Editorial May 2, 1914 Issue

Home and Heaven

Annie M. Knott

A good many people think of home and heaven as places far removed from each other, separated indeed by a stream called death; but Christian Science presents a different view of the subject and finds authority for it in the Scriptures. In Christian Science we learn to think about things metaphysically, and so both home and heaven are understood to mean mental and spiritual states, as must be admitted by every one who is willing to go beyond a superficial view of the subject. The very first statement in the Bible is that "God created the heaven and the earth," and again and again we read that He is present everywhere, guiding, governing, and sustaining all His creation, and thus we come to link together heaven and home as mental states in which dwell the children of the all-loving Father. This does not, of course, mean that there is no outward manifestation of these divine ideas, but the all-important consideration is to seek "first" their spiritual significance, and then we shall begin to see them, like God, ever present. One who was marvelously healed by Jesus prayed that he might go with him on his journeys, but the Master told him to go to his home and prove to them there what great things divine Love had done for him, a requirement which is no less for us today.

In Science and Health (p. 589) Mrs. Eddy lifts thought above the mortal and material concept of Jerusalem, and calls it "home, heaven." Again she says (p. 58), "Home is the dearest spot on earth, and it should be the center, though not the boundary, of the affections." While it is true that some might dispute the identification of home and heaven, yet do not all who love their homes insist that the spiritual qualities which represent heaven shall be enshrined in the home,—such qualities as purity, truth, and love,—and would not all admit that without these there could be no home? Mortals have even felt justified in taking the life of one who would invade the purity of their homes, when perchance they did little themselves to keep it sacred. Because of mortal blindness, because mankind have failed to see that heaven should be established and maintained in the home, they have looked to death, the enemy that is to be destroyed, to bring them to the abode of purity and peace. Alas that it should ever be so, when Christ Jesus so plainly taught that the kingdom of God is not a distant place, but "within," and that when it comes down to our apprehension we shall realize that neither sin, disease, nor death has any place in our heavenly home.

Long ago, a young man left the home which was very dear to him, although it was most likely a tent; but it was truly home, because he had begun to know God there. As he traveled alone over the Syrian wilds, night came on, and he lay down to sleep with a stone for his pillow. Then came a vision of the ever-present Father-Mother, God, and of a ladder letting down divine ideas from spiritual heights, with promises which today enrich the lives of all who lay hold upon them as did Jacob. Under the silent stars he awaked to know that God had been with him all the time, though he knew it not, and in deepest awe he exclaimed, "This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

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