The old thought of God as a severe taskmaster, a stern king, an exacting judge left one with little desire to be present with Him. It was duty, not desire, which led one to think of Him. He was supplicated and placated by means of prayers and sacrifices. His kindness was something to be earned and was not the gift of a loving Father.

Christ Jesus gave us a different thought about God. He made it plain that God does not hear one for his much speaking or solely for his human goodness. Jesus specified that the rain fell on the good and the evil alike. He taught the unknowing to see God as a loving Father, instead of as a king of terrible mien. He told all who would listen of a God to love and revere—one who was exact, yes; one who was powerful, yes, but gently loving at the same time. In other words, he described a God with whom one would like to be.

Who would not want to be with a God who is Love itself; who is Principle, ever the same, always uplifting and sustaining His creation; who is a protection for His children and keeps them from evil; who is Mind, intelligent enough to destroy all ignorance; and who is all-pervading Spirit, ever present with His loving omnipotence? Such a God encourages companionship.

Our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, added the thought of Mother to that of Father, of which Jesus told us, when she said in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 332). "Father-Mother is the name for Deity, which indicates His tender relationship to His spiritual creation." This complete idea of God as creator and protector fulfills all our needs and aspirations.

When Abraham thought that God required the sacrifice of his son Isaac, he delayed not. He prepared the sacrifice, but God was more loving than Abraham had at first thought Him to be. In James (2:21-23) we read: "Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God." Here God was shown in His true character as Friend, not as a personal Jehovah, to whom human sacrifices must be offered.

Would it be hardship to associate with one who loved you devotedly, who desired only your good, never competing with you, but ever rejoicing in your ability to express the strength and goodness which are inherent in Life, which is divine Principle, Love? Could one do other than enjoy such a presence? Then can it be a wearisome task to watch carefully that there may be no disturbing thought to embarrass one because of His, God's, presence? Knowing that the One you love more than any other is with you, and that He is able to sustain you and to govern your every thought, is it not a work of love and joy to keep out of consciousness anything which would be unlike that beloved God?

Mrs. Eddy has told us in the Message to The Mother Church for 1900 (p. 2) that "the song of Christian Science is, 'Work—work —work—watch and pray.'" The work which we do is not to change God's concept of us; it is not to alter His intentions toward us or to get Him to be more kind to us than He would otherwise be. The work is to protect our thought from mortal mind's false concept of the heavenly Father which we sometimes let corrupt our thought about Him, and which leaves us with an unsatisfied longing for a more kindly God.

We work not to change ourselves, but to spiritualize our thought so that we shall be increasingly aware of the qualities of God which we live to express and which evidence our eternal oneness with Him. When we are thus awakened, we are reconciled to God. We enjoy God. We love Him.

The Psalmist wrote (Ps. 42:1, 2): "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?" What a beautiful simile of desire is presented here! The hart in the summer certainly pants and yearns for the water, where he can quench his thirst. Crystal water to one keenly athirst is the most desirable of all things. It is to be enjoyed, not feared. And so we who have awakened to the barrenness of human existence should enjoy the presence of God, and not fear it or think of it as something connected with hard work and strenuous activity.

That which we enjoy we eagerly seek after, and when we awaken to the joy of God's presence, we shall learn to search for it tirelessly and unremittingly. Remember the parable of the lost treasure and the pearl of great price. It is in Matthew (13:44-46): "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it."

Certainly such seeking can only signify an overwhelming desire for the possession of the kingdom of heaven. Since this kingdom evidences the very presence of God, we may well joyously seek and find the consciousness of the presence of God in which we really dwell. In Science and Health we find these words (pp. 303, 304): "When the evidence before the material senses yielded to spiritual sense, the apostle declared that nothing could alienate him from God, from the sweet sense and presence of Life and Truth."