There have been instances when someone who has been traveling extensively in far lands and out of communication with home has returned to find that an inheritance has long awaited him. Although this bequest belongs to him legally, it is not practically his own until he claims it. And before he can have access to it he must be properly identified. Only when he has claimed and received the bequest can he be said to be in actual possession of it. When he has put some of it to use, especially when he has shared it generously and wisely, he gains a firm conviction that his inheritance is a fact.

Such a situation, illustrates faintly the general unawareness of mankind to the spiritual inheritance that belongs to them and that, by recognition, acceptance, and proof, they may claim and find to be of superlative value.

The Apostle Paul tells us (Rom. 8:16,17), "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ."

Through the teachings of Christian Science, we learn to accept joyously the Word of Scripture, which enlightens us as to our true heritage. We learn of God as the one creator, the Father of all, who bestows upon His highest idea, man, the seal of sonship. He creates the son to be the spiritual likeness of His own divine Being. He confers upon him dominion over all the earth.

As we turn from our material wanderings and through Christian Science become authoritatively informed of the heritage awaiting us, we gain some insight into the infinite and perpetual source of the provision for dominion; and it is natural that we move toward its possession.

It must be remembered, however, that the right to gain the enjoyment of any bequest must be proved by validation. This is even more true of spiritual things than of human affairs. Identity must be proved. And when identification is sought as a means of entering upon our spiritual heritage, we find that one thing alone will give accrediting in spiritual worth, that is, the degree in which the name, the nature, of God is exalted in our thought and heart.

This spiritual accrediting requires earnest effort. It must be earned. It is not gained in a moment or through casual interest, but through a dear and holy process, lending itself to gladness along the way. This process involves practice, practice of purer, more consecrated thinking, which entitles us progressively to waiting benefactions. Only thus is gained further access to divine good, the right to draw upon and the ability to utilize the law of God, as brought to proof by Christ Jesus.

The highest of all heritages is one of spiritual endowment, a God-revealed unfoldment of Truth, a God-directed application of its use, a God-supported proof of Mind's sufficiency and man's receptivity. Dependence upon the operative power of good and its accruing benefits is the right of man, God's inheritor. By drawing upon or utilizing his inheritance, one can possess it. He can make it his own.

By holding to their divine rights of sonship, remembering the assuring charge of John (I John 3:1), "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God," students of Christian Science have experienced exemption from the claims of error: from fire, flood, and bombing, from crises on the battlefield, on shipboard, and in submarine, and from the clamor of financial chaos. Moreover, they have been able to withstand one of the most trying of evil's weapons: the belief of fear, which implies God's absence or impotence.

A young boy who was in Japan with his parents, who were students of Christian Science, became ill with what was called lacquer poisoning. The parents' thoughts were filled with fear. By means of the mother's prayerful metaphysical work and the boy's grasp of the scientific facts which he had been taught, there was improvement; but the fever and discomfort were not eliminated. The mother asked for assistance in Christian Science; one thing became very clear to them all: they were inheritors, not of fear, but of dominion. Also they recognized that it made no difference whatever how many others had experienced this difficulty or what some were saying about the failure to call for medical aid.

The parents knew that their proper use of the Christ, Truth, God's infinite idea, entitled them to prove that the boy was in reality exempt from the false rules of general belief. Protection, direct from his Father-Mother God, belonged to him. A false symptom needed no material application any more than a flat earth held in belief needed to be whittled away to make room for a round one. Holding steadfastly to the right of ascendancy over fear because of their trust in God, the parents saw the disturbing symptoms disappear, and soon the boy rejoiced in freedom. No aftereffects remained.

One who is learning to think in accord with divine Science and understands himself to be an heir of God remembers to claim his true sonship. He knows that the inherent nature of his being, its essence and spiritual elements, moves in order, strength, and harmony. His increasing spiritual perception of the presence of supreme intelligence, or Mind, assures him that there is nothing in the allness of God that could communicate to His son an omission, depletion, or excess. It also assures him that true substance or reality, reflected by man, includes naught that could evolve error or permit an entrance, attachment, or delineation of error or belief in it. The real man is always at the point of perfection, conscious of his heritage of abundant good, the right to perpetual enlightenment and full satisfaction.

On page 227 of the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy earnestly rouses her readers with these words: "Citizens of the world, accept the 'glorious liberty of the children of God,' and be free! This is your divine right."

Nothing convinces us so well of our divine right of inheritance, of the fact of its possession, and of the joy of its bestowals as does the activity of sharing it. This sharing includes naturally an outpouring of loving-kindness, consideration, patience, appreciation, and encouragement of our fellow men, in addition to the beneficence of generous material helpfulness. But the essential sharing is our willingness to aid in awakening our brother men to the fact of their own divine right of freedom.

Students of Christian Science understand that the most vital element in the world today is the active, consecrated thought of each one who knows, in Science, the all-power, all-presence, wisdom, and love of God and who prayerfully seeks to claim for all men the wonders of this reality.

These students scale the altitudes of spiritual thought in frequent prayer for the enlightenment of all men and for the fulfillment of God's purpose for them. They know that the adaptation of discerned spiritual power to the needs of the children of men is without measure in protective might.

True substance, the Scientist knows, is found only in Spirit. True sufficiency, he realizes, is always present in mind. His refuge and safety are found only in divine Love.

The Scientist longs to acquaint others with these practical truths. He obediently uses the "Daily Prayer" from the Manual of The Mother Church by Mrs. Eddy (Art. VIII, Sect. 4): "'Thy kingdom come;' let the reign of divine Truth, Life, and Love be established in me, and rule out of me all sin; and may Thy Word enrich the affections of all mankind, and govern them!"

By means of selfless, dedicated thought, the Christian Scientist finds his own understanding deepened and empowered to gain an increasing effect of health, abundance, and joy. He beholds with thanksgiving the resultant good dawning in the consciousness and experience of his fellow men. The holy heritage of man is God-given and needs only to be earned, claimed, and shared.