A student of Christian Science recently came across an old civil rights button having the legend, "Freedom Now." That "now" referred to a time more than five years earlier. Although some civil rights progress had been made in that time, government statistics still showed that for great numbers of Americans that five-year-old "now" was apparently further away than it had been when the button was new.

As she thought about this situation in immediate terms, the cherished idea of liberty which means freedom to participate in the exciting mobility of opportunity that the majority of one's countrymen enjoy, seemed unlikely to come now or in time to satisfy the legitimate cravings of many. The obstacles of poverty, of educational lack, and of prejudice presented themselves to her thought as humanly insurmountable.

But suddenly she realized that to maintain her usefulness she must not continue to think along these lines. She must reexamine the situation in the light of what her religion taught her. She prayed for the inspiration of Mind, God, to turn the light of the Christ, Truth, on the brave slogan of that little button.

Limitation is not a divine mandate. So the limiting thought of delayed civil rights has to be reversed and replaced with the truth. Mortal mind argues for animosity, exploitation, injustice, indifference. And the human evidence points to bigotry and suffering.

Therefore, starting from God, the only good, the All-in-all, this student of Christian Science realized that she had to replace the sense of inevitable human animosity with the firm knowledge of Love's all-power, exploitation with divinely guided opportunity, injustice with Principle, and indifference with the recognition that Christlike concern and compassion are the natural state of man. This substitution of the real idea for the unreal belief could not be allowed to remain a mere exercise in semantics. In her past experience it had been amply proved that bringing thought into line with divine Mind could help heal social problems.

Mrs. Eddy writes, "In Christian Science, man can do no harm, for scientific thoughts are true thoughts, passing from God to man." ^{Science and Health, pp. 103, 104;} This statement neutralized the erroneous mortal belief of "man the aggressor" or "man the victim."

Every Sunday at the close of services in Churches of Christ, Scientist, the first three verses of the third chapter of I John are read in accordance with Mrs. Eddy's instruction. Not a Sunday passes but Christian Scientists hear, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." ^{I John 3:2, 3;}

"Beloved, now are we the sons of God." This is a broad and totally immediate statement. "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he [God] is pure." Since man is the image and likeness of his creator, God, this purer understanding —"now are we the sons of God"—indicates the possible destruction of all beliefs of limitation for whatever reasons. It confirms the all-embracing love for all the children of that God who is "a very present help in trouble," ^{Ps. 46:1;} as the Old Testament states. It is freedom now! To those suffering from prejudiced, mistaken beliefs about man, the desirable freedoms of a democratic society are available now through consecrated study of Christian Science, which can reverse any evidence to the contrary.

Let's examine the record. During the hundred years that this Science has been used to free men and women from the bondage of material beliefs, its efficacy has been proven. Through realizing that man is about his Father's business, individuals have found fruitful employment. The understanding that progress is God's law has lifted people out of routine and stultifying jobs into an experience of freedom and mobility. When housing has seemed totally restricted, families have found improved living conditions because they have sought the spiritual sense of dwelling that Christ Jesus taught: "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you." ^{John 14:2;}

Complete educational and vocational goals have been reached through the application of this Science. Where fear and suspicion reigned, the sense of God's protection, of friendship and love, has been established.

In every Christian Science Reading Room, volume after volume of The Christian Science Journal, the Christian Science Sentinel, and various editions of The Herald of Christian Science contain carefully authenticated testimonies of those whose experiences have repeatedly demonstrated the nowness of man's sonship with God —not a private God of one race or one nation, but the God who "answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, ... Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? ... Who laid the corner stone thereof; when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" ^{Job 38:1-7;}

Since Christian Scientists are drawn from the ranks of all nations and races, out of every conceivable background, we can carry this message: "'Freedom Now' is demonstrable fact!" When facing the daily news of human deprivation and suffering, and the accompanying anger and hopelessness, the Christian Scientist can reverse this picture and claim freedom for mankind now. His work will inevitably help heal the world.

The knowledge of man's present freedom gives a buoyant joy to our work. It helps us implement whatever opportunities occur to put to practical use Paul's assurance of liberty: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ... Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." ^{Rom. 8:35, 37.}

Now.