REFORM

The most important reforms that have marked the history of the human race have always had their inception in individual recognition of and tenacious adherence to right, to Principle. They have made progress solely along the line of individual right thinking upon this basis, and the only barrier they have had to surmount has been the momentum of individual incorrect thinking. In the last analysis the conflict has been between correct and incorrect thinking in individual consciousness. Since right thinking is fatal to wrong thinking, the outcome has invariably been the same: right thinking always has triumphed and always will. Such, in the abstract, is the past, present, and future of reform, whether the subject be confined to the individual or extended to the human race.

If these statements are true,—and they are,—it is evident that individual reform, or rather individual conformation to the demands of Principle, is of fundamental importance. It can come only as the individual recognizes and acts upon the necessity of bringing his thoughts and deeds into harmony with the basic law of improvement in whatsoever direction that law may dictate, even though it may insist upon a right-about-face and the apparent loss of position, prestige, power, and perquisites. Fear to comply with such a demand must be met and mastered, or one cannot retain his own self-respect and the esteem of others. It is characteristic of the noble-minded to act in this way; to seek, rather than be forced into, a rectification of errors. To ignore the mandate is to reveal laxness; to spurn it is to uncover arrogance; to defy it is to proclaim one's self a foe to right thinking; deliberately to misinterpret it for the purpose of erroneously influencing others, reveals a condition of turpitude which verges upon moral idiocy.

All these and many other forms of silencing conscience have their basis in ignorance or in fear. Ignorance can be readily dispelled, but the person who refuses to reform always does so because of cowardice. Whatever may be the course that fear prompts, whether erroneous action or erroneous inaction, the very result feared is manifested sooner or later. There is no use in temporizing, no use in trying to strangle truth; the downfall of erroneous thinking and its votaries and the ultimate establishment of correct thinking and its adherents is inevitable. Reform deals primarily not with persons but with Principle. With equal impartiality, it rewards those who adhere to it and punishes those who reject it.

Does history not supply countless instances to prove these statements? Was it king John's mildness, equity, and general goodness that prompted the signing of the Magna Charta? Did the King exhibit indefatigable zeal in seeking to enforce the provisions of this famous document? Did he regain the power the barons forced him to sign away? Have the intervening centuries justified John's position, or that of the barons? Then which may be considered as thinking along right lines? What of the habeas corpus act, the Declaration of Independence, the abolition of slavery, and a score of other documents and movements, their sponsors and their opponents?

Is not present-day liberty among all English-speaking peoples, indeed among all civilized nations, founded (or influenced for the better) at least in part upon the reforms that brought them about? Has any organization upon a false basis been able successfully to stand against a popular uprising to establish a higher or better regime? In every case has not reform resulted because, in the establishment of a better orter of things, abuses had to be abolished, even when the movement necessitated the removal of kings from their thrones, or in some cases even the construction of a new form of government? When the public conscience has become thoroughly aroused and has bred a determination to establish righteousness, has not all opposition ultimately gone down before it? Then why not answer at once to the call of principle or conscience, and hasten the advent of the rule of righteousness?

Evils have only one means of existence; namely, their being mistaken for good. When their nature is recognized, their power is weakened; they are destroyed by the acceptance and maintenance of good When an individual becomes awake to the nature of the deception called evil, the necessity of reforming his methods of thinking is borne in upon him. He will probably find old ways of thinking very tenacious, especially if he is associated with others who think in the same way. Those who still cling to erroneous way—the enemies of reform—are often very resourceful, tactful. alert, and adroit in their use of specious argument and misinterpretation, and for a time may be apparently successful; but if the awakened individual is sincere, earnest, and determined to reform, nothing can stop him, and his influence for good cannot be overestimated.

The same is true with any body of individuals intent upon reform of abuses, and honest reformers may therefore take good courage, because integrity of purpose based on the right idea is exhilarating, buoyant with the confidence of ultimate victory; and conversely, because erroneous thinking depends for its temporary existence upon deception and is foredoomed on account of its very nature. Furthermore, those who adhere to fundamental truths in their thinking know that those who think erroneously tremble because of their recognized insecure footing and the knowledge that their defeat is certain, even though they may present a brazen front to their opponents; or, to quote a stanza from the old missionary hymn,—

Reforms in the past have frequently been characterized by force and even bloodshed. Modern reforms are becoming less marked by such characteristics, not so much because mankind has been consulting or profiting by history's teaching, but because of the moral awakening that has been taking place throughout the world. In this no other agency has been so potent as Christianity, especially its modern restatement, Christian Science. According to the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, Truth is the great reformer. Mrs. Eddy says (Science and Health, p. 225), "Love is the liberator." This teaches that there is little use in trying to compel people to accept better ways, because the moment that the force is relaxed there is a return to the old way. Love effects its reformation by gentleness, by appealing to the highest good already present in individual consciousness, and by leading the mistaken out of their errors. If any one prefers to persist in wrong thinking and acting. Truth waits with ever-open arms until the falsity has run its course and the wanderer is glad to part with his false god, and "Love never faileth."