Editorial July 22, 1916 Issue

"Midnight" or "Cockcrowing"

Annie M. Knott

At the present time all Christians have need to study and ponder the words of Christ Jesus, as found in the first two gospels, respecting what Mrs. Eddy calls "the breaking up of material beliefs" (Science and Health, p. 96). As we read the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew and the thirteenth chapter of Mark we may well be appalled at the dark pictures of sin and suffering therein presented, all of which show that complete victory over mortal error is not gained until the unreal foundations of false belief are uncovered and overthrown. It is noteworthy that this discourse followed a boastful remark made by one of the disciples respecting the splendor of the material temple at Jerusalem. To this Jesus responded by saying of these great buildings, "There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." The temple was intended to typify a divine idea, but since its services failed in this particular, they must give place to a purely spiritual worship, whatever the cost to human sense in the decisive struggle between truth and error, at any period in human history.

As we read the foreshadowing of these struggles we need not wonder that the disciples asked when their end would come. To this sorrowful though natural inquiry the Master answered that only the Father could tell this, but he did intimate that the evil days would be shortened "for the elect's sake." The one thing he insisted upon was watchfulness on the part of his followers in any age and, what is too often forgotten, the "authority" bestowed upon them in defending the rights of man as God's image and likeness. He made it clear that "the Son of man," God's idea, is the rightful master of the house, and that in the suppositional absence of this master "the porter" must watch. Mrs. Eddy warns us against admitting to our consciousness any usurping belief of discord, whether sin or disease. She says (Science and Health, p. 392): "Stand porter at the door of thought. Admitting only such conclusions as you wish realized in bodily results, you will control yourself harmoniously." This same rule as to watchfulness would of course apply to all discordant conditions, whether individual or national, and if all the professed followers of Christ Jesus observed it faithfully, human history would tell of steady progress toward the realization of God's kingdom on earth.

There is, however, another side to this question. Not only should the porter guard against the admission of evil under any guise, but he must also be ready to admit "the master of the house" whenever he may come. When a Christian Science practitioner is called to a case, he finds usurpers seemingly in control,—disease beliefs, so-called health laws, and the false gods of mortal mind holding sway. These are to be cast out, their baseless assumption of authority over man exposed. The most important thing, however, is the unceasing watchfulness which listens untiringly for the voice of the master, eager to respond to the authority which destroys all evil. How easy it seems, to mortal sense, to miss this voice, alike in sickness or in the loud clamor of war and social strife, and to hear only what Whittier calls "the harsh noises of our day."

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