Editorial February 2, 1929 Issue

At God's Right Hand

Albert F. Gilmore

The position at the right hand of authority as a symbol of preferment has long been accepted as an established custom. The monarch of old placed at the right hand of his throne one upon whom he desired to confer a signal honor. Likewise, in the observance of social amenities, the seat at the right hand of the host has commonly been reserved for the honored guest. And, by analogy, in legislative bodies throughout the world the dominant party, in token of its prerogative, occupies a position at the right hand of the presiding officer.

If this custom be traced back along the ages, it will be found to have been in vogue in the early days of Biblical history. The Psalmist saw the position on the right hand of divine authority to be the place both of honor and of protection. The one hundred and tenth psalm begins: "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." That is, the place of the Redeemer's glory is at the right hand of God. Christ Jesus used the expression with the same meaning when, in response to the insistent questioning of the high priest, "Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" he replied, "I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." Mark also records that when Jesus ascended above material sense he "sat on the right hand of God."

Reference to the right hand of God as the position of honor and power grew out of an anthropomorphic concept of God; and manifestly Christ Jesus was making concession to that common concept of Deity. He knew full well the nature of God; for had he not declared, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth"? To him the right hand was the symbol, the metaphorical representation, of power and honor. In the light of Mrs. Eddy's revelation, we learn that to sit at the right hand of omnipotence is to hold one's thought in accord with the divine, to become conscious of the facts of being, and, when material belief is abandoned, to enter the eternal harmony of Spirit. Moreover, with all who would do God's will, attainment to this exalted state is the heart's earnest desire.

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