Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1916-05-01
Christian Science
Lecture
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Continued from Page Two.)
the water in its movement toward the
sea, how much more certain it is thai
equally perfect spiritual law exists t.
guide the footsteps of tired and dis
couraged human beings out of the
wilderness of sickness, failure ant
sin into the kingdom of peace.
The Bible tells us that such a law
exists and is operating for our bene.
fit. In Psalm XXxvii 23 we read
"The steps of good man are ordered
by the Lord" Again, in Romans viii
2S, "All things work together for
good to them that love Cod" and in
Romans viii. 2, For the law of the
spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath
made me free from the law of sin and
/ death
What a sense of security comes to
one when he realizes that there is
really a law of good operating that
will guide his footsteps as truly as the
law of gravitation guides the water.
And what a sense of peace comes
from the assurance that there Is an
infinite, overruling Mind that governs
everything in the universe from the
least to the greatest, and causes "all
things to work together for good"
In each case, however, condition
is attached. One must desire to be
a good man, and must love God, 9TH
erwise the law of good does not oper-
ate for him. To attain goodness. one
must think and live as nearly as he
can in accordance with spiritual
truth; ones motives and aims must
be honest, and his desires unselfish.
In this way the connection is estab-
lished between his consciousness and
the law, and then the law operates
through him and in his behalf. II he
is an evil man, that is, if he thinks
and lives enormously, such wrong
thinking and living separate his con-
seriousness from the law of good, so
that the law can not then guide his
footsteps or make everything work
together for good for him.
What Brings Good or Evil Into
Human Experience.
Outside of Christian Science very
few people have ever reasoned out the |
question to their own satisfaction as |
to where good and evil come from,
and still fewer have even a satisfac-
tory theory as to how good may be
secured or evil avoided in actual hui
man experience.
All through the centuries there has
been a widespread belief that good
md evil come as the result of luck
,r chance, but this belief is necessar-
ly incorrect.
Among all polytheists, or those who
relieve in many gods, there is the
Delief that some of the gods send
,ood and that others send evil, and
hey seek to propitiate the latter by
and rites, believing that in
his way alone they can escape from
vii.
Among monotheists, or those who :
elieve there is but one God, there is -,
ne belief that the one God creates
nd sends both good and evil. This ,
elief, however, involves so many i'm +
Ossibe contradictions that it has led :
,tually to the belief in the existence ,
an evil being called "devil," who
supposed to create and send evil II
hus to escape the belief that God B.
nds both good and evil, those who q
III themselves monotheists are real
polytheists, for they actually be- :,
eve in God of good and in an evil y
,wer, or devil. This in turn makes ~
necessary for them to determine in 4
lief the sphere of activity and the h
lative power of each. Since the .
Bile declares, however, that God is :,
that is, that He has all fc
wer, monotheists have come gener- 10
" to believe that such power as the fe