There is, perhaps, a time in the experience of each Christian Scientist when he is tempted to believe that the solution of a certain problem is dependent upon some outward condition or environment. He may very often attribute his failure to demonstrate the truth and to overcome that which may be unlike the anointed to the climate in which he lives, to the actions, thoughts, or words of others, or perhaps to the circumstances or surroundings in which he is placed. He may be tempted to believe that he cannot receive his healing—physical, mental, financial, moral, or otherwise—until some one stops doing something, or until some outward change takes place which may, to mortal sense, seem to be the stumblingblock.

So-called mortal mind is constantly worrying about what it calls conditions and their effects. Not having the intelligence of divine Mind, it is always fearful; and mortals are therefore kept in a state of anxiety, restlessness, and wonderment as to what the morrow may bring forth. They may be fearful of a coal strike or a coal shortage, believing that without this particular kind of fuel they will not be able to heat their homes or operate their industries. They look with anxiety on the prospects of a railroad strike and its effects upon industry. And so they seem to be reeds shaken by the wind, always hoping that prosperity and better times are "just around the corner," and may soon be within their reach.

Christian Science comes to humanity to break these fetters of human belief and fear through a right and practical understanding of the truth, which, Jesus said, "shall make you free." Paul wrote, in his epistle to the Romans, "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Christian Science teaches that our happiness, harmony, health, success, and work should not be dependent upon any material condition, individual or group of individuals, circumstance or accumulation of circumstances. We do not have to seek some other climate or environment before we can bring about harmonious results; nor do we have to sit and wait for some one to make his or her demonstration first before we can progress. The actions of others should not be allowed in any way to hinder or retard our growth and development, because our demonstration is, and must of necessity be, individual—dependent upon our own willingness to be led by the "still small voice" and our ability to demonstrate the boundless abundance of divine Mind with its infinite resources.

Whatever may be the problem before us to be solved, we know that its solution lies between ourselves and God, and does not depend upon any material condition, person, place, or thing. There is always the right answer to every problem; and we can be grateful for the knowledge that whatever phase of mortal mind presents itself to us, the solution is at hand. In her address to the Concord church, in February, 1899, published in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (pp. 149–150), Mrs. Eddy says: "Remember, thou canst be brought into no condition, be it ever so severe, where Love has not been before thee and where its tender lesson is not awaiting thee. Therefore despair not nor murmur, for that which seeketh to save, to heal, and to deliver, will guide thee, if thou seekest this guidance." Our beloved Leader had proved this for herself many times; and she knew that each must prove it for himself before he can really say that God is "a very present help in trouble." It was the assurance that Love is infinite, boundless, and abundant which enabled Jesus to meet successfuly every test that human belief presented and thereby to become the Way-shower for all men, and which also made Daniel safe in the lions' den.

In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 307) our beloved Leader writes: "The divine Mind is the Soul of man, and gives man dominion over all things. Man was not created from a material basis, nor bidden to obey material laws which Spirit never made; his province is in spiritual statutes, in the higher law of Mind." Man, therefore, having spiritual dominion over all things (as the Bible also tells us in the first chapter of Genesis), is not subject to material chance and change, condition or atmosphere, but only to "the higher law of Mind," in which and by which he is able to overcome all that is unlike God. Our remedy, then, is, not to seek some other form of materiality as a means of relief from that which seemeth to make "the whole head ... sick, and the whole heart faint," but to turn wholly to God, seeking first His kingdom and righteousness, and thus finding the added things,—the things which make men harmonious, healthy, happy, free, and able to be about their Father's business. True liberation comes only as the student of Christian Science is willing to put into practice what understanding he or she may have; for has not Jesus given us the promise that if we have faith as a grain of mustard seed we shall be able to move mountains?

We need not despair if we know but little of the truth, and seem helpless to overcome the more difficult problems which present themselves. It is how sincere we are in our understanding of, faith in, and obedience to divine Principle that counts. Mrs. Eddy writes in "Unity of Good" (p. 7), "An acknowledgment of the perfection of the infinite Unseen confers a power nothing else can." The sincere, intelligent acknowledgment of God's allness, goodness, love, and power to heal is far greater than any human power or material so-called force; and many times the simple understanding of a child that God is Love has solved many a seemingly difficult problem.

We can, therefore, rest in the assurance that even a small understanding of God, if earnestly applied, will free us from much of mortal error, regardless of place, time, or circumstance. Being "faithful over a few things" will make us "ruler over many things." We shall thus learn that health, happiness, success, and prosperity are here and now; and as each individual demonstrates this, "better times" will be manifested in his daily affairs.