Article April 23, 1921 Issue

"Loss is gain"

LOUISE L. HESSE

IN the ordinary sense of the word, the expression "loss is gain" seems self-contradictory and even absurd. When studied carefully in the light of metaphysics, however, it becomes beautifully clear and altogether natural. Metaphysically speaking, there can be no loss of anything that is real, while whatever is unreal must be lost before the true idea of being can be understood. So long as one clings to a belief of life in matter, one cannot experience completely the fact of life as the spiritual reality of being. In other words, the sense of materiality must be lost in order that the understanding of spiritual life may be gained.

To one who is in the habit of believing sense testimony, this seems very difficult of accomplishment, for he cannot realize at once the utter falsity of the material senses. He clings to what he thinks is true, and yields his beliefs only as he becomes spiritually minded, gaining to a certain extent an understanding of what it means to "let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." The gradual unfoldment of spiritual facts replaces surely and completely the old beliefs, which, when they cease to have any claim upon the one who once held them, vanish altogether. Then, indeed, it is perfectly evident to the seeker for truth that loss is gain, for as he loses his once cherished beliefs about God and man, he finds that he is gaining what nothing can ever take from him, the true understanding of life.

Jesus once said, "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." All who make a desperate effort to cling to life in matter will ultimately be forced to lose this belief; but whosoever will give up all belief of life as resident in matter, life as belonging to aught save God and His idea, will find, instead of mere beliefs about life, the realization of facts concerning it. He finds God, the one and only cause, and man in His image and likeness. Jesus knew that death was not the gateway to life, and therefore he could not have told his disciples that they must pass through such a gateway before they could find life. He simply meant that they must lose all sense of life as material, and then they would gain an understanding of life as spiritual.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

"Loss is gain"

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access