The essential difference between Christian Science and all other religions is that it concedes no reality to matter or material conditions, but relies entirely on spiritual reality as the basis of scientific demonstration or Christian healing. Spiritual reality never changes. It is human thought, confused by the basically false belief of life in matter, which needs to be regenerated, awakened to recognize and prove the supremacy of God, good. Mrs. Eddy's statement in "Unity of Good" (pp. 9, 10), "By knowing the unreality of disease, sin, and death, you demonstrate the allness of God," corresponds with the words of the Master, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Jesus fed the hungry multitudes by the Sea of Galilee. When needing the tribute money, he directed one of his disciples to find it in the mouth of a fish. Near the close of his glorious career, he brought relief to those unsuccessful fishermen with the command, "Cast the net on the right side of the ship;" and "they cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes." One may ask, What was the consciousness which gave the Master dominion in these human experiences? Did he give credence to the testimony of the senses? Was he disturbed by the apparent lack of the tribute money or by any other appearance of insufficiency? No! Jesus dismissed the evidence of lack as readily and as completely as we today might dismiss any obviously false statement. More than that, he acted in accordance with his consciousness of the allness of God and brought forth the evidence of spiritual truth. He demonstrated the scientific fact of abundance, and proved the supremacy of spiritual law over material belief.

Jesus knew, as James afterward declared, that "faith without works is dead;" and the Master's works were a vital part of his great message to mankind. He said, "I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly" (American Revised Version); and his teachings indicate this abundance of life and of spiritual understanding is gained proportionately as we put into practice the good we already comprehend.

What, then, shall be our mental attitude, when in the apparent wilderness of business difficulties and vanishing material resources we are confronted with the necessity of refuting this false evidence? Shall we concede reality to the picture before our eyes, or shall we follow the great Teacher and Way-shower to the higher realm of thought where we catch the inspired vision of Life, unfettered by time and materiality, and rich in the abundance of spiritual substance, which is reflected by every child of God?

No material condition, however dominating it may seem to be, can affect in the slightest degree the spiritual fact of which it is the apparent opposite, nor can it separate man from the reality of being. Man is governed by God, not by matter or mortal mind; and despite all material conditions and circumstances the law of God, the law of good, is operative at all times. Holding thought with unwavering faith to the spiritual fact regarding any situation, filling our consciousness with the abundance of divine Love, brings us proof, through the operation of spiritual law, of the unreality of any seeming error. The appearance of inactivity or of disorganized activity in commercial circles today is but the seeming reversal of true, harmonious, intelligent action. The spiritual fact is that divine intelligence, not human fear, governs all real action; and in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 239) we read, "If action proceeds from the divine Mind, action is harmonious."

If we are to prove the allness and supremacy of God, good, and the nothingness of so-called material power, we must lift up our thought to the true spiritual standard, based on the limitlessness of divine Mind rather than on the limitations which mortal mind would impose on us. We must blaze new trails and prove their safety and their desirability. Did not Jesus say, "He that believeth in me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father"? Our Leader has given us the means with which to work—the Science of the immutable laws of God; and even as did the Master, so shall we find these laws available to dismiss every form of error effectually. We cannot give credence to confusion, for there is no confusion in Mind. Nor shall we accept lack, for the law of God is the law of abundant good available at all times to every one of God's children. Lack is a lie to be wiped out of human thought—the only place it can seen to occupy. It cannot stand in the face of the abounding consciousness of spiritual reality.

The three Hebrews were unharmed by the heat of the fiery furnace, and Daniel experienced safety among the lions. Through reliance on God, divine Principle, as taught in Christian Science, every individual can prove the powerlessness of error to rob him of his ability to reflect divine intelligence, or to deplete his understanding of true substance. In the flames of adversity only the dross of false belief can be burned away; and the individual character will emerge stronger and finer for the overcoming.

What stubborn arguments of mortal mind have been overcome by the Christian Science organization during the past half century! Every step forward has been a surmounting of difficulties and obstacles, a victory for Truth. Today, in the midst of seemingly adverse conditions, Christian Scientists are continuing to demonstrate the spiritual fact that obedience to the law of giving, giving joyously and abundantly, overcomes the resistance of the false belief of lack and destroys it. They are proving for themselves and the world that man reflects the all-giving God. During widespread distress they look to God, who is Love, and claim and receive the supply with which to spread abroad the message of Truth with its healing and regenerating power, whereby the needs of mankind may be more broadly met. Seeing this, can we ever doubt that spiritual law operates as effectually at one time as at another?

In "Unity of Good" we read (p. 11), "Jesus taught us to walk over, not into or with, the currents of matter, or mortal mind;" and, "He demanded a change of consciousness and evidence, and effected this change through the higher laws of God." It is through the understanding and application of these higher laws, which annul the so-called laws of matter through the realization of man's unlimited supply of true substance, that Christian Scientists are enabled to dismiss as unreal the limitations of material sense and to prove for themselves, and in that measure for the world, that the fullness of God is a spiritual reality, ever present and always available.