Christ Jesus came to save and heal mankind, to restore that which was lost, and to bring again that which was driven away. His mission was redemptive. He imparted his teachings in simple terms, which were easily understood by the common people. His familiar method was by means of the parable. When the publicans and sinners came to hear him and the Pharisees murmured because he received them, Jesus narrated three parables to illustrate the way in which redemption takes place.

These parables are all recorded in the fifteenth chapter of Luke's Gospel and are known as the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the woman who lost a piece of silver, and the parable of the prodigal son. In each case the loss was overcome, and the parable ends on a note of rejoicing.

The loss of a dear one, the loss of a precious possession, the loss of a faculty, or the loss of character may bring sorrow and sometimes self-pity, but through the teachings of our beloved Master as revealed in Christian Science there is no condition of loss, be it ever so severe, which cannot be obliterated by an understanding of the one Mind and the permanency and perfection of spiritual existence.

If loss seems to occur, then let us meet this error in a Christianly scientific manner by turning from sorrow to joy, from despair to hope, and from self-condemnation to divine Love's merciful pardon and redemption.

The lost sheep strayed ignorantly, the shepherd searched for it, found it, and, rejoicing, brought it back upon his shoulders. All those who lose the way of Life through ignorance will return to the fold through the loving care and guidance of God and His Christ.

The woman lost a silver coin from her dowry, perhaps through carelessness. More was required of her than from the lost sheep which strayed in ignorance. She must "light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it" (Luke 15:8). Just as ignorance of spiritual things is healed by a knowledge of the Christ, so carelessness and apathy are canceled by diligence and industry. When the woman kindled her spiritual light and became active and diligent she found her lost coin; and thus this parable also ends upon a note of rejoicing.

The prodigal strayed willfully. His willful disobedience entailed suffering. He lost his inheritance through sin and was required to turn from his sinful ways and seek his father's house as a penitent. When this was done, how quickly his sins were blotted out and his inheritance restored to him. Here again we find the parable closes on a note of rejoicing.

"Rejoice evermore," says the Apostle Paul (I Thess. 5:16). "But how can I rejoice," one may ask, "when I seem to have lost so much that is precious and beautiful?" A Christian Scientist is always ready to rejoice, because he has learned that God is Mind and that all good gifts, whether of health, home, friendship, or other treasures, are to be found in Spirit, not in matter. The acknowledgment of the one Mind confirms the conviction of man's completeness in the one divine and infinite intelligence. It is inconceivable that anything can be lost from the cosmos of Mind, for in this Mind all good is spiritual, complete, and eternal.

If a faculty seems lost, if one believes he has lost sight or hearing or the power of movement, then the remedy is at hand. It is idolatry to believe in a mind apart from God and thus to accept a condition which Mind never created or sanctioned. Mary Baker Eddy writes (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 470): "The supposed existence of more than one mind was the basic error of idolatry. This error assumed the loss of spiritual power, the loss of the spiritual presence of Life as infinite Truth without an unlikeness, and the loss of Love as ever present and universal."

A prayerful study of this passage will turn us back to the oneness of Mind, in which no loss ever occurs. Just as the sheep was found, the silver piece was restored, and the prodigal returned to the Father's house, so we shall enter joyfully into the glorious oneness of Mind, where creation remains as it was created—spiritual, perfect, complete, and eternal.

Loss claims to take away joy; therefore joy is the antidote for loss and ensures restoration of every spiritual treasure. Perhaps it is the loss of spiritual understanding we are called upon to restore, or perhaps a lost treasure, or a lost jewel of character. Whatever it be, we find the solution in the understanding of God and His Christ; in the oneness and wholeness and allness of Mind, and in the conviction that it is impossible for any real treasure or faculty to exist outside divine Love. This is the Mind in which all holy and harmonious being exists, where every treasure is an inseparable part of the one Mind, and in which we, as God's beloved children, live and move and have our individual and indestructible being.

Our reason for rejoicing is now clear. In Christian Science we have found the one Mind, which includes all faculties and the ability to express them. We have gained a knowledge of the treasures of Spirit—love, joy, peace, purity, and satisfaction. We have found a way of Life from which we never desire to stray, and we know for a surety that as we follow faithfully we shall see ourselves as the sons and daughters of God, not only joyful, but shouting for joy, overwhelmingly aware of the glories of our blessed and spiritual existence.

Robert Ellis Key