Article March 10, 1934 Issue

The True Dwelling

THERESA GOUGH

THE history of the unfolding human consciousness may be traced somewhat in the evolution of the house or human habitation. To some this statement may seem far-fetched, but the student of Christian Science early perceives the significance attached to the word "house" throughout the Bible. David, the sweet singer of Israel, and the prophets used it both figuratively and literally, and centuries later Jesus employed it in helpful metaphor.

Christian Scientists gratefully accept the scientific sense of house as revealed to their Leader. In the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 578), Mrs. Eddy gives the spiritual sense of this word in her rendering of the twenty-third Psalm, the last verse of which reads: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house [the consciousness] of [love] for ever."

The words "house" and "home" have generally been closely connected in thought and record. The majority of those seeking a house do so with the intention of making a home, and when a suitable dwelling is found they accept as normal the need that it be swept and scrubbed, the windows cleaned, and perhaps repairs or alterations effected. Christian Science teaches us that our mental habitation also must be purified and prepared, purged of the rubbish of pride, personal sense, human will, prejudice, hatred, sensualism, and other undesirable qualities of the carnal mind, before we can hope to discover what Paul refers to as the "house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

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