When individuals understand strength in its spiritual meaning, they are able to renew their vigor constantly. They do not succumb to exhaustion, to apathy regarding spiritual things, or to the mental and physical deterioration which plagues the race. The Psalmist saw God as the source of strength, and he said (Ps. 84:5, 7): "Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.... They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God."

We can all "go from strength to strength"; and we do this when we realize that the strength which God gives to man, His spiritual likeness, is the power to be good. This strength the Father imparts directly to consciousness, and it becomes individualized as spontaneous love and purity, truthfulness and justice, which are incapable of any lessening of vitality. The real man knows no deterioration of powers because he knows no departure from real consciousness, which embodies true vigor. But the human being must constantly renew his strength by demonstrating his real selfhood. He brings this selfhood out by reflecting the attributes of God, always knowing that his ability to live and act is not dependent upon flesh or any form of matter, but upon the fact of his unity with God.

Mary Baker Eddy was an example of constantly renewed vitality. She found her strength in unselfed love for the race. She dedicated her life to giving, and herein lay her success. She says in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 160): "The heart that beats mostly for self is seldom alight with love. To live so as to keep human consciousness in constant relation with the divine, the spiritual, and the eternal, is to individualize infinite power; and this is Christian Science."

Weakness of any kind is the evidence of human will. But unselfed love demonstrates the strength of the divine will. The Christian Scientist finds that he increases his strength when he utilizes his mental powers to give rather than to get. Unlabored strength is natural to those whose whole heart is bent upon demonstrating the design of divine Love for perfection. What better God-supported way could one find whereby to increase his strength than the uniting of himself to the Father's will by the humble desire to serve Him?

The world increases its display of material might. But what is more needed is the strength of impartial love, mercy, spiritual discernment, and devotion to justice. Perhaps mankind's most baffling weakness is lack of spiritual inspiration. Christ Jesus warned us of this kind of weakness when he described the coming of the end of materialism and the disturbance which would take place in human consciousness as error resists Truth's demand for perfection. He said (Matt. 24:12, 13): "Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved."

Endurance is a synonym for strength, and spiritual inspiration, which endures, illustrates the continuity of the vigor imparted by Mind to its idea, man. With the demonstration of this perpetual continuity of the spirit of Truth there can be no faltering in the determination to prove man's real strength. If any indication of weakening powers appears, the Christian Scientist denies this change at once and affirms the presence of his real selfhood, which is Spirit's expression of spontaneous strength. He realizes that he is not a mortal, struggling to reach out to God for a greater pittance of vitality, but is the spiritual reflection of the Principle of infinite strength. He knows that reflection participates in divine strength by being the manifestation of omnipotence. He discerns his real self with its unlabored expression of vigor, and this right identification of himself acts as a law of destruction to the mortal belief of inertia which has sought to hold him in an unnatural state of thought.

Mrs. Eddy says in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 130), "Know ye not that he who exercises the largest charity, and waits on God, renews his strength, and is exalted?" She goes on to say, "Love is not puffed up; and the meek and loving, God anoints and appoints to lead the line of mankind's triumphal march out of the wilderness, out of darkness into light." Clad in the light of meekness and spiritual love, those who devote their lives to healing the sick and sinful through the Science of Christianity bring a strength to mankind that is felt. The silent influence of unselfed love, the purity which perceives man's spiritual perfection, is bringing about a better humanity, a race which feels the refreshment of Spirit's presence as men grope toward moral and spiritual enlightenment.

God is urging His truth upon mankind. Holding our purpose in line with His, we shall find ourselves constantly refreshed with clearer views of reality. There is encouragement in Isaiah's words (40:31), "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

Helen Wood Bauman