Article April 29, 1911 Issue

THE NEED IN EVERY HOUR

SAMUEL GREENWOOD.

There is no time in the history of Christian Science when its students do not need to bear in mind that this movement is founded upon divine Principle and not upon personality. If one's hope and faith rest upon human personality, he is building on sand, and his structure will not stand the storm and tempest. The records of Christendom show that the personality of even our great Master is not the true foundation of the church of Christ, and the failure of the past to accomplish the end of Christianity will be repeated until impersonal Truth, the ever-present Christ, becomes the basis and the inspiration of Christian endeavor. Christian Science builds on this stone which the builders of the ages have rejected, and the same is now becoming "the head of the corner." It was his knowledge of the incorporeal Christ that enabled Jesus to heal the sick and overcome the sense of mortality, and only by their fidelity to the same truth, as revealed through our Leader and taught by her in precept and example, can Christian Scientists heal the sick and ensure the success of their cause.

Error is always unscrupulous in its methods, and would make itself appear, if possible, as an angel of light, if by such means its ends could be subserved; hence Christian Scientists need continually to stand guard over their thoughts, lest evil enter in the guise of good. If error never made itself appear as truth, it could never pass for truth; therefore the injunction to "try the spirits whether they are of God" should be heeded. It was well said recently, in a newspaper editorial, that Mrs. Eddy was the most beloved woman in history, but this love must not be allowed to become a weapon in the hands of error, and so be made to strike at the cause it should faithfully safeguard. The love which Christian Scientists cherish for their Leader is that of gratitude and appreciation, not of deification, and if their loyalty to her teachings is commensurate with that love, the integrity of the movement is assured and mankind will be abundantly blessed. But that is not always love which calls itself such, and Jesus declared that the test of his disciples' love was obedience to his commandments. Neither is a student's professed love for Mrs. Eddy genuine if that student disobeys her teachings, turns from Principle to person, or in any way attempts to counteract the influence of her work.

It is certain that if our thoughts are occupied with personality, they are not dwelling upon the divine Principle toward which our Leader directed her students' attention; and to follow such a course is to violate both the letter and the spirit of her injunctions. She writes, "He that by reason of human love or hatred or any other cause clings to my material personality, greatly errs, stops his own progress, and loses the path to health, happiness, and heaven" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 308). Whatever one may say or do from that standpoint is not in accord with true Christian Science, and can only be harmful to himself and to those who permit themselves to be influenced thereby. The same can be said of those who cling to the personality of Jesus to the neglect of the truth which he demonstrated for them. The way in Christian Science has been pointed out, the truth has been revealed, and it therefore remains for Christian Scientists to walk in that way and to practise that truth, for only by so doing can they leave the material for the spiritual, and outgrow a finite, personal sense of being.

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THE NEED IN EVERY HOUR

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