Article February 29, 1936 Issue

I want to tell you that I feel very much at home with you;...

Extracts from an address given by Mr. Ezra W. Palmer to the Christian Science Organization at Boston University,—November 21, 1935

I want to tell you that I feel very much at home with you; and I wish to congratulate you upon your membership in this society and upon being students in Boston University. This university occupies a very important part in the life of the city—a great Protestant university that takes care of the cultural life of so many students who might not otherwise be able to participate in higher education. And I am glad to know that you have taken a stand as Christian Scientists in this university. I want to congratulate you upon that. And in your work here and after you go away from here, may I remind you to keep your spiritual vision. You remember the Bible says that without vision the people perish; and what is true of the people is true of the individual. You will have many arguments and temptations to turn you away from the divine Principle of Christian Science, which alone gives the solution of human problems; but the vision of the Christ, Truth, you must hold as your most cherished possession. Your spiritual understanding of Christian Science is the most precious thing you have; and if you cherish it, and hold on to it, and do not allow your thought to become darkened by false arguments and materialistic philosophy, it will guide you successfully all through your life.

I very well remember the joy and enthusiasm I felt during my own student days in a western university. I know what enthusiasm you have, and with what happiness and joy you go through your work here. And you have what I did not have; you have the Science of Mind to guide and help you in your course. The modern university method of determining what is truth and what is not, what is worth while and what is not, is not usually the same as that of Christian Scientists. The university view is that you are to examine propositions, arguments, and institutions, and then select what appears to be the best. Well, now, that is all right in a way, but human reason alone is not adequate to determine what is valuable and what is wrong, what is valuable and what is not valuable. We must have our reason guided by revelation, or, in other words, our reason must be guided by spiritual understanding. And so Christian Scientists judge education, philosophy, theology, psychology, and the sciences by the standard of the absolute perfection of God and man, and that guides them and gives them a proper perspective of all things. Thus equipped they can hold to the true and reject the false.

We all know that the basis of Christian Science is the perfection of God and the perfection of man as the divine likeness, and that we can prove this. May I remind you, as fellow workers for the Cause of Christian Science, to take plenty of time each day to study Christian Science Take time to study the Bible and the Christian Science textbook; and take time to commune with God. And in that communion hold fast to your clearest light; and if you do, the Christ, Truth, will flood your consciousness, and you will be able to prove that you are master of your affairs.

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