Some time ago a promise from Job haunted me for days. Over and over the thought repeated itself,"...thou shalt be as the morning." ^{Job 11:17;} At last I began to really listen for its deeper message.

At the time, I lived on the twelfth floor of an apartment building, and my bedroom window faced east, opening on an enormous Colorado sky. One morning, with this scriptural promise dinning away in my thought, I watched the blackness yield to gray, then to shades of pink and blue. Quietly as the dawn itself a new idea registered, and I saw what seems to me the secret of the morning's freshness: the unceasing, effortless process of yielding—darkness yielding to the brighter light. The result of this yielding was newness and breathtaking beauty.

In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy writes, "The sun is a metaphorical representation of Soul outside the body, giving existence and intelligence to the universe." ^{Science and Health, p.510;} I could now see the freshness of the morning as a metaphor for human consciousness, expressing freshness and beauty as it yields to the light and might of Soul— that brighter light outside the body, which gives "existence and intelligence" to each child of God.

Christian Science presents the fact that man, in his true nature, that nature which he derives from God, always reflects radiant Soul, God. It's the understanding of this divine relationship between God and man that maintains our status of unceasing freshness and beauty. It's the yielding, the total surrender to God, which lights our way and makes it less burdensome. Have we let go of such things as ill-advised opinions, poorly structured convictions, and rigid beliefs about ourselves, our neighbor, and our creator? To "be as the morning" is to yield to God's goodness, to the incredible glory always at hand.

And what is the essence of God's goodness? Isn't it His love? This love of Love blesses the whole earth and all its creatures; as God's reflection, man knows Love's love in all its abundance. With scriptural authority and scientific certainty, Christian Science makes "Love" with a capital L absolutely synonymous with God; thus it reveals Love as supreme over all—indisputable and unopposed; while the love of Love, knowing neither preference nor prejudice, shines on all with tenderness and warmth.

Jesus reiterated in all that he said and did the all-inclusive nature of Love. He insisted on the necessity of our loving God and one another. He told us to turn the other cheek, to walk the extra mile, to treat others the way we would wish to be treated, and to forgive—always to forgive. Jesus was tireless and unswerving in his desire to show us that heaven can be attained only through love.

It's interesting to find that as we yield to the demands of Love the nobility and humility required for loving one another act as a catalyst to the flow of divine ideas, which God is always imparting. Quickened capacities and new opportunities to fulfill the law of Love become tangible evidence of this flow. As we yield to the Christly demand to love—to love our enemies as well as our friends, to love the stranger in our midst as well as our closest family member—we find the treasure of Love's inspiration expanding to all-inclusiveness.

It is not only vital that we learn to love actively and honestly; it's equally essential to our well-being that we purify ourselves of any temptation to nourish even a vestige of hate. Hate is so often disguised and undetected in a cool indifference to others, or in false judgment, unwise criticism, or pernicious envy and self-righteousness. Before we can feel the warmth and buoyancy of love, we must yield these negative habits of thought to the brighter light, the Soul of our being, Love. We pay an awful price when we venture to neglect or to forget our need to surrender such habits. Mrs. Eddy makes it clear: "Hate no one; for hatred is a plague-spot that spreads its virus and kills at last. If indulged, it masters us; brings suffering upon suffering to its possessor, throughout time and beyond the grave." ^{Miscellaneous Writings, p.12;}

Recently, a teen-age friend of mine had a beautiful experience in rising with this light of Love to overcome the temptation to indulge in self-righteousness and resentment. He had been the object of a cunning scheme, deceitfully devised and cruelly carried out. Because the blow was dealt without warning by those he loved and trusted, self-justification argued that he should be deeply offended. Self-love whispered that he had lost something very dear. Self-will insisted that he return evil for evil. And curiosity was aroused by the intensity of the hatred where he had previously known only love.

All of these tempting suggestions were silenced. They were recognized as downward-pulling, darkening influences. He chose to reach for the light. He chose to love. He strengthened his position with Mrs. Eddy's words:

Of course he did not choose to love the wickedness. But he did choose to love his former friends. He knew he could do this only as he surrendered the grotesque picture portraying them as willing tools of envy, fear, and deceit. As he pondered Christ Jesus' mighty example of love, he made a constant effort in deep humility to see himself as a complete, individual expression of Love and intelligence. He gained a clearer view of himself as upright in character, pure in motive, and tender in his attitude toward others. One day he exclaimed, "It just isn't natural to hate! I can't hate them. I love them and I can't be fooled by the masquerade that's going on."

Although sullen rejection still greeted any offer of friendship, my friend's innocence was established. He had been too busy rejoicing in God's goodness to linger in a morbid mental atmosphere. The purity of his love appeared in a happy face and in the quick and easy way in which he made new friends, accepted new challenges, and reached out for broader experiences. He enjoyed success in his varied endeavors. Beyond that, he was able to give encouragement to several of his new friends, whose troubles were great.

I could see quite clearly that had this young man harbored hatred, had he nurtured resentment or bitterness, he would have been unready to experience joy, freedom, and success. I was reminded of John's words, "If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us." ^{I John 4:12.}

The above experience is only a tiny drop in the sea of world happenings; but its substance is all-inclusive. The love that lifted my friend's point of view and dispelled the burden of having been tricked and despised is the same Love-derived love always at hand in every human situation. It's well to remember that Love's nature includes the demand to yield to it. In the midst of world turbulence, when hatred, violence, and self-centered indifference to much of humanity's suffering are vividly apparent, the ability to surrender to this imperative demand sometimes seems elusive, if not altogether out of reach. But the Love which requires our response is the Love that loves us. If we turn to Love, surely it will help us let go our foolish ways and yield to divine Mind's light. Surely it will help us love with an all-embracing love. Surely it will help us to "be as the morning."