"The Mary of to-day looks up"

MADGE D. STAFFORD

"The Mary of to-day looks up for Christ." So writes our God-inspired Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, on page 119 of "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany." What joy comes when by looking up we see the ever living Christ, which mortal beliefs cannot destroy! Those who are following our Leader in selfless loving steadfastly hold their gaze toward divine Love. They find that the vision of the goal speeds their footsteps, as they journey from material sense toward fullness of spiritual understanding. No rocks along the way can hinder one whose gaze is fixed on the realities of God, good; for the vision of Love, attained and retained, spurs such a one to a greater effort to reflect the spiritual qualities of love, joy, and peace. These qualities are attained through the endeavor to express unselfish, childlike kindness, patient, humble trustworthiness, and steadfast courage in doing good.

We should watch carefully whether we are stooping to look down into the sepulcher of matter for the Christ, Truth, or whether as "the Mary of to-day" we are looking up. To the thought looking for good in matter or in personal sense there is confusion, doubt, and fear. To the uplifted, spiritual thought there is hope in every situation, a keen appreciation for each least manifestation of good, wherever found, and faith unmixed with doubt. The tomb could not obstruct the Christ-power which Jesus utilized in rising above the belief of life in matter. No situation can obstruct the full appearing of the true idea of God as revealed to our Leader. The lifted eye sees everywhere to-day evidences of the appearing of Christ, Truth. The "Signs of the Times" as recorded each week in the Christian Science Sentinel are of much value to those with eyes to see.

To the true Christian Scientist there is joy to be found in every situation, for he sees in each an opportunity to demonstrate the Mind "which was also in Christ Jesus." A problem, be it in the home, in the church, or in business, can seem to him neither too large nor of too long standing to be solved by the application of divine Principle. He can confidently prove through spiritual thinking that omnipotent good is more powerful than any adverse situation or set of circumstances. He does not despair, for he has the light of divine Love in his heart; and material shadows cannot enter its perfect radiance. This is the light that shines unto the perfect day, and he is content to dwell therein. To him the shadows are but an incentive to clear the windows of his own thinking of every belief in a selfhood apart from God, good, in order that he may share with those who are longing for the light the spiritual joy that is his treasure, the courage that is his strength, the peace and love that are the fruitage of his efforts toward right thinking.

Jesus said, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me"! We can never attain to this uplifted and uplifting state of thought except by purifying our desires through selfless love. Christ Jesus was ever reflecting the Father in every thought, word, and deed; therefore no experience could cause him to forget or neglect his mission to lift up the Christ to mankind, and to reveal to them the fact that God is Love. His whole experience was an ascending above the belief of life and intelligence in matter. His example inspires us to lift up our thinking to Spirit, Mind, and to bring out the results of such thinking in more spiritual living.

The command, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect," seems impossible to obey until Christian Science, through our Leader's writings, makes it clear that Jesus took every step that he commanded us to take. With her clear explanation of "the way," as given in her published writings, we all may progress toward the realization of perfect God and perfect man. In Christian Science we learn to keep the gaze fixed on divine perfection. Thus working, we begin to comprehend the new heaven and the new earth as revealed to the writer of the book of Revelation; and we realize that he attained that vision through holding fast and utilizing each lesser vision of reality along his way, and by striving to manifest true spirituality.

We are privileged to behold and dwell within this new heaven and new earth her and now in proportion as we become conscious of God as infinite Love; for this realization excludes every supposition of an opposite material existence. Through steadfast abiding in Christ, Truth, we too may have our part in uplifting the thought of the discouraged, the perplexed, and the weary to conscious realization of the power and presence of divine Love. Such Christly living aids us in more clearly discerning the full appearing of Truth, and more continuously to realize that the Christ is ever present and ever active. This ascending realization comes to him who has lifted up his eyes and holds his gaze steadfastly toward the goal, divine Love.

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