Editorial April 7, 1923 Issue

Alertness

Duncan Sinclair

Alertness is demanded by Christian Science of every one of its students. It is the price they have to pay for the understanding they possess of the truth of being. And the greater the knowledge of Truth, the keener should be their vigilance, their alertness to duty. But while this is so, it must also be said that the more one knows of divine Truth the more readily alert one can be, in virtue of the very fact of his understanding. Ignorance is never an asset at any time; and spiritual understanding, because it enables one to differentiate between the real and the unreal, to distinguish between good and evil and to reject the latter, is the foundation of the alertness which has always been incumbent upon Christians.

Paul frequently called upon the early Christian Church to be watchful. In that famous address of his to the elders of the church at Ephesus, whom he sent for while he was at Miletus, after warning them in terms of which he himself had no doubt, "For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock," he said, "Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears." Paul did not speak to them lightly on the necessity for watchfulness. Knowing so well the distrupting tendencies of mortal mind, he warned them, even with tears!

So-called mortal mind, the carnal mind or material sense which is "emity against God," is the same, in belief, to-day, as in Paul's time. It knows not Truth; it knows not good; its whole endeavor is to destroy; it is a liar incessantly; and it claims to work through "mental suggestion," uttered aloud or inaudibly expressed. But Christian Science teaches that there is only one Mind, omnipotent and omnipresent; and it follows that, in reality, there is no mortal or carnal mind, no material sense. To the so-called human mind, however, this false material sense appears to exist; and it is because of this illusion that alertness has to be exercised, and exercised assiduously. Recognizing this, Mrs. Eddy in her writings frequently draws the attention of students of Christian Science to the necessity for alertness, in unmistakably plain language; and he who shuts his ears to her words is apt to find himself playing with fire.

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