Editorial April 15, 1922 Issue

Spiritual Vision

Albert F. Gilmore

The prophet Isaiah, deeply troubled if not disheartened by the apparent wickedness of Jerusalem, pronounced upon her the judgment of the Lord, with a degree of severity bordering on harshness. He declared that the Lord had closed the eyes of the prophets, rulers, and seers until "the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed," which, when delivered "to one that is learned," he rejects, saying, "I cannot; for it is sealed." And, again, when he "that is not learned" is requested to read it, he, too, declares his inability on the ground of his lack of learning. So to both the learned and the unlearned the vision was lost. The writer of the book of Proverbs likewise stated in unequivocal terms the serious results of the loss of spiritual perception: "Where there is no vision, the people perish." James, recognizing the necessity for spiritual insight, declared, "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, ... this man shall be blessed in his deed." Our revered Leader, Mrs. Eddy, fully aware of the meaning and importance of spiritual sense and the necessity to realize the rule of Spirit, admonished her readers in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 208), "Let us learn of the real and eternal, and prepare for the reign of Spirit, the kingdom of heaven,—the reign and rule of universal harmony, which cannot be lost nor remain forever unseen."

Even though spiritual vision may appear to be lost and, in consequence, wisdom darkened, yet the great fact remains that government by divine law is never abrogated nor annulled. Mankind needs to recognize this, while striving to live in harmony with the operation of Love's perfect law, thus assisting to bring human activity into conformity with the sovereignty of God. Truly, history repeats itself. It is not uncommon, even in these advanced days, to hear publicists and men of affairs who believe that again spiritual vision is lost, declare that on the whole democracy has been a failure; that the people have proved themselves quite incapable of self-government; and, in consequence, that "government of the people, by the people, for the people," which Lincoln so stoutly defended, is indeed likely to perish from the earth. Manifestly, in the view of such, neither the learned nor the unlearned have the true vision.

What these gloomy critics completely fail to see is the very obvious fact that, as long as government is based on human will instead of divine Principle, it never can attain to a great and continuously successful national sovereignty. Only proportionably to its conformity to divine law, which is the expression of infinite Love, can government be successful and lasting.

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