The writers of the Old Testament books were fond of referring to the art of building as a symbol for mental construction because it is one which could be easily understood, very simple but very permanent in its character, and one which requires accuracy of measurement and careful and correct judgment in its early stages. If the foundation is true the rest is not difficult. In Isaiah we read: "Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation. ... Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet." The method of building is exactly the same to-day as it was when Isaiah wrote. The corner stone, after being carefully squared, is well and truly laid, often with ceremony, and from this stone horizontal and vertical lines are streched to which all other stones are adjusted. In metaphysical building of spiritual concepts the method is exactly similar. The builder begins with the true concept of man as the reflection or expression of God, the perfect man, the Christ. Jesus said, "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." With this corner stone the mental builder can lay out his lines; and, as long as his judgment and his righteousness or right thinking are laid to these lines, his building is sure to be upright and true.

To-day, when the world seems to be convulsed with discord; when selfishness, intemperance, and injustice seem to abound; when human will power seeks to dominate and control, the student of Christian Science is glad to be able to turn to his Bible and to the loving words of Mrs. Eddy, whose gentle admonitions help him to stem the tide of division and unrest. On page 206 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy writes, "The power of the human will should be exercised only in subordination to Truth; else it will misguide the judgment and free the lower propensities," and in the following paragraph she declares emphatically: "Will-power is capable of all evil." Now the Christian Scientist is called upon daily to exercise judgment, and in that way he is building. His building will be good and stable just so far as he takes direction and measurement from the "precious corner stone," lays his judgment "to the line," and his right thinking "to the plummet."

What Jesus taught above all things was reliance on Principle in every kind of difficulty. He did not pretend to exercise any power of his own. All his mighty works were ascribed to the Father, and he taught his disciples to do the same works in the same way. He disregarded material personality in which others saw sin and disease, and saw in place of the error which had to be destroyed, the true, spiritual idea. He disregarded all material laws and recognized nothing but the unceasing law of spiritual activity, Life, and the eternal law of sustenance and protection, Love. He proved the false law of limitation to be nothing to him when he fed the five thousand, and the universally accepted law of gravity to be nothing to him when he walked on the water. But he subjected himself to law and taught his followers obedience. If now we follow the Master and consider each problem in the way that he would have considered it we shall start with a sure foundation; then, recognizing that all intelligent action is the outcome of one Mind, God, we cannot fail in the exercise of judgment.

Putting aside all sense of personality and laying his right thinking to the plummet, the student of Christian Science proves right judgment, that can be accepted joyfully. In Mind the judgment is already made. All that the Christian Scientist has to do is to see the demonstration of divine justice by repudiating any other possible result, just as he does in dealing with apparent sickness. The judgment is not, then, the judgment of man but the judgment of God, and it is the only correct judgment there can be. The Christian Scientist then fulfills the admonition which Moses gave to the Israelites, "Ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's."

The idiosyncracies of mortal mind put a false picture of human conditions in the eyes of men. What they seem to see is a picture of tangled curves and zigzag lines crossing one another in inextricable confusion, whereas the true picture is one and infinite, representing the unswerving, unalterable power of divine Mind which no other supposed force can divert or distort, the representation of perfect, harmonious existence. What does that desirable attitude described as "keeping a level head" mean unless it means laying judgment to the line?

In a short article in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" entitled, "How Strife may be Stilled," Mrs. Eddy writes (p. 278), "Whatever brings into human thought or action an element opposed to Love, is never requisite, never a necessity, and is not sanctioned by the law of God, the law of Love." A human judgment of condemnation is always opposed to the law of Love, and a human judgment of approval is often just as harmful in that it introduces human personality and seldom escapes an implication of disapproval of the conduct of another. Only when there is a direct recognition of spiritual law can approval be rightly and safely bestowed.

When Peter recognized in the Christ the perfect expression of divine Love, the Master commended him in the words, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." Commenting upon this passage Mrs. Eddy writes (Science and Health, p. 137): "Before this the impetuous disciple had been called only by his common names, Simon Bar-jona, or son of Jona; but now the Master gave him a spiritual name in these words: And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter; and upon this rock [the meaning of the Greek word petros, or stone] I will build my church; and the gates of hell [hades, the underworld, or the grave] shall not prevail against it.' In other words, Jesus proposed founding his society, not on the personal Peter as a mortal, but on the God-power which lay behind Peter's confession of the true Messiah." Thus the Master taught that the first step in judgment must always be the recognition of the Christ, the corner stone from which the building rises, square and erect, incapable of being overthrown by malice, pride of place, desire for domination, jealousy, or by any other error of mortal mind.