The student of Christian Science can always be assured that as he seeks divine inspiration for healing, he is utilizing "the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man" that "availeth much." One who was desirous of receiving help in a difficult situation which was troubling herself and others, sought the quietude and peaceful atmosphere of the original Mother Church edifice. As she was waiting for a spiritual message to quiet the tormenting arguments coming up with such relentless force, she found herself gazing at a beautiful stained glass window portraying the raising of Lazarus, and at once came the thought she needed, "Loose him, and let him go." At his beloved Master's bidding Lazarus had come forth from the sepulcher still bound in graveclothes. The false law of death which the carnal mind held to be so strong and inexorable did not concern Christ Jesus, whose mission was to do the will of his Father and to acknowledge only the immortal and incorruptible. With divine authority the Master bade the onlookers loose Lazarus from the bindings of death, and set him free.

The student knew that the light had come to her. The sense of responsibility was lifted because she saw that in the case of each one on whom her thought rested the Christ was bidding her, "Loose him, and let him go," and that, instead of being aggressive and afflictive, the experience was to be a glorious opportunity to praise God and realize the power of spiritual might, thus enabling her to say with a singing heart, "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me." When later on the healing of the situation was completed, this was seen as a natural outcome of true prayer.

The words and works of Christ Jesus have lived on, and are as pertinent and practical now as they were nearly two thousand years ago. To Mary Baker Eddy came the revelation of this primitive Christ-healing, and she was not content to keep the discovery for her own use or that of her immediate circle, for she knew its message to mean universal salvation. She knew that one and all can emulate the healing works of Christ Jesus in the practice of the Science of Christianity. The healing work through the understanding of the Christ is the goal of her followers, for the great Exemplar has shown that the blind see through faith in the all-seeing Mind, the Word of God unstops the ears of the deaf, the spiritual touch of innocency cleanses the leper, and devils are cast out by the spirit of the Lord.

The statement, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus," reveals a wonderful standard of thought which lifts the burdens of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and calls forth universal benediction. An alert Christian Scientist refuses to condemn either himself or another. He keeps in consciousness the image and likeness of divine Love, instead of accepting the counterfeit claims of a selfish, a lying, erroneous concept of man. We should keep this in mind when we are tempted to feel remorse or regret because we seem to have failed or to have made mistakes, for it is then we need to show true humility and be instant in acknowledging only one Mind, the Mind of the Christ, in which no mistake can ever exist. And thus we replace a false belief with a spiritual idea of God.

The writer remembers an occasion when a great sense of worry and a wish that she had acted differently kept tormenting her, until a friend said firmly, "Cut it right off—it doesn't belong to God," and the wonderful freedom she felt after following this advice.

Personal sense is the foe in ambush, for through its subtle claims a material selfhood is roused to feel resentment, angry criticism, or a desire for revenge on account of another's conduct. We must waken to the fact that, to be faithful to the truth about God, we must also be faithful to the truth about man as His image and likeness. This consummation is thus expressed by our Leader (Science and Health, pp. 576, 577): "This human sense of Deity yields to the divine sense, even as the material sense of personality yields to the incorporeal sense of God and man as the infinite Principle and infinite idea,—as one Father with His universal family, held in the gospel of Love."

Tender compassion always accompanied the works of the blessed Master, and in the practice of Christian Science compassion is one of the many lovely and necessary qualities. The mental stand with divine Love is the foundation of all healing work, but as we loose in our own thought the one who is bound and let him go, we see that we should not—like the priest and the Levite—pass by "on the other side," overlooking the suffering sense of one who perhaps still needs the compassionate human touch which made the help of the good Samaritan an example of perfect love. We need to pour in the oil of charity and gentleness as balm not only for bodily hurt but for the often self-inflicted wounds of pride, ill-temper, sadness, or any false belief that has attacked a fellow being by the wayside of material sense.

As the universality of Christian Science is recognized, the realization comes that "the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations," and we begin to desire to do our part in establishing the kingdom of God on earth. To be active in this way we do not necessarily have to be in the midst of world affairs. Our individual problems are essentially the same as the problems which face the world, and as we faithfully do the will of God in each experience which comes to us, we can be helping the whole world, for the will of God embraces one and all in infinite Love.

Work in Christian Science is not a mere human effort, but a divine impulsion through which we walk in the way of Christ Jesus as the light of the world. And as we let our consciousness be filled with the allness of God, those with whom we come in contact and upon whom our thought rests will learn to walk in the light. They too lose the darkened sense of suffering and strife in the glorious light of Christ, Truth.

Copyright, 1936, by The Christian Science Publishing Society, One, Norway Street, Boston, Massachusetts. Entered at Boston post office as second-class matter. Acceptance for mailing at a special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, anthorized on July 11, 1918.