In prophecies written centuries before the birth of Jesus, the book of Isaiah declared that the power of the Christ would be acknowledged even by kings: "The Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory .... Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God." ^{Isa. 62:2, 3;} But this crown was to be dearly bought, for the earthly representative of Christ was to be "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." ^53:3;

A diadem is a symbol of sovereignty—of authority and dominion, of dignity, of honor and victory. Spiritually, as the Son of God, Christ Jesus possessed the attributes and power represented by this royal crown. In the world, his purpose was to establish the recognition that divine Spirit, not human will, alone can win them. The way was hard. It required of him wholehearted faith in God's power, total dedication to the manifestation of God's, Love's, qualities, and day-to-day demonstration of the authority of Christ, Truth, to destroy sin, disease, and death in their most aggressive forms.

Despite the malice and seeming strength of the carnal mind arrayed against his holy purpose, the Master was always faithful. He steadfastly expressed God's qualities however cruelly his enemies provoked him. He proved the supremacy of God, Love, over hate, of Life over death, of Spirit over matter. Even the crown of thorns could not deter him. Finally, his fidelity was rewarded by victory in his resurrection and ascension. But the triumph was not only for himself. Later, he is represented by the Revelator as saying to the church in Smyrna, "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." ^{Rev. 2:10;}

Indeed, the diadem of spiritual dominion belongs by right to every child of God. Each one is an individual manifestation of divine Spirit and possesses sovereign authority through the power of Love's expression. All men and women can prove that they have this power if they are truly faithful, manifesting God's love even in the face of the most aggressive forms of animality and hate. They will not only heal others but triumph over hate and the grave as Jesus did, if they follow his example.

Such a course is not easy for humanity to follow unaided. We need the inspiration of Jesus' steadfastness and victory to support us as we face the aggression and mockery of the carnal mind. So, knowing that Jesus trod the same path and triumphed, students of Christian Science love to keep alive the memory of Gethsemane and Calvary, as well as the glorious morning scene at the sepulcher. By recalling with awe and gratitude how Jesus met the fierce challenges of the carnal mind in its effort to destroy the idea of Love that he embodied, they learn from his example and are strengthened by it.

It requires spiritual strength always to express love when others hate, to be poor in spirit when confronted by the arrogance of false, mortal belief, to be merciful toward the merciless, to rejoice in Truth even when the thorns of persecution bite deep. The Master's supreme example can inspire us. We need to cherish the history of his earthly experience—to value deeply his selflessness on the cross, to ponder in humility the triumph of his promise "If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death," ^{John 8:51;} and to claim its fulfillment.

Believing and following Jesus is a day-by-day—even a moment-by-moment—commitment. It requires more than seasonal response of the emotions. It involves all-the-year-round dedication to the expression of Christly qualities. It implies the utilization of spiritual perception and intelligence rather than mere worldly wisdom in business, the overcoming of hate with love in the home, the tempering of discrimination and injustice with mercy in the social world, the suppression of the arrogance of mortal belief with the strength of meekness in personal affairs. It requires steadfast conviction that spiritual good is strong enough to heal even the crime and corruption of a materialistic world. The Master's example assures us that right does finally prevail and that Life and Love are supreme. We need that assurance.

With insight deepened by her own experience Mrs. Eddy writes: "Even the crown of thorns, which mocked the bleeding brow of our blessed Lord, was overcrowned with a diadem of duties done. So let us meekly meet, mercifully forgive, wisely ponder, and lovingly scan the convulsions of mortal mind, that its sudden sallies may help us, not to a start, but to a tenure of unprecarious joy." ^{The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 201;}

Meekness, mercy, wisdom, love—these are the weapons of Christian warfare against the enmity of mortal mind. The mortal world does not value them as weapons. It mocks at one who uses them. Yet, centuries ago, Jesus proved them to be victorious over physical force, greed, hatred, and death. And they are today. We can, and should, use them now in the day-to-day events of our human existence as he did, and prove that these qualities are still "mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds." ^{II Cor. 10:4.}

Each overcoming of evil through their use, even in the smallest of affairs, brings us nearer to winning the royal diadem of dominion and "unprecarious joy."

Naomi Price