Chapter IX The Fruit of Spirit
An Allegory
Picture to yourself “a city set upon a hill,” a [2]
celestial city above all clouds, in serene azure and
unfathomable glory: having no temple therein, for God is
the temple thereof; nor need of the sun, neither of the [5]
moon, for God doth lighten it. Then from this sacred
summit behold a Stranger wending his way downward,
to where a few laborers in a valley at the foot of the moun-
tain are working and watching for his coming.
The descent and ascent are beset with peril, priva- [10]
tion, temptation, toil, suffering. Venomous serpents hide
among the rocks, beasts of prey prowl in the path, wolves
in sheep’s clothing are ready to devour; but the Stranger
meets and masters their secret and open attacks with
serene confidence. [15]
The Stranger eventually stands in the valley at the
foot of the mountain. He saith unto the patient toilers
therein: “What do ye here? Would ye ascend the moun-
tain,—climbing its rough cliffs, hushing the hissing
serpents, taming the beasts of prey,—and bathe in its [20]
streams, rest in its cool grottos, and drink from its living
fountains? The way winds and widens in the valley;
up the hill it is straight and narrow, and few there be that
find it.”
His converse with the watchers and workers in the [1]
valley closes, and he makes his way into the streets of a
city made with hands.
Pausing at the threshold of a palatial dwelling, he
knocks and waits. The door is shut. He hears the [5]
sounds of festivity and mirth; youth, manhood, and age
gayly tread the gorgeously tapestried parlors, dancing-
halls, and banquet-rooms. But a little while, and the
music is dull, the wine is unsipped, the footfalls abate,
the laughter ceases. Then from the window of this dwel- [10]
ling a face looks out, anxiously surveying him who waiteth
at the door.
Within this mortal mansion are adulterers, fornicators,
idolaters; drunkenness, witchcraft, variance, envy, emu-
lation, hatred, wrath, murder. Appetites and passions [15]
have so dimmed their sight that he alone who looks from
that dwelling, through the clearer pane of his own heart
tired of sin, can see the Stranger.
Startled beyond measure at beholding him, this mortal
inmate withdraws; but growing more and more troubled, [20]
he seeks to leave the odious company and the cruel walls,
and to find the Stranger. Stealing cautiously away from
his comrades, he departs; then turns back,—he is afraid
to go on and to meet the Stranger. So he returns to the
house, only to find the lights all wasted and the music [25]
fled. Finding no happiness within, he rushes again
into the lonely streets, seeking peace but finding none.
Naked, hungry, athirst, this time he struggles on, and
at length reaches the pleasant path of the valley at the
foot of the mountain, whence he may hopefully look for [30]
the reappearance of the Stranger, and receive his heavenly
guidance.
The Stranger enters a massive carved stone mansion, [1]
and saith unto the dwellers therein, “Blessed are the
poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” But
they understand not his saying.
These are believers of different sects, and of no sect; [5]
some, so-called Christian Scientists in sheep’s clothing;
and all “drunken without wine.” They have small con-
ceptions of spiritual riches, few cravings for the immortal,
but are puffed up with the applause of the world: they
have plenty of pelf, and fear not to fall upon the Stranger, [10]
seize his pearls, throw them away, and afterwards try to
kill him.
Somewhat disheartened, he patiently seeks another
dwelling,—only to find its inmates asleep at noontide!
Robust forms, with manly brow nodding on cushioned [15]
chairs, their feet resting on footstools, or, flat on their
backs, lie stretched on the floor, dreaming away the
hours. Balancing on one foot, with eyes half open,
the porter starts up in blank amazement and looks at
the Stranger, calls out, rubs his eyes,—amazed beyond [20]
measure that anybody is animated with a purpose, and
seen working for it!
They in this house are those that “provoke Him in
the wilderness, and grieve Him in the desert.” Away
from this charnel-house of the so-called living, the Stranger [25]
turns quickly, and wipes off the dust from his feet as a
testimony against sensualism in its myriad forms. As
he departs, he sees robbers finding ready ingress to that
dwelling of sleepers in the midst of murderous hordes,
without watchers and the doors unbarred! [30]
Next he enters a place of worship, and saith unto them,
“Go ye into all the world; preach the gospel, heal the
sick, cast out devils, raise the dead; for the Scripture [1]
saith the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath
made you free from the law of sin and death.” And they
cast him out.
Once more he seeks the dwelling-place of mortals and [5]
knocks loudly. The door is burst open, and sufferers
shriek for help: that house is on fire! The flames caught
in the dwelling of luxury, where the blind saw them not,
but the flesh at length did feel them; thence they spread
to the house of slumberers who heeded them not, until [10]
they became unmanageable; fed by the fat of hypocrisy
and vainglory, they consumed the next dwelling; then
crept unseen into the synagogue, licking up the blood
of martyrs and wrapping their altars in ruins. “God is a
consuming fire.” [15]
Thus are all mortals, under every hue of circumstances,
driven out of their houses of clay and, homeless wan-
derers in a beleaguered city, forced to seek the Father’s
house, if they would be led to the valley and up the
mount. [20]
Seeing the wisdom of withdrawing from those who
persistently rejected him, the Stranger returned to the
valley; first, to meet with joy his own, to wash their
feet, and take them up the mountain. Well might this
heavenly messenger exclaim, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, [25]
thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which
are sent unto thee,... Behold, your house is left unto
you desolate.”
Discerning in his path the penitent one who had groped
his way from the dwelling of luxury, the Stranger saith [30]
unto him, “Wherefore comest thou hither?”
He answered, “The sight of thee unveiled my sins, and
turned my misnamed joys to sorrow. When I went back [1]
into the house to take something out of it, my misery
increased; so I came hither, hoping that I might follow
thee whithersoever thou goest.”
And the Stranger saith unto him, “Wilt thou climb [5]
the mountain, and take nothing of thine own with thee?”
He answered, “I will.”
“Then,” saith the Stranger, “thou hast chosen the
good part; follow me.”
Many there were who had entered the valley to specu- [10]
late in worldly policy, religion, politics, finance, and to
search for wealth and fame. These had heavy baggage
of their own, and insisted upon taking all of it with them,
which must greatly hinder their ascent.
The journey commences. The encumbered travellers [15]
halt and disagree. They stoutly belay those who, hav-
ing less baggage, ascend faster than themselves, and
betimes burden them with their own. Despairing of
gaining the summit, loaded as they are, they conclude to
stop and lay down a few of the heavy weights,—but [20]
only to take them up again, more than ever determined
not to part with their baggage.
All this time the Stranger is pointing the way, show-
ing them their folly, rebuking their pride, consoling their
afflictions, and helping them on, saying, “He that loseth [25]
his life for my sake, shall find it.”
Obstinately holding themselves back, and sore-footed,
they fall behind and lose sight of their guide; when,
stumbling and grumbling, and fighting each other, they
plunge headlong over the jagged rocks. [30]
Then he who has no baggage goes back and kindly
binds up their wounds, wipes away the blood stains, and
would help them on; but suddenly the Stranger shouts, [1]
“Let them alone; they must learn from the things they
suffer. Make thine own way; and if thou strayest, listen
for the mountain-horn, and it will call thee back to the
path that goeth upward.” [5]
Dear reader, dost thou suspect that the valley is hu-
mility, that the mountain is heaven-crowned Christianity,
and the Stranger the ever-present Christ, the spiritual
idea which from the summit of bliss surveys the vale of
the flesh, to burst the bubbles of earth with a breath of [10]
heaven, and acquaint sensual mortals with the mystery
of godliness,—unchanging, unquenchable Love? Hast
not thou heard this Christ knock at the door of thine own
heart, and closed it against Truth, to “eat and drink
with the drunken”? Hast thou been driven by suffer- [15]
ing to the foot of the mount, but earth-bound, burdened
by pride, sin, and self, hast thou turned back, stumbled,
and wandered away? Or hast thou tarried in the habita-
tion of the senses, pleased and stupefied, until wakened
through the baptism of fire? [20]
He alone ascends the hill of Christian Science who
follows the Way-shower, the spiritual presence and idea
of God. Whatever obstructs the way,—causing to
stumble, fall, or faint, those mortals who are striving
to enter the path,—divine Love will remove; and up- [25]
lift the fallen and strengthen the weak. Therefore, give
up thy earth-weights; and observe the apostle’s admoni-
tion, “Forgetting those things which are behind, and
reaching forth unto those which are before.” Then,
loving God supremely and thy neighbor as thyself, thou [30]
wilt safely bear thy cross up to the throne of everlasting
glory.
Voices of Spring
Mine is an obstinate penchant for nature in all her [2]
moods and forms, a satisfaction with whatever is hers.
And what shall this be named, a weakness, or a—
virtue? [5]
In spring, nature like a thrifty housewife sets the earth
in order; and between taking up the white carpets and
putting down the green ones, her various apartments are
dismally dirty.
Spring is my sweetheart, whose voices are sad or glad, [10]
even as the heart may be; restoring in memory the sweet
rhythm of unforgotten harmonies, or touching tenderly
its tearful tones.
Spring passes over mountain and meadow, waking up
the world; weaving the wavy grass, nursing the timid [15]
spray, stirring the soft breeze; rippling all nature in
ceaseless flow, with “breath all odor and cheek all bloom.”
Whatever else droops, spring is gay: her little feet trip
lightly on, turning up the daisies, paddling the water-
cresses, rocking the oriole’s cradle; challenging the sed- [20]
entary shadows to activity, and the streams to race for the
sea. Her dainty fingers put the fur cap on pussy-willow,
paint in pink the petals of arbutus, and sweep in soft
strains her Orphean lyre. “The voice of the turtle is
heard in our land.” The snow-bird that tarried through [25]
the storm, now chirps to the breeze; the cuckoo sounds
her invisible lute, calling the feathered tribe back to their
summer homes. Old robin, though stricken to the heart
with winter’s snow, prophesies of fair earth and sunny
skies. The brooklet sings melting murmurs to merry [30]
meadows; the leaves clap their hands, and the winds [1]
make melody through dark pine groves.
What is the anthem of human life?
Has love ceased to moan over the new-made grave,
and, looking upward, does it patiently pray for the per- [5]
petual springtide wherein no arrow wounds the dove?
Human hope and faith should join in nature’s grand har-
mony, and, if on minor key, make music in the heart.
And man, more friendly, should call his race as gently
to the springtide of Christ’s dear love. St. Paul wrote, [10]
“Rejoice in the Lord always.” And why not, since man’s
possibilities are infinite, bliss is eternal, and the conscious-
ness thereof is here and now?
The alders bend over the streams to shake out their
tresses in the water-mirrors; let mortals bow before the [15]
creator, and, looking through Love’s transparency, behold
man in God’s own image and likeness, arranging in the
beauty of holiness each budding thought. It is good to
talk with our past hours, and learn what report they
bear, and how they might have reported more spirit- [20]
ual growth. With each returning year, higher joys,
holier aims, a purer peace and diviner energy, should
freshen the fragrance of being. Nature’s first and last
lessons teach man to be kind, and even pride should
sanction what our natures need. Popularity,—what is [25]
it? A mere mendicant that boasts and begs, and God
denies charity.
When gentle violet lifts its blue eye to heaven, and
crown imperial unveils its regal splendor to the sun;
when the modest grass, inhabiting the whole earth, stoops [30]
meekly before the blast; when the patient corn waits
on the elements to put forth its slender blade, construct
the stalk, instruct the ear, and crown the full corn in the [1]
ear,—then, are mortals looking up, waiting on God,
and committing their way unto Him who tosses earth’s
mass of wonders into their hands? When downtrodden
like the grass, did it make them humble, loving, obedi- [5]
ent, full of good odor, and cause them to wait patiently
on God for man’s rich heritage,—“dominion over all
the earth”? Thus abiding in Truth, the warmth and
sunlight of prayer and praise and understanding will
ripen the fruits of Spirit, and goodness will have its spring- [10]
tide of freedom and greatness.
When the white-winged dove feeds her callow brood,
nestles them under her wings, and, in tones tremulous
with tenderness, calls them to her breast, do mortals
remember their cradle hymns, and thank God for those [15]
redemptive words from a mother’s lips which taught
them the Lord’s Prayer?
O gentle presence, peace and joy and power;
O Life divine, that owns each waiting hour;
Thou Love that guards the nestling’s faltering flight! [20]
Keep Thou my child on upward wing to-night.
Midst the falling leaves of old-time faiths, above the
frozen crust of creed and dogma, the divine Mind-force,
filling all space and having all power, upheaves the earth.
In sacred solitude divine Science evolved nature as thought, [25]
and thought as things. This supreme potential Principle
reigns in the realm of the real, and is “God with us,”
the I am.
As mortals awake from their dream of material sen-
sation, this adorable, all-inclusive God, and all earth’s [30]
hieroglyphics of Love, are understood; and infinite Mind
is seen kindling the stars, rolling the worlds, reflecting [1]
all space and Life,—but not life in matter. Wisely
governing, informing the universe, this Mind is Truth,—
not laws of matter. Infinitely just, merciful, and wise,
this Mind is Love,—but not fallible love. [5]
Spring is here! and doors that closed on Christian
Science in “the long winter of our discontent,” are open
flung. Its seedtime has come to enrich earth and en-
robe man in righteousness; may its sober-suited autumn
follow with hues of heaven, ripened sheaves, and harvest [10]
songs.
“Where Art Thou?”
In the allegory of Genesis, third chapter and ninth
verse, two mortals, walking in the cool of the day midst
the stately palms, many-hued blossoms, perfume-laden [15]
breezes, and crystal streams of the Orient, pondered the
things of man and God.
A sense of evil is supposed to have spoken, been listened
to, and afterwards to have formed an evil sense that
blinded the eyes of reason, masked with deformity the [20]
glories of revelation, and shamed the face of mortals.
What was this sense? Error versus Truth: first, a
supposition; second, a false belief; third, suffering;
fourth, death.
Is man the supposer, false believer, sufferer? [25]
Not man, but a mortal—the antipode of immortal
man. Supposing, false believing, suffering are not fac-
ulties of Mind, but are qualities of error.
The supposition is, that God and His idea are not all-
power; that there is something besides Him; that this [30]
something is intelligent matter; that sin—yea, self- [1]
hood—is apart from God, where pleasure and pain,
good and evil, life and death, commingle, and are for-
ever at strife; even that every ray of Truth, of infinity,
omnipotence, omnipresence, goodness, could be absorbed [5]
in error! God cannot be obscured, and this renders error
a palpable falsity, yea, nothingness; on the basis that
black is not a color because it absorbs all the rays of
light.
The “Alpha and Omega” of Christian Science voices [10]
this question: Where do we hold intelligence to be? Is
it in both evil and good, in matter as well as Spirit?
If so, we are literally and practically denying that God,
good, is supreme, all power and presence, and are turn-
ing away from the only living and true God, to “lords [15]
many and gods many.”
Where art thou, O mortal! who turnest away from
the divine source of being,—calling on matter to work
out the problem of Mind, to aid in understanding and
securing the sweet harmonies of Spirit that relate to the [20]
universe, including man?
Paul asked: “What communion hath light with dark-
ness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial?” The
worshippers of Baal worshipped the sun. They believed
that something besides God had authority and power, [25]
could heal and bless; that God wrought through matter
—by means of that which does not reflect Him in a single
quality or quantity!—the grand realities of Mind, thus
to exemplify the power of Truth and Love.
The ancient Chaldee hung his destiny out upon the [30]
heavens; but ancient or modern Christians, instructed in
divine Science, know that the prophet better understood
Him who said: “He doeth according to His will in the [1]
army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth;
and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest
Thou?”
Astrology is well in its place, but this place is second- [5]
ary. Necromancy has no foundation,—in fact, no
intelligence; and the belief that it has, deceives itself.
Whatever simulates power and Truth in matter, does this
as a lie declaring itself, that mortals’ faith in matter may
have the effect of power; but when the whole fabrication [10]
is found to be a lie, away goes all its supposed power and
prestige.
Why do Christian Scientists treat disease as disease,
since there is no disease?
This is done only as one gives the lie to a lie; because [15]
it is a lie, without one word of Truth in it. You must
find error to be nothing: then, and only then, do you
handle it in Science. The diabolism of suppositional
evil at work in the name of good, is a lie of the highest
degree of nothingness: just reduce this falsity to its proper [20]
denomination, and you have done with it.
How shall we treat a negation, or error—by means
of matter, or Mind? Is matter Truth? No! Then it
cannot antidote error.
Can belief destroy belief? No: understanding is re- [25]
quired to do this. By the substitution of Truth demon-
strated, Science remedies the ills of material beliefs.
Because I have uncovered evil, and dis-covered for
you divine Science, which saith, “Be not overcome of
evil, but overcome evil with good,” and you have not
loved sufficiently to understand this Golden Rule and
demonstrate the might of perfect Love that casteth out
all fear, shall you turn away from this divine Principle [1]
to graven images? Remember the Scripture:—
“But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart,
My lord delayeth his coming;”
“And shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to [5]
eat and drink with the drunken;
“The lord of that servant shall come in a day when
he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not
aware of,
“And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his por- [10]
tion with the hypocrites.”
One mercilessly assails me for opposing the subtle lie,
others charge upon me with full-fledged invective for, as
they say, having too much charity; but neither moves
me from the path made luminous by divine Love. [15]
In my public works I lay bare the ability, in belief, of
evil to break the Decalogue,—to murder, steal, commit
adultery, and so on. Those who deny my wisdom or
right to expose error, are either willing participants in
wrong, afraid of its supposed power, or ignorant of it. [20]
The notion that one is covering iniquity by asserting
its nothingness, is a fault of zealots, who, like Peter,
sleep when the Watcher bids them watch, and when the
hour of trial comes would cut off somebody’s ears. Such
people say, “Would you have me get out of a burning [25]
house, or stay in it?”
I would have you already out, and know that you are
out; also, to remember the Scripture concerning those
who do evil that good may come,—“whose damnation
is just;” and that whoso departeth from divine Science, [30]
seeking power or good aside from God, has done himself
harm.
Mind is supreme: Love is the master of hate; Truth, [1]
the victor over a lie. Hath not Science voiced this les-
son to you,—that evil is powerless, that a lie is never
true? It is your province to wrestle with error, to handle
the serpent and bruise its head; but you cannot, as a [5]
Christian Scientist, resort to stones and clubs,—yea, to
matter,—to kill the serpent of a material mind.
Do you love that which represents God most, His highest
idea as seen to-day? No!
Then you would hate Jesus if you saw him personally, [10]
and knew your right obligations towards him. He would
insist on the rule and demonstration of divine Science:
even that you first cast out your own dislike and hatred
of God’s idea,—the beam in your own eye that hinders
your seeing clearly how to cast the mote of evil out of [15]
other eyes. You cannot demonstrate the Principle of
Christian Science and not love its idea: we gather not
grapes of thorns, nor figs of thistles.
Where art thou?
Divine Science
What is it but another name for Christian Science, [21]
the cognomen of all true religion, the quintessence of
Christianity, that heals disease and sin and destroys
death! Part and parcel of Truth and Love, wherever
one ray of its effulgence looks in upon the heart, behold [25]
a better man, woman, or child.
Science is the fiat of divine intelligence, which, hoary
with eternity, touches time only to take away its frailty.
That it rests on everlasting foundations, the sequence
proves. [30]
Have I discovered and founded at this period Chris- [1]
tian Science, that which reveals the truth of Love,—is
the question.
And how can you be certain of so momentous an
affirmative? By proving its effect on yourself to be— [5]
divine.
What is the Principle and rule of Christian Science?
Infinite query! Wonder in heaven and on earth,—
who shall say? The immaculate Son of the Blessed
has spoken of them as the Golden Rule and its Principle, [10]
God who is Love. Listen, and he illustrates the rule:
“Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the
midst of them, and said,... Whosoever... shall
humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest
in the kingdom of heaven.” [15]
Harmony is heaven. Science brings out harmony;
but this harmony is not understood unless it produces a
growing affection for all good, and consequent disaffec-
tion for all evil, hypocrisy, evil-speaking, lust, envy, hate.
Where these exist, Christian Science has no sure foot- [20]
hold: they obscure its divine element, and thus seem
to extinguish it. Even the life of Jesus was belittled
and belied by personalities possessing these defacing de-
formities. Only the devout Marys, and such as lived
according to his precepts, understood the concrete char- [25]
acter of him who taught—by the wayside, in humble
homes, to itching ears and to dull disciples—the words
of Life.
The ineffable Life and light which he reflected through
divine Science is again reproduced in the character which [30]
sensualism, as heretofore, would hide or besmear. Sin
of any sort tends to hide from an individual this grand
verity in Science, that the appearing of good in an in- [1]
dividual involves the disappearing of evil. He who first
brings to humanity some great good, must have gained
its height beforehand, to be able to lift others toward
it. I first proved to myself, not by “words,”—these [5]
afford no proof,—but by demonstration of Christian
Science, that its Principle is divine. All must go and do
likewise.
Faith illumined by works; the spiritual understanding
which cannot choose but to labor and love; hope hold- [10]
ing steadfastly to good in the midst of seething evil;
charity that suffereth long and is kind, but cancels not
sin until it be destroyed,—these afford the only rule I
have found which demonstrates Christian Science.
And remember, a pure faith in humanity will subject [15]
one to deception; the uses of good, to abuses from evil;
and calm strength will enrage evil. But the very heavens
shall laugh at them, and move majestically to your defense
when the armies of earth press hard upon you.
“Thou must be true thyself,
[20]
If thou the truth wouldst teach;
Thy soul must overflow, if thou
Another’s soul wouldst reach;
It needs the overflow of heart,
To give the lips full speech.”
[25]
“Think truly, and thy thoughts
Shall the world’s famine feed;
Speak truly, and each word of thine
Shall be a fruitful seed;
Live truly, and thy life shall be [30]
A great and noble creed.”
Fidelity
If people would confine their talk to subjects that are [2]
profitable, that which St. John informs us took place
once in heaven, would happen very frequently on earth,—
silence for the space of half an hour. [5]
Experience is victor, never the vanquished; and out
of defeat comes the secret of victory. That to-morrow
starts from to-day and is one day beyond it, robes the
future with hope’s rainbow hues.
In the battle of life, good is made more industrious [10]
and persistent because of the supposed activity of evil.
The elbowing of the crowd plants our feet more firmly.
In the mental collisions of mortals and the strain of in-
tellectual wrestlings, moral tension is tested, and, if it
yields not, grows stronger. The past admonishes us: [15]
with finger grim and cold it points to every mortal mistake;
or smiling saith, “Thou hast been faithful over a few
things.”
Art thou a child, and hast added one furrow to the
brow of care? Art thou a husband, and hast pierced [20]
the heart venturing its all of happiness to thy keeping?
Art thou a wife, and hast bowed the o’erburdened head
of thy husband? Hast thou a friend, and forgettest to be
grateful? Remember, that for all this thou alone canst
and must atone. Carelessly or remorselessly thou mayest [25]
have sent along the ocean of events a wave that will some
time flood thy memory, surge dolefully at the door of con-
science, and pour forth the unavailing tear.
Change and the grave may part us; the wisdom that
might have blessed the past may come too late. One [30]
backward step, one relinquishment of right in an evil [1]
hour, one faithless tarrying, has torn the laurel from many
a brow and repose from many a heart. Good is never
the reward of evil, and vice versa.
There is no excellence without labor; and the time to [5]
work, is now. Only by persistent, unremitting, straight-
forward toil; by turning neither to the right nor to the
left, seeking no other pursuit or pleasure than that which
cometh from God, can you win and wear the crown of the
faithful. [10]
That law-school is not at fault which sends forth a
barrister who never brings out a brief. Why? Because
he followed agriculture instead of litigation, forsook
Blackstone for gray stone, dug into soils instead of delv-
ing into suits, raised potatoes instead of pleas, and drew [15]
up logs instead of leases. He has not been faithful over
a few things.
Is a musician made by his teacher? He makes him-
self a musician by practising what he was taught. The
conscientious are successful. They follow faithfully; [20]
through evil or through good report, they work on to the
achievement of good; by patience, they inherit the prom-
ise. Be active, and, however slow, thy success is sure:
toil is triumph; and—thou hast been faithful over a few
things. [25]
The lives of great men and women are miracles of pa-
tience and perseverance. Every luminary in the constel-
lation of human greatness, like the stars, comes out in
the darkness to shine with the reflected light of God.
Material philosophy, human ethics, scholastic theology, [30]
and physics have not sufficiently enlightened mankind.
Human wrong, sickness, sin, and death still appear in
mortal belief, and they never bring out the right action [1]
of mind or body. When will the whole human race have
one God,—an undivided affection that leaves the unreal
material basis of things, for the spiritual foundation and
superstructure that is real, right, and eternal? [5]
First purify thought, then put thought into words,
and words into deeds; and after much slipping and
clambering, you will go up the scale of Science to the
second rule, and be made ruler over many things. Fidelity
finds its reward and its strength in exalted purpose. Seek- [10]
ing is not sufficient whereby to arrive at the results of
Science: you must strive; and the glory of the strife
comes of honesty and humility.
Do human hopes deceive? is joy a trembler? Then,
weary pilgrim, unloose the latchet of thy sandals; for the [15]
place whereon thou standest is sacred. By that, you may
know you are parting with a material sense of life and
happiness to win the spiritual sense of good. O learn to
lose with God! and you find Life eternal: you gain all.
To doubt this is implicit treason to divine decree. [20]
The parable of “the ten virgins” serves to illustrate
the evil of inaction and delay. This parable is drawn
from the sad history of Vesta,—a little girl of eight
years, who takes the most solemn vow of celibacy for thirty
years, and is subject to terrible torture if the lamp she [25]
tends is not replenished with oil day and night, so that the
flame never expires. The moral of the parable is pointed,
and the diction purely Oriental.
We learn from this parable that neither the cares of
this world nor the so-called pleasures or pains of mate- [30]
rial sense are adequate to plead for the neglect of spiritual
light, that must be tended to keep aglow the flame of
devotion whereby to enter into the joy of divine Science [1]
demonstrated.
The foolish virgins had no oil in their lamps: their
way was material; thus they were in doubt and dark-
ness. They heeded not their sloth, their fading warmth [5]
of action; hence the steady decline of spiritual light,
until, the midnight gloom upon them, they must borrow
the better-tended lamps of the faithful. By entering
the guest-chamber of Truth, and beholding the bridal
of Life and Love, they would be wedded to a higher [10]
understanding of God. Each moment’s fair expect-
ancy was to behold the bridegroom, the One “altogether
lovely.”
It was midnight: darkness profound brooded over
earth’s lazy sleepers. With no oil in their lamps, no [15]
spiritual illumination to look upon him whom they had
pierced, they heard the shout, “The bridegroom cometh!”
But how could they behold him? Hear that human
cry: “Oh, lend us your oil! our lamps have gone out,—
no light! earth’s fables flee, and heaven is afar [20]
off.”
The door is shut. The wise virgins had no oil to spare,
and they said to the foolish, “Go to them that sell, and
buy for yourselves.” Seek Truth, and pursue it. It should
cost you something: you are willing to pay for error [25]
and receive nothing in return; but if you pay the price of
Truth, you shall receive all.
“The children of this world are in their generation
wiser than the children of light;” they watch the market,
acquaint themselves with the etiquette of the exchange, [30]
and are ready for the next move. How much more should
we be faithful over the few things of Spirit, that are able
to make us wise unto salvation! Let us watch and pray [1]
that we enter not into the temptation of ease in sin; and
let us not forget that others before us have laid upon the
altar all that we have to sacrifice, and have passed to
their reward. Too soon we cannot turn from disease [5]
in the body to find disease in the mortal mind, and its cure,
in working for God. Thought must be made better, and
human life more fruitful, for the divine energy to move
it onward and upward.
Warmed by the sunshine of Truth, watered by the [10]
heavenly dews of Love, the fruits of Christian Science
spring upward, and away from the sordid soil of self and
matter. Are we clearing the gardens of thought by up-
rooting the noxious weeds of passion, malice, envy, and
strife? Are we picking away the cold, hard pebbles of [15]
selfishness, uncovering the secrets of sin and burnishing
anew the hidden gems of Love, that their pure perfection
shall appear? Are we feeling the vernal freshness and
sunshine of enlightened faith?
The weeds of mortal mind are not always destroyed [20]
by the first uprooting; they reappear, like devastating
witch-grass, to choke the coming clover. O stupid gar-
dener! watch their reappearing, and tear them away from
their native soil, until no seedling be left to propagate—
and rot.
Among the manifold soft chimes that will fill the haunted [25]
chambers of memory, this is the sweetest: “Thou hast
been faithful!”
True Philosophy and Communion
It is related of Justin Martyr that, hearing of a Pythag- [2]
orean professor of ethics, he expressed the wish to be-
come one of his disciples. “Very well,” the teacher
replied; “but have you studied music, astronomy, and [5]
geometry, and do you think it possible for you to under-
stand aught of that which leads to bliss, without hav-
ing mastered the sciences that disengage the soul from
objects of sense, so rendering it a fit habitation for
the intelligences?” On Justin’s confessing that he had [10]
not studied those branches, he was dismissed by the
professor.
Alas for such a material science of life! Of what
avail would geometry be to a poor sinner struggling with
temptation, or to a man with the smallpox? [15]
Ancient and modern philosophies are spoiled by lack
of Science. They would place Soul wholly inside of body,
intelligence in matter; and from error of premise would
seek a correct conclusion. Such philosophy can never
demonstrate the Science of Life,—the Science which [20]
Paul understood when he spoke of willingness “to be
absent from the body, and present with the Lord.” Such
philosophy is far from the rules of the mighty Nazarene
Prophet. His words, living in our hearts, were these:
“Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as [25]
a little child, shall in no wise enter therein.” Not through
astronomy did he point out the way to heaven and the
reign of harmony.
We need the spirit of St. Paul, when he stood on Mars’
hill at Athens, bringing Christianity for the first time [30]
into Europe. The Spirit bestows spiritual gifts, God’s [1]
presence and providence. St. Paul stood where Socrates
had stood four hundred years before, defending himself
against the charge of atheism; in the place where De-
mosthenes had pleaded for freedom in immortal strains [5]
of eloquence.
We need the spirit of the pious Polycarp, who, when
the proconsul said to him, “I will set the beasts upon
you, unless you yield your religion,” replied: “Let them
come; I cannot change from good to bad.” Then they [10]
bound him to the stake, set fire to the fagots, and his
pure and strong faith rose higher through the baptism
of flame.
Methinks the infidel was blind who said, “Christianity
is fit only for women and weak men;” but even infidels [15]
may disagree. Bonaparte declared, “Ever since the
reign of Christianity began the loftiest intellects have had
a practical faith in God.” Daniel Webster said, “My
heart has always assured and reassured me that Chris-
tianity must be a divine reality.” [20]
To turn the popular indignation against an advanced
form of religion, the pagan slanderers affirmed that
Christians took their infants to a place of worship in
order to offer them in sacrifice,—a baptism not of
water but of blood, thus distorting or misapprehending [25]
the purpose of Christian sacraments. Christians met
in midnight feasts in the early days, and talked of the
crucified Saviour; thence arose the rumor that it was
a part of Christian worship to kill and eat a human
being. [30]
Really, Christianity turned men away from the thought
of fleshly sacrifice, and directed them to spiritual attain-
ments. Life, not death, was and is the very centre of [1]
its faith. Christian Science carries this thought even
higher, and insists on the demonstration of moral and
spiritual healing as eminent proof that God is understood
and illustrated. [5]
Origin of Evil
The origin of evil is the problem of ages. It confronts
each generation anew. It confronts Christian Science.
The question is often asked, If God created only the
good, whence comes the evil? [10]
To this question Christian Science replies: Evil never
did exist as an entity. It is but a belief that there is an
opposite intelligence to God. This belief is a species of
idolatry, and is not more true or real than that an image
graven on wood or stone is God. [15]
The mortal admission of the reality of evil perpetuates
faith in evil; and the Scriptures declare that “to whom
ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye
are.” This leading, self-evident proposition of Christian
Science, that, good being real, its opposite is necessarily [20]
unreal, needs to be grasped in all its divine requirements.
Truth Versus Error
“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures
of silver.” It is a rule in Christian Science never to re-
peat error unless it becomes requisite to bring out Truth. [25]
Then lift the curtain, let in the light, and countermand
this first command of Solomon, “Answer not a fool accord- [1]
ing to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him,”
A distant rumbling and quivering of the earth foretell
the internal action of pent-up gas. To avoid danger from
this source people have to escape from their houses to the [5]
open space. A conical cloud, hanging like a horoscope
in the air, foreshadows a cyclone. To escape from this
calamity people prepare shelter in caves of the earth.
They who discern the face of the skies cannot always
discern the mental signs of these times, and peer through [10]
the opaque error. Where my vision begins and is clear,
theirs grows indistinct and ends.
There are diversities of operation by the same spirit.
Two individuals, with all the goodness of generous na-
tures, advise me. One says, Go this way; the other [15]
says, Take the opposite direction! Between the two I
stand still; or, accepting the premonition of one of them,
I follow his counsel, take a few steps, then halt. A true
sense not unfamiliar has been awakened. I see the way
now. The guardians of His presence go before me. I [20]
enter the path. It may be smooth, or it may be rugged;
but it is always straight and narrow; and if it be up-
hill all the way, the ascent is easy and the summit can
be gained.
God is responsible for the mission of those whom He [25]
has anointed. Those who know no will but His take
His hand, and from the night He leads to light. None
can say unto Him, What doest Thou?
The Christian Science Journal was the oldest and
only authenticated organ of Christian Science up to [30]
1898. Loyal Scientists are targets for envy, rivalry,
slander; and whoever hits this mark is well paid by the
umpire. But the Scientists aim highest. They press for- [1]
ward towards the mark of a high calling. They recog-
nize the claims of the law and the gospel. They know
that whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap. They
infringe neither the books nor the business of others; and [5]
with hearts overflowing with love for God, they help on the
brotherhood of men. It is not mine but Thine they seek.
When God bids one uncover iniquity, in order to
exterminate it, one should lay it bare; and divine Love
will bless this endeavor and those whom it reaches. [10]
“Nothing is hid that shall not be revealed.”
It is only a question of time when God shall reveal His
rod, and show the plan of battle. Error, left to itself,
accumulates. Hence, Solomon’s transverse command:
“Answer a fool according, to his folly, lest he be wise in [15]
his own conceit.”
To quench the growing flames of falsehood, once in
about seven years I have to repeat this,—that I use no
drugs whatever, not even coffea (coffee), thea (tea), cap-
sicum (red pepper); though every day, and especially at [20]
dinner, I indulge in homœopathic doses of Natrum muri-
aticum (common salt).
When I found myself under this new régime of medi-
cine, the medicine of Mind, I wanted to satisfy my curi-
osity as to the effect of drugs on one who had lost all [25]
faith in them. Hence I tried several doses of medicine,
and so proved to myself that drugs have no beneficial
effect on an individual in a proper state of mind.
I have by no means encouraged students of the Massa-
chusetts Metaphysical College to enter medical schools, [30]
and afterwards denied this and objected to their entering
those schools. A student who consulted me on this sub-
ject, received my consent and even the offer of pecuniary [1]
assistance to take lessons outside of my College, provided
he received these lessons of a certain regular-school physi-
cian, whose instructions included about twelve lessons,
three weeks’ time, and the surgical part of midwifery. I [5]
have students with the degree of M. D., who are skilful
obstetricians. Such a course with such a teacher would
not necessitate essential materialization of a student’s
thought, nor detract from the metaphysical mode of
obstetrics taught in my College. [10]
This student had taken the above-named course in
obstetrics when he consulted me on the feasibility of enter-
ing a medical school; and to this I objected on the ground
that it was inconsistent with Christian Science, which he
claimed to be practising; but I was willing, and said [15]
so, that, notwithstanding my objection, he should do as
he deemed best, for I claim no jurisdiction over any stu-
dents. He entered the medical school, and several other
students with him. My counsel to all of them was in
substance the same as the foregoing, and some of these [20]
students have openly acknowledged this.
In answer to a question on the following subject, I
will state that I preached four years, and built up the
church, before I would accept the slightest remuneration.
When the church had sufficient members and means to [25]
pay a salary, and refused to give me up or to receive my
gratuitous services, I accepted, for a time, fifteen dollars
each Sunday when I preached. I never received more
than this; and the contributions, when I preached,
doubled that amount. I have accepted no pay from my [30]
church for about three years, and believe that I have
put into the church-fund about two thousand dollars of
my own contributions. I hold receipts for $1,489.50 paid [1]
in, and the balance was never receipted for.
I temporarily organized a secret society known as the
P. M., the workings whereof were not “terrible and too
shocking to relate.” By and with advice of the very [5]
student who brings up the question of this society, it
was formed. The P. M. (Private Meeting) Society met
only twice. The first subject given out for considera-
tion was this: “There is no Animal Magnetism.” There
was no advice given, no mental work, and there were [10]
no transactions at those meetings which I would hesitate
to have known. On the contrary, our deliberations
were, as usual, Christian, and like my public instruction.
The second P. M. convened in about one week from the
first. The subject given out at that meeting was, in sub- [15]
stance, “God is All; there is none beside Him.” This
proved to be our last meeting. I dissolved the society,
and we have not met since. If harm could come from
the consideration of these two topics, it was because of
the misconception of those subjects in the mind that [20]
handled them. An individual state of mind sometimes
occasions effects on patients which are not in harmony
with Science and the soundness of the argument used.
Hence it prevents the normal action, and the benefit that would otherwise accrue. [25]
I issue no arguments, and cause none to be used in
mental practice, which consign people to suffering. On
the contrary, I cannot serve two masters; therefore I
teach the use of such arguments only as promote health
and spiritual growth. My life, consecrated to humanity [30]
through nameless suffering and sacrifice, furnishes its
own proof of my practice.
I have sometimes called on students to test their ability [1]
and meet the mental malpractice, so as to lift the burdens
imposed by students.
The fact is, that for want of time, and for the purpose
of blessing even my enemies, I neglect myself. I never [5]
have practised by arguments which, perverted, are the
weapons of the silent mental malpractice. I have no skill
in occultism; and I could not if I would, and would not
if I could, harm any one through the mental method of
Mind-healing, or in any manner. [10]
The late much-ado-about-nothing arose solely from
mental malicious practice, and the audible falsehood
designed to stir up strife between brethren, for the purpose
of placing Christian Science in the hands of aspirants
for place and power. These repeated attempts of mad [15]
ambition may retard our Cause, but they never can place
it in the wrong hands and hold it there, nor benefit
mankind by such endeavors.
Fallibility of Human Concepts
Evil counterfeits good: it says, “I am Truth,” though [20]
it is a lie; it says, “I am Love,”—but Love is spirit-
ual, and sensuous love is material, wherefore it is hate
instead of Love; for the five senses give to mortals pain,
sickness, sin, and death,—pleasure that is false, life that
leads unto death, joy that becomes sorrow. Love that is [25]
not the procurator of happiness, declares itself the anti-
pode of Love; and Love divine punishes the joys of this
false sense of love, chastens its affection, purifies it, and
turns it into the opposite channels.
Material life is the antipode of spiritual life; it mocks [30]
the bliss of spiritual being; it is bereft of permanence and [1]
peace.
When human sense is quickened to behold aright the
error,—the error of regarding Life, Truth, Love as
material and not spiritual, or as both material and spirit- [5]
ual,—it is able for the first time to discern the Science
of good. But it must first see the error of its present
erroneous course, to be able to behold the facts of Truth
outside of the error; and, vice versa, when it discovers
the truth, this uncovers the error and quickens the true [10]
consciousness of God, good. May the human shadows of
thought lengthen as they approach the light, until they
are lost in light and no night is there!
In Science, sickness is healed upon the same Principle
and by the same rule that sin is healed. To know the [15]
supposed bodily belief of the patient and what has claimed
to produce it, enables the practitioner to act more under-
standingly in destroying this belief. Thus it is in heal-
ing the moral sickness; the malicious mental operation
must be understood in order to enable one to destroy [20]
it and its effects. There is not sufficient spiritual power
in the human thought to heal the sick or the sinful.
Through the divine energies alone one must either get
out of himself and into God so far that his consciousness
is the reflection of the divine, or he must, through argu- [25]
ment and the human consciousness of both evil and good,
overcome evil.
The only difference between the healing of sin and the
healing of sickness is, that sin must be uncovered before
it can be destroyed, and the moral sense be aroused to [30]
reject the sense of error; while sickness must be cov-
ered with the veil of harmony, and the consciousness be
allowed to rejoice in the sense that it has nothing to mourn [1]
over, but something to forget.
Human concepts run in extremes; they are like the
action of sickness, which is either an excess of action or
not action enough; they are fallible; they are neither [5]
standards nor models.
If one asks me, Is my concept of you right? I reply, The
human concept is always imperfect; relinquish your human
concept of me, or of any one, and find the divine, and you
have gained the right one—and never until then. People [10]
give me too much attention of the misguided, fallible sort,
and this misrepresents one through malice or ignorance.
My brother was a manufacturer; and one day a work-
man in his mills, a practical joker, set a man who applied
for work, in the overseer’s absence, to pour a bucket of [15]
water every ten minutes on the regulator. When my
brother returned and saw it, he said to the jester, “You
must pay that man.” Some people try to tend folks, as
if they should steer the regulator of mankind. God makes
us pay for tending the action that He adjusts. [20]
The regulator is governed by the principle that makes
the machinery work rightly; and because it is thus gov-
erned, the folly of tending it is no mere jest. The divine
Principle carries on His harmony.
Now turn from the metaphor of the mill to the Mother’s [25]
four thousand children, most of whom, at about three
years of scientific age, set up housekeeping alone. Certain
students, being too much interested in themselves to think
of helping others, go their way. They do not love Mother,
but pretend to; they constantly go to her for help, interrupt [30]
the home-harmony, criticise and disobey her; then “return
to their vomit,”—world worship, pleasure seeking, and
sense indulgence,—meantime declaring they “never dis- [1]
obey Mother”! It exceeds my conception of human
nature. Sin in its very nature is marvellous! Who but a
moral idiot, sanguine of success in sin, can steal, and lie
and lie, and lead the innocent to doom? History needs it, [5]
and it has the grandeur of the loyal, self-forgetful, faith-
ful Christian Scientists to overbalance this foul stuff.
When the Mother’s love can no longer promote peace
in the family, wisdom is not “justified of her children.”
When depraved reason is preferred to revelation, error [10]
to Truth, and evil to good, and sense seams sounder than
Soul, the children are tending the regulator; they are
indeed losing the knowledge of the divine Principle and
rules of Christian Science, whose fruits prove the nature
of their source. A little more grace, a motive made pure, [15]
a few truths tenderly told, a heart softened, a character
subdued, a life consecrated, would restore the right action
of the mental mechanism, and make manifest the move-
ment of body and soul in accord with God.
Instead of relying on the Principle of all that really [20]
exists,—to govern His own creation,—self-conceit, igno-
rance, and pride would regulate God’s action. Expe-
rience shows that humility is the first step in Christian
Science, wherein all is controlled, not by man or laws
material, but by wisdom, Truth, and Love. [25]
Go gaze on the eagle, his eye on the sun,
Fast gathering strength for a flight well begun,
As rising he rests in a liberty higher
Than genius inflated with worldly desire.
No tear dims his eye, nor his pinions lose power [30]
To gaze on the lark in her emerald bower—
Whenever he soareth to fashion his nest,
No vision more bright than the dream in his breast.
The Way
The present stage of progress in Christian Science pre- [2]
sents two opposite aspects,—a full-orbed promise, and
a gaunt want. The need, however, is not of the letter,
but the spirit. [5]
Less teaching and good healing is to-day the acme of
“well done;” a healing that is not guesswork,—chronic
recovery ebbing and flowing,—but instantaneous cure.
This absolute demonstration of Science must be revived.
To consummate this desideratum, mortal mind must pass [10]
through three stages of growth.
First, self-knowledge. The physician must know him-
self and understand the mental state of his patient. Error
found out is two-thirds destroyed, and the last third
pierces itself, for the remainder only stimulates and gives [15]
scope to higher demonstration. To strike out right and
left against the mist, never clears the vision; but to lift
your head above it, is a sovereign panacea. Mental dark-
ness is senseless error, neither intelligence nor power, and
its victim is responsible for its supposititious presence. [20]
“Cast the beam out of thine own eye.” Learn what in
thine own mentality is unlike “the anointed,” and cast
it out; then thou wilt discern the error in thy patient’s
mind that makes his body sick, and remove it, and rest
like the dove from the deluge. [25]
“Physician, heal thyself.” Let no clouds of sin gather
and fall in mist and showers from thine own mental
atmosphere. Hold thy gaze to the light, and the iris of
faith, more beautiful than the rainbow seen from my
window at the close of a balmy autumnal day, will span [30]
thy heavens of thought.
A radiant sunset, beautiful as blessings when they take [1]
their flight, dilates and kindles into rest. Thus will a
life corrected illumine its own atmosphere with spiritual
glow and understanding.
The pent-up elements of mortal mind need no terrible [5]
detonation to free them. Envy, rivalry, hate need no
temporary indulgence that they be destroyed through
suffering; they should be stifled from lack of air and
freedom.
My students, with cultured intellects, chastened affec- [10]
tions, and costly hopes, give promise of grand careers.
But they must remember that the seedtime is passed,
the harvest hour has come; and songs should ascend
from the mount of revelation, sweeter than the sound of
vintage bells. [15]
The seed of Christian Science, which when sown was
“the least of all seeds,” has sprung up, borne fruit, and
the birds of the air, the uplifted desires of the human
heart, have lodged in its branches. Now let my faithful
students carry the fruit of this tree into the rock-ribbed [20]
nests of the raven’s callow brood.
The second stage of mental development is humility.
This virtue triumphs over the flesh; it is the genius of
Christian Science. One can never go up, until one has
gone down in his own esteem. Humility is lens and [25]
prism to the understanding of Mind-healing; it must be
had to understand our textbook; it is indispensable to
personal growth, and points out the chart of its divine
Principle and rule of practice.
Cherish humility, “watch,” and “pray without ceasing,” [30]
or you will miss the way of Truth and Love. Humility
is no busybody: it has no moments for trafficking
in other people’s business, no place for envy, no time for [1]
idle words, vain amusements, and all the et cetera of the
ways and means of personal sense.
Let Christian Scientists minister to the sick; the school-
room is the dernier ressort. Let them seek the lost sheep [5]
who, having strayed from the true fold, have lost their
great Shepherd and yearn to find living pastures and
rest beside still waters. These long for the Christlike-
ness that is above the present status of religion and be-
yond the walks of common life, quite on the verge of [10]
heaven. Without the cross and healing, Christianity has
no central emblem, no history.
The seeds of Truth fall by the wayside, on artless
listeners. They fall on stony ground and shallow soil.
The fowls of the air pick them up. Much of what has [15]
been sown has withered away, but what remaineth has
fallen into the good and honest hearts and is bearing
fruit.
The third stage of mental growth is manifested in love,
the greatest of all stages and states of being; love that [20]
is irrespective of self, rank, or following. For some time
it has been clear to my thought that those students of
Christian Science whose Christian characters and lives
recommend them, should receive full fellowship from us,
no matter who has taught them. If they have been taught [25]
wrongly, they are not morally responsible for this, and
need special help. They are as lambs that have sought
the true fold and the great Shepherd, and strayed inno-
cently; hence we should be ready and glad to help them
and point the way. [30]
Divine Love is the substance of Christian Science, the
basis of its demonstration, yea, its foundation and super-
structure. Love impels good works. Love is greatly [1]
needed, and must be had to mark the way in divine
Science.
The student who heals by teaching and teaches by
healing, will graduate under divine honors, which are [5]
the only appropriate seals for Christian Science. State
honors perish, and their gain is loss to the Christian
Scientist. They include for him at present naught but
tardy justice, hounded footsteps, false laurels. God
alone is his help, his shield and great reward. He that [10]
seeketh aught besides God, loseth in Life, Truth, and
Love. All men shall be satisfied when they “awake in
His likeness,” and they never should be until then. Hu-
man pride is human weakness. Self-knowledge, humility,
and love are divine strength. Christ’s vestures are put [15]
on only when mortals are “washed in the blood of the
Lamb;” we must walk in the way which Jesus marked
out, if we would reach the heaven-crowned summit of
Christian Science.
Be it understood that I do not require Christian Sci- [20]
entists to stop teaching, to dissolve their organizations,
or to desist from organizing churches and associations.
The Massachusetts Metaphysical College, the first
and only College for teaching Christian Science Mind-
healing, after accomplishing the greatest work of the [25]
ages, and at the pinnacle of prosperity, is closed. Let
Scientists who have grown to self-sacrifice do their
present work, awaiting, with staff in hand, God’s
commands.
When students have fulfilled all the good ends of [30]
organization, and are convinced that by leaving the
material forms thereof a higher spiritual unity is won,
then is the time to follow the example of the Alma Mater. [1]
Material organization is requisite in the beginning; but
when it has done its work, the purely Christly method
of teaching and preaching must be adopted. On the same
principle, you continue the mental argument in the prac- [5]
tice of Christian healing until you can cure without it
instantaneously, and through Spirit alone.
St. Paul says: “When I was a child, I spake as a
child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but
when I became a man, I put away childish things. For [10]
now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to
face.” Growth is restricted by forcing humanity out of
the proper channels for development, or by holding it in
fetters.
For Jesus to walk the water was scientific, insomuch [15]
as he was able to do this; but it is neither wisdom nor
Science for poor humanity to step upon the Atlantic until
we can walk on the water.
Peter’s impetuosity was rebuked. He had to learn
from experience; so have we. The methods of our [20]
Master were in advance of the period in which he per-
sonally appeared; but his example was right, and is
available at the right time. The way is absolute divine
Science: walk ye in it; but remember that Science is
demonstrated by degrees, and our demonstration rises [25]
only as we rise in the scale of being.
Science and Philosophy
Men give counsel; but they give not the wisdom to
profit by it. To ask wisdom of God, is the beginning of
wisdom. [30]
Meekness, moderating human desire, inspires wisdom [1]
and procures divine power. Human lives are yet un-
carved,—in the rough marble, encumbered with crude,
rude fragments, and awaiting the hammering, chiselling,
and transfiguration from His hand. [5]
Great only as good, because fashioned divinely, were
those unpretentious yet colossal characters, Paul and
Jesus. Theirs were modes of mind cast in the moulds
of Christian Science: Paul’s, by the supremely natural
transforming power of Truth; and the character of [10]
Jesus, by his original scientific sonship with God. Phi-
losophy never has produced, nor can it reproduce, these
stars of the first magnitude—fixed stars in the heavens
of Soul. When shall earth be crowned with the true
knowledge of Christ? [15]
When Christian Science has melted away the cloud of
false witnesses; and the dews of divine grace, fall-
ing upon the blighted flowers of fleeting joys, shall
lift every thought-leaflet Spiritward; and “Israel after
the flesh,” who partaketh of its own altars, shall be [20]
no more,—then, “the Israel according to Spirit”
shall fill earth with the divine energies, understanding,
and ever-flowing tides of spiritual sensation and consciousness.
When mortal mind is silenced by the “still, small voice” [25]
of Truth that regenerates philosophy and logic; and
Jesus, as the true idea of Him, is heard as of yore saying
to sensitive ears and dark disciples, “I came from the
Father,” “Before Abraham was, I am,” coexistent and
coeternal with God,—and this idea is understood,— [30]
then will the earth be filled with the true knowledge of
Christ. No advancing modes of human mind made
Jesus; rather was it their subjugation, and the pure [1]
heart that sees God.
When the belief in material origin, mortal mind, sen-
sual conception, dissolves through self-imposed suffering,
and its substances are found substanceless,—then its [5]
miscalled life ends in death, and death itself is swallowed
up in Life,—spiritual Life, whose myriad forms are
neither material nor mortal.
When every form and mode of evil disappear to hu-
man thought, and mollusk and radiate are spiritual con- [10]
cepts testifying to one creator,—then, earth is full of
His glory, and Christian Science has overshadowed all
human philosophy, and being is understood in startling
contradiction of human hypotheses; and Socrates, Plato,
Kant, Locke, Berkeley, Tyndall, Darwin, and Spencer [15]
sit at the feet of Jesus.
To this great end, Paul admonished, “Let us lay aside
every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us,
and let us run with patience the race that is set before
us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our [20]
faith.” So shall mortals soar to final freedom, and rest
from the subtlety of speculative wisdom and human
woe.
God is the only Mind, and His manifestation is the
spiritual universe, including man and all eternal indi- [25]
viduality. God, the only substance and divine Principle
of creation, is by no means a creative partner in the firm
of error, named matter, or mortal mind. He elucidates
His own idea, wherein Principle and idea, God and man,
are not one, but are inseparable as cause and effect. If [30]
one, who could say which that “one” was?
His ways are not as our ways. The divine modes
and manifestations are not those of the material senses; [1]
for instance, intelligent matter, or mortal mind, material
birth, growth, and decay: they are the forever-existing
realities of divine Science; wherein God and man are
perfect, and man’s reason is at rest in God’s wisdom,— [5]
who comprehends and reflects all real mode, form, indi-
viduality, identity.
Scholastic dogma has made men blind. Christ’s logos
gives sight to these blind, ears to these deaf, feet to these
lame,—physically, morally, spiritually. Theologians [10]
make the mortal mistake of believing that God, having
made all, made evil; but the Scriptures declare that all
that He made was good. Then, was evil part and parcel
of His creation?
Philosophy hypothetically regards creation as its own [15]
creator, puts cause into effect, and out of nothing would
create something, whose noumenon is mortal mind,
with its phenomenon matter,—an evil mind already
doomed, whose modes are material manifestations of
evil, and that continually, until self-extinguished by [20]
suffering!
Here revelation must come to the rescue of mortals,
to remove this mental millstone that is dragging them
downward, and refute erring reason with the spiritual
cosmos and Science of Soul. We all must find shelter [25]
from the storm and tempest in the tabernacle of Spirit.
Truth is won through Science or suffering: O vain mor-
tals! which shall it be? And suffering has no reward,
except when it is necessary to prevent sin or reform
the sinner. And pleasure is no crime except when it [30]
strengthens the influence of bad inclinations or lessens
the activities of virtue. The more nearly an erring so-
called mind approaches purity, the more conscious it [1]
becomes of its own unreality, and of the great reality of
divine Mind and true happiness.
The “ego” that claims selfhood in error, and passes
from molecule and monkey up to man, is no ego, but is [5]
simply the supposition that the absence of good is mind
and makes men,—when its greatest flatterer, identifica-
tion, is piqued by Him who compensateth vanity with
nothingness, dust with dust!
The mythology of evil and mortality is but the ma- [10]
terial mode of a suppositional mind; while the immortal
modes of Mind are spiritual, and pass through none of
the changes of matter, or evil. Truth said, and said from
the beginning, “Let us [Spirit] make man perfect;” and
there is no other Maker: a perfect man would not desire [15]
to make himself imperfect, and God is not chargeable
with imperfection. His modes declare the beauty of holi-
ness, and His manifold wisdom shines through the visible
world in glimpses of the eternal verities. Even through
the mists of mortality is seen the brightness of His [20]
coming.
We must avoid the shoals of a sensual religion or
philosophy that misguides reason and affection, and
hold fast to the Principle of Christian Science as the
Word that is God, Spirit, and Truth. This Word cor- [25]
rects the philosopher, confutes the astronomer, exposes
the subtle sophist, and drives diviners mad. The Bible
is the learned man’s masterpiece, the ignorant man’s
dictionary, the wise man’s directory.
I foresee and foresay that every advancing epoch of so [30]
Truth will be characterized by a more spiritual appre-
hension of the Scriptures, that will show their marked
consonance with the textbook of Christian Science Mind- [1]
healing, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.”
Interpreting the Word in the “new tongue,” whereby
the sick are healed, naturally evokes new paraphrase
from the world of letters. “Wait patiently on the Lord, [5]
and He will renew your strength.” In return for indi-
vidual sacrifice, what a recompense to have healed, through
Truth, the sick and sinful, made the public your friend,
and posterity your familiar!
Christian Science refutes everything that is not a [10]
postulate of the divine Principle, God. It is the soul of
divine philosophy, and there is no other philosophy. It
is not a search after wisdom, it is wisdom: it is God’s
right hand grasping the universe,—all time, space,
immortality, thought, extension, cause, and effect; con- [15]
stituting and governing all identity, individuality, law,
and power. It stands on this Scriptural platform:
that He made all that was made, and it is good, reflects
the divine Mind, is governed by it; and that nothing
apart from this Mind, one God, is self-created or evolves [20]
the universe.
Human hypotheses predicate matter of Spirit and
evil of good; hence these opposites must either cooperate
or quarrel throughout time and eternity,—or until
this impossible partnership is dissolved. If Spirit is the [25]
lawgiver to matter, and good has the same power or
modes as evil, it has the same consciousness, and there
is no absolute good. This error, carried to its ultimate,
would either extinguish God and His modes, or give
reality and power to evil ad infinitum. [30]
Christian Science rends this veil of the temple of gods,
and reproduces the divine philosophy of Jesus and Paul.
This philosophy alone will bear the strain of time and [1]
bring out the glories of eternity; for “other founda-
tion can no man lay than that is laid,” which is Christ,
Truth.
Human theories weighed in the balances of God are [5]
found wanting; and their highest endeavors are to Science
what a child’s love of pictures is to art. The school whose
schoolmaster is not Christ, gets things wrong, and is ignorant
thereof.
If Christian Science lacked the proof of its goodness [10]
and utility, it would destroy itself; for it rests alone on
demonstration. Its genius is right thinking and right
acting, physical and moral harmony; and the secret of
its success lies in supplying the universal need of better
health and better men. [15]
Good health and a more spiritual religion form the
common want, and this want has worked out a moral
result; namely, that mortal mind is calling for what im-
mortal Mind alone can supply. If the uniform moral
and spiritual, as well as physical, effects of divine Science [20]
were lacking, the demand would diminish; but it con-
tinues, and increases, which shows the real value of
Christian Science to the race. Even doctors agree that
infidelity, bigotry, or sham has never met the growing
wants of humanity. [25]
As a literature, Christian metaphysics is hampered by
lack of proper terms in which to express what it means.
As a Science, it is held back by the common ignorance
of what it is and of what it does,—and more than all
else, by the impostors that come in its name. To be [30]
appreciated, it must be conscientiously understood and
introduced.
If the Bible and “Science and Health with Key to the [1]
Scriptures” had in our schools the time or attention that
human hypotheses consume, they would advance the
world. True, it requires more study to understand and
demonstrate what they teach than to learn the doctrine [5]
of theology, philosophy, or physics, because they con-
tain and offer Science, with fixed Principle, given rule,
and unmistakable proof.
The Scriptures give the keynote of Christian Science
from Genesis to Revelation, and this is the prolonged [10]
tone: “For the Lord He is God, and there is
none beside Him.” And because He is All-in-all,
He is in nothing unlike Himself; and nothing that
worketh or maketh a lie is in Him, or can be divine con-
sciousness. [15]
At this date, poor jaded humanity needs to get her
eyes open to a new style of imposition in the field of
medicine and of religion, and to “beware of the leaven
of the scribes and Pharisees,” the doctrines of men, even
as Jesus admonished. From first to last, evil insists on [20]
the unity of good and evil as the purpose of God; and
on drugs, electricity, and animal magnetism as modes
of medicine. To a greater or less extent, all mortal conclusions
start from this false premise, and they necessarily
culminate in sickness, sin, disease, and death. [25]
Erroneous doctrines never have abated and never will
abate dishonesty, self-will, envy, and lust. To destroy
sin and its sequence, is the office of Christ, Truth,—ac-
cording to His mode of Christian Science; and this is
being done daily. [30]
The false theories whose names are legion, gilded with
sophistry and what Jesus had not, namely, mere book-
learning,—letter without law, gospel, or demonstration, [1]
—have no place in Christian Science. This Science re-
quires man to be honest, just, pure; to love his neighbor
as himself, and to love God supremely.
Matter and evil are subjective states of error or mortal [5]
mind. But Mind is immortal; and the fact of there
being no mortal mind, exposes the lie of suppositional
evil, showing that error is not Mind, substance, or
Life. Thus, whatever is wrongfully-minded will dis-
appear in the proportion that Science is understood, [10]
and the reality of being—goodness and harmony—is
demonstrated.
Error says that knowing all things implies the neces-
sity of knowing evil, that it dishonors God to claim that
He is ignorant of anything; but God says of this fruit [15]
of the tree of knowledge of both good and evil, “In the
day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.” If
God is infinite good, He knows nothing but good; if He
did know aught else, He would not be infinite. Infinite
Mind knows nothing beyond Himself or Herself. To [20]
good, evil is never present; for evil is a different state of
consciousness. It was not against evil, but against know-
ing evil, that God forewarned. He dwelleth in light;
and in the light He sees light, and cannot see darkness.
The opposite conclusion, that darkness dwelleth in light, [25]
has neither precedent nor foundation in nature, in logic,
or in the character of Christ.
The senses would say that whatever saves from sin,
must know sin. Truth replies that God is too pure
to behold iniquity; and by virtue of His ignorance of [30]
that which is not, He knoweth that which is, and
abideth in Himself, the only Life, Truth, and Love,
—and is reflected by a universe in His own image [1]
and likeness.
Even so, Father, let the light that shineth in dark-
ness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not, dispel this
illusion of the senses, open the eyes of the blind, and cause [5]
the deaf to hear.
“Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne.
Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own.”
Lowell
“Take Heed!”
We regret to be obliged to say that all are not meta-
physicians, or Christian Scientists, who call themselves
so. Charlatanism, fraud, and malice are getting into
the ranks of the good and pure, sending forth a poison [15]
more deadly than the upas-tree in the eastern archi-
pelago. This evil obtains in the present false teaching
and false practice of the Science of treating disease through
Mind. The silent address of a mental malpractitioner
can only be portrayed in these words of the apostle, [20]
“whisperers,” and “the poison of asps is under their
tongue.”
Some of the mere puppets of the hour are playing
only for money, and at a fearful stake. Others, from
malice and envy, are working out the destinies of the [25]
damned. But while the best, perverted, on the mortal
plane may become the worst, let us not forget that the
Lord reigns, and that this earth shall some time rejoice
in His supreme rule,—that the tired watchmen on the
walls of Zion, and the true Christian Scientist at the foot [1]
of the mount of revelation, shall look up with shouts and
thanksgiving,—that God’s law, as in divine Science,
shall be finally understood; and the gospel of glad tidings
bring “on earth peace, good will toward men.” [5]
The Cry of Christmas-Tide
Metaphysics, not physics, enables us to stand erect
on sublime heights, surveying the immeasurable universe
of Mind, peering into the cause which governs all effects,
while we are strong in the unity of God and man. There [10]
is “method” in the “madness” of this system,—since
madness it seems to many onlookers. This method sits
serene at the portals of the temple of thought, while
the leaders of materialistic schools indulge in mad
antics. Metaphysical healing seeks a wisdom that is [15]
higher than a rhubarb tincture or an ipecacuanha pill.
This method is devout enough to trust Christ more than
it does drugs.
Meekly we kneel at our Master’s feet, for even a crumb
that falleth from his table. We are hungry for Love, [20]
for the white-winged charity that heals and saves; we
are tired of theoretic husks,—as tired as was the prodi-
gal son of the carobs which he shared with the swine,
to whom he fed that wholesome but unattractive food.
Like him, we would find our Father’s house again— [25]
the perfect and eternal Principle of man. We thirst
for inspiring wine from the vine which our Father tends.
We crave the privilege of saying to the sick, when their
feebleness calls for help, “Rise and walk.” We rejoice [1]
to say, in the spirit of our Master, “Stretch forth thy
hand, and be whole!”
When the Pharisees saw Jesus do such deeds of mercy,
they went away and took counsel how they might remove [5]
him. The antagonistic spirit of evil is still abroad; but
the greater spirit of Christ is also abroad,—risen from
the grave-clothes of tradition and the cave of ignorance.
Let the sentinels of Zion’s watch-towers shout once
again, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is [10]
given.”
In different ages the divine idea assumes different
forms, according to humanity’s needs. In this age it
assumes, more intelligently than ever before, the form
of Christian healing. This is the babe we are to cherish. [15]
This is the babe that twines its loving arms about the
neck of omnipotence, and calls forth infinite care from
His loving heart.
Blind Leaders
What figure is less favorable than a wolf in sheep’s [20]
clothing? The braying donkey whose ears stick out is
less troublesome. What manner of man is it that has
discovered an improvement on Christian Science, a “met-
aphysical healing” by which error destroys error, and
would gather all sorts into a “national convention” by [25]
the sophistry that such is the true fold for Christian heal-
ers, since the good shepherd cares for all?
Yes; the good Shepherd does care for all, and His
first care is to separate the sheep from the goats; and
this is among the first lessons on healing taught by our [1]
great Master.
If, as the gentleman aforesaid states, large flocks of
metaphysicians are wandering about without a leader,
what has opened his eyes to see the need of taking them [5]
out of the care of the great Shepherd, and behold the
remedy, to help them by his own leadership? Is it that
he can guide Christian Scientists better than they, through
the guidance of our common Father, can guide them-
selves? or is it that they are incapable of helping them- [10]
selves thus?
I as their teacher can say, They know far more of
Christian Science than he who deprecates their condition
appears to, and my heart pleads for them to possess
more and more of Truth and Love; but mixing all grades [15]
of persons is not productive of the better sort, although
he who has self-interest in this mixing is apt to pro-
pose it.
Whoever desires to say, “good right, and good wrong,”
has no truth to defend. It is a wise saying that “men [20]
are known by their enemies.” To sympathize in any
degree with error, is not to rectify it; but error always
strives to unite, in a definition of purpose, with Truth,
to give it buoyancy. What is under the mask, but error
in borrowed plumes? [25]
“Christ and Christmas”
This poem and its illustrations are as hopelessly origi-
nal as is “Science and Health with Key to the Scrip-
tures.” When the latter was first issued, critics declared [1]
that it was incorrect, contradictory, unscientific, unchris-
tian; but those human opinions had not one feather’s
weight in the scales of God. The fact remains, that
the textbook of Christian Science is transforming the [5]
universe.
“Christ and Christmas” voices Christian Science
through song and object-lesson. In two weeks from the
date of its publication in December, 1893, letters extoll-
ing it were pouring in from artists and poets. A mother [10]
wrote, “Looking at the pictures in your wonderful book
has healed my child.”
Knowing that this book would produce a stir, I sought
the judgment of sound critics familiar with the works
of masters in France and Italy. From them came such [15]
replies as the following: “The illustrations of your poem
are truly a work of art, and the artist seems quite familiar
with delineations from the old masters.” I am delighted
to find “Christ and Christmas” in accord with the
ancient and most distinguished artists. [20]
The Christian Science Journal gives no uncertain dec-
laration concerning the spirit and mission of “Christ and
Christmas.”
I aimed to reproduce, with reverent touch, the modest
glory of divine Science. Not by aid of foreign device [25]
or environment could I copy art,—never having seen
the painter’s masterpieces; but the art of Christian
Science, with true hue and character of the living God,
is akin to its Science: and Science and Health gives
scopes and shades to the shadows of divinity, thus im- [30]
parting to humanity the true sense of meekness and
might.
One incident serves to illustrate the simple nature of [1]
art.
I insisted upon placing the serpent behind the woman
in the picture “Seeking and Finding.” My artist at the
easel objected, as he often did, to my sense of Soul’s [5]
expression through the brush; but, as usual, he finally
yielded. A few days afterward, the following from Roth-
erham’s translation of the New Testament was handed
to me,—I had never before seen it: “And the serpent
cast out of his mouth, behind the woman, water as a [10]
river, that he might cause her to be river-borne.” Neither
material finesse, standpoint, nor perspective guides the
infinite Mind and spiritual vision that should, does, guide
His children.
One great master clearly delineates Christ’s appear- [15]
ing in the flesh, and his healing power, as clad not in
soft raiment or gorgeous apparel; and when forced out
of its proper channel, as living feebly, in kings’ courts.
This master’s thought presents a sketch of Christian-
ity’s state, in the early part of the Christian era, as [20]
homelessness in a wilderness. But in due time Chris-
tianity entered into synagogues, and, as St. Mark
writes, it has rich possession here, with houses and
lands. In Genesis we read that God gave man do-
minion over all things; and this assurance is followed [25]
by Jesus’ declaration, “All power is given unto me
in heaven and in earth,” and by his promise that the
Christlike shall finally sit down at the right hand of the
Father.
Christian Science is more than a prophet or a proph- [30]
ecy: it presents not words alone, but works,—the daily
demonstration of Truth and Love. Its healing and sav-
ing power was so great a proof of Immanuel and the [1]
realism of Christianity, that it caused even the publi-
cans to justify God. Although clad in panoply of power,
the Pharisees scorned the spirit of Christ in most of its
varied manifestations. To them it was cant and carica- [5]
ture,—always the opposite of what it was. Keen and
alert was their indignation at whatever rebuked hypocrisy
and demanded Christianity in life and religion. In view
of this, Jesus said, “Wisdom is justified of all her
children.” [10]
Above the fogs of sense and storms of passion, Chris-
tian Science and its art will rise triumphant; ignorance,
envy, and hatred—earth’s harmless thunder—pluck
not their heaven-born wings. Angels, with overtures,
hold charge over both, and announce their Principle and [15]
idea.
It is most fitting that Christian Scientists memorize
the nativity of Jesus. To him who brought a great light
to all ages, and named his burdens light, homage is in-
deed due,—but is bankrupt. I never looked on my [20]
ideal of the face of the Nazarite Prophet; but the one
illustrating my poem approximates it.
Extremists in every age either doggedly deny or fran-
tically affirm what is what: one renders not unto Cæsar
“the things that are Cæsar’s;” the other sees “Helen’s [25]
beauty in a brow of Egypt.”
Pictures are portions of one’s ideal, but this ideal is
not one’s personality. Looking behind the veil, he that
perceives a semblance between the thinker and his thought
on canvas, blames him not. [30]
Because my ideal of an angel is a woman without
feathers on her wings,—is it less artistic or less natu-
ral? Pictures which present disordered phases of ma- [1]
terial conceptions and personality blind with animality,
are not my concepts of angels. What is the material ego,
but the counterfeit of the spiritual?
The truest art of Christian Science is to be a Chris- [5]
tian Scientist; and it demands more than a Raphael to
delineate this art.
The following is an extract from a letter reverting to
the illustrations of “Christ and Christmas”:—
“In my last letter, I did not utter all I felt about the [10]
wonderful new book you have given us. Years ago,
while in Italy, I studied the old masters and their great
works of art thoroughly, and so got quite an idea of
what constitutes true art. Then I spent two years in
Paris, devoting every moment to the study of music and [15]
art.
“The first thing that impressed me in your illustra-
tions was the conscientious application to detail, which is
is the foundation of true art. From that, I went on to
study each illustration thoroughly, and to my amazement [20]
and delight I find an almost identical resemblance, in
many things, to the old masters! In other words, the art
is perfect.
“The hands and feet of the figures—how many times
have I seen these hands and feet in Angelico’s “Jesus,” [25]
or Botticelli’s “Madonna”!
“It gave me such a thrill of joy as no words can ex-
press, to see produced to-day that art—the only true
art—that we have identified with the old masters, and
mourned as belonging to them exclusively,—a thing of [30]
the past, impossible of reproduction.
“All that I can say to you, as one who gives no mean
attention to such matters, is that the art is perfect. It [1]
is the true art of the oldest, most revered, most authen-
tic Italian school, revived. I use the words most au-
thentic in the following sense: the face, figure, and
drapery of Jesus, very closely resemble in detail the [5]
face, figure, and drapery of that Jesus portrayed by the
oldest of the old masters, and said to have been authen-
tic; the face having been taken by Fra Angelico from
Cæsar’s Cameo, the figure and garments from a descrip-
tion, in The Galaxy, of a small sketch handed down [10]
from the living reality. Their productions are expres-
sionless copies of an engraving cut in a stone. Yours
is a palpitating, living Saviour engraven on the heart.
You have given us back our Jesus, and in a much better
is form.” [15]
Sunrise at Pleasant View
Who shall describe the brave splendor of a November
sky that this morning burst through the lattice for me,
on my bed? According to terrestrial calculations, above
the horizon, in the east, there rose one rod of rainbow [20]
hues, crowned with an acre of eldritch ebony. Little
by little this topmost pall, drooping over a deeply daz-
zling sunlight, softened, grew gray, then gay, and glided
into a glory of mottled marvels. Fleecy, faint, fairy
blue and golden flecks came out on a background of [25]
cerulean hue; while the lower lines of light kindled into
gold, orange, pink, crimson, violet; and diamond, topaz,
opal, garnet, turquoise, and sapphire spangled the gloom
in celestial space as with the brightness of His glory.
Then thought I, What are we, that He who fashions for- [30]
ever such forms and hues of heaven, should move our [1]
brush or pen to paint frail fairness or to weave a web
of words that glow with gladdening gleams of God, so
unapproachable, and yet so near and full of radiant relief
in clouds and darkness! [5]