Florence Middaugh, C.S., of Los Angeles, California
Member of the Board of Lectureship of The
Mother Church,
The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts
Florence Middaugh, C.S., of Los Angeles, lectured on "Christian Science: The Panacea for World Unrest," Tuesday evening in the Murat Theatre, under the auspices of Fourth Church of Christ, Scientist. Miss Middaugh is a member of the Board of Lectureship in Boston, Mass. The lecturer was introduced by Clifford Nysewander.
The lecturer spoke substantiality as follows:
To one seeking release from the tragedies and weariness of these last years, Christian Science brings a message of comfort and strength. The opening words of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy are: "To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings" (Pref., p. vii).
Christian Science is indeed a panacea for world unrest, for it lifts thought from the darkness and despair of materiality to discern and understand the blessings of infinite good. Think of the comfort implied in the words "sustaining infinite." Wherever one may find himself, the "sustaining infinite" is there, because God is ever-present Life, the only creator, the sustaining infinite Mind.
Many individuals believe that they are ready and willing to turn away from the discord, confusion, fears, and perplexities of world conditions, yet they are unwilling to loose the clasp of materiality, the source of all discord.
A material age may deny the efficacy of Christian Science, but this in no way limits its healing activity, for it is founded upon the rock, Christ, Truth. Christian Science encourages the beginner, because it teaches that God, as Love, never changes and is always imparting His ideas to man. Great comfort lies in this for all of us today, when the material sense of the whole plan of living is changing to meet the demands of a new world organization.
Christian Science instructs mankind how to solve problems instead of falling under their weight. Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health (p. 227): "Christian Science raises the standard of liberty and cries: 'Follow me! Escape from the bondage of sickness, sin, and death!' Jesus marked out the way. Citizens of the world, accept the 'glorious liberty of the children of God,' and be free! This is your divine right. The illusion of material sense, not divine law, has bound you, entangled your free limbs, crippled your capacities, enfeebled your body, and defaced the tablet of your being."
Christian Science shows that there is a way to escape the world's ultimatum of evil. It is to accept the ultimatum of God, "with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17).
Inasmuch as "Jesus marked out the way," Christian Science turns to his teachings and their glorious proofs as guides to spiritual life. Jesus began his work as a teacher. His great purpose was to reveal the kingdom of God. When he said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33), the Master gave an unfailing rule for success, which anyone can adopt and obey.
We cannot doubt that the individual need is to know and understand God. It is logical to assume that if this is the essential way to happiness, harmony, and abundant good for the individual, it is also the essential way for the peace and well-being of men, nations, and races.
A close study of the teachings of Jesus in the light of Christian Science reveals that the significance of his mission was that he proved to and for mankind an understanding of the law of God as always available, destroying sin and healing disease. He healed all manner of disease for others, and overcame for himself every discord that presented itself, even restoring his body after death, and finally ascended beyond the cognizance of material mindedness. His teachings have been available to humanity, but it was not until twenty centuries after his resurrection that there came one who was fully qualified to discover the Science of Jesus' teachings and bring a return of primitive Christian healing.
Christ's Christianity as taught and demonstrated by Jesus and his disciples is clarified and made practical, here and now, in the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, and constitutes the perfect and permanent plan that the world needs so sorely today for its redemption and healing. In her textbook, Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy has revealed the Science of Life, and the given rules by which mankind can find God and escape the thralldom of materiality by beginning to put into practice the demonstrable truths of Christian Science.
Mrs. Eddy's entire life previous to her discovery of Christian Science especially fitted her for the mission that was hers. As a child she knew some unusual experience was to be hers, and she was instinctively drawn to spiritual things. She often turned to God in prayer. An unbiased and thorough study of the biographies of Mrs. Eddy by Sibyl Wilbur and Lyman P. Powell reveals the purity of her life purpose, her unselfishness, and the profound and spiritual discernment which animated her.
After long years of invalidism she met with a severe accident, which was pronounced fatal by the attending physician. Turning to her Bible, she caught the spiritual meaning of Jesus' healing of the palsied man, and she too was instantly healed. From that moment she began a definite search for the law which underlies the truth that had healed her. She was searching for the Science of Life as revealed in the teachings of Jesus. The first glimpse of Truth came to her long before she realized what lay before her as the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. She says: "Millions may know that I am the Founder of Christian Science. I alone know what that means" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 249).
Mrs. Eddy's discovery of Christian Science was without doubt according to Scriptural prophecy, and mankind has received, through her discovery, the proof that the Comforter, promised by Jesus, is fulfilled in Christian Science. Mrs. Eddy in her great wisdom did not give Christian Science to the world until she had proved it. Science and Health contains the full statement of Christian Science and the rules for its application. This Science is the remedy for the world's unrest and discord because it teaches men how to overcome materialism and destroy fear.
Christian Science is not a new religion. It is the Science of Christ Jesus' teachings, the Science of Life, revealing a demonstrable understanding of reality which all can prove to be true. The Christian Science textbook needs to be studied. Mrs. Eddy says of this book, "Scarcely a moiety, compared with the whole of the Scriptures and the Christian Science textbook, is yet assimilated spiritually by the most faithful seekers; yet this assimilation is indispensable to the progress of every Christian Scientist" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 317). The phrase "assimilated spiritually" should encourage each one to spiritualize his thinking, because every truth understood and demonstrated brings untold blessings.
Someone may ask, "Is there a definite system for studying and practicing Christian Science?" Yes, indeed, there is. The system of Christian Science is one that can be comprehended and put into immediate use by any honest thinker, and it is adaptable to present-day needs.
One of the impressive facts about Mrs. Eddy's provision for her followers is its completeness and universality. While the textbook contains the complete exposition of Truth, yet Mrs. Eddy's other writings contain vital admonitions and teaching conducive to spiritual growth.
The Christian Science periodicals offer much encouragement, enlightenment, and inspiration.
No more helpful plan of daily study in Christian Science can be found than the Bible Lesson-Sermons, comprised of citations from the Bible and Science and Health. No false sense of routine or lack of inspiration can vitiate the thought which turns to these two textbooks for instruction in Christian Science. These Lesson-Sermons bring priceless revelation to him who makes an active, daily study of them.
In the Manual of The Mother Church, Mrs. Eddy has provided Rules and By-Laws, which, to use her own words, are intended "as a help that must be supplied to maintain the dignity and defense of our Cause; hence their simple, scientific basis, and detail so requisite to demonstrate genuine Christian Science, and which will do for the race what absolute doctrines destined for future generations might not accomplish" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 148).
One of the most valuable provisions of the Manual is for class teaching. Advanced students who desire to know something more of the teachings, purpose, and practice of Christian Science may apply to authorized teachers for such instruction.
In Science and Health (p. 460) we read, "Our system of Mind-healing rests on the apprehension of the nature and essence of all being, — on the divine Mind and Love's essential qualities."
In working out the harmony of being no formula is needed. Christian Science is the law of God, and it is not complicated and difficult to understand. This law brings unfoldment of good into every individual's experience, yet there is no short cut to demonstration. If one would comprehend and put into practice this system of Mind-healing and manifest "Love's essential qualities," he must begin to follow Jesus' precepts in the Sermon on the Mount, and spiritualize and Christianize his life. As compassion, gentleness, kindness, and love replace hardness, hatred, and unkindness in human consciousness, we find "Love's essential qualities" becoming the very essence of daily experience and the system of Christian Science being intelligently applied.
Mrs. Eddy gives us seven synonyms for God in Science and Health. They are: "Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love" (p. 465). All but Principle are found in the Bible — five in the Old Testament, and one in the New Testament. That these synonyms apply to the one infinite God is evidenced by Mrs. Eddy's answer to the question, "Are these terms synonymous?" She replies: "They are. They refer to one absolute God" (ibid). These synonymous terms are employed to give the student an enlarged concept of God and to help him better to comprehend the "nature, essence, and wholeness of Deity" (ibid). The remedy for the whole world's ills lies in the true knowledge of God and man in His image and likeness. These seven synonyms have a definite significance for each one of us as a child of God, since each term indicates distinct qualities which man reflects. For example: man, reflecting Mind, expresses unlimited intelligence; as the reflection of Soul, he manifests spiritual discernment and perception; as the idea of Love, he knows no envy, jealousy, anger, or fear, and so on.
Man is ever God's expression, the complete and harmonious likeness of his Father-Mother divine Love. Mortal or material man is simply the counterfeit or misconception of God's man. Christian Scientists are grateful to Mrs. Eddy not only for revealing the Godlike nature of man, but also for showing the progressive steps that must be taken in order to prove this truth.
In the textbook (p. 115, 116) our Leader has given us a clear, scientific translation of mortal mind. Here are outlined the advancing steps out of materiality. The first degree gives the material concept of mortal man as expressing depravity — passions, fears, appetites, self-justification, and so on. The second degree shows evil, physical beliefs disappearing in a moral degree of humanity — honesty, hope, and affection. The third degree reveals the spiritual consciousness in which wisdom, purity, health, and holiness are established. In the third degree the counterfeit mind disappears, and man, as God created him, appears. This is the man to whom God gave dominion over all the earth.
Those uninstructed by Christian Science may question, "What is this dominion, and how is it manifested in human activities?" There is but one dominion in absolute Christian Science, and that is of God, divine Principle. Principle governs all that exists in the order and harmony of its perfect law, the law of divine Love. There is in reality no opposition to this law, for it is the fact of being. It is the understanding and application of this law that brings peace — the peace and dominion that God gives man by reflection. In his present state of understanding the student of Christian Science realizes that dominion can be gained only as he overcomes in his own consciousness the false beliefs that deny man's perfection.
Someone may ask, "If evil is unreal, why seek dominion over it?" Christian Science teaches that evil is not real because God is good. So it is not evil, but the belief in and fear of it that must be eliminated. One has but to look about him today to see the paralyzing effect of the belief in evil at home and abroad. Evil suggests to us that matter is substance and has power, that it acts according to law.
Christian Science rests upon spiritual law, and students of this Science know that it is their duty and privilege to reject the temptation to believe in aught but God and His law. In this way only can one successfully eliminate fear, and find the dominion which God gives. Fear is the chief enemy of mankind, but it is always an illusion, nothingness. It does not gain reality simply because mortals have accepted it as true. It is a presumption that something good can cease or be diminished. Fear is a false belief about God and His creation; it has no source or authority and is without any power to control man.
Men and nations are constantly being called upon to make decisions between truth and error, right and wrong, good and evil. These decisions are more readily made when one realizes that good is not confined to country or race. Good is universal, for God is good, as the Bible teaches, and He imparts His goodness to human consciousness through the Christ. Christian Science has restored the true meaning of Christ which false theology has obscured, and explains its true meaning and demonstrates its relation to mankind.
In Science and Health (p. 332) we find this definition of Christ, "the true idea voicing good, the divine message from God to men speaking to the human consciousness." The Christ is impartial, and it is through its tender ministrations that humanity finds surcease from racial hatred, material conflicts, and religious intolerance.
The conversion of Saul of Tarsus from persecutor to missionary came through the Christ. It is apparent from Paul's own words, recorded in the book of Acts and in his letters, that he was a religious man of high ideals, a man of great moral purpose. His transformation was from a material and false sense of good to the spiritual understanding of it. The Christ revealed to him the good that is God, and the only good there is. His nature was changed by the renewing of his mind, and he changed from a persecutor of Jesus to an ardent follower of his teachings, where heretofore he had scorned and rejected them. He became imbued with the spirit of Christian healing. Think of the humility and love that prompted him to heal when he was himself a prisoner on the Isle of Melita. The Christ, this messenger of peace, is here today as of yore to lift thought out of materialistic worship to the perception and adoration of the one infinite, divine Principle, Love.
In proportion as men allow the Christ to enter their consciousness they will find not only their own lives transformed, and through them great benefit to their associates, but this Godlike thinking will permeate national and international relations and bring forth those conditions of thought that lead to universal salvation.
Do we sometimes think that the difficulties surrounding mankind today are too numerous and complicated for solution? Problems facing mankind today are, in the last analysis, no different than they were centuries ago. The modus operandi of evil may have changed, but its nature has not. Materially considered, the problems that clamor for solution are manifold, but in the realm of Mind there are no problems.
What is it that makes human problems so difficult to solve? May it not be because we too often start from the standpoint of the problem instead of the facts of being? In Science and Health (p. 83) we read, "Mortals must find refuge in Truth in order to escape the error of these latter days." If one begins by analyzing material symptoms and conditions, he may become fearful and have a feeling of inability to cope with the situation, for he has already made a reality of the evil he would prove unreal and powerless to harm him. Jesus, on the other hand, made it clear that Peter's fear of the threatening waves was due to a lack of faith in God.
It is quite evident that evil has appeared real in our thinking or a problem would not have manifested itself. Christian Science teaches us that the best way to destroy evil is to have more faith in God.
Sometimes in our attempt to reject error we are tempted, like Peter, to dwell upon some certain phase of discord. If one allows discouragement or doubt to control his thinking, he may be tempted to limit himself or the truth with which he seeks to make his demonstration. We have no record that Jesus was ever overcome by the difficulties confronting him. He set about to overcome them. He said, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work" (John 5:17).
Let us remember that our success in working out any problem is determined largely by our attitude towards it. Since the inharmony is the result of ungodlike thinking in the first place, our first step is to approach the problem as Jesus would, and eradicate everything in our thinking that would hinder receptivity to good. Fear, rebellion, anxiety, and worry must give place to quiet reasoning supported by trust in God, in His all-power and presence.
Let us have more faith in God's power to help us. Even though the way may seem dark, if you will but take one step towards the light, God will help you and reveal the next step and the way out of discord and inharmony into peace and dominion.
In the Bible we find the record of a king of Israel asking wisdom of God. "Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad" (I Kings 3:9). Thus prayed Solomon, and God gave him not only that for which he asked but also riches and honor. In Proverbs we read, "Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning" (Prov. 9:9).
Christian Scientists do not attempt to demonstrate things, for demonstration to them is the highest form of proof and is wholly spiritual. Christian Science demonstrates the elimination of human restrictions, and this is the result of what is known in Christian Science as treatment.
Demonstration, as Jesus made it, was every hour in evidence. Each moment of his life he proved his oneness with God. Do we often find ourselves bent upon realizing a certain demonstration, one which we consider of paramount importance? Perhaps a lesser demonstration, which we consider unimportant, has much to do with a larger one, and we would find the solution much more quickly if we proved every step of the way, as our Master did. Let us resist the tendency to allow some outstanding or phenomenal demonstration to overshadow others of less importance.
The puzzled inquirer may ask, "Why is it, if Truth is omnipotent, that one treatment is not enough to ensure lasting harmony?" The answer is our failure to maintain our position in regard to God's omnipotence. Under the seeming pressure of evil beliefs we may allow our standard to fall. Mrs. Eddy says, "All our thoughts should be given to the absolute demonstration of Christian Science" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 136). Let each one ask himself just how far he is obeying this admonition.
Healing in Christian Science does not change anything in divine Mind, or in the spiritual creation. It merely corrects human thinking, so that the operation of God's law may be recognized as unfailing and unceasing. Jesus utilized this law when he said to Lazarus, "Come forth" (John 11:43); and to the man sick of the palsy, "Rise up and walk" (Luke 5:23). His clear understanding of disease as nothing, possessing neither a past nor a future, together with his keen discernment of man's present perfectibility as a child of God, gave him power to heal instantaneously. This same healing power is available to us today in the proportion that we possess the Christ-spirit, and utilize its power to overcome sin.
Sometimes when a healing is delayed one may be tempted to turn to material means for aid, or to seek a medical diagnosis. The alert student of Christian Science knows that in order to correct discordant material conditions scientifically and permanently, he must not only refuse to accept the suggestions of mortal mind to turn elsewhere for healing, but he must destroy the belief that matter exists as an entity. Christian Scientists do not attempt to heal matter, or to eliminate it, but they deny its reality, along with its suppositional origin, mortal mind.
There are many fine men and women in the medical profession, and some are quite friendly to Christian Science. But since their work deals entirely with the human concept of man, why seek their opinion when what you are seeking in Christian Science is the spiritual status of man? Physical scientists admit now that material phenomena are not what they appear to be, but they do not generally see what Christian Science teaches, that there is but one Mind, God, Spirit, and that the material universe, with all its imperfections and limitations, is unreal.
If one would prove Christian Science let him recognize the subtle argument that would suggest the need of material aid. To prove the nothingness of discord and the all-inclusiveness of God, good, one must start from the basis of perfect God and perfect man. Reasoning entirely from this premise results in demonstration or in Christian Science healing.
It is quite evident that as one's thoughts are spiritualized and he learns to commune more fully with God his whole plan of living will change, and his desires, aims, and affections will be characterized by more unselfishness and spirituality. This welcome change reveals to him the necessity and the way to thoroughly revise his concept of the nature and origin of all true thinking. He can now see a definite, Christianly scientific way of liberating himself from the maze of material beliefs of the carnal mind, by spiritualizing his thinking and living.
One may question how he can successfully raise his standard of living in the midst of a world suffering from uncertainty and distress. Jesus' disciples did it; so did Paul, who was not one of his personal disciples. Our thinking is our universe, and if we set up in our consciousness the standard of perfection demanded by Christian Science we can, like the apostles of old, eliminate false beliefs that interfere with spiritual unfoldment. There are many ways in which we can improve our mode of living, so let us here consider two or three. How often do we hear it said, "Under the circumstances I did the best I could," or "Circumstances were against him." This is a very subtle avenue through which evil would work adversely on those who do not detect its deception. Perhaps we may have battled successfully with evil in our thinking or have overcome a false dominating influence, and yet be unaware that we are being influenced or controlled by certain erroneous circumstances over which we seem to have no control.
Shall we accept the beliefs of war, lack, limitation, and frustration, simply because mortal mind presents them as conditions over which we have no control? If one would rise above error, let him lift his thought to divine Truth. Calm, steadfast reliance on the omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence of God gives one a mighty sense of assurance. Instead of fearful and uncertain attempts to escape consequences and conditions, let us meet and master them as falsities.
Mrs. Eddy has said, "Meet every adverse circumstance as its master" (Science and Health, p. 419). This does not mean that we shall attempt to control circumstances to suit ourselves, far from it, but we can certainly change the effect they have upon our thinking so that no adverse circumstance can harm or disturb us.
And what about opportunity? Does it come only to a chosen few, and if it passes us by can we ever retrieve it? While men differ greatly in their expression of such characteristics as awareness and receptivity, yet the fact remains that each one has equal opportunity to express God. The vital difference, then, is not in the opportunities that come to us, but in the ability to recognize and utilize them.
The one great talent we all have — that of right thinking — is always present and ready for our immediate use. The human mind, so called, refusing to see its own limitations, is likely to try to place the blame elsewhere for its own failures, and search everywhere outside of itself for the cause, and attribute lack of opportunity to heredity, training, environment, and the like. To believe in such human conditions as real and insurmountable not only hinders men from finding lasting happiness, but it misconstrues the very nature of God and man.
We may rightly assume that everyone stands at the threshold of true opportunity, not once but constantly, because opportunity is omnipresent. He who knows this puts into his present task the best he has to give and continues to improve. Right where one is now, is the time and place and opportunity to do better thinking and accomplish better things.
Fear of contagion is another state of human thinking that retards spiritual growth. Today many erroneous suggestions are being sent out through the daily press, the radio, the motion pictures, and every available avenue of reaching mankind. These suggestions and warnings encourage fear and apprehension to the thought unprepared to refute them. Domination, subjection, and discord may be pictured as natural and inevitable consequences; and the state of thought which accepts these conclusions as real does not realize that these errors may be eliminated and completely destroyed. On the other hand, one may become a willing or an unwilling instrument for further spreading and promoting these suggestions, and substantiating the attending so-called laws of contagion regarding them. Whatever one invites into his consciousness as real or inevitable is apt to be externalized in his experience. Demonstrating God's allness is more profitable, and no one can lose by making this his intention and concern rather than accepting and spreading a belief in the reality of evil.
Jesus never spoke of disease as dangerous, contagious, infectious, or unavoidable. He never predicted discord of any kind, nor did he listen to or accept the predictions of others. He successfully refuted them by his healing works, which were sufficient to deny the reality of evil. His oneness with the Father, which he maintained, was his protection from the contagion of fear, disease, and sin, and it is ours. Isaiah (59:19) gives us this comforting assurance, ostensibly based upon his own experience, "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him." Christian Science is that standard.
Since the beginning of time, men, when in need, have turned intuitively to something beyond themselves for support and guidance. Religion has termed this appeal to a higher power prayer, and the forms and customs of prayer have varied according to the creeds of religion.
The result of prayer often shows the quality of thinking back of prayer. When Martha and Mary sent word to Jesus, asking him to come and heal their brother, he did not go at once, but when he did go, Lazarus was raised from the dead. We may reasonably assume that Christ Jesus always prayed first, then performed his great miracles of healing. He withdrew often to commune with God.
What is this effective prayer? Can man's prayers heal today as in Jesus' time? Your own neighbors who are Christian Scientists, and many men and women who have served in the Armed Forces, can answer these questions satisfactorily. From every part of the world come testimonies from those who, when confronted with terrifying conditions, have turned to God in prayer and found freedom.
Mankind is beginning to realize that only by spiritual means can their needs be met, and destruction, suffering, mad ambition, and cruelty be removed from the lives of men and nations. They are learning, too, that the only effective weapon against the gross materialism of the world is prayer.
A true Christian Scientist's prayer is always one of "Thy will be done." It is a prayer surrendering to nothing but good. It kindles hope and gives courage to endeavor. It is the prayer of understanding and is the most effective means in overcoming all the ills that flesh is heir to. James tells us that "the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16).
When the sick and heavy-laden scientifically ask God for comfort and healing, they receive them. To those who pray for guidance and light, Christian Science is often placed within their reach. If, in their extremity, they are earnest in turning to God for aid, they will sincerely seek the answer to their prayers, and will find inspiration and guidance within the covers of our textbook. Paul said, "I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also" (I Cor. 14:15).
Discernment of spiritual reality means just this: that through unselfed love and purification of thought one becomes aware of that which has already been present and is eternally true. Christian Science teaches us that this awareness rightly manifests itself in enlightened consciousness, which is not deceived by the suggestions of evil.
Christian Science is purely scientific and eschews mere personal opinion. It is the panacea for world unrest because it offers each individual definite, demonstrable propositions to be proved in individual experience. When you and I learn how to demonstrate these great truths, we have taken a long step out of mere belief in them, for we know by demonstration that they are true. Each one may begin right where he is to practice Christian Science successfully.
Your understanding of God as "Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love," the synonyms for God as referred to earlier in this lecture, and your knowledge of man as His manifestation or reflection, are, in reality, your most precious possessions. God as Mind is all-intelligence; as Spirit, He can never be restricted by matter; as Soul, He is wholly pure, holy and sinless; as Principle, He is unchanging, all-powerful, an unfailing and infinite guide; as Life, He can know no death; as Truth, He can know no falsehood; as Love, He cannot include hate or fear. This God, good, Christian Science proves is the only power and intelligence of the universe, including man.
It must be quite clear to thinking men and women that, since God, Spirit, created man in His image and likeness, man is spiritual; he is not material. God and all that belongs to Him are yours to reflect each day and every hour. His power is infinite, universal good, and nothing can affect, influence, come to you or go from you, but that which is eternally good.
God's knowledge is all-inclusive and is ever available to you and to me. Christian Science shows us that this understanding reveals all there is to know for humanity's lasting good. Jesus said, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). This truth is a decree of permanent elimination of evil, ignorance, doubt, fear, and all erroneous beliefs.
God is omnipresence. His presence is the presence of infinite Love. It manifests itself in the healing Christ, ever-present and ready to bring all good into the experience of any who are willing and obedient to receive it. Whenever and wherever men, individually and collectively, are striving to bring about harmony and order, we know the Christ is there. We can go even farther, and know there is no place where men are gathered together for whatever purpose that the Christ is not in their midst. God's presence is always with men. It dispels and destroys every thought unlike good. In God's presence no claim of sickness, sin, or death can enter, assert itself, or remain.
Christian Science reveals to us the divine Principle and its rules, the means, and the way. Each one must make good use of them. Paul said, "Let us . . . come boldly unto the throne of grace" (Heb. 4:16).
We can all serve God according to our understanding right here and now. It makes no difference where we are, we can reflect intelligence, diligence, purity, and power, and obtain right results. Our task lies in working out our own salvation and working it out in harmony with our fellowman, giving tangible, immediate proof that Christian Science heals. The solution to every problem lies already within God's omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. In humble and heartfelt gratitude to God, let us find it our duty, privilege, and joy to recognize this and love the truth.
Our Leader has indicated what is the work of Christian Scientists in the words, "To live so as to keep human consciousness in constant relation with the divine, the spiritual, and the eternal, is to individualize infinite power; and this is Christian Science" (Miscellany, p. 160).
[Delivered Oct. 22, 1946, in the Murat Theatre in Indianapolis, Indiana, under the auspices of Fourth Church of Christ, Scientist, Indianapolis, and published in The Marion County Mail of Indianapolis, Oct. 25, 1946.]