Editorial June 25, 1910 Issue

THE IDEAL CITY

Annie M. Knott

An extremely interesting article appeared on the Home Forum page of The Christian Science Monitor of June 9, entitled, "The Garden Cities of England." A brief description was given of two of these cities, both of which have sprung up within a few years, from which it would seem that the conditions there existing are practically ideal, so far so outward things can express ideal conditions. What would perhaps most impress the student of Christian Science is the fact that a quarter of a century ago these conditions would have been thought impossible of but, in spite of the wide prevalence of such belief, these cities have been established, and others are springing up under the noble impulse to make each of them better than its predecessors,—in other words, to appropriate what is seen to be best in the experiences of the others and avoid possible mistakes. We are accustomed to think of England as an overcrowded country, and yet we read that in these new cities ample provision is made for gardens, playgrounds, and parks, reminding us that "the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof," and that none of His children's needs are unprovided for.

In reading about these cities, one is reminded of St. John's description of the city which came down from God, "prepared" by divine Love. The apostle hastens to assure us at the start that there will be neither sin nor sorrow, pain nor death in that city which expresses the divine ideal; then he tells us of the beauty and splendor of the city whose light is the radiance of divine Mind. He gives no hint of indolence, but says that those upon whose foreheads the divine character is written shall serve continually, for there shall be "no night there."

Some one may ask how long a time must elapse before this perfect city becomes a universal fact. It may be answered that nearly two thousand years ago John saw it as already complete. Concerning this Mrs. Eddy says (Science and Health, p. 573), "This testimony of Holy Writ sustains the fact in Science, that the heavens and earth to one human consciousness, that consciousness which God bestows, are spiritual, while to another, the unillumined human mind, the vision is material." Since St. John's time, strange to say, the greater number of those who profess to believe in his writings as divinely inspired, have persistently maintained that the heavenly city could only be reached through death, and that the ills which have no place in it must always continue to darken human experience. This opinion has, however, no support in Scripture, which declares plainly that heaven comes down to men when they are willing to receive it; and the ideal city begins to be whenever men love righteousness and hate iniquity. Men seldom hate evil until they suffer from it, either because of their own transgressions or through the wrongs which are inflicted by others' disregard of God's laws; then those who love right are impelled to prove step by step that right is really the only power, and that it alone has permanence. The light of the ideal city is too intense and all-pervading to leave any hiding-place for evil. It shines into the depths of each one's consciousness, and casts out whatever would make sick, defile, or make a lie, and in this light men walk beyond the shadows of the mortal dream of fear, of poverty, of pain and death.

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