Part 9 (2/2)
Spiritual origin
In Science man is the offspring of Spirit. The beauti- 63:6 ful, good, and pure const.i.tute his ancestry. His origin is not, like that of mortals, in brute instinct, nor does he pa.s.s through material conditions prior 63:9 to reaching intelligence. Spirit is his primitive and ulti- mate source of being; G.o.d is his Father, and Life is the law of his being.
The rights of woman
63:12 Civil law establishes very unfair differences between the rights of the two s.e.xes. Christian Science furnishes no precedent for such injustice, and civilization 63:15 mitigates it in some measure. Still, it is a marvel why usage should accord woman less rights than does either Christian Science or civilization.
Unfair discrimination
63:18 Our laws are not impartial, to say the least, in their discrimination as to the person, property, and parental claims of the two s.e.xes. If the elective fran- 63:21 chise for women will remedy the evil with- out encouraging difficulties of greater magnitude, let us hope it will be granted. A feasible as well as rational 63:24 means of improvement at present is the elevation of society in general and the achievement of a n.o.bler race for legislation, - a race having higher aims and 63:27 motives.
If a dissolute husband deserts his wife, certainly the wronged, and perchance impoverished, woman should be 63:30 allowed to collect her own wages, enter into business agreements, hold real estate, deposit funds, and own her children free from interference.
64:1 Want of uniform justice is a crying evil caused by the selfishness and inhumanity of man. Our forefathers 64:3 exercised their faith in the direction taught by the Apostle James, when he said: ”Pure religion and undefiled before G.o.d and the Father, is this, To visit the fatherless and 64:6 widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”
Benevolence hindered
Pride, envy, or jealousy seems on most occasions to 64:9 be the master of ceremonies, ruling out primitive Chris- tianity. When a man lends a helping hand to some n.o.ble woman, struggling alone with 64:12 adversity, his wife should not say, ”It is never well to interfere with your neighbor's business.” A wife is sometimes debarred by a covetous domestic tyrant from 64:15 giving the ready aid her sympathy and charity would afford.
Progressive development
Marriage should signify a union of hearts. Further- 64:18 more, the time cometh of which Jesus spake, when he declared that in the resurrection there should be no more marrying nor giving in marriage, 64:21 but man would be as the angels. Then shall Soul re- joice in its own, in which pa.s.sion has no part. Then white-robed purity will unite in one person masculine wis- 64:24 dom and feminine love, spiritual understanding and per- petual peace.
Until it is learned that G.o.d is the Father of all, mar- 64:27 riage will continue. Let not mortals permit a disregard of law which might lead to a worse state of society than now exists. Honesty and virtue ensure the stability of 64:30 the marriage covenant. Spirit will ultimately claim its own, - all that really is, - and the voices of physical sense will be forever hushed.
Blessing of Christ
65:1 Experience should be the school of virtue, and human happiness should proceed from man's highest nature.
65:3 May Christ, Truth, be present at every bridal altar to turn the water into wine and to give to human life an inspiration by which man's spiritual and 65:6 eternal existence may be discerned.
Righteous foundations
If the foundations of human affection are consistent with progress, they will be strong and enduring. Divorces 65:9 should warn the age of some fundamental error in the marriage state. The union of the s.e.xes suffers fearful discord. To gain Christian Science and its 65:12 harmony, life should be more metaphysically regarded.
Powerless promises
The broadcast powers of evil so conspicuous to-day show themselves in the materialism and sensualism of 65:15 the age, struggling against the advancing spiritual era. Beholding the world's lack of Christianity and the powerlessness of vows to make home 65:18 happy, the human mind will at length demand a higher affection.
Transition and reform
There will ensue a fermentation over this as over many 65:21 other reforms, until we get at last the clear straining of truth, and impurity and error are left among the lees. The fermentation even of fluids is 65:24 not pleasant. An unsettled, transitional stage is never desirable on its own account. Matrimony, which was once a fixed fact among us, must lose its present slippery foot- 65:27 ing, and man must find permanence and peace in a more spiritual adherence.
The mental chemicalization, which has brought con- 65:30 jugal infidelity to the surface, will a.s.suredly throw off this evil, and marriage will become purer when the sc.u.m is gone.
Thou art right, immortal Shakespeare, great poet of humanity: 66:3 Sweet are the uses of adversity; Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.
Salutary sorrow
66:6 Trials teach mortals not to lean on a material staff, - a broken reed, which pierces the heart. We do not half remember this in the suns.h.i.+ne of joy 66:9 and prosperity. Sorrow is salutary. Through great tribulation we enter the kingdom. Trials are proofs of G.o.d's care. Spiritual development germi- 66:12 nates not from seed sown in the soil of material hopes, but when these decay, Love propagates anew the higher joys of Spirit, which have no taint of earth. Each suc- 66:15 cessive stage of experience unfolds new views of divine goodness and love.
<script>