Article July 28, 1945 Issue

"Until seventy times seven"

GLADYS ELLA GIBBS

In the Gospel of St. Matthew is recorded a parable of a servant who, having obtained complete cancellation of a large debt, demanded immediate repayment of a small amount which was owed him by a fellow servant. Because the latter was unable to pay his debt, we are told, he was thrown into prison. The parable points out that under such circumstances the unforgiving servant could no longer be released from his own debt, but would have to pay the uttermost farthing or reap the consequences of his inability to do so. Jesus concluded his parable with the following words (Matt. 18:35): "So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses."

Besides the lesson of forgiveness which Jesus strove to teach, this parable also emphasizes the debt one owes to God, who is Love, and to the law of Love. Men consistently seek divine pardon, forgetting that it is theirs only in so far as they fulfill the demand of forgiving "every one his brother their trespasses." Even with a heart yearning to do so, it sometimes seems impossible to meet this condition till one learns in Christian Science the secret of forgiveness.

To be released from the bondage of the unforgiving thought, it is necessary to leave the mental realm of unreality with its persons capable of hurting or of being hurt, and to rise into the consciousness of God as All. It is necessary to recognize through the peace and sanctity of that altitude of thought that God is Love, and that all His ideas are manifestations of Love. It is also essential to recognize the spiritual identity of each and all; to "honour the Son" (John 5:23), and thus to fulfill the divine law as demanded by Jesus and the prophets to love our neighbor as ourselves.

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