Los Angeles herald., 1910-03-13

The Christian world has for ages
been looking upon Jesus the Christ as
the Savior of the world, from the
standpoint of Precipitation that through
his life and death he has reconctled
God to man. He has been thought to
be the sacrifice which would release
men, after death, from the bondage oil
sin. Christian Science declares him to
he the Savior from the standpoint of
decentralization. His early life, cruel
fxion and resurrection gave proof OF
mans unity with God; his words, fol-
lowed by his works, showed how TO
bring to light God S spiritual perfect
man. But, say some, the Master was
divine. Yes: but he shared our human
sense of materiality, and overcame II
through the divine sense, and he salu'
sT am the way" In his great sermon
on the Mount he has made plain, IN
those immortal words known as the
beatitudes. every footstep of the way
of salvation from sin to holiness, from
death to Life. Here he describes the
mental stages of development, leadlng
up to the beatific consciousness OF
eternal harmony, or heaven.
The first step he refers to as q sells S
of spiritual need: blessed are the poor
in spirit" There is perhaps no class
more ready to accept the truth thali
Hose wbo have tasted all the good
things of earth. and with solomon
found them vanity and VeXauoh ol
spirit" The temptation offered by lie
serpent in the garden of Eden was d
"lxnowledge Of good and evil inc
GOOD offered was the allliring phase Of
the lie. and all who have tasted, ina
that it goes hand in hand with the
evil is void of peace and hlled WIN
pain. BY nature it is temporal ana IL
always ends in woe. Says Emerson
"Punishment is q fruit that unsus-
pected ripens within the flower OF inc
pleasure which concealed 1t.
OF those who realize the need of q
permanent good which the world can
not give nor take away, who are reaay
TO look away from the material anu
temporal and to seek life in God eter-
nal Spirit, Jesus said: Theirs Is the
kingdom of heaven When thls selise
of spiritual poverty comes there Is an
awakening from the carnal dream 10
the error of the ways of the world OF
sense: repentance and contrition Tor
mast sins and present shortcomings
possess the thought, and the Master
refers to this blest stage of spiritual
development as they that mourn, Ior
when they have learned In truth the
unreal nature of sin, and the power oi
divine Love to destroy the love ana
fear of sin, "they shall be comforted.
Mortal man then begins to see his
own nothingness; pride is checked ego
tism and self-w baffled, and ne
reaches the third stage, of which 1t is
said, blessed are the meek" This is
n state of consciousness which is ready
to look to higher source for all bless
ings, and to depend upon God for al
temporal as well as eternal needs; For
they shall inherit the earth" Now the
humbled and uplifted consciousness Is
ready to seek and to find the truth
about God and man, and there follows
the inspiring assurance, BLESSED are
they which do hunger and thirst after
righteousness; for they shall be filled
Mrs. Eddy says, Seeking is not suffi-
cient 1t is striving that enables us TO
enter" (Science and Health P. 100.
Righteousness has been defined as right
thinking, right doing, and right know
ing. Every right thought. word or deed
is prompted by Love, and Christian Sci
ence has taught us how to know the
truth about man as Gods perfect idea
and thus we learn TO Judge righteous
judgment"
This leads to the next beatitude'
blessed are the merciful for they
shall obtain mercy" This is in har-
mony with another Of the Masters