Article July 3, 1995 Issue

The call home

Jeanne Kirkpatrick

Our ranch was located high on a hill where it seemed the land met the sky; we called it Sky Ranch. Sounds could be heard from miles around. Every afternoon at five, we could hear a neighbor, who lived across the canyon, calling the cows home—a long, clear call. A moment afterward there would be the response, the ringing of the lead cow's bell as she started for home. I never had the opportunity to meet this particular neighbor, but I liked him. His call conveyed a love for those cows. It was distinct, strong, and it rang out with purpose and direction. His care had much in common with the Biblical shepherds whose sheep never mistook the voice of the one who watched over them.

The voice of Christ Jesus must have been filled with love and strength when he called forth his friend Lazarus from the grave. The Master's understanding of God, infinite Life, enabled him to awaken Lazarus from his belief in death. The Master overcame so-called material laws and demonstrated Spirit's power by healing the sick, walking on the water, feeding the five thousand with a few loaves and fishes, and rising from death after his crucifixion and burial. He proved for mortals the supremacy of Spirit over matter. The penetrating call to thought that roused many from material beliefs during Jesus' time can be heard today. It is God's message to each of us, the timeless Christ, stirring us to elevate our understanding of the nature of man, to see man as the son of God, whole, pure, harmonious.

In one of Jesus' parables, a young man, sometimes called the prodigal son, was in a desperate strait (see Luke 15:11-24). Having blown his inheritance by living in a rash way, he was reduced to hunger and desolation. Then, the Bible says, "he came to himself" and remembered his father's house where he would be cared for—even if only as a hired servant. The account concludes with his being received as a much-loved son. What a realization when we come to ourselves—perceiving what we already have, what we already are! "You can never demonstrate spirituality until you declare yourself to be immortal and understand that you are so," writes Mary Baker Eddy. She continues later in the same commentary, "Unless you fully perceive that you are the child of God, hence perfect, you have no Principle to demonstrate and no rule for its demonstration" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 242).

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