The goal of the true Christian is to bring his life into accord with the divine order, the kingdom of heaven, in which alone is to be found the true purpose of his being.

The spectacular achievements of today in the intellectual and technological fields in no way render moral and spiritual values obsolete. They make these values more important than ever. Jesus made plain that morality and spirituality relate human life to the divine order, in which God's purpose for man is understood and fulfilled.

In endeavoring to attain his goal, the scientific Christian strives to bring forth a type of humanhood in which the divinity of the Christ is manifested, and he knows that in Christian Science he has divine authority for fulfilling his purpose. On page 272 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy writes, "It is the spiritualization of thought and Christianization of daily life, in contrast with the results of the ghastly farce of material existence; it is chastity and purity, in contrast with the downward tendencies and earthward gravitation of sensualism and impurity, which really attest the divine origin and operation of Christian Science."

These two transforming agencies—"spiritualization of thought and Christianization of daily life"—are essential if one is to bring forth a human experience which gives proof of the truly redemptive nature of Christianity.

Through "spiritualization of thought" we discern the spiritual facts of existence. We understand the laws of God, which are supreme on earth as in heaven, through the unfolding of the spiritual idea in our consciousness. Christ, this transforming and redeeming idea, brings our lives under the control of God's laws, keeping us from being undermined by "the downward tendencies and earthward gravitation of sensualism and impurity." As thought is purified and spiritualized, we discern more of our true identity as a child of God.

How does one spiritualize his thought? By thinking in terms of the allness of God, Spirit, and refusing to be deceived into believing in the reality of matter and evil, which claim to be something apart from or opposed to infinite Spirit. This spiritualizing of one's thought results in a mental transformation in which one gains a spiritual understanding of the universe he lives in and gradually adjusts himself to what he understands.

Through "Christianization of daily life" we embody the transitional qualities of the second degree of the "Scientific Translation of Mortal Mind" presented on page 115 of Science and Health: "Humanity, honesty, affection, compassion, hope, faith, meekness, temperance." These qualities enable us step by step to bear witness to the spiritual facts of our being, in which man is seen to be the image and likeness of God.

Contrasted with this spiritualizing of thought is the material sense which distorts and misrepresents reality. Like a faulty lens, material sense gives an erroneous sense of what we behold. But fortunately the reality of what we behold is never touched or affected by the distortion. On the contrary, the lens of Christian Science, through which Spirit is seen to exist without an opposite, enables one to behold the universe and man as they actually are—spiritual, perfect, harmonious, orderly, incorruptible, indestructible. In this way Science establishes harmony and order in our daily lives.

The Revelator got a completely new view of his environment as he exchanged the lens of material sense for that of spiritual sense. He declared (Rev. 21:1), "I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea."

Mrs. Eddy comments on his vision in these words (Science and Health, p. 573): "The Revelator was on our plane of existence, while yet beholding what the eye cannot see,—that which is invisible to the uninspired thought." Then she continues, "This testimony of Holy Writ sustains the fact in Science, that the heavens and earth to one human consciousness, that consciousness which God bestows, are spiritual, while to another, the unillumined human mind, the vision is material."

The teachings of our great Way-shower, Christ Jesus, awaken us to glimpse the spiritual nature of the universe in which we live. To grasp this fact is to become aware of our true spiritual nature and the nature of all that is real. Whatever seems to be mortal or material in ourselves or in the universe is seen to be unreal and so gradually disappears. As spiritual reality appears, we see that the universe is as perfect and harmonious today as it was in the beginning, never having been affected by what mortal belief would ignorantly or wickedly attribute to it.

As we live in accordance with the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount, we are putting Christianity into action. Through the discipline this involves, our vision is adjusted to behold the spiritual nature of man, and we are strengthened so that we may put off the erroneous beliefs and mortal traits which give us a distorted sense of ourselves and of our existence—the whole of which is the illusion of life in and of matter.

"Spiritualization of thought and Christianization of daily life" are means by which the Christian can attain his high goal, exemplified in a purposeful and enriched experience.

Ralph E. Wagers