Article October 18, 1930 Issue

Outgrowing the Old

ROBERT W. SHELMIRE

As human consciousness is uplifted and mortal beliefs disappear, one is being born anew. This joyful unfoldment comes to us only as a result of consecrated right thinking about God and His perfect creation.

One may ask, as did Nicodemus, "How can a man be born when he is old?" To this question Jesus replied: "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Only as thought is purified of fleshly desires can one comprehend Spirit, God, and enter into His presence. Salvation does not consist in salvaging the wrecked hopes and worldly ambitions of mortals, but in the destruction of false mortal belief through the understanding of Truth. Sinful mortal sense is destroyed as we awaken to the truth; and thus we are saved from the illusion of material existence, the belief of life and intelligence in matter.

Mrs. Eddy writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 548): "Earth has little light or joy for mortals before Life is spiritually learned. Every agony of mortal error helps error to destroy error, and so aids the apprehension of immortal Truth. This is the new birth going on hourly, by which men may entertain angels, the true ideas of God, the spiritual sense of being." Regeneration is a necessary experience, not, as some suppose, an optional one that may be accepted or rejected. Then why should mortals desire to delay it? Why should they prefer the darkness and misery of a mortal dream to the light and joy of spiritual understanding and the living of the truth about God and man? Because they do not comprehend spiritual things, but believe in the reality of a material world and are unwilling to change their worldly viewpoint. Jesus said, "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." Then, let us start now to learn what Life really is and stop wondering about it, waiting, procrastinating.

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