THE quality of godliness manifests itself in a far-reaching beneficence, attained through daily and constant application of the fundamental truths of right thinking and living. In the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mrs. Eddy says (p. 258), "The human capacities are enlarged and perfected in proportion as humanity gains the true conception of man and God."

The truth of this statement was illustrated many centuries ago when the patriarch Jacob, in Egypt, calling his sons together for the purpose of telling what should befall each of them in the last days, said to Joseph, "Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall." The history of Joseph and the development of his life show how God overruled the failures of men for the ultimate good of mankind. The spiritual consciousness of a constant, unwavering faith that God was actually his abiding protection and his unfailing guide gave Joseph calm assurance under all circumstances; and this enlarged his capacity for doing good.

When Joseph was in the dawn of life, where the light of youth was everywhere, he was building castles, dreaming dreams, seeing visions. Not understood by his brothers, his dreaming was denied by them, his visions derided. However, even in his youth he was devoted to duty, feeding his flock; and because of his obedience, purity, and artlessness, at the age of seventeen he was sent by his father to go to Shechem to find his brothers and see if all was well with them and the flocks. This was a test of his faith in God. Not only to Shechem, but farther on to Dothan, he must go to carry out his commission to those brethren who were jealous of him, who hated him, and who did not therefore speak peaceably to him.

It is a familiar story, that of Joseph's meeting his brothers, of their undisguised animosity toward what they thought he represented, of their jealousy of his purity and wisdom of their unrestrained malice, which led them even to the extent of plotting the destruction of their brother, and which resulted in his being exiled from his father's home and becoming a slave. Though it was wrong for his brothers to put him into the pit, Joseph did not sink into a condition of resentment, nor did he allow himself to become a sinner because he had been sinned against. He trusted God; therefore he prospered. Though his temptations were severe, he did not yield to them. To continue Jacob's words—"The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob." For this reason, at the age of thirty he became a ruler and, later, a preserver of his brethren, and "the blessings ... have prevailed ... unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills."

The God of his father Israel was with Joseph even in the pit; and by the overruling hand of the Lord he was sent into Egypt, that he might there prepare a place for Israel, and for his brothers; and in so doing he was a blessing, not only to those of his own kind in the time of famine, but through the beneficence of his wisdom and prudence, derived from his trust in God, to all the land of Egypt.

Unselfishness and the outward manifestation of God's bounty and supply cannot be confined within walls; but the reaching out of the branches of abundance will "run over the wall" for all to share and enjoy. It was Joseph's purity, his sincere devotion to duty and his faith in God, which did not allow of any hate, even of his brothers,—for many years after his separation he said to them, "It was not you that sent me hither, but God,"—that enabled him to realize that he could not be brought into any place or circumstance where God was not with him.

Marking the beginning of the Christian era came Christ Jesus, toward whose revelation of Truth all preceding light advanced; the one who by precept and example demonstrated the power of God, divine Mind, in the destruction of every material barrier in the way of spiritual achievement; the one who manifested perfect realization of Truth; the one who showed the way for all to follow. Later Saul, afterwards the Apostle Paul, was freed from the bonds of false training and prejudice, and, emerging from the blindness which he felt at the time of his conversion, came into the light of spiritual understanding as a follower of Christ Jesus. He met with opposition, with persecution, with hardships of every sort; but these became to him but stepping-stones of progress. Even when in prison he said, "I ... now rejoice in my sufferings for you," because these gave him the opportunity to triumph over his personal condition, so that, with authority as a messenger of Christ, he might lift others to a higher understanding of Life as God.

The most notable example of far-reaching beneficence in the present age is given to us in the life and the works of our revered Leader, Mary Baker Eddy. Through her devotion to duty, her obedience to God, her purity, and her clear vision, through her unwavering faith in God and reliance upon His guidance every step of the way, her capacities were "enlarged and perfected," so that she was able to overcome obstacles, to rise above opposition, to withstand persecution, with the result that through her inspiration Christian Science is coming to be understood, as she defines it in "Rudimental Divine Science" (p. 1), "As the law of God, the law of good, interpreting and demonstrating the divine Principle and rule of universal harmony."

Christian Science has revealed to the world the real nature of God—not as a being afar off who must be pleaded with for divine favor, but as divine Principle, available at all times, a knowledge of whom is able to life one out of the pit of materiality, with its attendant beliefs of jealousy, uncertainty, and doubt, into the sunlight of hope, trust, and faith, even to the assurance that

This knowledge of infinite divine Principle gives the certainty that bitterness, hatred, and revenge do not belong to the realm of God's government; rather that, as our Leader says in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 367), "Whatever is wrongfully-minded will disappear in the proportion that Science isunderstood, and the reality of being—goodness and harmony—is demonstrated."

It is manifestly clear that to the extent that we, as individuals, rise superior to the difficulties, obstacles, and pitfalls of materiality into the larger understanding of God and man, our "capacities are enlarged and perfected;" and thus we become a blessing in usefulness, "a fruitful bough, ... whose branches run over the wall."