Editorial November 23, 1918 Issue

The Price of Freedom

Annie M. Knott

In the Bible much is said about the price of wisdom, which we are told is of more value than rubies; hence the ruby is a fitting emblem for a king's crown. We are also told in the Master's matchless words of the priceless pearl for the possession of which a man might sell all he had and count it well lost. At the present time we are often reminded of the price which must be paid for freedom, which is indeed being paid by men and nations alike. At this hour humanity is reaching out for freedom as never before in the history of the race; and what is more, it is now with the assurance that it is at least within reach. Mortals are, however, apt to forget that even so the full price must be paid for it and that it can never cost too much.

Here we are reminded of the recent experiences of some young men who, without reserve, offered themselves upon the altar of the world's freedom in Europe's battle fields, and who have recently with desperate courage made their way once again to free soil, after having been prisoners in an enemy camp for many months. It is well for Christian Scientists to remind themselves that if men are willing to take their lives in their hands, so to speak, and brave the greatest dangers, while enduring the utmost privation and suffering, in order to realize once more the sweetness of civil freedom, should those who seek it in its larger sense ever grudge the price which must be paid for it?

It is to-day being seen and admitted the world over that real freedom is a spiritual possession, and as such it includes all that is worthy of the name. Christ Jesus insisted that the truth he taught and demonstrated alone could give freedom; but those who were enslaved by sin and sickness rejected his teaching. Few indeed see that its acceptance must begin with the individual and that each one must, with the courage which the inspiration of Truth brings, escape from all the entanglements of error and prove to himself and the world that Jesus' words were true. Real freedom is, however, being found to-day by those who have discerned its fuller meaning in accepting the divine message to this age. On page 253 of "Miscellaneous Writings" Mrs. Eddy tells us that "Christianity is not merely a gift, as St. Paul avers, but is bought with a price, a great price; and what man knoweth as did our Master its value, and the price that he paid for it?" In the book of Acts we read of a man and a woman who had reached out for the freedom which truth gives and had probably been delivered from the bondage of suffering, but when it came to the question of willingness to give up all things so that others might have the freedom which they themselves had in some measure experienced, the record says that they "kept back part of the price." All Bible students are familiar with the story of Ananias and Sapphira and know that because of their unwillingness to go forward and realize the fuller meaning of freedom they lost all that they had gained, so far as the present hour was concerned, for they lost their lives. It is good to read the account which follows this sad incident, as given in the fifth chapter of Acts, where we are told that the healing work went on and increased and that multitudes who were grievously vexed and were suffering in every conceivable way were healed, every one.

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