Part 53 (1/2)

Two different artists

A Christian Scientist and an opponent are like two 359:30 artists. One says: ”I have spiritual ideals, indestructible and glorious. When others see them as I do, in their true light and loveliness, - and 360:1 know that these ideals are real and eternal because drawn from Truth, - they will find that nothing is lost, and all 360:3 is won, by a right estimate of what is real.”

The other artist replies: ”You wrong my experience.

I have no mind-ideals except those which are both mental 360:6 and material. It is true that materiality renders these ideals imperfect and destructible; yet I would not ex- change mine for thine, for mine give me such personal 360:9 pleasure, and they are not so shockingly transcendental.

They require less self-abnegation, and keep Soul well out of sight. Moreover, I have no notion of losing my old 360:12 doctrines or human opinions.”

Choose ye to-day

Dear reader, which mind-picture or externalized thought shall be real to you, - the material or the spiritual?

360:15 Both you cannot have. You are bringing out your own ideal. This ideal is either temporal or eternal. Either Spirit or matter is your model. If you 360:18 try to have two models, then you practically have none.

Like a pendulum in a clock, you will be thrown back and forth, striking the ribs of matter and swinging between the 360:21 real and the unreal.

Hear the wisdom of Job, as given in the excellent trans- lation of the late Rev. George R. Noyes, D.D.: - 360:24 Shall mortal man be more just than G.o.d?

Shall man be more pure than his Maker?

Behold, He putteth no trust in His ministering spirits, 360:27 And His angels He chargeth with frailty.

Of old, the Jews put to death the Galilean Prophet, the best Christian on earth, for the truth he spoke and 360:30 demonstrated, while to-day, Jew and Christian can unite in doctrine and denomination on the very basis of Jesus'

words and works. The Jew believes that the Messiah or 361:1 Christ has not yet come; the Christian believes that Christ is G.o.d. Here Christian Science intervenes, ex- 361:3 plains these doctrinal points, cancels the disagreement, and settles the question. Christ, as the true spiritual idea, is the ideal of G.o.d now and forever, here and everywhere.

361:6 The Jew who believes in the First Commandment is a monotheist; he has one omnipresent G.o.d. Thus the Jew unites with the Christian's doctrine that G.o.d is come and is present now and forever. The Christian who believes in the First Commandment is a monotheist. Thus he virtually unites with the Jew's belief in one G.o.d, and 361:12 recognizes that Jesus Christ is not G.o.d, as Jesus himself declared, but is the Son of G.o.d. This declaration of Jesus, understood, conflicts not at all with another of his 361:15 sayings: ”I and my Father are one,” - that is, one in quality, not in quant.i.ty. As a drop of water is one with the ocean, a ray of light one with the sun, even so G.o.d 361:18 and man, Father and son, are one in being. The Scrip- ture reads: ”For in Him we live, and move, and have our being.”

361:21 I have revised _Science and Health_ only to give a clearer and fuller expression of its original meaning. Spir- itual ideas unfold as we advance. A human perception of 361:24 divine Science, however limited, must be correct in order to be Science and subject to demonstration. A germ of in- finite Truth, though least in the kingdom of heaven is the 361:27 higher hope on earth, but it will be rejected and reviled until G.o.d prepares the soil for the seed. That which when sown bears immortal fruit, enriches mankind only 361:30 when it is understood, - hence the many readings given the Scriptures, and the requisite revisions of _Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures_.

CHAPTER XII - CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PRACTICE

Why art thou cast down, O my soul [sense]?

And why art thou disquieted within me?

Hope thou in G.o.d; for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the health of my countenance and my G.o.d. - PSALMS.

And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. - JESUS.

A gospel narrative

362:1 IT is related in the seventh chapter of Luke's Gospel that Jesus was once the honored guest of a certain 362:3 Pharisee, by name Simon, though he was quite unlike Simon the disciple. While they were at meat, an unusual incident occurred, as if to interrupt the scene 362:6 of Oriental festivity. A ”strange woman”

came in. Heedless of the fact that she was debarred from such a place and such society, especially under the stern 362:9 rules of rabbinical law, as positively as if she were a Hin- doo pariah intruding upon the household of a high-caste Brahman, this woman (Mary Magdalene, as she has 362:12 since been called) approached Jesus. According to the custom of those days, he reclined on a couch with his head towards the table and his bare feet away from it.

362:15 It was therefore easy for the Magdalen to come behind 363:1 the couch and reach his feet. She bore an alabaster jar containing costly and fragrant oil, - sandal oil perhaps, 363:3 which is in such common use in the East. Breaking the sealed jar, she perfumed Jesus' feet with the oil, wiping them with her long hair, which hung loosely 363:6 about her shoulders, as was customary with women of her grade.

Parable of the creditor

Did Jesus spurn the woman? Did he repel her adora- 363:9 tion? No! He regarded her compa.s.sionately. Nor was this all. Knowing what those around him were saying in their hearts, especially his host, 363:12 - that they were wondering why, being a prophet, the exalted guest did not at once detect the woman's immoral status and bid her depart, - knowing this, Jesus rebuked 363:15 them with a short story or parable. He described two debtors, one for a large sum and one for a smaller, who were released from their obligations by their common 363:18 creditor. ”Which of them will love him most?” was the Master's question to Simon the Pharisee; and Simon re- plied, ”He to whom he forgave most.” Jesus approved 363:21 the answer, and so brought home the lesson to all, follow- ing it with that remarkable declaration to the woman, ”Thy sins are forgiven.”

Divine insight