Part 28 (1/2)

From mortal mind comes the reproduction of the species, - first the belief of inanimate, and then of ani- 189:27 mate matter. According to mortal thought, the development of embryonic mortal mind commences in the lower, basal portion of the brain, and 189:30 goes on in an ascending scale by evolution, keeping always in the direct line of matter, for matter is the subjective condition of mortal mind.

190:1 Next we have the formation of so-called embryonic mortal mind, afterwards mortal men or mortals, - all this 190:3 while matter is a belief, ignorant of itself, ignorant of what it is supposed to produce. The mortal says that an inani- mate unconscious seedling is producing mortals, both body 190:6 and mind; and yet neither a mortal mind nor the immortal Mind is found in brain or elsewhere in matter or in mortals.

Human stature

This embryonic and materialistic human belief called 190:9 mortal man in turn fills itself with thoughts of pain and pleasure, of life and death, and arranges itself into five so-called senses, which presently 190:12 measure mind by the size of a brain and the bulk of a body, called man.

Human frailty

Human birth, growth, maturity, and decay are as the 190:15 gra.s.s springing from the soil with beautiful green blades, afterwards to wither and return to its native nothingness. This mortal seeming is temporal; 190:18 it never merges into immortal being, but finally disap- pears, and immortal man, spiritual and eternal, is found to be the real man.

190:21 The Hebrew bard, swayed by mortal thoughts, thus swept his lyre with saddening strains on human existence:

As for man, his days are as gra.s.s: 190:24 As a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.

For the wind pa.s.seth over it, and it is gone; And the place thereof shall know it no more.

190:27 When hope rose higher in the human heart, he sang:

As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness.

190:30 For with Thee is the fountain of life; In Thy light shall we see light.

191:1 The brain can give no idea of G.o.d's man. It can take no cognizance of Mind. Matter is not the organ of infi- 191:3 nite Mind.

As mortals give up the delusion that there is more than one Mind, more than one G.o.d, man in G.o.d's likeness will 191:6 appear, and this eternal man will include in that likeness no material element.

The immortal birth

As a material, theoretical life-basis is found to be a 191:9 misapprehension of existence, the spiritual and divine Principle of man dawns upon human thought, and leads it to ”where the young child was,”

191:12 - even to the birth of a new-old idea, to the spiritual sense of being and of what Life includes. Thus the whole earth will be transformed by Truth on its pinions of light, 191:15 chasing away the darkness of error.

Spiritual freedom

The human thought must free itself from self-imposed materiality and bondage. It should no longer 191:18 ask of the head, heart, or lungs: What are man's prospects for life? Mind is not helpless. Intelli- gence is not mute before non-intelligence.

191:21 By its own volition, not a blade of gra.s.s springs up, not a spray buds within the vale, not a leaf unfolds its fair outlines, not a flower starts from its cloistered cell.

191:24 The Science of being reveals man and immortality as based on Spirit. Physical sense defines mortal man as based on matter, and from this premise infers the mor- 191:27 tality of the body.

No physical affinity

The illusive senses may fancy affinities with their op- posites; but in Christian Science, Truth never mingles 191:30 with error. Mind has no affinity with matter, and therefore Truth is able to cast out the ills of the flesh. Mind, G.o.d, sends forth the aroma of Spirit, 192:1 the atmosphere of intelligence. The belief that a pulpy substance under the skull is mind is a mockery of intelli- 192:3 gence, a mimicry of Mind.

We are Christian Scientists, only as we quit our reliance upon that which is false and grasp the true. We are not 192:6 Christian Scientists until we leave all for Christ. Human opinions are not spiritual. They come from the hearing of the ear, from corporeality instead of from Principle, 192:9 and from the mortal instead of from the immortal. Spirit is not separate from G.o.d. Spirit _is_ G.o.d.

Human power a blind force

Erring power is a material belief, a blind miscalled force, 192:12 the offspring of will and not of wisdom, of the mortal mind and not of the immortal. It is the headlong cataract, the devouring flame, the tempest's 192:15 breath. It is lightning and hurricane, all that is selfish, wicked, dishonest, and impure.

The one real power

Moral and spiritual might belong to Spirit, who holds 192:18 the ”wind in His fists;” and this teaching accords with Science and harmony. In Science, you can have no power opposed to G.o.d, and the physi- 192:21 cal senses must give up their false testimony. Your in- fluence for good depends upon the weight you throw into the right scale. The good you do and embody gives you 192:24 the only power obtainable. Evil is not power. It is a mockery of strength, which erelong betrays its weakness and falls, never to rise.