Earl E. Simms, C.S., of Austin, Texas
Member of the Board of Lectureship of The
Mother Church,
The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts
Spiritual growth and progress can only come through active, consecrated obedience to the Ten Commandments, Earl E. Simms, C.S., of Austin, Texas, said last night in a Christian Science lecture in Boston.
Practical understanding of these "everlasting rules of life" reveals that the power of the Christ, Truth, is available today to solve problems of every kind, Mr. Simms stated.
A member of The Christian Science Board of Lectureship, he spoke in The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, on the subject, "Christian Science: Its New Light on the Ten Commandments."
Mr. Simms was introduced by Arnold H. Exo, C.S.B., First Reader of The Mother Church.
The lecturer spoke substantially as follows:
Let us go momentarily to a corner in the desert of Sinai and there gaze upon the range of red granite peaks, the highest of which is called the mountain of Moses, said to be the Mount Sinai of the Ten Commandments. It was on this mountain, according to the Scriptural record, that God gave to Moses those inexhaustible and everlasting rules of life.
The Decalogue bases the law of the Old Testament and the teaching of the New, so that any religionist, if his religion is based on the Bible, gives devout and consecrated obedience to the pronouncements of the Ten Commandments.
Jesus, who obeyed strictly this moral law, proclaimed, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil" (Matt. 5:17). He cautioned (Matt. 5:19), “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments . . . shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." The Master made it clear that spiritual progress and healing can come only through obedience to the Commandments. He taught, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled" (Matt. 5:6).
One of those who followed Jesus and truly hungered and thirsted after righteousness, richt-wis-nes, or right knowing, as the Anglo-Saxon original has it, was the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy. Through consecrated study and spiritual comprehension of the Scriptures, she caught the essence of the Science of Christianity which Jesus had taught and demonstrated, and faithful to her vision she imparted it to others. She authorized the King James Version of the Bible for use in Christian Science services in all English-speaking countries. Further, she wrote as the first tenet of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, "As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 497). Concerning her discovery of Christian Science, Mrs. Eddy wrote (ibid., p. 126): "The Bible has been my only authority. I have had no other guide in 'the straight and narrow way' of Truth."
The Christian Scientist loves the Bible. To him it is not a hard taskmaster saying with rod in hand, "Thou shalt" and "Thou shalt not." He finds its law challenging, its history informative, its poetry incomparably beautiful, its example and proofs assuring, and its prophecies glorious promises of comfort and joy.
Jesus the human man was born of a virgin. He was divinely endowed, divinely appointed, and divinely anointed. It was through his understanding of God's power and willingness to heal that he performed his mighty works. His words and works are eternal examples for you and me to follow. Jesus is the human man and Christ the divine idea. Truly the works of Christ Jesus are signs of "Immanuel, or God with us." The Christ was glimpsed in some instances by the great patriarchs of the Bible long before that glorious day when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea. Jesus declared, concerning the infinite nature and eternality of the Christ, the Son of God, "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). Thus we see the oneness of the real man, the Son, with the Father, yet the distinction between Jesus, the son of Mary, and the Christ.
From his spiritual conception to his ascension above every phase of materiality and limitation, Jesus exemplified the Christ, man's spiritual selfhood. Indeed, Christ Jesus is our Saviour by being our Exemplar. We must live the Christ as he lived the Christ, heal as he healed, prove what he proved. In no other way can we be his followers.
Originally, Christian Science was not expected by its beloved Discoverer and Founder, Mary Baker Eddy, to require the establishment of a new church. Mrs. Eddy entertained definite hope that the churches would grasp the soundness and practicality of her spiritual discovery and thus begin to use and prove the power of the Christ to heal sickness as well as sin.
However, because Christian Science did not conform to the popular conceptions of what church bodies were then teaching concerning the interpretation of the Scripture, the lives of the prophets, and the teachings of Jesus, it met with opposition. Because of this the establishment of the Church of Christ, Scientist, became inevitable.
As the Lord called Moses to Mount Sinai to give him the understanding of the moral law expressed by the Ten Commandments, just so the action of divine Principle caused Mary Baker Eddy's comprehension to soar above the level of human thought. Her discovery of Christian Science came about as a result of a wonderful healing she experienced which occurred as she read of the healing of the palsied man recorded in the ninth chapter of Matthew's Gospel.
Mrs. Eddy, retiring in nature and Christly in purpose, kept her personality out of sight. In her book "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 247) she says, "The little that I have accomplished has all been done through love, — self-forgetful, patient, unfaltering tenderness."
Yet it was to this modest, spiritually-minded woman that the lost element of true Christian healing was revealed. It was to her that the Christly method of Jesus' means of healing the sick as well as the sinning was made practical. Indeed, it was she who first demonstrated that the Science of Christianity and the Science of medicine are one. Her demonstrations show that the genuine disciple of Christ should be a practitioner of Christian healing, a metaphysician who ministers spiritual draughts unto the sick and heals them without drugs or surgery as did Jesus and his disciples.
It was this same loving, patient, unfaltering woman who wrote, "The First Commandment is my favorite text" (Science and Health, p. 340). She taught and lived "Thou shall have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20:3).
One evening as we sat at dinner as guests of a distinguished college professor, we were interested in his mode of address to God as he petitioned the Father's grace. He began, "God, the great unknowable." When Mrs. Eddy discovered Christian Science, she proved that God is knowable. The very tenor of the First Commandment establishes the fact that there is one Supreme Being, who is knowable. Jesus declared, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). To Jesus knowing the truth meant knowing or understanding God as Truth, that is, knowing Him as all-intelligent creative Spirit. Mrs. Eddy defines God as, "The great I am; the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-acting, all-wise, all-loving, and eternal; Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love; all substance; intelligence" (Science and Health, p. 587). My friend, God is knowable. He hears prayers and answers them in terms of inspiration, healing, and regeneration.
Answering the question, "What are the demands of the Science of Soul?" Mrs. Eddy writes (Science and Health, p. 467), "The first demand of this Science is, 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me.' This me," she adds, "is Spirit." Then she continues, "Therefore the command means this: Thou shalt have no intelligence, no life, no substance, no truth, no love, but that which is spiritual." She says: "It should be thoroughly understood that all men have one Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love. Mankind will become perfect in proportion as this fact becomes apparent, war will cease and the true brotherhood of man will be established. Having no other gods, turning to no other but the one perfect Mind to guide him, man is the likeness of God, pure and eternal, having that Mind which was also in Christ."
Nothing really exists except the divine Mind and the divine idea — man including the universe. Here someone may ask, "When in the beginning God created the heaven and earth and man, what actually transpired?" The divine Mind always expresses itself. There is no beginning to the eternal Mind. Actually, then, man including the universe is a divine idea originating in or emanating from God, divine Mind. The spiritual origin of man including the universe is not difficult to understand. The divine facts concerning man made by God in His image and after His likeness demand the conclusion that man is divinely and spiritually mental. Science and Health says (p. 475), "Man is spiritual and perfect; and because he is spiritual and perfect, he must be so understood in Christian Science." It is this understanding of man which gives us the Christianly scientific power, the Christ, Truth, to heal sickness, to destroy sin, and to thwart the belief in death as real and inevitable. Obviously the man of God's creating is forever perfect, unfallen, and eternal. He is incapable of mortal errors, namely, sin, sickness, and death. Then in his real being, man has not departed and cannot depart from holiness, purity, and perfection. He cannot be sick or enslaved to unclean, unholy habits of tobacco, liquor, or sensuality. Man is inseparable from God. He is immortal, indestructible, inexhaustible, and inexpendable.
Understanding God as Mind forever dispels the false theory that there can be a mortal, carnal, or human mind to suggest sin, hatred, and revenge, or that pain, sickness, and disease are real, present, and powerful, or that death is inevitable. Plainly such beliefs seemingly give power, intelligence, and action to evil, whereas Christian Science teaches (Science and Health, p. 468.), "All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all."
God's allness is seen in understanding Him as All-in-all, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, and omniaction. Jesus declared, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). In Christian Science, Spirit is substance. Then, my friend, your originality, your real nature and being, your inspiration and spontaneity are in Spirit and not in matter. In reality it is as impossible for you to be material, limited, and mortal as it would be for your divine Principle, God, to be so. This understanding heals fear, pain, and sickness. In Science and Health (p. 14) Mrs. Eddy assures us, "Become conscious for a single moment that Life and intelligence are purely spiritual, — neither in nor of matter, — and the body will then utter no complaints." For example, a student of Christian Science found himself in the throes of cold, congestion, and discomfort. When he read that "Life and intelligence are purely spiritual, — neither in nor of matter," he realized that lungs, throat, joints, and organs cannot talk or express themselves as either sick or well. Working with this spiritual idea he realized that it was not matter, but so-called mortal mind which was arguing fear, pain, and disease, hence he had only to deny the false belief in life and intelligence in matter and affirm with understanding the divine fact that Life and intelligence are purely spiritual, to be free. He was healed in twenty-four hours.
The second commandment (Ex. 20:4), "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth," forbids all forms of idolatry or dependence on unspiritual systems. Concerning these it demands, "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments."
The allness of God, Spirit, excludes aught but good. Verily, God is a jealous God! Here the word "jealous" means "exacting exclusive devotion." Then is God conscious of an opposing power? How can God, the one Ego, know aught but Himself and His own perfect spiritual creation, man including the universe? God demands our exclusive devotion. Mrs. Eddy says (Science and Health, p. 183), "Divine Mind rightly demands man's entire obedience, affection, and strength." One who thinks God does not demand exclusive devotion needs only to consider what happens when one gives place in his life to lust, hatred, malice, envy, covetousness, and revenge. The sinner, so called, becomes one with sin because he believes in sin; but when Truth awakens him through suffering from the effects of sin, he then prays for release, and his prayer is answered.
God's promise of His love and tender mercy to those that love Him and keep His commandments is perpetually being fulfilled in the life experience of all of us.
Now let us examine the third commandment, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain" (Ex. 20:7).
Plainly the man who is profane disobeys this commandment. He is unthinkingly denying and rejecting God. Such grossness of thought is ignorance. Obviously such a one needs to discipline himself and understand that he cannot be made a tool for error.
On the other hand, to pray to God for salvation from sin, disease, and death while holding Him in thought as a magnified human person who at times can be benign and helpful, but more often seems austere, cold, and far away, is to pray in vain. To petition God as a finite, limited father who deals out good or bad according to the fervency of prayer or of His temper of the moment is to misunderstand Him as our tender, loving, merciful Father-Mother who perpetually expresses Himself in terms of perfection, restoration, and salvation.
Here someone may ask, "Is there a name other than God which can be employed for the Supreme Being?" Indeed, there are other names for Deity. The Bible and Mrs. Eddy's writings reveal many names for God. Plainly the more names and their spiritual significance you know for God the more practical and demonstrable is your concept of God and man in His image and likeness.
The effective use of God's name or nature will be seen in the experience of a young mother. She asked a Christian Science practitioner, "How can I enlarge my concept of God?" The practitioner suggested that she study the Concordances to the Bible and Science and Health in search of Christianly scientific names for God and record these. He further suggested that she take as many of the names as she understood and record the qualities or attributes each expresses. Within the week she had typed in the center of a large sheet of paper the name "GOD" in capital letters. Around this she worked until she reached the edge of the paper recording the names for God she had found. Working in the same manner, she placed in the center of other sheets names or synonyms for God. For example, in connection with the synonym "Love" she recorded as many attributes of Love as she could think of, namely, understanding, kindness, humility, tenderness, forgiveness, and many others. Verily, she took God's name understandingly, she meditated upon the nature of each name, she dwelt upon its spiritual significance. She held herself in God's image. The resultant spiritual inspiration and physical healing that came to her were more than gratifying.
My friend, are you loving the Commandments more as this lecture progresses? Loving them you demonstrate them in your daily experience. The fourth commandment reads in part: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God." It reminds us, "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it" (Ex. 20:8-11).
The seven days of creation are infinite; they cannot be circumscribed according to the calendar of time. The word "sabbath" comes from the Hebrew which means "day of rest;" this day of rest, kept long before the present calendar was adopted, is observed by some on Saturday and some on Sunday.
In Christian Science to "remember the sabbath" means to observe it in our work and conversation. It is a day of holy observation consecrated to expressing godliness and Christliness. To Jesus and his followers it was a day to see good, be good, and do good.
The Psalmist sang, "Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?" (Ps. 77:13.) Mrs. Eddy's spiritually inspired definition of Church demands that Christian Scientists collectively and individually prove their faith by their works. She declares (Science and Health, p. 583), "The Church is that institution, which affords proof of its utility and is found elevating the race, rousing the dormant understanding from material beliefs to the apprehension of spiritual ideas and the demonstration of divine Science, thereby casting out devils, or error, and healing the sick."
Services in the Christian Science church are designed to heal, to regenerate, and to save. Christianly and scientifically speaking, from prelude to benediction, they express powerful and effective truths. So then, the literary man who remarked, "I went to church today but nothing happened," needed to attend a Church of Christ, Scientist, where, from the very nature of the service, something good has to happen.
When Jesus entered the sanctuary of Spirit something good always happened. For example, he healed the man of the withered hand in the temple on the Sabbath day. Because Jesus healed on the Sabbath the woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, he brought forth the condemnation of the priest. This, however, did not deter Jesus from his healing work, and by a strong rebuke he answered the priest's condemnation. For Jesus, the Sabbath was a day of good deeds. So, my friend, when you and I enter the temple clothed with the Christ, the spirit of Life, Truth, and Love, that is when we image forth God's goodness and power as did our Master, the dumb will sing hymns of rejoicing, the deaf will hear, the lame will walk, and the diseased will be made whole.
The Commandments are said to have been written by the finger of God, an expression which always implies an immediate act of Deity. The fifth commandment, "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee" (Ex. 20:12), is referred to six times in the New Testament. The rich young man inquired of Jesus, "Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" (Luke 10:25.) Jesus bade him to keep the Commandments.
Mrs. Eddy has written, "All honor and success to those who honor their father and mother" (Message to The Mother Church for 1901, p. 29). To honor another is to show attention with love and devotion. Love and devotion are spiritual qualities; they are vital in your relationships to your father and mother. Science and Health says (p. 113), "The vital part, the heart and soul of Christian Science, is Love." Love and honor for your human parents are forerunners to your love and honor for God your real Father-Mother. Look about and see if you are really dealing lovingly and unselfishly, tenderly and in a Christian manner with your mother and father. When we return to our homes, let us return to give and not to get. Indeed, my friend, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Yet Jesus gave us a higher and more spiritual sense of both father and mother. He loved, honored, and obeyed his mother. However, he did not believe that the human bonds represented true motherhood. We may assume he had deep appreciation for Joseph, for his love, spiritual understanding, and consideration. Yet Jesus never called Joseph father; he said, "Call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven" (Matt. 23:9). There is no record that Jesus ever gave his parents any real cause for concern. Even when he tarried in the temple at Jerusalem, and they searched for him believing him to be lost, when they found him, his one answer was, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" (Luke 2:49).
"Thou shalt not kill" (Ex. 20:13). This sixth commandment plainly provides for no modification. To deprive another of life is murder. Murder can be either physical or mental. In Christian Science we defend ourselves from physical and mental murder by understanding the nothingness, the impotency, of anything that is opposed to Life, God, and Life's manifestation or expression, man. Man, the expression of Life, is immortal. He is the creation which God declared to be very good. Man, therefore, preexisted the material dream of life in matter. Indeed he is coexistent and coeternal with his divine Principle, Life.
Then is there a destructive as well as constructive power operating both for and against God and man? In reality there is not. God is All-in-all. He is good. Therefore such a thing as an evil power operating against God or His creation, man, is an impossibility.
Then let me ask, "Is atomic force or energy constructive or destructive?" Christianly and scientifically speaking, it is constructive. The belief in the destructive potency of released atomic force has shaken the world profoundly. This momentous problem is testing the strength, courage, and spirituality of the workers, the servants of God. Is there a way out? Indeed, there is. It is the way of love, the way of honest, powerful, Christlike thinking. Where should one begin to love the world out of war into peace? With oneself, of course. So, in your experience whatever seems to set up bad feeling, meanness, and ill will between you and your family, your business, your associates, must be destroyed and cast out of your mental home through patience, tolerance, love, and forgiveness. As simply as we overcome the war within our personal experience, just so, this same Christly activity will forever lift the seemingly impenetrable curtains of error between nations.
The giant Goliath, in Scripture, is a symbol of the sum total of animal magnetism, including war. Just so, atomic and hydrogen bombs signify war in its destructive sense.
David, Goliath's destroyer, came forth alone. This might be taken to indicate that the overcoming of war or the fear of it must begin with the individual and individual consciousness. David then might well be likened unto you and me, individual soldiers for Christ. David means "beloved”. He came to Goliath not with sword and spear and shield, Goliath's weapons. He said: "I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand" (I Sam. 17:45,46). David won! The reason for his victory was the difference in his equipment.
Jesus promised "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God" (Matt. 5:9). Plainly, our fundamental task is not to fight wars, but to destroy the erroneous thinking of men and nations which breeds wars. It is thus that we shall behold the Christ of Isaiah's vision: "And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Isa. 2:4).
The moral demands of the commandment, "Thou shall not commit adultery" (Ex. 20:14), are plain. They permit no violation. Plainly the works of the flesh, namely, passion and sensuality, are manifest. Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness are works of the devil. They which do such things are not the pure in heart which see God. Paul tells us (Gal. 5:22, 23) that "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such," says he, "there is no law."
Mrs. Eddy reminds us (Science and Health, p. 136) that "Jesus established his church and maintained his mission on a spiritual foundation of Christ-healing." He did not adulterate his healing work with material means. His Christianity and his medicine were one. He healed sin and sickness through the same spiritual means and promised, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also" (John 14:12). Obviously there is a vast difference between the Christ-healing taught and demonstrated in Christian Science and the methods employed by material medicine and surgery. Christian Science healing is accomplished exclusively through spiritually mental means of prayer. Material medicine theories are based on the erroneous premise that there is life, intelligence, and substance in matter. Christian Science, through its healing work, proves that matter, including the material body, is a belief of so-called mortal mind. Plainly, then, one needs only to relinquish one's belief in matter and gain an understanding of Spirit in order to change the actions and reactions, so called, of the human mind and body.
The Christian Scientist in prayer affirms God's allness, His omnipotent goodness, His everywhereness, all-intelligence, and omniaction. He accepts the Scripture that man is the exact likeness of God, infinite Spirit. Logically and consistently he maintains that man in his real and only being is not material but is spiritual. Remember, my friend, if you persist in this Christly reasoning you are sure to win every encounter with sin and disease.
Following closely the Master's teachings and examples, Mrs. Eddy made no concessions to material methods of healing. And neither could she have taken stock in the material psychotherapy of the day. She discovered the precise method our Master used in healing the sick and consistently practiced it. However, in her works she recognizes that each individual is a free moral agent to pursue the course that seems right to him in his quest for salvation.
She warned her followers (Science and Health, p. 167), "It is not wise to take a halting and half-way position or to expect to work equally with Spirit and matter, Truth and error." She says: "On this fundamental point, timid conservatism is absolutely inadmissible. Only through radical reliance on Truth can scientific healing power be realized."
"Thou shalt not steal" (Ex. 20:15). I know a man who when a lad took from a playing field a baseball bat and glove which were not his. Interestingly enough, he never learned to play well with them; though otherwise he was a fairly good player. A bonding company advertises, "Honesty is the best policy." Christian Science teaches that honesty is the only right policy. Mrs. Eddy assures us that to learn Christian Science, "No intellectual proficiency is requisite in the learner, but sound morals are most desirable" (Science and Health, Pref., p. x).
Unfortunately there is a belief among some that in business one must be a little dishonest, sharp, or untruthful in order to be successful. Honesty in thought and action expresses the Christ operating in human consciousness. The Christian Scientist understands and practices honesty. He gives his neighbor, his customer the best possible service. His religion is not only pure and undefiled, but it is practical. For example, a Christian Scientist was the owner of a large business where it was necessary to place much responsibility on the individual employee. Occasionally a new employee would do something a little off color "for the good of the firm." The Christian Scientist spoke lovingly and understandingly to him, explaining that the business was founded on integrity and fairness, hence did not indulge in shady practices to be successful.
Certainly anything that attempts to get something for nothing is a phase of dishonesty. Belief in luck, gambling, and hazardous speculation are not in accordance with the teachings of the Commandments; hence they hamper the spiritual progress of a student of Christian Science. Man's real being innately expresses honesty and holiness and relies on God's law.
"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour" (Ex. 20:16) is the ninth commandment. Truly one must not bear witness to lies about one's neighbor. Shakespeare, in the third act of "Othello," says through the lips of Iago,
"Who steals my purse steals trash; . . .
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed."
Actually a loose tongue may violate this commandment as surely as it may violate the one, "Thou shalt not kill." Man is God's witness. Isaiah declares, "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: . . . ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God" (Isa. 43:10, 12).
In Christian Science bearing witness to God is prayer, and bearing witness to man in God's image and likeness is living Christian Science. Thus one sees that prayer and living Christian Science are one and the same thing. The allness of God, Spirit, and man in God's likeness precludes the belief in matter and its attendant errors, sin, disease, and death. Thus one sees that healing in Christian Science is not so much the eradication of disease as it is an ever-increasing awareness of the ever-presence of infinite perfection. In Science and Health (pp. 476, 477) Mrs. Eddy explains how Jesus prayed and healed; she says: "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. Thus Jesus taught that the kingdom of God is intact, universal, and that man is pure and holy."
I have a dear friend. He is a blacksmith by trade. When I first saw him I was at once impressed with his Christly expression. One afternoon, following my lecture, I met his wife. She showed equally as much spirituality and loveliness in her countenance. My friend asked, "Would you like to hear our life story in Christian Science?" I felt it would be wonderful and inspiring.
"When quite a young man," he said, "I went to my wife's town and opened a blacksmith's shop. We got to know each other. She was wearing braces to hold up her head," together with other braces on her body to support it.
"Being a Christian Scientist, I refused to bear witness to the seeming physical difficulties which were holding her in bondage. Mentally I held this testimony of physical sense to be untrue and unreal because not of God. Indeed, I bore witness to the perfect man just as Jesus did.
"The day we were married her father said to me: 'Al, if you want to back out, now is the time to do so and not afterwards. My daughter has a doctor's bill of six hundred dollars which I will pay. After your marriage the doctor's bills, the medicine bills, and hospital bills will be yours.'" Here my friend went on to say: "We never had any more doctor's bills in that respect because my wife took to Christian Science in a wonderful way. We studied it diligently every day and lived it.
"About eighteen months after we were married, one day she informed me she did not need the braces any more. Verily, the work we were doing in Truth was bearing fruitage. That day she removed the braces. Doctors had told her that someone would have to hold up her head if the braces were removed. She refused to bear false witness against herself any longer. Then she brought up the matter of the special shoes she was wearing. We agreed that it was no more necessary to wear the special shoes than it was the braces. Forthwith we went to town and purchased regular shoes. She has never again worn braces, nor the specially made shoes.
"The doctor," he said, "told my wife that she could never have children."
As my friend told me this part of the story I looked at his wife. She smiled and said sweetly, "And, Mr. Simms, we had nine children and they are all happily married."
My friend went on to say that all so-called children diseases, including two cases of polio, severe burns, and a broken jawbone, had been healed in Christian Science. These healings are properly documented.
When looking at that which belongs to his neighbor, one seldom declares, "I covet that." In that respect he obeys the tenth commandment, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's" (Ex. 20:17,).
Surely it is Christianly scientific to desire the things that seem good, that bring comfort and joy in the human experience. You will find your desires fulfilled in this respect as you realize that good and only good is your divine heritage. Christian Science teaches that God, divine Love, is impartial in His heavenly bestowals. Indeed Love is the open fount which calls, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters" (Isa. 55:1).
God, divine Love, knows the things you have need of and supplies them. However, you cannot expect to enjoy the affluence of divine Love while deceiving yourself with the belief that God has favorites, that the way to happiness, joy, health, and prosperity is open to your neighbor but not to yourself.
The very fact that you have God-given ability to recognize abundance, affluence, serenity, and composure in another assures you that to that degree the same things are yours to have and enjoy in your own experience. Hence, you can rejoice in another's good, his success, progress, healings, and attainments.
The Ten Commandments and the admonitions and demonstrations of our Saviour, Christ Jesus, indicate that salvation is spiritually progressive. Salvation in Christian Science is life lived after the pattern shown by Moses on the mount and the teachings of Christ Jesus. When does salvation begin? Declared Paul, "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (II Cor. 6:2).
The healing, regenerating, and saving effects resulting from your participation in this lecture are not a special favor from God. Actually, my friend, they are the impartial response of divine Love to your thought reaching out for the blessings of Truth.
Since God alone made you in His image and likeness, you have the right to declare that God is good and the sole source of your origin and being. You can, therefore, in your true selfhood, be conscious only of good; you can express only good. Plainly, it is more Christly for you to think after this manner than it is for you to think of God as good, but of man, you and your neighbor, as sinning, sick mortals. The word "sin" properly defined is any departure from good, from wholesome thoughts or right thinking.
If you believe that you have sinned, that you are sick, that you are aging and unhappy, stop believing these errors. Deny them place in your mentality. Resort constantly to the truth of your being as the child of God. Hold on to the ever-present perfection of God and man as His image and you will dispel the hypnotism of sin, disease, decrepitude, and fear. Your affirmations of the allness, the goodness, and perfection of God assure you of the presence of health and freedom. It is thus that Christian Science reveals your real life ever perfect, harmonious, and eternal.
Our beloved Leader, Mrs. Eddy, has given us a Daily Prayer which I hope everyone in this audience will learn and pray (Manual of The Mother Church, Art. VIII, Sect. 4): "'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!"
[Delivered March 23, 1959, in The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, and published in The Christian Science Monitor, March 24, 1959.]