Article September 28, 1912 Issue

FELLOWSHIP

EDITH C. CARTER.

WHEN , through the teachings of Christian Science, a first glimpse is had of the radical mental transformation necessary for the working out of our salvation, a sense of loneliness and isolation sometimes seems to spread like a mist, making the way obscure and progress slow and laborious. That this is a false sense is soon apparent, for with increased understanding of Truth we quickly see that in reality we are only at the threshold of a knowledge which reveals vistas of new and wider experiences regarding man's relation to God and to his brother man.

The experiences thus revealed will ultimately result in a realization of the riches of joy contained in the words: "The fellowship of the Holy Ghost." In Science and Health (p. 588) Mrs. Eddy defines the Holy Ghost as "divine Science; the development of eternal Life, Truth, and Love." This definition, supplemented by St. John's description of fellowship, "If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another," gives us a practical standard of action. Only failure to comply with the condition set forth in the first words of this text can prevent us from appropriating the harmony which the development of Life, Truth, and Love in thought must bring into our lives. Again, Mrs. Eddy writes: "The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood" (Science and Health, p. 518), and she points out the human footsteps which must be taken before we attain to the absolute realization of that perfect fellowship whose expression is the spontaneous, unconscious supplying of our brother's need.

This latter state of consciousness is exemplified in the freeing of the woman whom Satan had bound. She was set free by the selfless love and purity reflected by Jesus, without his having any direct knowledge of her particular need. Further examples of the practical unity and fellowship brought about by this purified condition of thought are related in the Acts of the Apostles. On the day of Pentecost the disciples are described as "filled with the Holy Ghost," with the result that they spoke with other tongues. They were thus enabled to supply the need of all present by expressing themselves so that in the mixed multitude, speaking fourteen or fifteen different dialects, each person heard the truth in his own language. This occurred again after Peter's vision on the housetop. He learned from the vision that he must completely eliminate his Jewish prejudices and widen his sense of fellowship. The rebuke, "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common," prepared him for his visit to Cornelius, and for the further step of admitting the centurion and his household to baptism.

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