"Eyes front!"

[Written Especially for Young People]

H. MERNE WILSON

Soldiers on parade, who have been called to salute to the right hand or to the left, are given the command, "Eyes front!" as they march forward. Whether individuals are occupied in the home, the office, or the field, they are all soldiers, soldiers in the army of progress, and it is a well-known saying that "a good soldier never looks behind."

Students of Christian Science are daily learning the wisdom of this saying. A forward look carries us on and up, while a backward one hinders our progress and sometimes throws us out of step altogether.

Experiences come to us to promote our growth Spiritward, and our attitude in meeting them decides the extent to which these experiences are joyous or afflictive. Only as we regard them as steppingstones towards perfection are our burdens light. Christian Science teaches that God is infinite Spirit, infinite Mind, Principle; that man, the real man, made in the image and likeness of God, is spiritual, indestructible, unchangeable. Understanding these fundamental truths, one can face any human experience confidently, knowing beforehand that spiritual man is always the victor.

Once we have come through an experience, it is wise to realize that we are through. We are often tempted to look back, mentally to rehearse the fearsome phases of a seeming struggle, to compare it with other struggles we have had, or to consider what we have come through as being so much worse than another's experience. These are subtle suggestions of the carnal mind to tempt us to believe in a power apart from God, good. St. Paul tells us, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

When divine Love has brought us safely through some testing period, the memory of it should be allowed to fall behind us as shadows when we face the light. There is one exception to this rule, and that is when we look back and see the good that has been accomplished, and give God the glory. If the difficulty has been great, our opportunity to see the manifestation of God has been correspondingly great. In reality, spiritual man has never experienced anything but good, and the sooner this is realized, the sooner we are ready for our next step forward. In the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy tells us (p. 353), "When we learn that error is not real, we shall be ready for progress, 'forgetting those things which are behind.' "

Several years ago a student of Christian Science was commissioned to coach a group of amateurs in a play. At first the group's enthusiasm ran high. Before long, however, many obstacles presented themselves, and the coach realized that after each rehearsal she was mentally asking herself whether the effort was worth while. Was it possible to go through with it at all? Then to her thought came the following message from the textbook (p. 167): "It is not wise to take a halting and half-way position or to expect to work equally with Spirit and matter, Truth and error." Thereupon, she made a reassessment of the situation in the light of its good points. Recalling Mrs. Eddy's statement (ibid., p. 426), "The discoverer of Christian Science finds the path less difficult when she has the high goal always before her thoughts, than when she counts her footsteps in endeavoring to reach it," she adopted the forward look. Expectancy and enthusiasm were recaptured, and visualizing "the high goal" of joyous success, she was enabled to bring about exactly that result.

Suggestions of inability, remorse, hopelessness, and so on come from the carnal mind, which is "enmity against God," good. They cannot influence the thought that looks steadfastly forward and upward. We need not be guided by anything less than wisdom, at any step. Good ideas, ideas of good, come from God in the first place, and He supplies everything needful for their development. It is to Principle, Mind, that we look for intelligence, inspiration, wisdom, and strength, knowing that if our activity is good in His sight, He supports it and blesses it from beginning to end. God does not give us spiritual ideas, and then leave us to succeed or fail in our utilization of them. God's power and wisdom are back of all right activity, and we can experience failure only when we forget this and rely on our own human faculties. Progress is God's law, and our daily experiences provided us with opportunity for overcoming that which would oppose or obstruct it. In the measure that we overcome our difficulties and prove God's allness, in that measure has every experience blessed us.

Did not Jesus say, "No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God"?

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