Lift up a standard for the people," exhorted the prophet (Isa. 62:10). Earlier in the book of Isaiah we find prophecies of the coming of him who, not only by precept, but by his life example, set for the people of all time the highest physical, moral, and spiritual standard.

Christian Science, the Science of Christianity, which Mary Baker Eddy discovered and founded, holds high the same true standard —perfect God and perfect universe, including man. The mission of this Science is the correction of false, human beliefs by spiritual truths and the establishment of harmony in daily living. Far from being beyond the reach of mankind, Christian Science is found to be applicable and demonstrable at every stage of human existence and in every aspect of human experience.

In Christian Science we learn that man is not a creature made in God's own image and likeness and then left to shift for himself, expressing good or evil as he sees fit. Man's identity is continuous as the pure and perfect reflection of God's pure and perfect individuality. Because man is a representative of the infinite and indivisible God, the Most High, man's selfhood cannot be improved upon. To make human conditions better, however, one must prove this spiritual fact: man is perfect. In Paul's letter to the Philippians, he enumerates the fundamental requirements. He wrote (4:8), "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

The endeavor to conform to the standard in Christian Science involves the humble recognition and acknowledgment that God, divine Mind, is the only Mind, and therefore the only source of intelligence and light activity. Vigilance is required in the denial of the claims, tendencies, and indulgences of physical and personal sense. A complete abandonment of all unprincipled conduct and a step-by-step relinquishment of all belief in materiality are called for. The master Christian's yielding to God's demand for perfection was complete and eminently rewarding. May we not expect that God, our loving Father-Mother, will reward us not only for what we do but for what we strive to do?

Just as a correct application of musical laws produces harmony, so an intelligent application of Christian Science, which is the law of God in operation in human affairs, results in harmony, manifested as better health, more purity, greater happiness, and so on. Over many years the writer has had one experience after another which has brought the conviction that whatever the human need, it can be met in Christian Science in a manner susceptible of both human appreciation and spiritual evaluation.

The direction which thought and endeavor must take in order to progress toward the goal of perfection is unmistakable in this statement by Mrs. Eddy, found in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 150): "A heart touched and hallowed by one chord of Christian Science, can accomplish the full scale; but this heart must be honest and in earnest and never weary of struggling to be perfect—to reflect the divine Life, Truth, and Love."

The Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments provide an ample standard for the best in human character and conduct. The two commandments designated by Christ Jesus as the greatest of all the commandments, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind," and, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Matt. 22:37, 39), stand as the foremost demands in Christian Science. They bespeak the Christ-consciousness and Christian conduct presented in the life of our Way-shower. As it was with him, so is it in Christian Science: there is but one authority, or Principle, and that is God. There is but one law, and that God's law of life, harmonious, progressive, and endless, equally available to one and all.

Christian Science voices the divine call to men to be Christlike, to strive to learn the whole truth of God and man, which Christ Jesus knew, and to act as he did, with spontaneity, vigor, and constancy, in support of the only perfect standard of living and healing. Christian Science appeals impartially to all peoples to accept and adopt its standard of thought and demonstration, thus to escape the bondage of false beliefs and their results, sin, unhappiness, poverty, disease, and death. God commanded the patriarch Abraham in these words (Gen. 17:1): "Walk before me, and be thou perfect." Referring to the demonstration of perfection, Mrs. Eddy writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 254), "God requires perfection, but not until the battle between Spirit and flesh is fought and the victory won." And she adds in the same paragraph, "Imperfect mortals grasp the ultimate of spiritual perfection slowly; but to begin aright and to continue the strife of demonstrating the great problem of being, is doing much."