Editorial February 3, 1912 Issue

TRUTH RETAINED

Annie M. Knott

It needs but little argument to convince a truly thoughtful man or woman that those experiences alone are worth remembering which lift us above the mortal sense of things with gleams of light that hint at immortal realities, and it matters little what these "gleams of glory" cost us in the mental throes which prepare us to see the light. The vital consideration is that we do see it, and at least momentarily know what it means to live. Some one has said that such experiences are too good to last, not because God is a hard Father, "fond of disappointing His children," but rather because "intensity and endurance cannot coexist in the human economy." This would, however, amount to the same thing if God is responsible for man's tendencies and possibilities. It is therefore encouraging to learn what our revered Leader has to say respecting the permanence of the spiritual idea with us. In Science and Health (p. 598) we read: "One moment of divine consciousness ... is a foretaste of eternity. This exalted view, obtained and retained when the Science of being is understood, would bridge over with life discerned spiritually the interval of death, and man would be in the full consciousness of his immortality and eternal harmony."

The words just quoted recall very forcibly those of the great Teacher, who said, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." There is a profound significance in this thought of retaining the truth after it has been obtained, and thus abiding in the Christ-consciousness. Peter had a glimpse of this when, on the mount of transfiguration, he desired to build three tabernacles and remain there. Well might he say, "Lord, it is good for us to be here." It may be that he had not then seen the possibility of retaining all that the spiritual vision had brought them and of carrying it into the healing work, where the illumination was so much needed, but later he tells us of "the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."

As we read the accounts of the transfiguration given by Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we find that Christ Jesus was ready for the problem which presented itself when he and the three disciples came down from the "high mountain." A sorely afflicted boy and his unhappy father had in vain sought healing from the other disciples, and were then in the midst of a questioning if not a mocking multitude. We cannot tell what Peter and James and John might have done for the lad, but we read that in spite of the fear and apparent failure of the other disciples, and the seeming aggravation of the symptoms, Jesus rebuked the error "and healed the child." Christ Jesus "kept," he "retained," the word of Truth, and the arguments of error could find no place in his consciousness. He even went so far as to say, "If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death." He also said, "He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life"—shall have this light not intermittently but perpetually, for the light of Truth abides if we hold our gaze steadily toward it.

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