The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1909-05-20

insight and secure his point of view:
For what must have been his sense
OF the real power that lies back OF
chemical activity and chemical aiiin'
ity, when he turned water into wine?
What must have been his relation to
the elements and forces about him
the wave, What was his conception
Of the nature of Life when he healed
the sick and raised the dead? And
what his understanding of the law
of Mind when, with a spoken word or
an unuttered thought, he restored
the lunatic and demonaic to rational
poise and power? From all these
mighty workings We can be sure of
this, That Jesus understood that the
government of the Universe is con-
stituted in spiritual power and spirit
ual law; but this is only another way
of saying that Jesus understood that
the real universe is spiritual, and not
material,
Jesus teachings and works, then,
set before us an idealism that eX-
cludes matter and evil, and includes
all good. The Christian Scientist
frankly. squarely adopts this ideal
ism, and he meets every manifesto
ton of evil, whether OF sickness, sin,
poverty, sorrow, disaster, with a posi-
tive denial of its power or reality, and
an affirmation of the allness and good
ness of God; and just in the degree
of his spiritual clearness and under
standing, he supports these state
ments by demonstration.
The Practicability Of the 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
teachings of Jesus? Could any doc
trine be more radical than hat of
the Master? And the same objection
was brought against Him. Everyone
whoever brought to the world any
innovation that should mark one dis.
tinct march in the line of progress in
any direction, has been greeted by
the same old objection, You go too
far" When the inventor of the steam
locomotive appeared before a com
mittee of Parliament to explain his
new invention, he was asked if it
would be possible for coaches drawn
by a steam locomotive to travel as
fast as ten miles an hour, and his an
swer was that it would. Then he was
questioned as to the possibility of
travelling at the rate of twelve, fif-
teen, twenty, twenty-five or even thir-
ty 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 nothing more
to do with such an impracticable
dreamer. He went too far" So OF
the steamship, the telegraph, the tel.
ephone; 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 mnrn StrannnuClu hos All, oh.o1
ton been urged against the philoso
piers and prophets who have dared
to think ahead of their generation and
urge their people to higher ideals
The hemlock cup, the cross, the stake,
have been among the penalties that
have awaited such as these. Strage
ly, inevitably has it ever been the
case that n who. has brought to his
generation a ~heaven-born truth tha,
would lift them to higher levels OF
thinking and living, has always been
met, not only by the worlds scoru
and derision, but by its malice and
persecution; and even his brethren
have greeted him with the biting
gibe, Behold this dreamer cometh. >
and then have sold him into Egypt
} But the one who, with the conviction
} OF a divine ideal, is Egyp.'s bondman
! today, stands next to the throne to
{ morrow; and his brethren come tc
{ his feet to buy the bread that will
\ save their lives. The worlds light
J bringers and light-bearers have al
} been the ~dreamers. the idealists
whose only transgression was tina
, they went too far.
4 A woman once heard Wendell Phi
Z lips. In q lecture. say that God neve