Article May 21, 1949 Issue

How to throw off restraints of time and enjoy orderly activity

THE ETERNAL NOW

JEAN MOSIER

"A Lost opportunity is the greatest of losses," writes Mary Baker Eddy in an article entitled "Now and Then" on page 12 of "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany." Later in the same paragraph she adds: "We own no past, no future, we possess only now. If the reliable now is carelessly lost in speaking or in acting, it comes not back again."

These two would-be thieves— contemplation of the past and concern for the future—would rob us of an ever-present, rich heritage if we permitted them to assume the proportions of reality and to intrude upon our thinking. When we allow our thoughts to cling to the past or to attempt to probe the future, we are not free to heed the bountiful now. When we are thus employed, our mental doors are closed to the present, immeasurable activities of the divine Mind.

We cannot return to the past to relive it. Neither can we project ourselves into the future. The Preacher said (Eccl. 3:15), "That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past." There is only the "reliable now," which is teeming with opportunities for right activity.

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THE FATHER'S BUSINESS
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