Article September 18, 1920 Issue

Now

EDITH ALLEN WATTS

On page 39 of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy writes: "'Now,' cried the apostle, 'is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation,'—meaning, not that now men must prepare for a future-world salvation, or safety, but that now is the time in which to experience that salvation in spirit and in life. Now is the time for so-called material pains and material pleasures to pass away, for both are unreal, because impossible in Science." Isaiah voices the word of the Lord thus: "In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee." Now stands for all time and eternity; so all time is the accepted time and is acceptable to God. Therefore, leaning on the infinite willingness of the Father to accept us now, to hear and save us now, let us avail ourselves of the promise in its magnitude, and, as Mrs. Eddy says, "experience that salvation in spirit and in life."

In the Glossary of Science and Health we find the following definition (p. 593): "Salvation. Life, Truth, and Love understood and demonstrated as supreme over all; sin, sickness, and death destroyed." Now, then, is the day in which Life, Truth, and Love are to be understood and demonstrated as supreme over all, with the inevitable result that sin, sickness, and death are destroyed. Who believes this to the point of practical demonstration? Who is living in this day of now, of salvation? Not for one moment are the earnest and fruitful efforts of the consecrated Christian Scientist disparaged. On the contrary, the deepest gratitude wells from the heart as hourly evidences of healing and saving through Christian Science practice are manifested. But a greater awakening must come as to the possibility of immediate salvation, a clear and clean-cut step in this direction, in order to follow accurately the way of the Master. His ascension was a definite example of salvation—"Life, Truth, and Love understood and demonstrated as supreme over all; sin, sickness, and death destroyed."

While doing the works that are the necessary supplement to the teachings of Christian Science, let us hasten the day of salvation, in its complete sense, by mentally accepting no intermediate or halfway position in the demonstration of Life as supreme over all. Mrs. Eddy's wisdom directs in these words (Science and Health, p. 39): "To break this earthly spell, mortals must get the true idea and divine Principle of all that really exists and governs the universe harmoniously." One must know that this accepted time, this day of salvation, is not only possible, but is now for whosoever will.

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