The understanding that God is eternal and indestructible Life and that man is forever inseparable from and reflects this Life, is of great importance to the Christian Scientist. It brings into human experience a sense of joy, spontaneity, power, and dominion which can be attained in no other way. Recognizing this fact, Paul wrote (Phil. 4:13), "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Note that this great follower of the Master attributed his ability to rise above earth's limitations to the identification of his thought with the power of the Christ.

What is the Christ? It is not the human Jesus, but the might and omnipotence of Spirit which governed, guided, and supported all of his actions. The mentality of Jesus was uninterruptedly identified with the Christ—the very nature, power, presence, substance, and activity of God, the full expression of Life eternal. The Christ enabled Jesus to exercise dominion over all earth's ills and to replace them with the harmonies of heaven.

Mary Baker Eddy revealed to us the power of the Christ as ever present and as capable of meeting all human needs. Our work is to recognize its power and yield to it. How do we yield to the Christ? By persistently turning away from the false evidence of man and the universe as material, and by accepting and maintaining the facts of spiritual existence revealed in Christian Science. In doing this we identify thought with the power and activity of the Christ.

Referring to the failure of her prayers to heal before she discovered Christian Science, Mrs. Eddy writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 351): "But when the spiritual sense of the creed was discerned in the Science of Christianity, this spiritual sense was a present help. It was the living, palpitating presence of Christ, Truth, which healed the sick."

The "living, palpitating presence of Christ" is even now supporting and renewing every one of us with its inexhaustible vitality. This power is never inactive, never limited. It is greater than all the material power known to men. And it is always at hand. To illustrate: today the large cities of the world are supplied with great power plants, each of them equipped to supply electric light and power to thousands of homes and factories. All one needs to do is to turn on the switch and receive the benefit of the seemingly unlimited reservoir of available power. The power of the Christ, however, is greater than all this, and not only is it always available, but it is also free to all.

Referring to the vitality of the Christ, Mrs. Eddy writes (Science and Health, p. 449), "A grain of Christian Science does wonders for mortals, so omnipotent is Truth, but more of Christian Science must be gained in order to continue in well doing." Here is good advice for the beginner as well as the experienced worker. Each one can find great comfort in these words, for he is assured that every statement of Truth which he accepts is supported by the power of Spirit and will fulfill its purpose in his life. One need never hesitate to help his fellow men through prayer, for it is not he but the truth which he acknowledges that does the work. One needs to remember, however, that he must faithfully increase his understanding of the Christ, Truth, to continue in welldoing.

There is a vital truth, a spiritual fact, always available to rebuke and destroy every lie of mortality, and its effect is immediate. When we fail to see the evidence of healing, it may be because of unbelief, mental blindness, or lack of confidence in the truth. Just as there is no separation between God and His Christ, so there can be no separation between the Christ and the fulfillment of its immediate mission to rebuke and destroy everything unlike itself and to establish the spiritual fact. There is no interval of time between the activity of Christ, Truth, and its healing effect. The recognition of the power of the Word replaces exhaustion with unlimited endurance, weakness with irresistible power, heaviness with spontaneity, and laziness with industry and zest for holy work.

Divine Life is constantly renewing its ideas, constantly imparting its irresistible power to all of them from the least to the greatest. To acknowledge these facts and to yield to this power is to individualize the supremacy of Spirit in daily living, and this enables one to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Thus, in a measure, we too fill the office of Christ.

Mrs. Eddy's conscious recognition of the living Christ sustained her throughout her great work. Those who knew her felt the presence of this power in her every thought and act. Just as the words of Jesus, on the road to Emmaus, made the disciple' hearts burn within them, so the spirit of the Christ burned within the heart of our Leader. She yearned to do good, and that yearning reached out to all mankind. It made her a natural healer, a great Leader, and led her into glorious paths of service to the race.

Let us pray that the dominant power of the Christ, the expression of Life eternal, may so shine in our hearts that we shall exemplify our Leader's statement (Pulpit and Press, p. 4): "Who lives in good, lives also in God,—lives in all Life, through all space. His is an individual kingdom, his diadem a crown of crowns. His existence is deathless, forever unfolding its eternal Principle. Wait patiently on illimitable Love, the lord and giver of Life. Reflect this Life, and with it cometh the full power of being."

Harold Molter