Article August 20, 2012 Issue

Make way for the Christ

Sue Brightman

Classical music lovers are no doubt familiar with Gustav Mahler, the late 19th century Bohemian-Austrian composer. Much of Mahler’s music was written amid personal tragedies, including the passing of his beloved daughter, Maria. When listening to a Mahler composition, one is struck by the transcendent and gently comforting swirls of music that speak of something perhaps inexpressible by words.

Into this place between words—where the heart is broken or the wisdom of the world is impotent to solve a dilemma we may be facing—the Christ enters.

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, offers a profoundly helpful definition of the Christ in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. She writes, “Christ is the true idea voicing good, the divine message from God to men speaking to the human consciousness” (p. 332). Providing further insight she writes, “The advent of Jesus of Nazareth marked the first century of the Christian era, but the Christ is without beginning of years or end of days” (p. 333). How comforting to know that the forever Christ is constantly performing its tender duties. 