Student of Christian Science early learn that faithful and regular study of the Lesson-Sermons in the Christian Science Quarterly is an effectual aid in obtaining a working knowledge of the truth. The Bible becomes more vital to them as they see that the experiences recorded therein prefigure those of the present day, especially as Christian Science has revealed to them the law of God whereby Moses, the prophets, Christ Jesus, and the early Christians healed the sick and wrought wonders. However, in studying the Lesson-Sermon which denounces "ancient and modern necromancy, alias mesmerism and hypnotism," there may be a tendency to regard some of the points therein as unrelated to our own time and needs; this, in spite of the fact that the word "modern" appears in the subject.

This may be the case in connection with the thought expressed in the following verses in Deuteronomy where is recorded Moses' warning to the Israelites against the superstitions and wrong mental methods of their day: "There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer." Surely no one of the present time would literally put a child into a fire. But fire means fear, according to a definition given by Mrs. Eddy in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 586), and this leads us to see that many parents unwittingly pass their children through a baptism of fiery, devastating fear of sickness because of their belief in personal possession which is associated with the false sense of life in matter. The consistent application of the Christian Science teachings frees both parents and children from the fire of fear.

Likewise it may be that we fail to see that the injunction against being observers of times applies to and is needed by us. Are not the people of today beset by the hypnotic belief in so-called hard times in business? Too many, indeed, are mesmerized by the superstitious belief that business is subject to cycles instead of being steadied and supported by changeless Principle. Are there not many who think that at certain times they are liable to physical depletion and disease, to disability and pain? Are there not others who, because of so-called temperamental tendencies, find themselves observing times of moodiness, irritability, impatience, or sadness?

Something more than Moses' command was required, it seems, to correct the human beliefs manifested as ignorance, instability, and uncertainty, and which made men observers of times. And so Jesus of Nazareth presented the Christ, Truth, which is to save mankind from these and all errors. Our Master knew that God, good, is ever present and that, therefore, evil manifested as disease, discord, or death, as limitation or lack, as fear or fury, is never present in the realm of spiritual reality. Christ Jesus furnished proofs of the ever-presence and omnipotence of God, good, in healing the sick and the sinning, in bringing true comfort to the sorrowful, and in annulling the belief in death, which Christian Science exposes as nothing other than the belief that Life, God, is absent. Later Paul discerned this truth so clearly and demonstrated it so conclusively that he was able to write this assuring message to the Christians in Rome: "Neither death, nor life, ... nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

This teaching of God's ever-presence, as proclaimed and proved by Christ Jesus and his disciples, is basic in Christian Science; and the acceptance and application of the Christianly scientific rules for spiritually right thinking and living enable men to cease observing times as though God were absent on occasions. The consistent and insistent acknowledgment of God's perfection, power, and presence, of His goodness and government, has protected many Christian Scientists from the generally accepted and widely feared belief that business is subject to times of recession. For the understanding that God, divine Mind, is the sole source of all true ideas empowers its possessors to deny effectively the beliefs of fear, selfishness, greed, and injustice, which lie back of business difficulties.

The educated belief that men live in and of matter and that their human bodies are self-acting has engendered a sense of helplessness and fear, which is turn has made many men observers of times. But in Science and Health (p. 187) we are told: "There is no involuntary action. The divine Mind includes all action and volition, and man in Science is governed by this Mind." This truth has freed many from fear of and for their bodies and from fear of certain times and conditions; and this liberating truth is available to all. The understanding of God's ever-presence, together with consistent obedience to His spiritual commands and demands, enables us to prove that our times are in God's hands.

W. Stuart Booth