Article November 25, 1916 Issue

"Streams in the south"

PETER B. BIGGINS

THERE is a group of brief and beautiful psalms, from the 120th to the 134th inclusive, each of which is styled "A song of degrees," or of ascents. According to the generally accepted view these were pilgrim songs, and were sung by the pilgrims on their periodic journeys up to Jerusalem. It is very significant that the pilgrims should sing as they journeyed upward, and this is a good lesson for us. Why should not we sing and rejoice as we pursue our upward mental journey to the New Jerusalem, the perfect and abiding consciousness of divine Love?

The 126th psalm brings out a beautiful spiritual lesson from the return of the Jewish captives from Babylon. It begins, "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream." The meaning is rendered very clear by referring to Mrs. Eddy's definition of Zion in the Glossary of Science and Health. The spiritual meaning is there given as "spiritual foundation and superstructure; inspiration; spiritual strength." The material sense, the result of the Adam-dream, is given as "emptiness; unfaithfulness ; desolation" (p. 599). It is proved in the experience of every Christian Scientist that when the evidence of material sense is reversed, when Zion's captivity is turned, desolation and sorrow are replaced by inspiration and joy. Before learning in Christian Science of the allness of infinite Love, life seemed indeed empty and desolate; but this satisfying understanding fills anew the dried-out channels of human thought with overflowing streams.

This very naturally leads to the beautiful spiritual meaning contained in the reference in this psalm to "the streams in the south." The wadys, or valleys, in the desert region at the south of Judea, though dry in summer, were filled to overflowing during the season of rain. The Jews' desolation during their captivity in Babylon is likened to the dry season. The freedom and joy of their return are compared to the filling up again. The pilgrims recognized the analogy between these events and their spiritual experiences, and present-day pilgrims also may profit by this lesson.

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