In the early stages of his pilgrimage from sense to Soul the student of Christian Science sometimes catches such glorious glimpses of the spiritual kingdom that he seems literally transported into another world. He has reached, as he thinks, the mountain top, and would fain rest there in emotional ecstasy, unmindful that the battle continues in the plain below and that his place in the ranks is unfilled.

Our Master taught us that human existence is largely a warfare between flesh and Spirit; and our Leader faithfully followed him in pointing out the pathway. The world is ever seeking surcease from suffering, and in its distress at last turns to Christian Science for relief. When, however, the trouble of the moment has been removed, humanity goes on its way rejoicing, but forgetful of the fact that spiritual regeneration is the one thing needful. "Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?" asked Jesus, when the Samaritan leper returned after his healing to glorify God; and one alone received the benediction of the Master, "Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole."

Our Leader knew only too well the lack in mortals of both gratitude and activity; hence her constant clarion calls to those who would rest in peace by the wayside. It is remarkable how fond she was of the imperative—the commanding mood; and her writings are full of expressions such as "strive," "be firm," "resist," "hold your ground," thus showing clearly how necessary she considered it for each one of us to be ever alert and ready for the fray. As the hymn tells us.

The truth, when it first comes to one, brings with it such a sense of peace and abiding love that he is prone to exclaim with the disciple of old, "Master, it is good ... to be here." He would willingly at once build a tabernacle in which he might ever dwell secure from all earthly desires and difficulties. Such is not, however, the purpose of divine Love, nor the wish of the Master, whose imperative command went forth, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature;" and again, "Heal the sick." He it was who also said, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword," and whose so-called earthly existence was one of ceaseless activity, a constant struggle against tremendous odds.

As a boy he was found in the temple disputing with the doctors and asking them questions—no mere passive listener ready to assimilate the beliefs of all around him, nor willing to be "carried about with every wind of doctrine." When the temple needed purification, he it was who drove forth the moneychangers, and left his Father's house pure and undefiled. He who spake with divine authority never hesitated to advance where duty showed the way; and however bitter the cup might be, he drained it to the dregs. When the scribe in a burst of emotional ecstasy exclaimed, "Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest," there came at once the reminder, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head."

Jesus knew the difficulties that beset the heavenward pathway, and he would not have any one undertake discipleship without a due realization of the responsibilities incurred. He warned Peter against making boasting protestations of service that would never be rendered; and had that disciple been more alert when the testing-time arrived, it would not have been necessary for him to have wept so bitterly when he realized how soon he had betrayed his beloved Master. Like this enthusiastic disciple, how easy it is for many of us, carried away by the impulse of the moment, to undertake service for which we are not spiritually prepared or of which we have not counted the cost. "The God-inspired walk calmly on though it be with bleeding footprints," Mrs. Eddy tells us in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 41). But how often do we forget that she goes on to say, "The pampered hypocrite may have a flowery pathway here, but he cannot forever break the Golden Rule and escape the penalty due." No real joy can be ours while we are, perhaps, selling our spiritual birthright for a mere mess of material pottage.

Christian Science has come to proclaim joy to the world, but it must be in the way of God's appointing; and we can never hope to reach the Horeb height of demonstration while dwelling in the plain of worldly desire. If we protest that we have given up all for Christ,—and this we do by proclaiming ourselves Christian Scientists,—then we should not fret over the nonsuccess of mere material concerns or complain that our demonstration is incomplete because we may not possess a surfeit of what the world calls wealth. If we are still content with the so-called happiness that matter can afford, then we are sailing upon a sea of error, and we need not bewail our fate if our spiritual bark suffer shipwreck; for, as the Master said, we cannot serve both God and the world. The young ruler asked what good thing he should do that he might have eternal life; and apparently he was honest in his desire to follow in the steps of the Master and enter into life. But when he realized that it meant a sacrifice of material things, he went sorrowfully away, because he had such great material possessions. His very wealth was a bar to his spiritual progress; for, as Jesus pointed out to his disciples, "How hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!" Like this young patrician, we too may be in a perilous position when we have great possessions, or when great material success attends our efforts; for then we may easily be in danger of having our spiritual vision blurred by our mundance desires. If, however, in the knowledge of the truth, we have come to understand what substance really means, and have been able to put aside mere personal ambition and pride of place, then we are spiritually prepared to receive, for we shall employ all to the glory of God.

Great warriors have rarely emerged from king's houses; and he who has been wont to fare sumptuously is ill-fitted to endure the privations of a strenuous campaign. So in the spiritual Armageddon, he who is surrounded by all that the world has to offer finds that he is less desirous of taking his place in the ranks of those spiritual warriors who are in the forefront of the battle. Desire for ease and inordinate love of luxury have inevitably led to the downfall of nations. It were well for all of us to heed the words of the old Collect, "Amidst the sundry and manifold changes of the world, our hearts should surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found." Our Leader has wonderfully put it in Science and Health (p. 66), where she says, "Spiritual development germinates not from seed sown in the soil of material hopes, but when these decay, Love propagates anew the higher joys of Spirit, which have no taint of earth." So-called mortal existence is a constant warfare with the flesh; and Mrs. Eddy also says (Science and Health, p. 324), "We must conquer sin, sickness, and death, either here or hereafter,—certainly before we can reach the goal of Spirit, or life in God."

It is impossible then for us, if we truly desire to be faithful followers of the Master, to dream away the hours in idleness, when we should be in the ranks of those Christian soldiers, each one of whom can finally say with Paul, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course." Then, indeed, we shall be prepared to stand in that great multitude which no man can number, of those who "came out of great tribulation;" for the promise ever standeth sure, "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son."

Copyright, 1923, by The Christian Science Publishing Society, Falmouth and St. Paul Streets, Boston, Massachusetts. Entered at Boston Post office as second-class matter. Acceptance for mailing at a special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 11, 1918.