Right Reasoning

WALTER CLIFFORD HARVEY

"COME now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

What a glorious request is this—to come and reason together with God! In it is no hint of compulsion—merely a kind and tender admonition to pause a moment in the tumult, haste, and, oftentimes, stress and worry of daily experience, to think on the things which are spiritual and to solve whatever problems seem to be facing us at the time in a calm, orderly manner, on a correct basis of reasoning, a basis which starts with the all-important fact that God is All-in-all.

A patient on a sick bed may not see at once just how a system of reasoning can help or benefit him in his difficulties. In some cases, perhaps, he has already tried to reason in justification of his illness—an impossible task as one learns in Christian Science. Others have taken a different line of thought and tried to reason that sickness is the will of God and, therefore, not to be contended against. There are various other lines of reasoning which are founded upon human so-called intelligence alone, and which bear little or no fruit. They have no resemblance to the reasoning referred to in the Biblical passage, "Come now, and let us reason together;" for this reasoning involves spiritual understanding, and is the only true method of gaining access to the kingdom of heaven, harmony. Basing our thinking upon God as the creator of all that really is, we cannot fail to arrive at the consciousness of Truth, Life, and Love, in which is not a single trace of sin, sickness, or sorrow. This is the consciousness that brings healing, whether it be of sickness, sorrow, self-condemnation, self-pity, or lack.

Right reasoning, according to Webster, means right thinking. To an age entangled in the misleading arguments of material sense, right thinking offers the only way out of worldliness. To Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, the heartfelt gratitude of increasing thousands goes out in endless flow; for it was she who was able to discern and interpret anew to the world the method of reasoning employed with complete success by Christ Jesus to heal and save mankind. Is it any wonder, then, that Christian Scientists love and honor their Leader for her tireless efforts in seeking for the truth that makes men free?

A student of mathematics cannot except to solve a problem in simple arithmetic by starting out with such a false impression as that two plus two equals five. Neither can the student of Christian Science hope to get anywhere while laboring under the illusion that whatever seems to be inharmonious in experience has any claim to reality. With reason based upon God and His universe as the only realities, the way is opened for the destruction of all that is unlike God, good; for since harmony is real, inharmony must necessarily be unreal.

"Come now, and let us reason together," whispers the "still small voice" of Truth to consciousness. In the subway, in the train, in the home, in the office, or wherever there may be a manifestation of discord apparent as fear, sorrow, worry, selfishness, or illness, there is need for quiet, orderly, spiritual reasoning. This does not imply arguing with others, but it means calm thinking in accordance with the truth.

Paul reasoned with the Greeks and the Jews in the synagogue in his efforts to persuade them of God. And before Felix "he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come," we read in Acts. Throughout the Old Testament right thinking is seen to be the chief factor in the healing work of the prophets. The distinction must be drawn, however, between spiritual reasoning and so-called human reasoning. Spiritual reasoning rests upon the truth and leaves all to God, while human reasoning is typified by the high priests who reasoned among themselves how best to bring Jesus into disrepute to destroy him. Spiritual reasoning insures divine power, while human reasoning entails loss of power.

"Human reason and religion come slowly to the recognition of spiritual facts, and so continue to call upon matter to remove the error which the human mind alone has created," Mrs. Eddy states on page 173 of the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." She also answers the question as to what must be considered in order to gain freedom from the so-called laws of matter when she says (ibid., p. 170): "Spiritual causation is the one question to be considered, for more than all others spiritual causation relates to human progress. The age seems ready to approach this subject, to ponder somewhat the supremacy of Spirit, and at least to touch the hem of Truth's garment." It was through the exercise of spiritual thinking that Mrs. Eddy was able to give to the world the Christian Science textbook.

"When the student has progressed even a few steps along the way of Truth his desires become more spiritual. But the heights of spiritual understanding are not gained at a single bound: step by step, through obedience, the nature of Deity is revealed to those who watch and wait. The periods of peace become more and more frequent and of longer duration as the student progresses in his understanding of God; and new paths open up to him with grander and nobler views beckoning onward—always onward. The pathway is more easily traversed, and the nearness of God becomes more apparent and beautiful to contemplate as the practice of persistent right thinking is acquired.

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