Article June 23, 1934 Issue

The Truth about Temperance

KENNETH S. VALENTINE

For many years the subject of temperance has been in the forefront of public and private discussion in some countries. As an aftermath of recent legislation in the United States, prominence is being given, in certain quarters, to the view that temperance means the moderate use of intoxicants. The word "temperance" is partly defined as "habitual moderation in the indulgence of the appetites and passions;" and in a specific sense, "moderation in, or sometimes, narrowly, abstinence from, the use of intoxicants."

Mrs. Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, infused her message to the world with rich meaning through the power of revelation. Concerning this, she states (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 117), "God's essential language is spoken of in the last chapter of Mark's Gospel as the new tongue, the spiritual meaning of which is attained through 'signs following.'" Knowing that Spirit alone is real, the student of Christian Science continually seeks to translate every phenomenon of human experience into spiritual terms—into the "new tongue," the truth about all things.

What, then, is the truth about temperance? Surely it can have no connection with appetites or passions, which Christian Science rightly brands as material, hence unreal. Temperance is derived from the Latin temperare, meaning to observe proper measure. It, therefore, may be truly construed as a state of thought resulting from careful and wellmeasured right thinking. Such a mental attitude is the serene reflection of divine Mind. In this broader aspect the temperate man is by no means one who permits himself a measure of sin, for that would be wrong measure, the result of false belief. He is, rather, one whose every action is governed by carefully considered right thinking. What a potent vehicle for good is such a one! He truly reflects qualities proceeding directly from God, "who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span."

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