Los Angeles herald., 1907-09-30

form and fitness come TO obtain? Who
first thought it? God must first have
thought it, Ind man, in recognizing this
is only thinking Gods thought after him
This truth is reflected in Gods creation
and in human understanding, and as this
is recognized it is practically applied.
Is demonstrated. So the law that like
causes produce like causes-like begets
like. Here is a universal condition. a
universal relation that is a thought of
God reflected in all his creation. Man
reflects this in understanding and in
reasoning and applying it he is only
thinking another of Gods thoughts after
Him. And thus in the whole range OF
the divine activity man as the Divine
likeness reflects the intelligence and en-
ergfes of the Divine Mind, and just in
the degree that this is seen and under
stood these divine resources become
available in practical demonstration.
Material Sense Hides
1.-THE one condition of entering into
these resources is in knowing that the
material sense of things hides while the
spiritual sense reveals them. Thought
will be finally understood and seen in all
form, substance and color, but without
material accomplishments Then 1t will
appear that man and the universe are
spiritual and not material. :
But If the real man is spiritual how
| shall we explain the so-called physical
4 body from which so largely we have
heretofore drawn our definition of man?
Well, we often use term which exact
lily indicates how it should be regarded,
when we call 1t the human figure. For
what is figure? 1t is a sign to indi-
cate an individual number.
For instance, we think the number
three and we indicate it by the figure
three. But the number is thing of
mind and exists as concept in mind
whether or not we use any figure to In
dicate 1t. The figure we use will express
our concept of the number. Suppose,
however, that we have mistaken the num-
ber-that we have in thought the wrong
number; we will inevitably express this
mistaken concept in the wrong hgure, ara
this is just what that which is called the
human body does-it expresses the mis-
taken concept of man.
"Obviousy. our concept of ourselves
will be right when it comedies with
| Gods conception of us. Now what
must be the divine concept of the man
| whom God creates? We may be very
| sure of this, may we not, that when
| God creates a man he will create him
| according to his own ideal of the man
| who is to be his own likeness! HOW
high and how far will that ideal go?
| Certainly Gods idea of what man
1
| our own.
| LET our concept of a perfect man
rise TO the zenith of it's ideal, yet the
divine concept must be immeasuraply
beyond this. Then surely, such q
divine ideal must constitute the real
man, who is Gods idea. Our work
| then is to gain some notion as TO What
this perfect man is. Step by STEP
stage by stage, our concept and con-
| we
will be putting off the false material.
imperfect concept of ourself. for the
perfect spiritual, divine ideal Step
| by step we shall thus put off the OLD
man, which is corrupt according TO the
deceitful lusts,' and in his place put
| on the new man, which after GOD is
| created in righteousness and true hoh-
ness
"When we have finally escaped from
the false sense, the mistaken concept
of man, we shall know as we are
known and shall be satisfied because
we have awaked with his likeness
| But to reach this we must begin by
| graspin and holding this divine Ideal
as the only reality of our being, here
and now, and so continue until mere
or hereafter this ideal is fully realized
| "Then all that is real in human con-
seriousness is a reflection of the divine
4 u.
fleets the activity of Cod. In the
words of Jesus, The Son can do moth
| ing of himself, but what he sees the
Father do, for what things .soever he
doeth, these also doeth the Son like
wise
PracticabiIlty of Ideal
"The public attitude of thought re-
garding Christian Science is today one
| of increasing friendliness. The one
objection that constantly recurs is
! you go too far But does Chris tian
Science go any further than the teach-
ings of Jesus? Could any doctrine be
more radical than that of the Master?
And the same objection was brought
4 against him. Every one who ever
brought to the world any innovation
that should mark one distinct march in
! the line of progress in any direction
has been greeted by the same old OBJ
| lection, you go too far When the in
ventor Of the steam locomotive appeared
before a committee of parliament to
explain his new invention, he was
asked If 1t would be possible for
coaches drawn by steam locomotive
to travel as fast as ten miles an hour,
and his answer was that 1t would.
| Then he was questioned as to the pos
sibility of travelling at the rate OF
twelve. fifteen, twenty, twenty-five.
and even thirty miles an hour, and he
averred that this would all be possible.
"This was all so far beyond the
range of any rational acceptance for
these wise men that they wanted moth
ing more to do with such an impracti-
cable dreamer. He went too far. So
of the steamship, the telegraph, the
telephone; the men who first believed
and advocated the possibility of these
things were met by the same old OBJ
jection-they were going too far.
"And far more strenuousIy has this
objection been urged against the phil
osophers and prophets who have dared
to think ahead of their generation and
urge their people to higher ideals. The
hemloclx cup. the cross, the stake have
been among the penalties that have
awaited such as these.
Strangely inevitably has It ever