Article October 26, 1935 Issue

"Divine adventure"

EMMA EASTON NEWMAN

To many the word "adventure" wakens desire often tinged with regret that adventure is a thing of the past; that there are now no undiscovered countries. To such persons the acme of fulfillment would be to stand on ground where no human being had before set foot. To a greater extent than ever before in known history the world has yielded its secrets to human intrepidity. Exploration by sea and by land, in the air and under the seven seas, has been carried to the point where many adventurous persons wonder what there is left for them to accomplish. But what of spiritual advancement beyond one's present attainments? Does not that open up limitless vistas of divine adventure as yet but dimly glimpsed? The Science of Christianity shows with exactitude that all lofty, noble human ambitions are but types and shadows of defined spiritual objectives. Christ, the true idea, or God's message to us, helps us to translate these ambitions into their original and real identity.

For example, the objective of becoming a great portrait painter is a fine and legitimate human ambition. One who cherished this ambition would seek to bring out the noblest characteristics that he could discern in his sitter. He would search for lovely and interesting qualities of thought, and endeavor to delineate the expression of these qualities through his chosen medium. Let us suppose that, because of his failure to realize his ambition, this painter is driven for comfort to investigate Christian Science, or that even if successful he finds fulfilled human ambition to be unsatisfying and is drawn by divine Love's innate attractiveness to study the revelation of Truth, which has come to bless this and succeeding ages through Mary Baker Eddy's superb courage in exploring beyond the confines of mortal mind to discern the Christ Science. Should this study rouse in him such a love for God and perception of the real man and such a compassionate desire to help the human race that he finds himself demonstrating Truth's healing power, he would see delineated, in the faces of those healed, spiritual beauty, freshness, and symmetry. What material pigment could ever reproduce the radiance and glow in the eyes of those touched by the divine healing power of Love! The world might say, "A great painter lost in a Christian Science practitioner!" The Christ would say, "Well done!" because the art of healing through discernment of the real man's characteristics and identity transcends all other arts.

So it is also with the human sense of adventure and exploration. It is possible to travel by land and sea and air and yet to return from these adventures no more patient, intelligent, unselfed, or honest than on setting forth. Not so in the realm of spiritual advancement. To adventure into this realm, which is wholly mental and spiritual, calls for courage, initiative, persistence, honesty, self-denial, in fact all the mental equipment of an explorer. The word "adventure" is defined in part as "the encountering of risks; a bold undertaking; a daring feat." In addressing the National Convention in Chicago, in 1888, Mrs. Eddy said (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 99): "To weave one thread of Science through the looms of time, is a miracle in itself. The risk is stupendous." How well she knew this from her own experience in departing from the deep-rutted paths of mortal mind's attempt to live with matter as its basis, regarding Spirit as vague and secondary!

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