Thanksgiving

We give thee thanks, O Lord God almighty,... because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.—Revelation.

Our anniversary days come betimes and bring unfailingly messages from the past which point us to the heights beyond. Sometimes on the ascending path, thought is tempted to look back to the plane of sense, where perchance dear ones still linger, where we once sought peace and pleasure, but found only disappointment and defeat. With every such backward glance it would be well to recall the Master's words concerning the one who had started spiritward, "Let him... not return back. Remember Lot's wife."

In leaving behind the supposed treasures of mortality we lose, in fact, nothing but the sense which makes the unreal seem real; and if we ever entertain the suggestion that we have given up something for Truth's sake, we may be sure that such a belief is indeed "the measure of our imperfection." Rather should we give thanks that we have come to know materiality, at its best, as nothing more than a counterfeit of spiritual reality; and no one who is wise could lament such a discovery did he know that the real and perfect is within the reach of all God's children. Jesus illustrated this when he declared that those who had left all "for the kingdom of heaven's sake" should receive "manifold more in this present time" and "everlasting life," thus teaching that the unrealities of sense should be gladly and thankfully given up for the realities of Soul.

In one of our Leader's most impressive paragraphs, she says, "For victory over a single sin we give thanks, and magnify the Lord of Hosts" (Science and Health, p. 568), and another has written, "Far hath he gone whose foot treads down one fond offence." As beginners in Christian Science we give thanks for physical healing and for a new and brighter outlook upon life, and with added days and experience, the faithful give thanks for the truth which takes away sin and the desire for its supposed satisfaction. With one real overcoming, however, the price paid for spiritual victory seems small indeed. Christ Jesus gave his all for the Cause of Truth. To it he gave himself. For it he counted no effort too great. "With the great glory of an everlasting victory overshadowing him, he gave thanks" (Science and Health, p. 33). Illumined by the Truth of being we share his cup, partake of his victory over sin, disease, and death, and give thanks for his sublime career of which we may become partakers, in the revelation of Christian Science which leads us toward the sinless and deathless goal of divine Love. As we press on we may sometimes pause to ponder the poet's words,—

Cease the sin with the sorrow! See morning begin!

Pain must burn itself out if not fuell'd by sin.

There is hope in yon hilltops, and love in yon light;

Let hate and despondency die with the night!

At this Thanksgiving season we measure our gratitude for the blessings of the year, and though the clash of arms on Eastern battlefields is still heard, and earth cannot "cover her slain," yet we may be thankful that humanity is awaking to protest against the horror and sin of it, and is demanding that the reign of the Prince of Peace be recognized and honored as something more than a theological tenet. When all Christians are united on any question of right, the day is won, whatever be the issues involved.

To-day we give thanks for the Christ-truth which takes away sin and sickness, and we pray that with another Thanksgiving we may give thanks that there is an end of war, and that the plowshares and pruning hooks of Science have supplanted the swords and spears of so-called civilization. Then in the councils of the nations will be heard, "Be still and know that I am God." K.

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Letters to our Leader

November 19, 1904

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