The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-01-22

II SNAAS AAGA ~ I HONIAG II SAObC
The ability OF his disciples to perpet.
uate Christian healing was also the
result Of what Jesus taught them
about God. Even 50. the ability of q
Christian Scientist to heal the sick and
SHINING through prayer is wholly due
to a better understanding Of God, who
Is the divine Principle of mans ex.
istence. This is in agreement with the
Scriptural command to 'Acquaint now
thyseH with him, and be at peace
How then shall we gain the divine ac-
quaintance that sets US free from men
tai and physical disturbance?
Divine Acquaintance.
One of the earliest ways of gaining
an insight into the realm of God was
given by Moses in the Ten Command
ments. He led people to think Of the
divine nature as manifested not
through a form but through weil-de-
fined laws. Idolatry had its origin
dn thinking of God as a form. When
men undertook to fashion what they
might conceive the precise form of
God to be they became %thereby idol
ators, against which we have the sec
second commandment of the Decalogue.
AS divine Principle, manifesting His
power. intelligence. and loving kind
ness through well-defined laws, He can
be understood. In this way the di-
vine nature is actually recognized and
the existence of God is seen to make
a tremendous difference in the proper
government of Christian nations, as
well as individuals. God communicates
His nature through His laws, and,
spiritually interpreted, they define life
and health to men; for this is life
eternal, that they might know thee
the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom thou has sent"
Jesus declared his relationship to
this same law in his Sermon on the
Mount; for there he said: Think not
that I am come to destroy the law.
or the prophets: I am not come to
destroy, but to fulfill" Having said
this, he undertook to teach this law,
not so much intellectually, as by q di-
rect appeal to ones moral or spiritual
nature. Not that intellectual training
should be ~disapproved; for, on the con-
trary, the right sort of training is
necessary to the proper conduct of
everyday affairs. But the one thing
Of special Importance in this connec-
ton is the fact that Jesus addressed
himself, not so much to the intellects
of the disciples, as he did to their
spiritual faculties; to their natural
tenderness and spiritual aspirations.
He recognized that one who has never
enjoyed the advantages of an education
may nave a spiritual sense as we'll
developed, if not superior, to that OF a
studen Some of his disciples were
humble fishermen, with no intellectual
training. Others had we'll trained in
tellects. But that which made them
all mt students of the divine nature
was a well-developed spiritual faculty.
for spiritual things must be spiritually
dlscerned. BY addressing himself to
those faculties, Jesus conveyed to them
h actual meaning or understanding
or the divine law that communicates
Gods healing power to humanity.
Herein do we observe an understanding
that is wholly apart from the human
1ntelect,-an understanding to which
Job referred, when he said, There is
q spirit in man; and the inspiration
Of the Almighty giveth them UNDER
standing" 1t is this spiritual under
standing of God, that we gain through
to Him that heals the sick in
every age.
Right Desires.
If an individual is made to believe
that he has no faculty for a~pprehend-
ing spiritual law, he is cheered in
christian Science by the sweet assur-
ance n a mel are natively and in
herentiy spiritual. They need to recog-
nize the latent forces of good already
within them. Even the supposedly
wicked may know God and be saved
from his evil ways. This it not a
mere high sounding theory, for it is q
saying that no one is wholly
for there must be at least q. spark
goodness in him. Suppose, then.
n a you address yourself to some
very wicked man and ask him If he
has ever experienced the desire to he
and to do better; has he really
to be good? Few will DENY
there have been periods when
have entertained such desires.
Where do these desires to be good
come from? What is their origin?
Surely they must have their origin
In the infinity OF good; ana that is
what we mean by God-ininite good:
the n source of all right desires-of
desire to be good, honest, tender.
and kind. Whoever e~ntertains such
right desires and looks in their direc-
ton is looking towards God, and this
Is not so much a bodily movement
It Is q state OF Consciousness: in
deed, a state of spiritual conscious
ness. When our sense of right cor
responds to Gods idea of right, then
those right desires must originate in
God. 1t is to be noted, therefore. that
desire to be good never originates
N the individual. 1t originates in God.
He is the source of its activity. the
Principle of Its being and existence.
Goodness Not Personal.
II n origin of goodness were in
the human sense, it would not be of
Sod, and would not therefore be good
but evil. There are those, neverthe-
less, who believe their goodness to be
personal possession, humanity cir
1unscribed. Such a sense of posses
sion or control yer a divine quality
rise to the belief that man can
separate from God. or that he can
the quality altogether and fall.
-aboring under such a false belief,
one's warfare against evil becomes
Ineffective. mi the consequent suffer-
ng Is but the result Of a false belief.
Those who glory in their belief Of
goodness should heed the Scripture
lbout vessels Of wrath fitted to de-
.'truction, for the right OF a mans
vii as against that Of God is as nom
existent as that Of an earthen vessel
the potter who made 1t. The
,ne who comes to Christian Science
healing. knowing that he does not