Luke's record of the nativity of Christ Jesus is fraught with exquisite beauty. The quiet night, the brilliant star, the song of angels, watchful shepherds, and the Magi bearing gifts from a far country in homage to the infant Jesus—all are vivid pictures precious to the Christian. But the imagery of the scene cannot compare with the deep spiritual significance of the event which this great beauty reflects: the appearing of Christ, Truth, to the human scene with its fair promise of light and joy and freedom for mankind through the reign of Love.

Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science, speaks in "Miscellaneous Writings" of the fuller appearing of Christ which Christian Science brings to mankind with its divine benedictions. And she says (p. 320), "The star that looked lovingly down on the manger of our Lord, lends its resplendent light to this hour: the light of Truth, to cheer, guide, and bless man as he reaches forth for the infant idea of divine perfection dawning upon human imperfection, —that calms man's fears, bears his burdens, beckons him on to Truth and Love and the sweet immunity these bring from sin, sickness, and death."

The star, Scriptural symbol of Christ, or the Messiah, first appears in Balaam's prophecy (Num. 24:17), "There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel." The words of Balaam, who could not curse the Israelites, but prophesied that there should be no enchantment or divination against them, portend the yielding of the mortal sense of existence before the authority of spiritual sense, which reveals man's real individuality as the reflection of God, spiritual and not material. They prophesy the disappearance of all materialism before the universal truth of man's eternal sonship with the Father.

Christian Science defines "Son" as, "The Son of God, the Messiah or Christ" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mrs. Eddy, p. 594), and points to Christ's universality and timelessness as witnessed in the experience of patriarchs and prophets who glimpsed the eternal presence of its divine purity. Christian Science reveals the Christ as the true idea of God, and unveils the real man as the sinless image of the Father. In Christian Science the Christ, Truth, wields the scepter of authority over the temporal sense of life which the corporeal senses present and brings health and healing to mankind.

The Christ and its dominion over materialism—the star and scepter of ancient prophecy—invariably companion as man's spiritual perfection as God's idea becomes apparent. They are available today through the healing ministry of Christian Science to prove God's will—justice and peace for all. The star of Christian Science, shining on an age when destructive materialism claims to have wrought much devastation, is rousing mankind from the limitations and desolation of the material senses and proving the presence of the indestructible, spiritual universe of true concepts.

The personal benefits which humanity gains from the demonstration of Christian Science are unnumbered, for its Christly touch brings an improved sense to mankind. But its true objective is fully and finally to reveal God and His spiritual creation and thus dispel the temporal illusion of matter and material consciousness, which sins and suffers and is subject to destruction. Christian Science brings to light the divine order of being— one Father-Mother God, who tenderly cares for all; one family of spiritual ideas conjoined in one great unity of peace and brotherhood; one home, which is heaven— the ever-present consciousness of divine reality; one governing law of love and justice which rules all mercifully and impartially. This is the star of real being which heals with the authority of the scepter of infinite Love.

Before the healing light of Christ's eternal presence all systems of materialistic thinking are destined to pay homage and disappear. Science, theology, and medicine—the three wisemen of this age—will inevitably bow before the infant appearing of Truth as in Christian Science. Theories of physics and natural science go down before our Leader's premise that matter is physical force, and that physical force is mortal thought, which disappears in the presence of Spirit, the divine Mind. Scholastic theology yields its false creeds slowly to the great scientific truths of being—perfect God and perfect man. It bows to the demonstration of good as one infinite Mind—not personal virtue—and as embodied by every individual in his real being. Nor can it resist the explanation of Christian Science: that sinners do not make sin, but that the one evil, or sin, which makes sinners is delusive, and destructible through the comprehension of evil's nothingness. Material methods of healing fade before the fact that disease is mental and that it disappears in the presence of the demonstrated individual purity of each son of God.

Mrs. Eddy says in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 320), "The star of Bethlehem is the star of Boston, high in the zenith of Truth's domain, that looketh down on the long night of human beliefs, to pierce the darkness and melt into dawn." Those individuals who awaken to glimpse spiritual reality in the mental skies of today evidence the irresistible dawning of the forces of good forever asserting God's allness and the perfection of His creation. With joy they wield the scepter of dominion which dispels the falsities of life in matter and demonstrates man's real existence in divine Science.

In the light of the healing power of Christian Science, John's revelation has new meaning in the prophecy of star and scepter as conjoined. He writes (Rev. 2:26-28): "He that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron.... And I will give him the morning star."

Helen Wood Bauman