Editorial January 4, 1913 Issue

WITHOUT AND WITHIN

John B. Willis

It is characteristic of the immature that they live without rather than within; they are absorbed in and dependent upon the objective and phenomenal. Thus the kindergartner begins to teach numbers with grains of corn; she enters the domain of thought through the open eye. Thus, too, Christ Jesus taught the multitude in parables, little word-pictures of outer life which served as scaffolding for the creation of a temple of right thought. Indeed the many, Thomaslike, insist that they must be permitted to lay their hands upon every fact they are asked to accept; and this demand is satisfied today in the healing of the sick through Christian Science, even as it was satisfied by the Master when he permitted the doubting disciple to place his hand upon his pierced side.

Though thus recognized and conceded to by divine grace, this habit of living in the material rather than the mental is rebuked by St. Paul when he reminds the Ephesians that life's real struggle is not a wrestling "against flesh and blood," but against that evil mentality which rules in "the darkness of this world." This is one of the hardest lessons for us all to learn, that evil is not really objective but subjective, and that it is not to be resisted with material means, but with the word of Truth.

The career of the crusader has always appealed to human sense, and the favor with which even Christian men and nations regard this militant attitude is still manifest in their devotion to national armaments. All this gives peculiar pertinence to the teaching of Christian Science that only the inner struggles can be effectual, that every genuine victory is to be won in the mental arena, and this teaching must be understood by those who would arrive at that true and spiritually helpful interpretation of history and prophecy which always saves us from absorption in material phenomena, and enables us to relate the symbol or the historic event to our inner experience.

Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.

Send a comment to the editors
NEXT IN THIS ISSUE
Editorial
SELF-DENIAL
January 4, 1913
Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit