Article August 16, 1913 Issue

A NECESSARY EXCHANGE

CLARENCE W. CHADWICK.

Benighted mortals are prone to lose sight of the fact that there is no human equivalent for divine Truth. There is nothing in the material sense universe which one who is spiritually enlightened could accept in exchange for God's bounty and goodness. All the accumulated wealth of the world could not purchase one atom of spiritual substance. Obedience to God's law wins all and surrenders nothing.

The very first step in the pathway of obedience is to learn the spiritual import of self-sacrifice as indicated in the words of the Master: "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Christian Science loosens the fetters of finite belief concerning this subject of self-sacrifice, leaving no doubt in the thought of the student as to its real import. Self-sacrifice to the student of Christian Science is nothing less than the willing exchange of the human consciousness for the divine. Sooner or later, here or somewhere, every mortal must surrender everything that constitutes a mortal mentality, and accept in its stead the Mind or consciousness of the Christ. As the apostle expressed it, we must bring "into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ," for as high as heaven above the earth are God's thoughts above the thoughts of mortals.

The erroneous belief that man is mortal and material is the only mortal there is. Shall we, then, accept this belief instead of the spiritual understanding that man is immortal, the perfect image-likeness of his creator? No; but when enough of good is discerned by individual consciousness to cause the denial of this belief, understanding takes its place; the mortal is put off or out of consciousness, and the immortal is put on or admitted into consciousness; the day-dream is dissipated, and reality is recognized. This constitutes the necessary exchange of human concepts for the divine idea. It is necessarily a work of mental regeneration, and it must continue till the human consciousness has surrendered to the divine. The so-called mortal has much to get rid of, but nothing to impart, nothing to "give in exchange for his soul." Could he be sufficiently humbled to see the nothingness of all that is called mortal or material, his mental journey from the relative to the absolute would be rapid, but line upon line and precept upon precept seems necessary to compel progress. Consciously and unconsciously he clings to earth, to the belief that there is some good apart from God, and this clinging tends to becloud his apprehension and appreciation of spiritual things. Every disappointment, every trial and tribulation, is a salutary agent to quicken and to dissipate the unenlightened mentality of mortals. Each mental advance more and more reveals the vanity of things material and the substantiality of things spiritual and eternal.

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A NECESSARY EXCHANGE

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