Christian Science: The Practical Road to Heaven
Ella H. Hay, C.S., of Indianapolis, Indiana
Member of the Board of Lectureship of The Mother Church,
The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts
The lecturer spoke substantially as follows:
Heaven! A challenging word and thought-provoking! Do not all have glimpses of heaven, glimpses of the peace, bliss, harmony, and freedom which the word "heaven" bespeaks? Most of us are led to self-analysis by the thought of heaven. Within the heart is a yearning for purity, a longing to find happiness, satisfaction, and peace in the things of Spirit.
Fewer people now than in the past think of heaven as a far-off place to be reached only after death; but there are many who do not know what and where heaven really is, nor do they feel assured of reaching it. Christian Science, discovered and founded by Mary Baker Eddy, reveals the practical road to the kingdom.
Heaven is defined in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," by its author, Mrs. Eddy (p. 587), as "Harmony; the reign of Spirit; government by divine Principle; spirituality; bliss; the atmosphere of Soul." Christ Jesus spoke often of heaven. Through parable and precept he caused his followers to be on familiar terms with the kingdom. He said (Matt. 4:17), "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And again (Luke 17:21), "Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." Christ Jesus furthermore pointed out that to enter the kingdom of spiritual harmony we must become as little children. He said (Matt. 18:4), "Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
My friends, all of us really hunger and thirst for righteousness, and long to know of heaven, where it is and how to reach it. Are we willing to be as little children, to surrender pride of intellect, fear, and preconceived opinions on science, theology, and medicine? The childlike thought is receptive, is ready to accept the goodness of God and be blessed by it.
The Way Out of Discord
The absence of heaven or harmony is hell. Understood in the light of Christian Science the Bible shows that hell has no basis, since God made all that was made, and made it good. The Psalmist said (Ps. 139:8), "If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there."
Christian Science teaches that hell is a depraved state of consciousness, the apparent absence of understanding and demonstration of God, omnipotent and omnipresent Spirit, and of man made in His likeness, wholly spiritual. Man is not in or of matter nor governed by its so-called laws. He is entirety separate from beliefs of youth, age, sin, disease, poverty, and hell.
The various Scriptural names for God — Mind, Spirit, creator, Life, Truth, Love — are accepted by Christian Science as indicative of His all-loving, all-wise, all-knowing, and all-seeing nature.
Immortal life, coincident with heaven, is not reached by physical dying but by spiritual knowing. The Scriptures indicate that to gain eternal life or heaven we must understand God and discern the significance of the words and works of Christ Jesus. The Master said (John 17:3), "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou halt sent."
Mrs. Eddy speaks of Jesus, the Way-shower, as (Science and Health, p. 589), "The highest human corporeal concept of the divine idea, rebuking and destroying error and bringing to light man's immortality." Jesus manifested the divine nature of Christ and is forever known as Christ Jesus. Christ is defined by Mrs. Eddy (ibid., p. 583), "The divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error."
The Christ or divine nature is expressed by the real man, and man is fully aware of his divine nature. He does not progress out of hell and into heaven, but is now at the standpoint of perfection. The view of man just given describes the real selfhood of you and of me, although to our immature spiritual vision the sinless perfection of the real man does not yet appear in its fullness.
Rejection of Idolatry Essential to Progress
Human progress, resulting from mankind's struggle for spiritual light and understanding, is the underlying theme of the Bible. Numerous analogies exist between the struggles of Scriptural characters and ours. For instance, the effort of the Israelites to free themselves from the bondage of the Egyptians and our efforts to attain heaven through progress out of fear, sin, disease, and false beliefs of science, theology, and medicine parallel each other in many ways.
The outstanding lesson to be learned from study of the journey of the Israelites to the promised land is the importance of absolute faith in God and of steadfast obedience to divine law. Always when the progress of the Israelites was delayed, the cause was idolatry, failure to obey God. Disobedience is the offspring of human will. Humility ensures progress. Willingness to follow Jesus in his prayer (Luke 22:42), "Not my will, but thine, be done," ensures progress on the heavenward journey. Mrs. Eddy writes (Science and Health, p. 33), "When the human element in him struggled with the divine, our great Teacher said: 'Not my will, but Thine, be done!' — that is, Let not the flesh, but the Spirit, be represented in me." Also she writes (ibid., p. 146), "The first idolatry was faith in matter."
Now, as in the time of the journey out of Egypt, progress heavenward demands obedience to God and rejection of idolatry. Faith in matter subtracts from enlightened faith in divine Love, where all faith should rest. Why trust non-intelligent matter to heal? Why accord sensation and intelligence to that which even according to physical science is proved to be without sensation or intelligence? Matter is not a factor in real being, nor is mortal mind, which forms its own images of pain and pleasure in matter and parades them before view. Let us turn from matter, reject as unworthy its promises of happiness and satisfaction, and accept the Christ, the true idea of God.
The Christ comes to the receptive thought as a soft glow of ineffable love, comes as serenely and surely as the dawn comes to the fullness of day. The Christ comes not with aggression, not with noise of trumpet, nor with material pomp and ceremony, but with healing and regeneration, enabling us to follow the example of the Master, doing the works that he did. The Christ leads along the road to heaven through the positive, constructive, gentle, disciplining force of divine Love.
From the Mount of Revelation the Road to Heaven Is Clearly Discerned
In the seventeenth chapter of Matthew we read that Jesus took Peter and James and John into a high mountain and was transfigured before them. There they saw Moses and Elias talking with Jesus. The three disciples probably caught a glimpse of what must have been evident already to Jesus, the divine nature and eternality of man.
Evidence of the continuity of existence was before them. What they saw was not a return of spirits, but evidence of the spiritual and indestructible nature of man established in heaven, harmony. The disciples apparently lost sight of the vision. Jesus must have had it consistently.
The mount of revelation is not a place but a state of consciousness. Wherever the Christ is active in consciousness, dispelling beliefs of life, substance, and intelligence in matter, there is the mount of revelation. There the sinner forsakes sin and finds satisfaction in Spirit. There poverty gives place to affluence. There the impaired find sight restored, hearing quickened, and usefulness made manifest.
Through the study and practice of Christian Science we gain the spiritual discernment evidenced on the mount. Reason and revelation unite in affording clear views of the eternality of life and the divine nature of man. The student of Christian Science treasures his glimpses of heaven. They point the way out of material theories, traditional theology, medical and hygienic laws, therapy, and mortal mind analysis. The seeker for spirituality learns to listen for and hear the voice of God as clearly as the naturalist hears the song of the thrush above the din of traffic. Thought attuned to spiritual strains is aware of divine leading.
Let us watch, work, and pray for the establishment of thought on spiritual reality, on the Rock, Christ. The Daily Prayer of Christian Scientists reads (Manual of The Mother Church, Art. VIII, Sect. 4), "'Thy kingdom come;' let the reign of divine Truth, Life, and Love be established in me, and rule out of me all sin; and may Thy Word enrich the affections of all mankind, and govern them!" Herein is implied earnest desire and willingness to make consistent effort to spiritualize thought and action, to obey the commands of God, and follow the example of the Way-shower.
The Sermon on the Mount begins (Matt. 5). "Seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: and he opened his mouth, and taught them." "When he was set"! Jesus spoke with authority because his consciousness was established on the Rock, Christ. He knew that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. His thought was established on the perfection of God and man. The Sermon on the Mount is a clear exposition of the way to forsake discord and travel along the practical road to heaven.
A veteran lumberman told me that in the early days when lost in the woods he sought the highest elevation in the locality, climbed to the top of the highest tree, got his bearings, climbed down, and found his way out. The earnest student lifts his thought to spiritual reality, and is assured of getting his bearing and finding the way out of discord.
Where is the mount of transfiguration? Right where the seeker turns from carnality to Spirit and puts off mortal beliefs — sin, sickness, fear, and limitations — there is the mount of transfiguration; there is consciousness of the eternality of man, of harmonious life, of heaven. The mount is a state of thought such as Paul and Silas experienced when they sang praises although in prison, bound with chains and well guarded. So uplifted and free was their thought that they could not be held in bondage. Peter in prison felt the uplifting impetus of the Christ. The door of the prison opened, and the gate of the city opened "of his own accord" (Acts 12:10). Peter's thought was imbued with truth and love, hence in accord with spiritual freedom. Neither prison door nor city gate could hold him prisoner.
Mary Baker Eddy reached the mount of revelation through prayer, watching, and working. From childhood her unusual spirituality was evident. Her thought rose naturally to spiritual heights. She climbed steadily over obstacles of traditional theology, medical so-called laws, and false education. She examined material and materially mental means of healing while searching for the rule of Christian healing. She found nothing in these systems on which to base Christian Science. Through reason, revelation, and demonstration the rule of Christian healing as practiced through Christian Science was eventually discovered. Christian Science is the reinstatement of primitive Christianity with its element of healing. It has nothing in common with mental suggestion, hypnotism, or any type of mortal mind analysis. It is Christian healing, healing through prayer. Even before her discovery of Christian Science, in several instances she healed herself and others through prayer. After her discovery of Christian Science her healings were comparable to those recorded in Scripture.
Objectors sometimes say that Christian Scientists accord to Mrs. Eddy the place that should be given to Christ Jesus. One who reads Science and Health sees readily that this objection has no basis. Christian Science is based largely on the words, works, and teachings of Christ Jesus. Throughout Mrs. Eddy's writings the reader is admonished to follow the Way-shower's example and obey his commands. Christian Scientists are grateful to Christ Jesus. They are grateful to Mrs. Eddy, and recognize her to be a spiritual prophet in this age and a great benefactor of humanity.
True Christianity Practical and Workable
None has ever been more practical than Christ Jesus. He understood and taught that men's thinking must be governed by spiritual law in order to experience salvation. Christ Jesus did not preach partial salvation, the reforming of the sinner but the ignoring of the sick. He preached full salvation. He restored the whole man because he understood the spiritual nature of man as God's expression, wholly free, the manifestation of divine Mind, the witness of infinite Truth, the representation of limitless Life. To him salvation meant freedom from sickness as well as from sin. It meant the overcoming of poverty, greed, limitations, self-righteousness, self-pity, and all that claims to obstruct the path heavenward. He warned against making clean the outside of the cup and the platter, while within were wickedness and extortions. His practical admonition was (Matt 6:33), "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." It is as if he had said: "Matter is not substantial, Spirit is. Therefore seek Spirit. Do God's will. Forsake sin. Seek full salvation." We must claim the sinless nature of man, claim the eternality and harmony of Life, God. We must love God and our neighbor. This is the way of health, joy, purity, and success, the true status of man.
The Master gave practical evidence that the understanding of God and of man as His image heals all manner of discord. He bade his followers speak with authority to evil. He illustrated the force of spiritual convictions by saying that if they should say to the mountain to move to yonder place, and not doubt in their hearts, that it would remove, and nothing would be impossible to them.
Christ Jesus taught and healed in demonstration of an exact Science, the Science of pure Christianity. The Science of his mighty works was brought to light in this age through the discovery of Christian Science.
Forsaking Materiality Essential to Progress
The Scriptural incident of Achan and the "goodly Babylonish garment" [see Joshua 7] illustrates the necessity of clearing our mental homes of sin and desire for materiality. Materiality is the obstacle in the way of spiritual progress. On their journey to the promised land the Israelites had covenanted to consecrate the precious metals and take with them only the things needful for their journey. Achan coveted wealth, and hid some metals under his tent, and also "a goodly Babylonish garment." The progress of the Israelites was halted. Joshua prayed. It was revealed to him that disobedience had caused the reversal. Achan was apprehended. The punishment was swift and severe.
Does our progress along the road to heaven appear delayed? If so, let us look well into the mental home for hidden error. Have we hidden a desire for wealth or prestige? Do we secretly or openly long for material place and power? Is resentment for a real or fancied wrong hidden in thought? Are apathy and fear cluttering our mental homes?
The rich young ruler who asked the Master how to find eternal life had progressed far along the road of attainment by his faithful obedience to the commandments. But he failed to reach the goal because of the grasp worldly things had on him (see Matt. 19). He wanted to find the road to eternal life, but he could not bear to get rid of his dependence on material possessions. He left the presence of the Master with sorrow. Why with sorrow? According to his own standard materiality was good and to be chosen rather than heavenly riches. Why then was he sorrowful? Because joy wanes before too much trust in the material possessions. This young ruler's contact with the Master had given him a glimpse of the Christ. We may well doubt if ever again did he find satisfaction in the riches he had chosen in place of the Christ. Not loss but gain is ours through dropping earth weights and encumbrances and accepting the Christ.
The effort of the earnest student of Christian Science is neither to accumulate matter nor to get rid of it, but to demonstrate infinite Spirit as all and matter nothing. Matter is a false belief, neither real nor substantial, but actually substanceless. Right where matter appears to be, there is the allness of Spirit, the presence of omnipresent good.
Mrs. Eddy writes (Science and Health, p. 514): "In the figurative transmission from the divine thought to the human, diligence, promptness, and perseverance are likened to 'the cattle upon a thousand hills.' They carry the baggage of stern resolve, and keep pace with highest purpose." Stern resolve is the baggage needed in traveling along the road to the kingdom of heaven. If burdened with the baggage of disease one does well sternly to resolve to regard disease as temptation, to reject it as unreal and untrue because unlike God, and to accept the Christ with its healing and regeneration. By carrying through to conclusion the stern resolve to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness one dissolves the baggage of ingratitude, expressed in poverty, insufficiency, and complaining. The resolve to advance peace in one's individual experience dispels the earth load of strife, right where he is, and operates to leaven the thought of mankind.
Righteous Prayer Ensures Progress
The purpose of prayer is to lift thought to conscious communion with God. From the foot of the mountain the view is limited. It broadens as we ascend. From the mount of revelation we see the way and gain spiritual strength to walk in it. On the practical road to heaven the seeker finds his feet treading steadily towards the heights to which his thought has readily ascended.
Prayer is the wakening from the dream of life, substance, and intelligence in matter. It is accepting Spirit and its manifestations as all. Prayer is not prodding God nor merely petitioning God for things or material favors. It is petitioning for purity and spiritual enlightenment. It is awakening to His goodness, accepting His bounty, and acknowledging His power. Mrs. Eddy writes (ibid, p. 1), "Desire is prayer." An old proverb reads, "Watch well thy wish lest it fill thy dish." Material desires and aims are manifested in limitation, bondage, and suffering. Spiritual desires result in harmony, happiness, peace, health, and satisfaction.
Christian Science teaches that prayer is not to be used to bring about material ends. Christian Scientists do not start out to demonstrate houses, lands, or even healthy bodies through prayer. They demonstrate or prove the power of divine Principle. The demonstration of divine Principle is manifested in strength, health, happiness, and abundance.
A woman stated to a Christian Science practitioner that she wanted to sell her station wagon and asked for treatment. The practitioner replied lovingly that Christian Science treatment is not used to demonstrate human will but the divine, and is never used to further human outlining. The practitioner added, "A Christian Science treatment will enhance your willingness to submit to God's will, which is always good." The woman replied humbly that her real desire was to let God's will be done, and she asked for treatment. She called later to say that the treatment had been effective. She had not sold the station wagon and was glad. An unforeseen need for it had arisen. Human will had been quieted through prayer, and her thought had been opened for an unfoldment of good for herself and family which was far greater than the good she had been humanly outlining.
The importance and value of prayer or communion with God cannot be overestimated. It is said of Martin Luther that he once remarked that he could not possibly do all he had to do without spending at least three hours a day in prayer.
Righteous prayer needs no aid from matter in healing the sick. This prayer magnifies good, accepts the Christ as the motive power of thought, word, and deed, rejects matter and its so-called laws, and lifts thought above mental and physical horizons to unlimited spiritual views of God and man. Such prayer emphasizes obedience to God, love for our neighbor, service to God, the one master, and a consistent search for the kingdom of God and His righteousness. This prayer plants good seed in good ground, where it springs up and bears abundant fruit in healthy, useful experience.
Radical Reliance Requisite
No destination has ever been reached by attempting to walk in two directions at the same time. To look to both drugs and God for healing is to serve two masters. Spirit, God, and matter are opposites and cannot work together in promoting harmony. Spirit is all. Matter is nothing. Right where matter appears to be, there is Spirit, governing and sustaining the spiritual universe through divine law.
Beginners in the study of Christian Science are sometimes reluctant to give up drugs on which they have relied. Faith in drugs, hygiene, vitamins, and calories subtracts from faith in God, where all faith should rest. Right reasoning, based on the perfection of God and man, opens thought to the acceptance of the Christ, which is the healer in every case. Reason, rightly based, lifts thought to the mount of revelation, where transfiguration is witnessed in health, happiness, and harmony.
It is sometimes objected that nothing is being done for the sick when healing is sought through Christian Science instead of through medicine or surgery. Christian Scientists have no quarrel with those who believe the healing of physical disease comes only through medical channels. We disagree with them, and with good reason, since great numbers have turned from material means to Christian Science only as a last resort and have been healed.
Can it be logically said that nothing is being done for the sick when prayer, the medicine of Mind, is used instead of material remedies? Will any true Christian affirm that praying for the sick is doing nothing for them? Or will a Christian believe in his heart that the omnipotent Father needs aid from matter in order to save and heal? Enlightened prayer does everything for the sick. Prayer wakens the sick and the sinning to man's God-given heritage of strength, health, and freedom. One should never fail to put his trust in God, and he never will, once he has glimpsed the great fact that the Christ is here today to heal and save as surely as in the day in which Christ Jesus walked among men.
Scripture says (James 5:15), "the prayer of faith shall save the sick." What is the faith that saves the sick? Mrs. Eddy writes (Science and Health, p. vii): "Ignorance of God is no longer the stepping-stone to faith. The only guarantee of obedience is a right apprehension of Him whom to know aright is Life eternal." We must know Him as Mind, the grand creator, all-wise and all-knowing, as Spirit, omniscient and omnipotent, filling all space, as Life, harmonious and eternal, and as Love, ever enforcing divine law and establishing harmony, beauty, and peace.
In answer to the teacher's question, "What is faith?" a child in a Christian Science Sunday School replied, "Faith means that when God says a thing it is just that way." When we understand God as divine Principle, we see that His edicts of health and harmony are changeless. When we know Him as Love, we feel His compassion and tender care, eternally manifested. And when we grasp the fact that He is Mind, the only Mind, we see that intelligence, wisdom, and strength are permanent, spiritual, not subject to chance, change, or length of days. Material phenomena may change, but the eternal Father remains "just that way."
Forward Steps
Forward steps in the demonstration of heaven or harmony are evidenced by marked loss of faith in matter and increased awareness of the power and presence of God. The traveler on the practical road to heaven ceases to honor material so-called law, either by fear of it or obedience to it. His conviction, based on reason, revelation, and demonstration, that man is the expression of divine Mind, gives him freedom in his work and in his play, in his vocational and avocational pursuits.
On our heavenward journey we are constantly challenged to prove the perfection of the real man and the nothingness of matter. Evidence of injury, accident, disease, poverty, strife, impairment, and fear should quicken our effort to see the real in place of the counterfeit. The healing of physical disease is essential in making progress on the practical road to heaven. Sickness, poverty, frustration, and failure cannot enter heaven, harmony.
Let me illustrate the healing of disease in Christian Science. A young woman who had re-entered the teaching profession, after a number of years at home with her family, became ill with pneumonia which developed into tuberculosis. X-ray pictures revealed the disease, and the physician said that it was imperative for her to enter a sanatorium at once and remain at least a year.
During her childhood this woman had experienced the healing power of Christ, Truth, as demonstrated in Christian Science. She now sought help from a Christian Science practitioner. The practitioner lovingly assured her that she need not fear, since man expresses God and is governed by divine law, not by material so-called laws. Discerning that the young woman was resentful over the fact that financial stringency had forced her to re-enter the schools, the practitioner helped her to see that God guides our careers, and that loving service to our fellow man is never penalized by fatigue, disease, or any discord.
Together, the practitioner and patient reasoned that matter has no intelligence to claim disease, to cause it, to feel it, or to name it, and that mortal mind, being a nonentity, could not establish a diseased condition and force it upon her. They clung earnestly and prayerfully to the fact that God is the only cause, that He made no element that could consume or be consumed. Their prayer was steadfast and persistent, based on spiritual understanding and the conviction that His is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.
The patient's thought changed promptly. Confidence in the power of God dispelled fear. Seeing that loving, intelligent service to her fellow man was actually serving God, she was freed from resentment. The second X ray was taken. This was a requirement for school-teachers in her state. To the amazement of the physician who had treated her, she was found wholly restored. The second X ray was taken about six weeks after the treatment given in Christian Science.
It is not Christian Science to ignore error. The earnest student accepts every erroneous condition as a challenge to see perfection where imperfection appears to be. He rejects sense testimony as unreliable, and thanks God that the real man, the idea of Spirit, is not injured, has lost no part of himself, is not dishonest, sinful, sick, poverty-stricken, aggressive, or unlovely. Man is strong, poised, honest, pure, and free.
The Christian Scientist often speaks of his prayer in overcoming sin, sickness, and limitations as doing his work. By this he means that he stands porter at the door of thought and admits only what is spiritual and constructive into consciousness.
Work in Christian Science includes the realization that inharmony of every kind is unreal because not in accordance with the nature and character of God. Mrs. Eddy writes (Message to The Mother Church for 1900, p. 2), "The right thinker works; he gives little time to society manners or matters, and benefits society by his example and usefulness." The important and well-paying work for each one of us is to recognize that God's work is done, and that it is good, not subject to chance or change.
How to Progress Most Rapidly
One may ask, "How can I make steady progress along the practical road to heaven?" A similar question is fully answered in Science and Health, page 495. The answer begins: "Study thoroughly the letter and imbibe the spirit. Adhere to the divine Principle of Christian Science and follow the behests of God, abiding steadfastly in wisdom, Truth, and Love."
It is important to our progress to recognize the fact that sense testimony is always unreliable. A paragraph in Science and Health sets forth contrasting sets of terms representing contraries which never assimilate. A portion of the paragraph reads (p. 466): "Truth is limitless; error is limited. Truth is intelligent; error is non-intelligent. Moreover, Truth is real, and error is unreal. This last statement contains the point you will most reluctantly admit, although first and last it is the most important to understand."
It requires discipline of thought to overcome the false education which has thoroughly indoctrinated mankind with beliefs of life, substance, and intelligence in matter. Through spiritual understanding we rise above sense testimony. The inquiring thought is open, receptive, ready to understand. Moses turned aside to see why the burning bush was not consumed (Ex. 3). The moment he was ready to turn from sense testimony and inquire into this unusual phenomenon, a burning bush unconsumed, at that moment he received assurance of God's presence with him in his great work of leading his people out of Egypt.
We should strive for spiritual discernment such as revealed the eternality of life to Jesus and his three disciples on the mount of revelation; such as led Moses to discern God as the great I AM, not expendable; such as caused Hagar to see a well of water in the desert; and such as revealed to Mrs. Eddy that all is infinite Spirit and its infinite expression.
Joy Is Evidence of Progress Along the Road to Heaven
Joy is evidence that we are exchanging sense testimony for spiritual awareness of the perfection of God and man. Sin, suffering, chance, and change never touch the real man. One who realizes this fact finds true happiness. God's thoughts constitute his wealth; the utilization of spiritual ideas, his business; praise and salvation, his garments; and Truth, his food. Said the Psalmist (Ps. 139:17). "How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!"
Regardless of the recurrence of turbulent thoughts, which the testimony of the senses forces upon us, one who is set on attaining heaven is not discouraged, fearful, or apathetic. His consciousness is established on the Rock, Christ. He reminds himself frequently that he need not respond to false thinking, to fear, material desires, or apathy. The assurance of the reality of good and the unreality of error puts a song in his heart every step of the way. If temporarily cast into the slough of despond, he examines thought, rejects desire for place and prestige, and faces discouragement, apathy, indifference, and hatred of truth with moral courage. The true concept of God and man is joy-giving and health-promoting.
Having glimpsed heaven from the mount of revelation, the seeker watches his thought diligently, faithfully, and joyously and as positively and constructively as the mountain traveler watches for the glory of the sunrise. The vision of reality sustains us as we move steadily forward. The stress of surrounding obstacles engendered by fear, unbelief, and false education is lost sight of in the glory of the view and the assurance of reaching heaven, our goal. In the words of Mrs. Eddy (Science and Health, p. 76): "The sinless joy, — the perfect harmony and immortality of Life, possessing unlimited divine beauty and goodness without a single bodily pleasure or pain, — constitutes the only veritable. indestructible man, whose being is spiritual. This state of existence is scientific and intact, — a perfection discernible only by those who have the final understanding of Christ in divine Science."
[1956. Scriptural reference added to the transcript in brackets above.]