Christian Science: The Joyous Way of Love
Arch Bailey, C.S., of
Member of the Board of Lectureship of The
The lecturer spoke substantially
as follows:
Christian Science from the celestial
heights of divine Principle, God, with scientific, demonstrable certainty,
proclaims to a confused and weary world, "Be not afraid." Every human
problem is soluble in the light of divine Love, irresistible infinite Truth.
There is a way out.
In the Holy Bible, in the
thirty-fifth chapter of Isaiah, we read, "And the ransomed of the Lord
shall return, and come to
Mrs. Eddy Defines God
What and where is God? is perhaps
the most insistent yearning of the human heart. The answer to this question has
generally been sought from the standpoint of the material senses. Consequently
the answer has been conceptional, fulfilling neither the requirements of logic
nor reason.
The Discoverer and Founder of
Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, presented a satisfying idea of Deity. It
was a wholly scientific one, fulfilling reason and revelation, and was
capable of demonstration. This is the Christian Science textbook,
"Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy. I shall
read her definition: "God is incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind,
Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love" (Science and Health, p. 465).
The design of such a Father-Mother God could not include evil. God's will for
all mankind is abundant joy, peace, harmony, health, and unlimited supply of
all good. Mrs. Eddy's understanding of this law of infinite, unfailing good established
her as the Founder of this religion and as the Leader of the great host
following in this way. She knew that the divine Mind is God and that this is
demonstrable. In this Science the power of the divine Mind is crowned as the
Messiah. And this Christ-power acting on human consciousness is supreme over
every claim of error.
Christ and Jesus Not Synonymous
In the fourteenth chapter of John
we find the account of a memorable meeting of Jesus and his disciples. He has
told the disciples he is going away; they will follow him and will know the
way. Thomas said unto him, "How can we know the way?" Then briefly
Jesus pointed the way for all mankind in all ages. These are his words:
"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but
by me." At other times Jesus spoke of himself as "the bread which came
down from heaven" (John
Many have sought to deify the
personal Jesus and use this theological belief as a medium for reaching the
Father. Through the revelation of Christian Science we see that in these
passages Jesus did not allude to a human concept of himself, but rather to his
real spiritual selfhood, his divine nature or Christ nature. The Christian
Science textbook explains clearly the difference between the man Jesus and his
divine nature, the Christ. I shall read the passage: "The word Christ is
not properly a synonym for Jesus, though it is commonly so used. Jesus was a
human name, which belonged to him in common with other Hebrew boys and men, for
it is identical with the name Joshua, the renowned Hebrew leader. On the other
hand, Christ is not a name so much as the divine title of Jesus. . . . The name
is synonymous with Messiah, and alludes to the spirituality which is taught,
illustrated, and demonstrated in the life of which Christ Jesus was the
embodiment" (Science and Health, p. 333).
This redemptive Christ, Truth, is
the activity of divine Love in human consciousness. It comes bringing
salvation from sin, disease, and death and from every illusive belief of human
experience. This saving light of divine Truth is humanity's great hope. There
is no other way. As the Apostle Paul has said, "Neither is there salvation
in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved" (Acts
In the mid-years of the nineteenth
century the claims of matter were asserting themselves in no modest way.
Physics and chemistry were declaring what they called immutable laws. Geology
and evolution had convinced a considerable part of the popular thought that
man's ancestry was in the animal kingdom. Biology and physiology were gripping
the thoughts of men and women in a manner frightening to the average
religionist of the day. During these years, when the popular concept was
gravitating toward materiality, the thought of an intrepid
To any of you not acquainted with
Mrs. Eddy's discovery, let me suggest that you read her autobiography entitled
"Retrospection and Introspection." In this book she presents with
great clarity thirty short articles covering not only biographical data, but
the extraordinary steps leading to her spiritual discovery. This is literature
alive with spiritual truth and this noble woman's rich experience with divine
Love. Also if you are not acquainted with the two authorized biographies,
published by The Christian Science Publishing Society, and if you wish to read
them, you may borrow or purchase them at any Christian Science Reading Room.
May I digress a moment here to say, to any who do not already know it, that each
Christian Science church maintains a Reading Room where Mrs. Eddy's books may
be purchased or borrowed and where authorized Christian Science literature may
be read and purchased. You will find the biographies just mentioned of great
help in evaluating Mrs. Eddy's work as Discoverer and Founder of Christian
Science. It is easy to see in these books that, from earliest childhood,
through girlhood, and into womanhood, her gentle nature was companioning instinctively
with Spirit.
Man's True Nature Revealed
Through prayerful study of the
Scriptural account of creation, as recorded in the first chapter of Genesis,
Truth illumined her consciousness; God unfolded to her the celestial light of
Being, for she had discovered the blessed truth that man is not material; he is
spiritual. It became clear to her that the image and likeness of Spirit could
not be material; that as the image and likeness of infinite Mind man was the
expression of Mind. She saw that Mind's offspring was the spiritual and perfect
man. When this spiritual fact unfolded, she understood that man is an active,
individual consciousness, reflecting the ideas of divine Mind. She had arrived
at the fundamental premise of this religion, its "scientific statement of
being," and was able to proclaim these immortal words: "There is no
life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and
its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth;
matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal
and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man
is not material; he is spiritual." When this spiritual fact of man
unfolds, the Scientist begins to understand that man is an active, individual
consciousness, the reflection of divine Mind.
But some may be thinking,
"What about this flesh-and-blood me which I see before the senses?"
In Mrs. Eddy's book "Miscellaneous Writings," we find these words
(p. 309): "I warn students against falling into the error of anti-Christ.
The consciousness of corporeality, and whatever is connected therewith, must
be outgrown." What is anti-Christ, this opposing suggestion which claims
to influence the minds of men and women away from the Christ toward the deification
of the human sense of self? Many hinder their progress Spirit-ward when they
deny matter in general but cling to a personal sense of being. Students
sometimes realize, in a degree, the unreality of matter, but when they are confronted
with discordant situations between fellowmen, they may hold to personal sense.
It is no less requisite to understand the falsity of a personal sense than it
is to know the unreality of matter. This impersonalizing the personal sense is
no simple task. But we must remember that there can be no marked spiritual
progress until matter is known as the image of mortal thought which it is, and
personal sense is understood to be a lie about man's spiritual individuality.
So long as there is, in belief, personal sense, evil will be able to exhibit,
in belief, personal problems.
Rising above a personal sense of
existence in no way implies the destruction of people. Christian Science
teaches no such thing. In this Science matter and personal sense are never
destroyed as something. They are understood to be, like the horizon, an appearance
only. The horizon can do nothing to us and we can do nothing to it. We can know
the truth, and the truth is that the horizon is not there. It is an illusion,
and so also is personal sense. When we exchange self-will for willing obedience,
and self-righteousness for the acknowledgment of God as the only good, when we
forsake self-importance for meekness and yield self-confidence for confident
trust in God, then we are dispelling the dark shadows of anti-Christ and awakening
to the radiant light of spiritual being. We are exalting God's spiritual idea,
the eternal, indestructible man. This man, the image and likeness of God,
reflects God. Mrs. Eddy declares that Mind, not matter, speaks, acts, sees, hears,
and feels; and man reflects each one of God's spiritual qualities. Man as
God's expression is perfect in form, function, and faculty. He is never
distorted nor deformed, for he is Mind's outlined excellence. His functioning
can never be impaired nor obstructed, for he expresses Mind's perfect activity.
His faculties can never be dimmed nor lost, for they are eternally secure in
Soul. This spiritual man is the true nature of each one here tonight.
Prayer
Christian Science is a religion of
sustained prayer. When we identify ourselves or our fellowmen with the one
perfect divine Mind, we are praying, for communion with God is prayer. There is
no more spiritually inspired treatise on prayer than the first chapter in the
Christian Science textbook. Let me urge you never to cease digging in the mother
lode of this chapter. Here to be discovered are untouched veins of the pure
gold of Spirit. You will find in this chapter rich unfoldment for each successive
stage of your spiritual development. At the conclusion of this chapter Mrs.
Eddy has presented a most discerning discussion of the prayer which Jesus gave
as a model to his disciples and to all mankind, the prayer which has been named
by the ages "The Lord's Prayer." She has also given here what she understood
to be the spiritual sense of this prayer.
Has it occurred to you that the
first two words of this prayer, "Our Father," realized, fulfill the
requirements of the two great commandments, complete love for God and love for
all our fellowmen? Is it not significant to note that Jesus, in this inspired
moment, did not address his Father or John's or Peter's Father? He promptly
raised the prayer above the personal and launched it on its universal mission.
Do you not see that in a right comprehension of this word "Our," we
can encircle all mankind with love? Is not this our proper approach to the
world problem today? We must accomplish in consciousness the full expansion of
this word "Our." In using it thought must extend beyond our immediate
loved ones; must reach out beyond state, national, or hemispherical boundaries;
must reach beyond the iron curtain of anti-Christ and encircle all mankind in
the tender embrace of Christian understanding.
Christian Scientists, in their
metaphysical work, often use the spiritual interpretation of the Lord's Prayer
(Science and Health, pp. 16 and 17). And they have had it proved in their
experience that it does cover human needs and that it instantaneously heals the
sick, as their Leader said it would. Let me tell you of an experience I had several
years ago, when I was the Christian Science worker at a school for delinquent
boys. Each Saturday, with the permission of the medical doctor, I was allowed
to go to the hospital with our literature. One afternoon as I approached the
hospital it was very evident to the senses that someone was in great pain. As I
entered, an attendant and a nurse met me and said: "We will be glad to
turn this case over to you. This boy's suffering has been going on for a night
and a day." All the means of handling pain, according to their belief, had
failed. I did not enter their discussion, but sat a few moments and went my
way as usual. Finally, as I passed his door, the boy cried out, asking if I
could not do something for him. When I entered his room, he asked if I would
pray for him. I asked if he would repeat the Lord's Prayer with me. He said he
would, and I led in the prayer. As we finished the prayer he was to the senses
still in full manifestation of the pain. I was led to speak to him of the
spiritual interpretation of the prayer, as given in the textbook. Then after a
moment of realization I spoke several times, "Our Father-Mother God,
all-harmonious" (Science and Health, p. 16). This spiritual Truth was
the "Peace, be still" to his troubled thought. The pain had vanished.
He was healed. He was out of the hospital in a few days, and in a few weeks I
saw him on his way home.
Joy
The Scriptures are rich in exhortations
to rejoice and be glad. We are told to "sing aloud" and "make a
joyful noise unto the Lord." In the fifteenth chapter of I Chronicles it
is recorded that David, and the elders of
In fable it is told that Satan,
disappointed with the efforts of his legions, called them to council behind a
distant cloud. They were failing to frustrate and annihilate the Christian
effort in the world, and he had decided upon a change of tactics. His legions
had been instructed that the followers of Christ believed themselves to be
"the light of the world." Satan's legions had been told that their
task was to extinguish this light and spread darkness everywhere. He had
discovered that this method was failing because such a direct effort met great
resistance. The light could not be completely put out and often grew brighter
under the bold effort to extinguish it. Thus in the council behind the clouds he
was instructing his demons to be more subtle, and told them they should no
longer attempt directly to put out the light. "We will simply dim their
lights," he told his legions. "We will suggest to them fatigue,
impatience, discouragement. We will cause them to indulge in criticism of each
other. We will still their singing with heaviness. And our crowning effort will
be to dim the joy in their hearts." This fable should awaken every
Christian in "the way." We should be alert and see that our lamps of
joy are trimmed and burning, not dimmed and fading.
If this Satanic suggestion should
whisper to us of concern or distress we must counter with assurance, joy, and
peace. If it should insinuate unhappiness or fatigue we must answer with
contentment and refreshing zest. This is in accord with our Leader's statement,
"The utterance of truth is designed to rebuke and destroy error" (Science
and Health, p. 233).
Treatment
When the Christian Science textbook
was published, its author was able to include eighty-three well-authenticated
accounts of healing.
These healings were received
through study of the textbook alone. They testify to the healing of a variety
of diseases, including cancer and tuberculosis. About 1867 the first public
practitioner accepted patients, and during the eighty-six years since,
thousands of consecrated men and women have been instrumental in healing every
kind of physical and mental disorder through spiritual means alone. This way
of healing at first met great resistance, but Love has marched triumphantly and
humbly on through these years, and today Christian Science healing literally
encircles the globe. State governments have recognized it as a lawful method of
treating disease, and the Constitution of the
As human thought awakens to the eternal
purpose of Love, the dream of materiality, including sin, disease, and death,
vanishes, and the true nature of being becomes apparent. Concerning treatment
Mrs. Eddy has said (Science and Health, p. 411), "If Spirit or the power
of divine Love bear witness to the truth, this is the ultimatum, the
scientific way, and the healing is instantaneous." If the human
consciousness does not awaken quickly thus, through the power of divine Love,
and added treatment is required, we may proceed by argument to establish in
consciousness the fact of God's perfection, including man as His image and
likeness. Treatment in this Science is never the power of God struggling
against another power called evil. Rather it is the recognition on the part of
the student of the omnipotence of God proving the powerlessness of evil. Christian
Science never attacks discordant conditions of matter as realities. Sin,
disease, death, sorrow, want, and woe are revealed as erroneous mental states
of sense testimony. Thus healing is spiritually mental, always in consciousness.
A simple illustration shows plainly
that the testimony before the senses is only an appearance, an objectified
state of erroneous thinking. Suppose we were walking down a straight railroad
track. The senses would tell us that the rails were converging before us.
However, we would not say, "We must get off the tracks." Something we know about this phenomenon
of the rails means more to us than what our eyes see. So we go confidently on.
But suppose that we do not understand that the convergence is an illusion;
suppose we have to get down the tracks through what seems to be a real
obstruction. Is it not plain that all we can do is to change our false sense
about this phenomenon? When we do, it will then be plain that the convergence
can do nothing to us, and we can do nothing to it, for it is an illusion of
the senses. And so it is with the triad of errors called sin, disease, and
death. What we know about God and His perfect man means more to us than the
sense appearance of this erroneous triad - and we walk through such an
appearance confidently. Christian Science awakens us to reality. May I tell you
of such an awakening?
A few years ago a practitioner was
called to the home of a woman, who was in great physical distress. After she
greeted him she told him this story, or it might more correctly be said she
told him this fable; for so it was proved to be later under Christian Science
treatment. The woman said: "Over a period of years I have had a series of
falls. About a year ago after one of these experiences I was in great pain and
unable to arise. A physician was called and he made an examination. After a conference
with my family I was moved to a hospital where X-ray pictures of my spine were
taken. The following day I was told by a leading bone specialist that the lower
vertebrae of the spine were in a terrible condition; the cushions between the
vertebrae were carious and disintegrated. He said my only hope was to lie in a
perfectly flat position for several months, and that any help for me was highly improbable. For three months I
submitted to being in this flat position under this specialist's care, but was
none improved. I then insisted on being taken home. I was advised against this
and told that I would be in great pain and never again have normal activity.
Here at home," she continued, "I have been for several months as they
predicted. I have now turned from materia medica, and my only hope is the
memory of Christian Science which touched my thought thirty years ago. Will you
help me?"
This woman came under Christian
Science treatment and in three weeks was up and walking, and in three months
she had realized her complete healing. During the years since this healing
this woman has done her own housework and has been normally active in every
way. She is now a member of a branch church and of The Mother Church.
Something the practitioner knew about God and man meant more to him than the
sense testimony, and the patient was guided lovingly through the illusion. Under
Christian Science treatment the patient's thought was roused to discern the
reality of true being in Christ.
Love
As we study the teachings of the
Bible, Paul's writings, and the works of Mrs. Eddy, we are led to conclude that
the way in Christ is the way of love and service. Jesus taught that there were
no greater commandments than love for God and love for one's fellowmen. His
life of sacrifice and service to mankind proved that to him love was more than
a word. The Apostle Paul's life after he entered the Christ-way was one grand
activity of love. In Mrs. Eddy's book "The First Church of Christ,
Scientist, and Miscellany" she has written, "Each day I pray: 'God
bless my enemies; make them Thy friends; give them to know the joy and the
peace of love' " (p. 220). The universality of her love for mankind is
reaching out to every receptive heart and will continue to do so, through her
writings, until all mankind accepts the joyous way of love in Christian
Science.
Love is more than a transcendental
mood of meditation. It is more than a beautiful future hope. Love is dynamic
power, divinely active throughout God's spiritual universe, and appearing in
human consciousness as the transforming activity of Spirit. One of Mrs. Eddy's
statements illustrates this universal, beneficent activity of divine Love:
"Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need"
(Science and Health, p. 494). But how can we believe that statement when so
many of mankind's needs seem to be unmet? It might help us to ask two
questions: Where and how does Love meet mankind's needs? Since we understand
that all experience is in consciousness, it is clear that these needs are
always met right where they seem to exist, in human consciousness. It is also clear
that divine Love, being infinite intelligence, would have infinite resources
with which to meet mankind's needs. These resources of Love are wholly
spiritual and therefore come to each of us as ideas, and necessarily have to be
understood and demonstrated by each human consciousness.
By way of illustrating this, think
of a human father who has nurtured and educated a son, has provided a place
for his son in his business; yet the son continues to live apart from the
father in great need. Is it not plain that the father's provision for his son
must be acknowledged and accepted if it is to be helpful to the son? So every
right idea which mankind can ever need has already been provided by divine Love
- but must be understood and demonstrated.
A recent experience illustrates
this very well. A young man came to my office seeking help for right
employment. When asked if he was presently employed, he said that he was not.
He had been, but several days before had quit his job - to use his own words. The
young man did not wait to be interrogated further, but went immediately into
a scathing description of the tyrannical boss he had had. It was uncovered that
the so-called tyrannical boss was a rather successful and well-thought of man
in the community. It came to light that his tyranny toward the young man was,
largely, that he expected him to arrive at his employment on time, to manifest
accuracy in his work, and to show loyalty to his employer when with other
employees of the firm.
After several months the boss had
had a conference with the young man, calling his attention to the fact that he
wanted him to give more attention to the expression of these qualities in his
work. This had offended the self-will of the young man, and he decided to quit
and seek other employment where there was less tyranny. This problem was worked
out in a scientific way, and the young man now has congenial employment and
understands what his contribution to a position must be. Do you not see in this
experience that divine Love had already met this young man's need - had given
him opportunity for service and provided him with the qualities of promptness,
accuracy, and loyalty - but these provisions of Love had neither been received
nor rightly appropriated? So we see that "divine Love always has met and
always will meet every human need," and that mankind's privilege is to understand
and treasure this affluence of the heavenly Father-Mother Mind, so bountifully
bestowed on all.
Mrs. Eddy has written, ". . .
blessed is that man who seeth his brother's need and supplieth it, seeking his
own in another's good" (Science and Health, p. 518). What an opportunity
to live active love! This opportunity of supplying in our consciousness those
qualities which our brother seems to need is the way to find our own good, and
is a practical application of the second commandment, to love thy neighbor as
thyself. The Christian Scientist understands that evil is not real, that good
alone is reality. He goes forth each day to demonstrate in Christian Science
that good is everywhere.
A Christian Scientist came to a
practitioner and told him that several years before, she had befriended a
land tenant by loaning him five thousand dollars. He had not paid even the
interest and was now avoiding any opportunity to discuss the matter. She told
the practitioner that she used to believe the man to be honest, but now she
was sure her judgment had been wrong. She continued in her remarks to build up
just the kind of man who would not meet his obligations. At this point she was
reminded, lovingly, that she was not really telling the truth about this man
according to Christian Science. It was plain that she saw this man's need, but
was not supplying it. She was asked to make a list of the qualities with which
she thought God would have endowed this man. She was asked to realize these
qualities to be the actual nature of her tenant, despite the fact that to
appearances he was otherwise.
The practitioner did his work
along the same line of right identification. Four days later the man called at
the home of the woman, paid twenty-five hundred dollars of the debt, and said
that the balance would be taken care of soon. He apologized for his
indifference, stating that he believed she did not need the money. A month
after this the entire amount was paid. When we realize the scientific fact
concerning any condition, environment, or situation - and sustain this
realization - this is the truth, the correct view, which acts on the belief,
spontaneously, causing it to give place to the spiritual fact. This is right
identification. To practice it we need not change anybody or anything outside
ourselves. This way of right thinking - thinking the thoughts of Love - is the
joyous way of love in Christian Science. What a glorious revelation, that the
real man transcends material personality; that he is an individual
consciousness possessing dominion over the whole earth; and that, knowing this,
a man is endowed with sovereign power to think and act rightly.
Earlier this evening it was asserted
that in the name of Christian Science "there is a way out." I am
sure we are beginning to see that the way out could more properly be called a
way up. It is a stairway of ascending consciousness, each step radiant with
hope and promise. Instead of being a journey to some distant destination, it
is seen to be wholly a mental experience. There may seem to be mazes of
negative beliefs in our journey, but there is always a pillar of cloud by day
and of fire by night. Love's presence is always with those in the way. It is a
straight way, but a safe and joyous one. Hear Mrs. Eddy's words of loving
admonition: "Through the wholesome chastisements of Love, we are helped
onward in the march towards righteousness, peace, and purity, which are the
landmarks of Science. Beholding the infinite tasks of truth, we pause, - wait
on God. Then we push onward, until boundless thought walks enraptured, and
conception unconfined is winged to reach the divine glory" (Science and
Health, p. 323).