How many of us have not at some time felt that we were in the actual presence of God? Perhaps the feeling came when we least expected it, when we were unconscious of human surroundings and were aware of an inner joy which transcended all material sense. A distinct healing may have occurred, for the inspiration thus received would go far to banish any error. Truly did David speak thus (I Chron. 16:27): "Glory and honour are in his presence; strength and gladness are in his place."

Christian Science makes practical use of Christianity, whereby we find the presence of God in our daily lives. The Bible reveals God as infinite Mind, Spirit, Life, Truth, Love. He is the only creator, and He made man in His own image and likeness. Man is therefore purely spiritual, and he is incapable of losing his perfect identity. Any material appearance claiming to be true manhood is only mortal mind's erroneous conception and must be separated from the individual in order to show forth God's holy and lovely reflection, which always abides safely in the presence of God.

When Moses was leading the children of Israel toward the promised land, many times he encountered the murmurings of the people, who were wearied by their hardships. He proved God's loving care by giving the people water and manna, but the time came when they needed laws to govern their actions. Later Moses was called by God to go up into Mount Sinai, where he received the Ten Commandments on two tables of stone. On coming down, he found a golden calf, made by his brother Aaron at the persuasion of those impatient with Moses' long absence. In a fit of anger Moses broke the tablets.

On the following day Moses received further instruction from God. He was assured that an angel would go before him, and he was led to see that the presence of God would give him rest. Moses then asked to see God's glory. The words came (Ex. 33:19), "I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy."

This was what Moses needed to enable him to lead the people onward—God's grace and mercy. He caught a glimpse of God's love. Law without love lacks spirituality. Love apparently cast out Moses' fear, and he went back to the mount, where the Ten Commandments were again written.

In the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." Mary Baker Eddy writes (p. 323): "Beholding the infinite tasks of truth, we pause,—wait on God. Then we push onward, until boundless thought walks enraptured, and conception unconfined is winged to reach the divine glory." The tasks which are assigned to us may seem difficult at first, but we must remember that God, divine Love, is infinite and is able to wipe out any seeming obstacle. God's presence is ever associated with strength and power; and as we realize His omnipotence, material evidence will yield to the might of infinite Mind.

Christ Jesus brought to earth the brightness of God's glory more than anyone who has ever lived. The divine ideas he expressed and his healing works signified the presence of God. He acknowledged only God as his Father and proved that man reflects the glory of God. He must have seen that he could denounce sin and sickness as unreal and heal all who sought his aid in order to be released from these errors.

Saul of Tarsus beheld the presence of God in a place least expected. As he traveled toward Damascus to persecute the followers of Jesus, Saul suddenly saw a light round about him and heard a voice saying (Acts 9:4), "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" He showed his willingness to be led by asking what he should do. After Saul had been three days in the city, the disciple Ananias came to him and opened his blinded eyes.

After his conversion Paul, as he was later called, could write (I Cor. 1:27,29), "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; ... that no flesh should glory in his presence." Nothing material can ever be made spiritual, but as one turns away from the false evidence of the material senses, he finds treasures unknown to mortal thought. Paul's false sense of right yielded to God, and then he stopped persecuting his fellow men. On the contrary, he served them by reflecting the power of divine Love. He healed the cripple at Lystra, he raised Eutychus from the dead, and he healed Publius' father of a fever.

We cannot in truth be separated from divine Love. Since God is everywhere, there can be no other power or presence. Even when material sense seems to be so strong that it would shut out divine aid, God's tender grace abides to rule out any erroneous belief. As we become humble and forget self, we find His angels ever ready to comfort and guide. They appear when all human hope has failed; they lead us ever upward and tell us when the dawn is nigh and the trouble is over.

Mrs. Eddy searched long and diligently for the method of healing which Jesus used. It was not until she had suffered a fall which was considered fatal that she discovered the healing power of Truth and Love. She arose immediately and remained in better health than she had before enjoyed. Her thought was so illuminated that she knew she had found the Redeemer she had waited for so long.

Mrs. Eddy writes of her experience in Science and Health (p. 351): "The author became a member of the orthodox Congregational Church in early years. Later she learned that her own prayers failed to heal her as did the prayers of her devout parents and the church; 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."

Under divine guidance Mrs. Eddy wrote a textbook which explains her discovery, and she made provision for the establishment of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Since that time innumerable individuals have found release from sin as well as from ills which include practically every known disease. They have surely felt God's presence bringing them into an understanding of ever-present perfection and completeness in a way unknown to mortal sense. They can say with the Psalmist (Ps. 16:11), "Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." They have learned that true joy is spiritual and comes from the unfolding of right ideas rather than from any material occurrence.

The joy of God's presence is available to all as they awaken from the dream of life in matter. Our beloved Leader writes in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 356), "When will the world waken to the privilege of knowing God, the liberty and glory of His presence,—where

Such an awakening must surely come. The Christ Science has opened the way. Let us pray for the faithfulness of its followers; let us pray that they may keep the light shining brightly until the glory of God's presence is seen and felt throughout all the earth.