Los Angeles herald., 1909-04-12

Truth; the recognition and denial of
error.
Some people do not understand why
it is necessary to deny matter. The
reason is simply this, that the belief in
the reality of matter seems so strongly
established in human consciousness
through heredity, environment and
education that the mere acknowledge
ment or declaration of the allness of
God does not always beget the convic-
ton of the unhealthy of matter; and
the specific denial of matter aids in de-
stroying or lessening this claim in the
human consciousness.
When matter is denied on the basis
of Spirits allneSs, such denial does not
mean humiliation of the individual
man, but it makes the veil of the flesh
thinner, SO that Spirit may illumine all
things with that divine light, which
reveals harmony in place of discord,
health in place of sickness, holiness in
place of sin, success in place of failure,
love in place of hate. Instead of de-
stroying our body and material exist
ence, the knowing of spiritual reality
and of the nothingness of matter,
makes the body well, the present life
harmonious.
There could be no sin, sickness, dis
aster nor death were it not for the be-
lief in the reality of matter, neither
could there be any hypnotism nor
necromancy of any kind. The percep-
ton Of the unreality of matter means
the realization of the nothingness of
the foundation of these discordant
phases of mortal belief and their con-
sequent destruction.
All true being is beautiful and inn
mortal, and it is thus perceived by
spiritual sense. Mrs. Eddy writes:
when we learn the way in
Christian Science and recognize
mans spiritual being, we shall be-
mold and understand Gods crea-
tion-all the glories of earth and
heaven and man."-Science and
Health, page 264.
Cause of Sickness and Sin
Sickness is the result of mesmerism,
Illusion. The human thought listens to
the arguments of mortal mind instead
of refusing to believe them-hence it's
Ills. The sick are asleep in the mes
merism of material sense and need to
be awakened to mans true existence
as Gods child. Christian Science
shows us the way to do this.
The question is often asked why do
we suffer for things that we know
nothing about? To this it may be an
swered that generally accepted beliefs
bring about phenomena which individ-
uals are not responsible for, yet the in
dividual will have such conditions to
meet and overcome because of his
mental identification with this mes
meric state, the belief in matter and in
evil.
So also sin and all evil are mesmeric
illusions. Sin is INDUCED in because
the sinner believes that there is some
good or pleasure in 1t, Some advantage
to be gained by indulgence. This be-
lief in evils reality and the pleasure
it promises is it's only strength, and
when Christian Science reaches the
thought of the sinner and convinces
him that sin ,confers no pleasure and
is but an illusion, and that indulgence
in it results only in suffering and
bondage, the foundation of his belief
is broken and through the Christ love
he awakens to a new life and is healed.
If God is the infinite all, is omnipo-
tent, omnipresent, omniscient good, as
the Bible teaches, evil can have Meth
er power nor existence.
The question is often asked by in
vestigator and student: If God is in
finite Mind and his expression the only
reality, how do you account for mortal
mind and its phenomena?
The difficulty with this question is
its lack of logic. The inquirer starts
with the premise that all reality is in
God, the infinite good, hence that
there can be no real evil-then he adj
mits the existence of something out
side of infinity which the premise
shows cannot exist, and tries to ac-
count for it's existence. This is like
wanting to know why the earth is fiat,
why the sun moves, or why two times
two make five. Should we not first
make sure that there is some truth in
the question before asking or answer
ing it?
If we ask, why does the sun move?
why does a long, straight street be-
come narrower at the farther end? why
does mortal mind exist? the answer in
each case must be ut does not"
1t is folly to try to account for the
existence of a thing that does not ex-
list. If the question is put, why does
the sun seem to move, or how shall
we explain the claim of evil. or all
mortal seeming an entirely different
is presented, and we can
answer simply that there is no gain in
with appearances; we have
simply to Judge and to choose between
the claims of mortal mind and the
facts of divine Mind.
The question, Why did evil seem to
begin? virtually admits it's falsity and
that it's origin is only belief.
Ask yourself frankly, Can a thing
that does not exist ever have begin
ming except as a belief?
Vain Questionings
Mankind's mistake lies in not being
willing to admit material sense to be
wrong, as witness the criminal perse-
cution of Calico for discovering the
earth to be round, and of Copernicus
for discovering that the earth moves,
and of many other brave reformers
who have dared to take a stand which
was opposed to the accepted theories
of the world.
! Further. what is it that asks these
questions about the existence of NOR
tai mind? Does Truth, does the inf
mite intelligence, the only real, ask
questions about unreality, its utter UNI
likeness? Obviously not, for in the
exist. 1t is mortal mind itself that does
this; hence whenever such questions
are asked we can always be helped by
knowing how Truth would answer
them. We shall then be safe.
We are not helped by trying to ac-
count for mortal mind, by pondering
over its origin. its phenomena, wonder
ing why we are in this belief and how
we got here. Contemplating an error
does not correct the error. Truth alone
it, and our work is to awake
to the truth of being, become disillu-
stoned, by distinguishing between real
ity and unreality, and opening thought
to that only which is real and true and
good.
Jesus said of evil simply, 1T is al
liar and the father of it," and he pro-
ceeded to solve the problem of evil in
the only way it can, be solved, viz. by
denying and destroying 1T.
Mrs. Eddy Loved and Honored
1t is not to be wondered at, indeed
it is Inevitable, that Christian Scien-
lists should love Mrs. Eddy for having