"Think on these things"

Duncan Sinclair

Like the message of the great Master, whom he so faithfully followed, Paul's message makes its appeal to Jew and Gentile alike. It is not an appeal to the people of any one nation, but to men everywhere throughout the earth. Because it refers to the ideal truth, it finds a response in the heart of everyone who desires to break away from the sordid and the mean, and whose aim is spirituality. To the Philippians Paul writes, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

The things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report—these the great Apostle to the Gentiles desires mankind to think about. In doing so, is he not stating the plain duty of every Christian? If we consider Jesus' great command to love God supremely and our neighbor as ourselves, as being the duty of his every follower, we see that Paul's admonition is entirely in harmony with it. It was always thus with the apostles. They had caught the spirit of the Master; they had learned of the ideal truth which he taught and lived; and that ideal truth they called upon all Christians to demonstrate.

Christian Science reveals to mankind to-day the God and the Christ of Jesus and the apostles. It holds aloft the ideal truth, and appeals for obedience to it in thought and in deed. On page 261 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy writes, "Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true, and you will bring these into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts." Thus, as did the Master and the apostles, Christian Science entreats mankind to let the living Christ, the ideal truth, rule their thoughts and guide their lives.

Do we ever pause to consider what happens to those who fail to think on the virtues which Paul enumerates, and who allow themselves to be governed by untruthfulness, dishonesty, injustice, impurity, sordidness—in short, by evil? Without doubt the lives of such become mean and contemptible, unlovely and unlovable, and in all probability sickly or diseased also. The fact cannot be gainsaid that the virtuous life, the honorable and pure life, the life that is molded on the Christ-ideal, means happiness and strength and health; whereas the life that is lived under the thralldom of evil cannot fail to show forth the fruits of evil—unhappiness, weakness, and ill health.

Especially since the discovery of Christian Science has it been made plain to all who without bias have considered the question, that right thinking,—thinking, that is, which is Christlike,—is productive only of good. How, otherwise, are the healings brought about through Christian Science to be accounted for? It not infrequently happens that someone seeking the aid of Christian Science for healing is suffering as the direct result of sin. No Christian Scientist would think that healing could take place if the sin were persisted in; but every Christian Scientist knows that healing is bound to take place whenever the suffer turns his thoughts to good, practices good, and ceases sinning.

But, it may be urged, surely it is no easy matter to turn one's thoughts to good and to love good when one has allowed his thoughts to dwell on evil, perhaps for years? Does not the question indicate belief in the reality and permanence of evil? Christian Science has revealed the truth that good alone is real, since God is infinite good; and the Christian Scientist would be unfaithful to revealed truth were he to allow that evil has any real existence, power, or permanency. Mrs. Eddy writes (Science and Health, p. 450), "The Christian Scientist has enlisted to lessen evil, disease, and death; and he will overcome them by understanding their nothingness and the allness of God, or good."

What a difference it makes when we know, in the light of the allness of God, good, that evil is unreal in all its seeming forms! Obedience to Paul's appeal becomes easier; indeed, it is the natural thing when we know this. But let no one think that the Christian life ceases to be a warfare on one's acceptance of the teachings of Christian Science. We are seemingly living in a material world, surrounded by people many of whom apparently have not in the slightest degree sensed the truth of the allness of good and the unreality of evil; and while we ourselves may have progressed considerably in the vanquishment of evil thoughts and desires, yet the world's belief in evil is still very persistent. With this erroneous belief we must continue to wrestle for our own and our brethren's sakes, wrestle even until evil's entire overcoming. But however long the battle may have to be waged we shall not be dismayed, since we have learned to find our joy, our happiness, our peace, our health, in contemplation of "the enduring, the good, and the true"—the real.

Duncan Sinclair

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