East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1922-04-25
Spiritual Regeneration"
John ]. Finn. C. S.

Memebr Of the Board of Lectureship
Of The Mother Church. The First
Church OF Christ, Scientist, in Bos-
ton. Mass.
In that illustrious and immortal
document. the American Declaration
OF Independence. one OF the truths
which the trainers and signers held to
be self-eyident was that all men are
entitled TO Life. Liberty and the pur-
suit OF Happiness. Countless multi
tndes in practically all nations of the
earth have since subscribed to this as
sertion of elemental human privilege.
In recent years. outside as well as In
side of the United States. more than
ever before. the inalienable right OF
mankind to life. liberty and the un-
hampered pursuit Of happiness has
been affirmed.
Eighteen centuries before the Dec
laration Of independence became the
Magma Charta of the American colo
nies, however. mans right TO life in all
us fullness was proclaimed by Christ
Jesus In the presence of the persecut-
Ing Pharisees, in that beautiful figure
OF speech wherein he describes him
self as Shepherd who is willing to
lay down his life, II necessary for his
sheep. II am come" he said, that
they might have life. and that they
might have 1t more abundantly."
Again, he told the Jews who were
striving to harass and embarrass him,
how they might secure real freedom.
In almost his first utteranee in the
presence OF the rabbis, he read from
Isaiah the marvellous passage predict
Ing the coming of the Messiah: "The
Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, be-
cause the Lord hath anointed me to
preach good tidings unto the meek; he
hath sent me to bind up the broken
hearted, to proclaim liberty to the
capives, and the opening of the prison
TO them who are bound" In the First
Psalm Is laid down the basis upon
which man may obtain happiness He
"walketh not In the counsel of the un-
godly. nor standeth In the way of sim
fers. nor sitteth In the seat Of the
scornflii but his delight Is in the law
Of the Lord In Mis- law doth he medi-
thte day and night And Mary
Baker Eddy. the Discoverer and
Founder of Christian Science, ever
alert to perceive, and ever jealous to
conserve, every privilege of the chill
dren OF God, declares In the Christian
Science textbook. Science and Health
with Key to the Scriptures. Discern
Ing the rights of man, we cannot fall
TO foresee the doom of all oppression
Slavery is not the legitimate state OF
man. God man man free. Paul said
7 was free born All men should be
cree. Where the spirit of the Lord Is
there is liberty. Love and Truth make
free, but evil and error lead into cap
tiyity..
TRUITLEss PURSUIT OF
hN HAPPINESS
For ages men have been engaged In
nm effort to get more out fife. to OBJ
tain larger measure OF liberty. and
to find In the possession of both tina
ease, comfort. contentment and peac,
which are supposed to make up th'
sum OF human happiness. But thu
prizes sought have been elusive; the.
have lost their value even with seem
ing attainment. for the struggle t.
capture them has, In the main, beer
carried along on the theory that hap
piness Is something material and
therefore, to be pursued by mdulgint
tho material senses and turning loos,
upon the chase the sensual desires.
To Judge by appearances, the worl'
as a whole today is unhappy; never
more so In all its history II one wer,
disposed to indulge In It, here woult
be an exceptionally tempting opportu
nifty to satiri2e material prosperity
Prosperity and happiness, happines
and prosperity. as we all know, are al
most invariably coupled in human
. thought and conversation. Humanit,
In general thinks Of happiness a
something largely II not wholly de
pendent upon, or certainly as q com
plnion of, prosperity. In the opinion
OF the world. to be prosperous mean'
TO be happy
In all the ages, so far as known
there was never before such wide
spread prosperity on this planet a
that which prevailed during tn,
twenty years preceding the first Of
August, 1914, and later development
seem to show that never In all III,
ages was discomfort so prevalent in tn,
breasts and thoughts Of men as during
this period Some of the nations wer,
so rich that they could afford to ap,
ply almost unbelievable surpluses o
revenue to means of giving vent L
their unrest Freedom from indebted
ness, phenomenal expansion OF trade
luxury unrivaled In ancient or In mod
ern times--individua fortunes swollel
almost beyond calculation, individua
extravaganza carried on with conf
dence and a boldncss that could Meth
cr be reasoned with nor abashed-
these were all present, and yet the ma
t'ons and their populations were un
happy,
Time was, and that not so very Ion.
ago. when. comparatively speaking, ;
mans wants were little here below
and among the great majority of th'
people only moderate effort was re
q.iired TO supply them, But prosper
iiy Legitimate and artificial, has mul
tiplied mems seeming wants in on
days many times over, and has mad
them so complex, that they have Ions
since passed and distanced actua
needs. To meet what have now com,
10 be known as wants demands con
stant strain: attainment only whet'
the appetite for more; emulation take,
he Joy out of accomplishment; pos
seSSion dlsnpnoints rather thnn sntis.