaded the schoolyard, brandishing a club and terrifying the children, who ran shrieking into the house. The biography reads: "Mary Baker advanced toward him, and the children, peering through the window, saw him wield the club above her head. . . . She walked straight up to the man and took his disengaged hand. The club descended harmlessly to his side. At her request he walked with her to the gate and so, docilely, away."
Here we glimpse in the child the courage, the love, the ministering spirit which matured in the woman and which enabled her to reveal to humanity the way of liberation from the insanity of evil. What gave this New England woman the power and authority whereby she became the revelator of Truth in this age, and the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science? What won her the confidence, respect, and love of her early and later followers? What caused them to accept her as the Leader of the Christian Science movement? In large measure it was her understanding of the relation of Christian Science to Scriptural prophecy. Jesus referred to the "leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." Of the fulfillment of this prophecy Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health (p. 118): "Ages pass, but this leaven of Truth is ever at work. It must destroy the entire mass of error, and so be eternally glorified in man's spiritual freedom,"
Christ Jesus, giving to humanity as much of divine Truth as could be understood in that day, stated prophetically: "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: . . . and he will shew you things to come." This prophecy is fulfilled in Christian Science.
Again we find the relation of this Science to prophecy in the book of Revelation, where reference is made to "another mighty angel . . . and he had in his hand a little book open." In the Christian Science textbook, the full revelation of divine Science is open for all to read and understand.
Nothing less than the most exalted spiritual vision combined with human self-sacrifice could have enabled Mrs. Eddy to carry through her triple task as Discoverer, Founder, and Leader, over a period of forty-five years. Mrs. Eddy was born and reared in New England at the time when several advanced thinkers, including Bronson Alcott and Emerson, were reaching out for a higher philosophy. Their beautiful writings brought a measure of enrichment. Yet, whereas they groped for the truth of being, Mary Baker Eddy grasped, expounded, and demonstrated it. Imbued with the strength of Spirit, she remained unshaken by the storms of opposition which broke over her with the appearing of the Christian Science textbook, in 1875, and which raged the more when she preached, gave public lectures, and it became known that she was healing the sick by spiritual means alone.
It would be impossible to calculate the number of diseased, distressed, demented, disheartened individuals whom Christian Science has led, and is leading, out of iniquity and suffering into what Mrs. Eddy in Science and Health (pp. 226, 227) calls "the land of Christian Science, where fetters fall and the rights of man are fully known and acknowledged."
By most people, righteousness is thought of as mental, and health as physical. If health were physical, it would have no connection with God, Spirit. But in Christian Science, Spirit, God, is recognized as the invariable fount of the health of man.
Healing in Christian Science differs basically from that of medical methods. Nevertheless, Christian Scientists respect and esteem the fine men and women who, with touching unselfishness and practical skill, give their lives to benefit humanity and alleviate suffering.
Healing in Christian Science is based on the truth underlying the words and the works of Christ Jesus, the greatest Healer the world has ever known. Hypnotism and human will-power, being on a level with the mortal error they seek to correct, are never employed in Christian Science. Scientifically speaking, there is but one Mind and one divine will, the will of God, good.
Christian Science heals through the operation of spiritual law, which nullifies so-called man-made laws of sin, disease, and decrepitude. Matter and fear cannot arrest the perfect operation of spiritual law. Matter beliefs are only insubstantial mental shadows due to ignorance of infinite, indestructible substance. Disease is one of the mental shadows thrown on the body; and disease need never be feared, because real substance is the reflection of Life and Love, which nothing can destroy or disturb. Man's real health is spiritual, substantial, invariable.
Christian Science frees the sick from fear through divine Love. Fear is not God-made; it is a human superstition. Fear is never entertained about anything real, and it never touches anything real. You need not be afraid of fears you have not yet fully mastered. You will master them as you develop your understanding and reflection of divine Love, which knows no fear.
What and where is health? Mrs. Eddy makes this statement (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 298): "The true consciousness is the true health." In healing the sick, Christian Science deals directly and only with the consciousness of the one in need. The physical body cannot obstruct the healing power of Truth and Love, operating in consciousness. If you wanted to straighten the arched spine of a frightened or indignant cat, would you doctor its spine? If you wanted to change a person's facial redness begotten of anger, or his sudden pallor due to fear, would you do anything to the face? No, for you would recognize these physical phenomena as the result of mental disturbances. Sin and disease have no place in the consciousness of spiritual man. Health and purity, abiding in divine Mind, are not at the mercy of matter.
Divine Love dispels fear. Paul wrote to Timothy, "God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." Power! Love! A sound Mind! The one divine Mind is sound. The one power is good. The one Love is omnipotent.
Jesus said to the deaf and dumb man: "Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain." "Be opened"! This is the ringing call of Christian Science. It says to you, Cease cloistering your thought in fear, suffering, sorrow, in self-indulgence of the senses, deaf to the reality of your being, tongue-tied by the age-old superstition of evil!
This loosening of thought from material bondage has a healing effect physically. I heard a testimony given in The Mother Church in Boston by a young man who told the congregation he used to stammer so badly that for eighteen years he could not speak plainly, even to his parents. Christian Science healed him. His delivery was fluent and melodious.
"Be opened"! Open wide the door of your consciousness to the joyous freedom of Truth, as you would throw open the windows of your house to spring sunshine.
In order to make the healing and redeeming power of Christian Science widely available, Mrs. Eddy, in 1879, established The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston. She states, in her Church Manual (p. 17), that this Church is "designed to commemorate the word and works of our Master, which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing."
A great change has taken place in
religious opinion since the establishment of this Church, which now has
branches all over the world. Prejudice against Christian Science, and
indifference, are giving way to eager inquiry. Church edifices in this
organization represent the gratitude those whom Christian Science has blessed.
They are visible proofs of the efficacy of its teachings. But the real Church,
described in Science and Health (p. 583) as "the structure of Truth and
Love," is in consciousness; and is not visible to the physical senses.
This Church is built on the Rock, Christ. It is as impregnable as Truth, as
everlasting as divine Principle.
Having perceived that, scientifically speaking, evil has no creator, no actual cause, you may ask, Then how is it there are so many evil effects? Christian Science replies that this is due to the mortal or carnal mind referred to in the New Testament as "enmity against God." Therefore, one who would develop his understanding of this Science must be prepared to surrender his belief in the reality, power, or attraction of this so-called mortal or carnal mind, for not otherwise can he experience the invariable purity and peace of righteousness.
Ignorance of spiritual facts prevents spiritual growth. But this ignorance, being negative, is not actually causative. Ignorance is not the offspring of anything, and it has no offspring. True cause and effect are Spirit and spiritual. Every idea of divine Mind is endowed with measureless spiritual understanding. Then if fear, jealousy, poverty, sickness, or any other afflictive mortal belief, seems to be playing havoc in and around you, reject these phantoms of ignorance, and in every situation and condition claim your divine right to spiritual intelligence and dominion.
Dominion is usually thought of as the dominion of good over evil. But since this human concept of dominion implies the presence of both good and evil, this is not the scientific interpretation of dominion. Dominion is referred to in the first chapter of Genesis, where there is no mention of evil. In its spiritual signification, dominion is unchallenged power derived from God.
Progress in Christian Science brings to light man's perfect, complete individuality. Spiritual man is eternally conscious of perfection, completeness.
The moon appearing as a crescent is not an incomplete moon, but incompletely seen because of its position with regard to the sun and the earth. Material sense seems to veil from us our perfection as Mind's ideas, but our true identity, which includes righteousness and health, is forever complete. No human being can either establish or dis-establish the perfection and oneness of Mind and its ideas. Then do not regard your God-given perfection as a distant goal, to be reached after what is termed death, but as the present and eternal reality of your being. Science and Health states (p. 290) that "perfection is gained only by perfection." "Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined." It is only by looking out from the one perfect God that we can behold the one all-embracing perfection.
In this era of enlightenment, men are looking for the establishment of peace by peaceful means. Universal peace is humanity's great expectancy, great objective. This objective will be attained through the ceaseless operation of God's law of unity — the divinely established unity of good. The peace of perfect Principle will become apparent in human experience through our purposeful and patient co-operation in the interests of universal concord. Divine Principle is demonstrable, not debatable.
Friction between individuals, groups, nations, is caused by belief in the pernicious influence and contagion of so-called mortal mind. This unreal mind is humanity's one foe, and it is always the foe of peace. But the falsity of mortal mind is exposed in Christian Science, and its fictitious reign is drawing to a close. The stronghold of peace is the one perfect Mind, and this peace is never invaded. "Be ye all of one mind," Peter admonished. Christian Science goes further and states this absolute truth: Ye be all of one Mind.
The Christian Scientist who consistently and joyously obeys the demands of divine Principle as far as he apprehends them has peace in his own heart and beholds the appearing of universal peace. Today the power of God, good, is being widely felt. Today there is a rallying to this supreme power. The cohesion of one righteous purpose is appearing. Through this oneness of purpose there will, in due course, appear oneness of method in establishing concord between all the nations of the earth. All alert men and women are called upon to realize that, now and forever, God, good, is omnipresent and omnipotent.
We are individual peacemakers in so far as we are proving in our innermost thoughts, in our characters, our feelings, and in our lives, the unifying, harmonizing peace of the divine Principle, Love. Mrs. Eddy states in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 279), "The Principle of Christian Science demonstrates peace."
This Science takes issue with the thought of future salvation. The keynote of present salvation is this redemptive statement of Christ Jesus: "God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."
Christian Science condemns mortal mind, not persons. Its condemnation of all error is a law of liberation to the human race. Mrs. Eddy states in "Unity of Good" (p. 59): "Salvation is as eternal as God."
In Christian Science every day is a day of enlightenment and joy, a day of salvation. "With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." Joy, a fruit of the Spirit, is unfailingly found when it is sincerely sought.
In this hour you have gained, through Christian Science, humanity's friend and emancipator, a glimpse of your eternally established righteousness, health, and peace, and this glimpse will expand into the steadfast recognition and demonstration of your true individuality.
In bidding you farewell, I shall close with this statement of great beauty, made by Mrs. Eddy in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 383), in regard to Christian Science: "The elements of earth beat in vain against the immortal parapets of this Science. Erect and eternal, it will go on with the ages, go down the dim posterns of time unharmed, and on every battle-field rise higher in the estimation of thinkers and in the hearts of Christians."
[Delivered April 11, 1940, at First Church of Christ, Scientist, 1608 Genesee Street, Utica, New York, and published in The Daily Sentinel of Rome, New York, April 12, 1940. The date of the lecture was found in an advertisement in The Utica Daily Press, April 9, 1940.]