Editorial September 23, 1922 Issue

Spiritual Awakening

Duncan Sinclair

MANKIND to a great extent are asleep in materiality, and to an equal degree are the victims of sin and disease. They need to be awakened out of the dream of material sense, in order to escape the suffering which inevitably accompanies the false belief that matter is real. The acceptance of the belief that material sense is real indicates deadness to real or spiritual being. And it is to those dwelling in this darkness that Christian Science is making its appeal to-day, just as Christ Jesus and the apostles made theirs.

The entire work of Jesus was concerned with the spiritual awakening of mankind. Every case of sin or disease which he healed bore witness to his understanding of the truth, whereby he awakened to some extent the sinner or sick person out of the illusion that matter controls man. Jesus' spiritual understanding of reality was so clear and so accurate that he was even able to raise the dead by it. This raising of the dead was itself an awakening, since what men call death is but a supposititious climax of the general belief in the reality of matter or evil. And did not the Master say to his disciples, before he raised Lazarus from the dead, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep"? There is in reality no death. Christ Jesus knew this better far than all others, because he understood so perfectly that God is infinite Life. To the extent that one has the spiritual understanding that he possessed, one has spiritually awakened, or has risen above material sense and its attendant suffering.

Christian Science is particularly clear on the question of spiritual awakening. God is infinite Mind, it declares; matter is therefore unreal. God is infinite Life; therefore Life cannot be destroyed. But matter appears real to the so-called human mind; and believing matter to be real, mortals fall into the illusions of sin and disease. It should be apparent that spiritual awakening must take place in order that health and sinlessness may be established. Writing in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 230) Mrs. Eddy says: "But if sickness and sin are illusions, the awakening from this mortal dream, or illusion, will bring us into health, holiness, and immortality. This awakening is the forever coming of Christ, the advanced appearing of Truth, which casts out error and heals the sick." Here Mrs. Eddy states perfectly clearly what spiritual awakening means. It is the coming of the Christ, Truth, to the receptive human consciousness, destroying the mortal dream or material illusion, and thereby establishing "health, holiness, and immortality."

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

Spiritual Awakening

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access