Article June 30, 1951 Issue

LOOKING UPWARD

ALBERT E. LOMBARD

Great beauty is seen as one looks upward; under varying conditions blue skies, green foliage, beautiful birds, rugged hills, delight the eye with splendor. Freshness and inspiration come with the upward gaze, ennobling human concepts with the patterns of spiritual sense, which is always aware of its divine source.

A British Army officer was taking his regiment to a point in the Mediterranean. The days were warm and sunny, and there was only a slight roll of the ship as it plowed through the waters. Many of the soldiers had never before been aboard a ship, and they greeted the experience with enthusiasm. After washing their clothes, they hung them on the lines. One man, with his bundle under his arm, climbed a rope ladder high up a mast and there strung his clothes to the breeze. Then, looking down, he felt the roll of the ship and saw the wide expanse of sea. There he stood, high aloft, motionless with fear. The officer recognized the difficulty and knew the solution. With encouraging voice he shouted to the man: "Look up, and then you can come down! Look up, and then you can come down!" The soldier obeyed and worked his way gradually to safety. He found that his fear was quieted by looking upward. When he kept his vision up, he could proceed comfortably.

Philosophers and sages have generally emphasized the importance of an uplifted viewpoint. They have said much about lofty thoughts and high altitudes, but it was Christ Jesus who pointed the way that leads to the true heights. The Master taught that in time of trouble men must look up to God. Speaking in the temple, he declared, as recorded in the twenty-first chapter of Luke: "Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. ... And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. ... And there shall be ... upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; ... men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth. ... And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." The Christian way, which is always the way of Christian Science, is to look up, to turn thought to God and His spiritual idea—to maintain an uplifted state of consciousness.

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