The theory of a fallen man necessitates duality of place, with its concomitant of separation. On page 4 of "Pulpit and Press" Mary Baker Eddy writes, "You have simply to preserve a scientific positive sense of unity with your divine source, and daily demonstrate this."

Had Peter learned the lesson of the Christ, nowhere more simply and positively set forth by Jesus than in the words, "I and my Father art one," the fatal attitude of mind which led to the denial of his Master would have been impossible. How vociferous and confident was Peter in his human boasting, "Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death." Yet when the test came, a few hours later, Peter was not equal to it.

The chief priests and the captains of the temple and the elders had come out in force with swords and staves to take Jesus and lead him into the high priest's house, and Peter followed "afar off." Whoever follows Truth afar off has not decided on which side he really is. Noncommittal, irresolute, his attitude is defeatist and pusillanimous. His step is likely to become even a little slower if the prospect darkens, for he is concerned not with championing the right, but with self. This is separation from good—this the argument of fallen man.

Oh, may we learn that whatever the demands of Truth, having felt its blessings, perceived its power and begun to follow if, we do not do so afar off! The greatness of the opportunity missed by Peter, the inevitable denial, the sad humiliation, the bitter reproach, were due to this.

There is no afar off in the universe of Mind; there is only ever-presence. Advocacy of the real, repudiation of that which betrays, falsely arrests, unjustly condemns, must be constant and immediate, or separation ensues. Our oneness with what is true, our identification with it in all things, come as we see the utter basic powerlessness and unreality of evil, its Inability, even as Christ Jesus was to prove, to destroy aught but itself. As we perceive this there can be no hesitancy in our support. The seeming potency of sin's effort to keep men afar off is destroyed when they maintain the eternal oneness which the Christ reveals.

On page 53 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mrs. Eddy writes, "Science shows the cause of the shock so often produced by the truth, —namely, that this shock arises from the great distance between the individual and Truth." In individual experiences, in the world about them, men have continued to be startled, shocked, discouraged, by the wideness of the gulf, the greatness of the discrepancy, between Truth and error. They have seen—and often, as did Peter, with a sense of fear— what are Truth's demands; and sometimes because of what others may think, sometimes for sheer desire for gain and glory, for temporary relief and comfort, they have followed afar off, unwilling to find themselves involved in what they know would demand not a little, not a part, but all.

How many, seeking foremost their own safety or advantage, in detachment from or even repudiation of the true, have widened the distance between themselves and it. Many have awakened before the hour of actual denial and been spared Peter's bitter experience. Bridging the distance, they have learned this lesson: that there is danger, never victory, to those who follow afar off. And so they have not fallen back into the darkness and confusion which must always attend separation from and denial of Truth.

Sometimes he who greatly desires healing in Christian Science, believes he can obtain it from afar. He trails after it, in the recognition of its desirability, in acknowledgment of its power and efficacy, and yet he is still ready, under stress or difficulty, to fall back to that which in timidity or pride he is unwilling to forsake.

Christ Jesus had not spoken to his followers of a God afar off; he had told them that He was near. He had said that the kingdom of heaven was neither here nor there —it was within. In that dramatic crucial hour, Peter was caught off guard. And the result, how stern a warning! This was what robbed him of his share in the endurance, the valor, the final victory over death and the grave which throughout all human history were to remain an inspiration and example to the world. Instead, in that hour, though it was to be nobly retrieved, he but added to its sorrow and its shame.

On page 174 of "Miscellaneous Writings" our Leader asks two questions. And she answers them both for us. "What is the kingdom of heaven?" To which she replies, "The abode of Spirit, the realm of the real." Is this kingdom afar off? No: it is ever-present here."

In this ever-presence, men learn that nothing which happens in the dream of human experience, however threatening and violent its nature, however exacting its demands, can shock them into separation from, into denial of, Truth. They are no longer afar off. They have found in God's oneness the infinite All.

Evelyn F. Heywood