Article October 1, 1932 Issue

"On his right hand"

[Original article in German]

MARTHA E. A. SOOST

In the Bible one frequently comes across expressions such as "his right hand," or "on his right hand," as well as "on the right side," and one very soon perceives that this "right" often involves spiritual protection, strength, security, and other advantages. Our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, uses the word in the same sense when she says (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 192), "Your influence for good depends upon the weight you throw into the right scale."

Consequently, we see that "on his right hand" is worthy of our closer consideration. If our attention had not been called to the spiritual significance of certain Biblical expressions, the words alone might mean hardly anything more to us than the indication of a place, for instance, right as the reverse of left. But now, through Christian Science, we gain the sense of "right" as meaning that which is righteous or all-powerful, and know that we must seek this "right hand" in the spiritual realm. Thereby the "right hand" becomes to us the symbol of spiritual strength or divine protection. "On his right hand" makes our security in God at once tangible. The casting of the net "on the right side" may be said to symbolize unity with the pouring forth of divine abundance. "The right scale" may suggest the substance of all good.

When viewed in this light, the day of judgment as described in Matthew takes on quite a different and an impersonal aspect. "The sheep on his right hand" immediately represent all that is pure, blameless, and perfect — those true witnesses for whom the promise of divine inheritance obtains now and forevermore. Then shall we also understand what Mrs. Eddy says on page 291 of the textbook: "No final judgment awaits mortals, for the judgment-day of wisdom comes hourly and continually, even the judgment by which mortal man is divested of all material error." Just as diverging right and left never meet, so in reality right and wrong are never united.

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