In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said (Matt. 5:43-45): "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shall love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you: that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven." Many good people the world over strive earnestly and bravely to love their enemies, to forgive and forget, to turn the other check; but without the spiritual understanding of how to overcome enmity, as explained in Christian Science, efforts in this direction are liable to be fraught with self-justification, self-righteousness, self-sanctification.

In "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 8) Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, deals at some length with this subject, and she begins her discussion of it by asking the questions: "Who is thine enemy that thou shouldst love him? Is it a creature or a thing outside thine own creation? Can you see an enemy, except you first formulate this enemy and then look upon the object of your own conception?" And a little farther on (p. 10) she tells us in no uncertain words just who an enemy is: "Even in belief you have but one (that, not in reality), and this one enemy is yourself—your erroneous belief that you have enemies; that evil is real; that aught but good exists in Science."

We ourselves, then, and no one else, are responsible for the degree in which we accept as real, or reject as unreal, the torment and wretchedness of enmity. Christian Science teaches us that God is the only creator, and all that He has made is good, including man the highest idea or manifestation of Himself. Because the one God is Love, man is loving, lovable, and loved; because God is Spirit, unchangeable and unchanging, man is spiritual, and nothing of a material nature exists in reality or can have any effect upon him.

Unloveliness in him whom we regard as an enemy is no more a part of him, as the real, spiritual man, than winter's frost on the window is a part of the pane. How often, on crisp, freezing mornings, do we see a fantastic pattern etched in tiny icy crystals, and then, as we study it closely, see more and more objects distinctly, until a miniature panorama comes into view. In the words of Hannah Flagg Gould:

But the pattern begins to vanish if we so much as breathe softly upon it, and then the clear glass, which remains the same all the time, reveals itself. Neither the presence of the frost nor its disappearance has made the slightest change in the quality of the pane or altered its usefulness.

So it is with our so-called enemy. At first, when a sense of chilled harmony looms between us, we see the outline of one offense shaping itself before us; then, as we dwell more diligently upon the subject, an increasing number and magnitude of shortcomings appear, until the real man is completely obscured by the whole vesture of our own beliefs about him.

By realizing that mortal mind is always a deceiver, and that God's idea reflects only the divine Mind which discerns good alone, we are enabled to detect quickly the falsity of the entire situation. We then see that the flimsy mantle which our idle indulgence of error has pieced together is no more substantial than frost, and is absolutely no part of God's image and likeness. The warmth of divine Love melts it away, and we behold before us not an enemy, but a brother, a son of the loving Father-Mother of us all.

The only enemy we have or ever had is material belief; but to recognize this enemy for what it is, and to destroy it, sometimes means a mighty struggle within ourselves to conquer the stubborn resistance of a satisfied and inflated sense of self. Not until this has been accomplished does the perfection of God's work appear in our consciousness. Then, with what joy do we embrace all mankind in our affect ions!

Many testimonies published in our various periodicals, and given also in Wednesday evening meetings in Christian Science churches, bear witness of the twofold blessings that come from right reasoning on a purely spiritual basis as revealed to us by Mrs. Eddy. Broken friendships, broken homes, broken business relations have been harmoniously restored by obedience to the Sermon on the Mount. To see straight through the blur of misunderstandings, of disappointments, of the woes of humanity, to forbid the entrance of evil beliefs into our consciousness, is indeed a preventive measure well worth the consecrated efforts of us all. And there can be no doubt about the healing which also blesses the transgressor, when thoughts winged with companion and forgiveness rest upon him. Who knows the longings which he may entertain, and the bitter trials which he may endure in a secret strife to rid himself of these very frailties, or how quickly he would respond to the healing balm of divine Love?

In her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." our Leader gives us the unfailing solution to the problems of all human discord (p. 71): "Evil has no reality. It is neither person, place, nor thing, but is simply a belief, an illusion of material sense."

The fulfillment of this truth is available to us all the very moment we are ready for its blessing.