When the writer was a small boy, he frequently heard the words in church, "As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end." This puzzled him because he could not see how there could be anything that had no end, and from time to time he asked questions about it. He was informed that the world always had existed and always would exist as it was created by God. This explanation seemed most unsatisfactory, since to logical human reasoning it did not seem possible that anything could exist without beginning and without end. Further questioning brought forth the invariable reply, "We are not meant to understand these things."

It was not until many years later that the completely satisfying answer was provided during his first interview with a Christian Science practitioner, in the words, "Eternity is now." In a flash he was able to glimpse something of the spiritual fact underlying this statement. He was able to perceive that now in its fundamental significance could never become a future, nor could it ever have been a past. The past, whether claiming to be two minutes ago or four thousand years ago, is only a mental picture held in consciousness now: the same of course applies to the future. He could see that he could never get away from now.

In the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, we read on page 39, "'Now,' cried the apostle, 'is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation,'—meaning, not that now men must prepare for a future-world salvation, or safety, but that now is the time in which to experience that salvation in spirit and in life."

In Christian Science we learn that whatever presents itself to us as a problem can be solved now. If God, good, is All, as He assuredly is, He must be omnipresent and could not possibly require time to become so.

Frequently we seem humanly to require time to work out a problem, but the reason for this is that we are not fully cognizant of the allness of God and do not trust in Him completely. We are so accustomed to all our human activities requiring time that we fail to realize that whatever presents itself to us as a human problem, whether or not involving the past or future, is merely the opposite of a spiritual fact now. In the Glossary of Science and Health (p. 595) our Leader defines time, in part, as "mortal measurements; limits, in which are summed up all human acts, thoughts, beliefs, opinions, knowledge; matter; error." Obviously, then, time is not a healer, and any suggestion that time is necessary in working out a problem should be rejected.

Christian Science heals a false claim by declaring the truth, thereby replacing the material illusion or lie with the spiritual fact in consciousness. In absolute truth, obviously, there is nothing to heal, since God is All-in-all. In proportion as we understand this the opposite claims are reduced to nothing. To the human senses this is manifested as the healing of the situation.

Both the future and the past are but phases of false belief, since the eternal now is the only reality. In the light of Christian Science, error is an utter falsity. The future and the past may be likened to thieves which prevent us from realizing what we are and what we possess now in our true being as the sons of God. May they not be typified by the two thieves crucified on either side of Jesus? The railing thief might well symbolize the past which mocks us, and the other the future with the hope of blessings to come, as indicated by his supplication to Jesus to remember him "when thou comest into thy kingdom" (Luke 23:42). Jesus in his reply emphasized the now with the words: "Verily I say unto thee, To day shall thou be with me in paradise." Let us not in our own experience crucify our sense of man's eternal perfection between these two thieving, erroneous thoughts.

It may be seen that a large percentage of the problems that present themselves to us are based on fear of what may be going to happen in the future, whether that future claims to be far ahead or very imminent. In many instances all that is necessary in order to restore harmony is the elimination of the fear of the future. In the light of the fundamental truth that eternity is now we have always the right to affirm, "I am all right now," recognizing clearly that now in our true being we dwell in Spirit. We may rest assured that as we steadfastly hold to this truth and exclude any doubt or fear about the human situation, whatever adjustment is necessary will certainly take place.

To illustrate, let us consider the story of the three Hebrew captives and the fiery furnace, as given in the third chapter of Daniel. It is clear that half an hour before being thrown into the fiery furnace they could have declared, "I am all right now," whatever the imminent future might suggest. When the actual moment seemed to arrive, however, their steadfast, unwavering hold on this fundamental truth brought about their preservation. This seemed miraculous to the onlookers, but Christian Science explains it as divinely natural. Be it noted that when the three were sent for by Nebuchadnezzar, the king, and challenged with their failure to comply with his command that they should fall down and worship the idol which he had set up, they replied: "O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king." And then as if to show their absolute trust in Spirit and complete disregard for anything that could threaten their material bodies, they continued, "But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." How complete was their trust and how rich the reward!

A student of Christian Science was led to study and give prayerful thought to this much-loved story during the period of continuous heavy air raids on London. As a result he saw clearly the truth of the foregoing and felt much uplifted and strengthened. One evening about two days later, just before going to bed, he and his wife heard the sound of heavy missiles falling very near. A few moments later there were three tremendous crashes and then silence. But the student noticed one thing which his wife did not, namely, that only two of the crashes had been followed by explosions. It sounded as though the third bomb had fallen just outside in the garden and had not gone off, which would mean that it was probably a time bomb or delayed-action bomb, which might go off in a few minutes or not for weeks. Instantly the thought came to him: "I am all right now; there is no time, so nothing can happen." With this clear realization he made no comment, but dismissed the whole thing and went to bed.

The following morning it was discovered that the whole square had been railed off by police barriers on account of a large time bomb in the garden. Great fear was expressed by many that owing to its size, the bomb, if it went off, would wreck every house in the square; and even if it did not go off, it was expected to cause, as elsewhere, great inconvenience for many weeks while the square was cut off, for this was not a place of particular importance, and it could not be expected that the matter would be dealt with by the bomb-disposal squad for some time. The student and his wife prayed very earnestly and took their stand on the declaration, "I am all right now; there is no time, so nothing can happen." By one o'clock that same day the bomb had been removed, and all the barriers were taken down.

In "Miscellaneous Writings," pages 276 to 278, our revered Leader shows us in her inimitable way that whatever may confront us, we need never be dismayed. She says (pp. 276, 277): "In the dark hours, wise Christian Scientists stand firmer than ever in their allegiance to God. Wisdom is wedded to their love, and their hearts are not troubled."