Imperial Valley press., 1940-12-04

western horizon at dusk, the sense
] of sight would say that the sun is
/ setting. In neither case, however
would sense testimony be telling the
| truth. Why? Because the sun has
never risen and the sun will never
set That which seems to be the
sun rising in the east and setting
| in the west is the earth turning on
its axis from west to east. There
fore. in order to understand what
is actually taking place, one would
have to reject sense testimony. Not
the phenomenon, but only the mis-
| leading human sense Of it, would
have to be changed in order to ar
rive at the truth
Unreliable Testimony
Now. since material sense cannot
be relied upon to tell the truth even
about the things that are seen,
how much less can it be relied upon
to tell the truth about things that
are not seen, namely, the real or
| spiritual universe. including Spiri-
tual man! Recognizing this, Jesus
said. Judge not according to the
appearance, but judge righteous
| judgement" He knew, on the one
hand. that Spirit is the only pre-
Sence. substance and power. He
knew. on the other hand, that So
called sense testimony refers only
! to matter. and that matter, whe-
/ ther seemingly bad or seemingly
/ good. is untrue, because it denies
/ the allnesS of God. 1t would have
us accept the fatal error that there
is something besides the every
whereness of Spirit.
Accordingly, that which seems to
be a material world and mortal
man, Christian Science uncovers
as a false sense or material mis-
representation of reality. This false
| sense is the cause of all human
discord. Progressively to abandon
it in behalf of the divine ever-pre-
Sence means to you and me an
unfolding sense of health. happi-
ness, and peace. Hence, Christian
Science is not presuming to change
or improve the real universe, nor the
real man. but to correct the wrong
or material sense about them. Writ
ing on page 298 of Science and
Health, Mrs. Eddy says: What is
termed material sense can report
only a. mortal temporary sense OF
things, whereas spiritual sense can
bear witness only to Truth. To
material sense, the unreal is the
real until this sense is corrected
by Christian Science"
Tenacity of Belief
The difficulty with many of us,
however. lies in the human diSin-
clination to abandon this trouble
some belief in matter. If we are not
holding onto a belief in bad matter,
we may be holding to a belief in
good matter: hence. the continued
human bondage to false sense OF
existence. This was well illustrated
when a mother found her young
son trying to extricate his closed
hand from the family sugar bowl.
Recognizing quickly that the oc-
casion presented an opportunity
for teaching helpful lesson, the
mother told the boy that he had
only to open his hand in order to
be free. But, mother" the lad re-
piled. 7 want the sugar. We'll,
nv SON. continued the mother,
'it is plain to be seen that you can
not have both the sugar and your
! freedom. You must surrender ell
ther the one or the other After
thoughtfully surveying the situa-
ton for a moment or two, the child
let go the Jumps of sugar; then his
hand was free.
Is not the predicament of man
kind as a whole similar to that
of the little boy? In one way or
another. is not our closed hand in
the sugar bowl of material sense?
If we are not holding onto a belief
in sick matter, may we not be hold
ing on to a belief in well matter?
If we are not holding on to belief
in material pain, may we not be
holding on to a belief in material
pleasure? Surely, the one is as un-
real and misleading as the other!
/ Then we wonder why we seem TO
be in bondage to human discord
and limitation! Obviously, If we
would be free mentally and moral
/ ". physically and financially, we
must remove our hand from the
sugar bowl of material sense; we
must let go.
/ Man Is Immortal
Now. this misleading sense OF
| things says that man Is mortal, Nv
ing in a material world, and subject
to material law; whereas the exact
opposite must be the case, II spirit
is true and material sense liar, as
the Bible says. Accordingly Chris
tian Science declares that, rightly
considered. man is immortal living
in infinite Spirit (the kingdom OF
heaven) and subject only to spirit
ual law If that is the truth 'ano II
Isl. should we not fearleSsly claim
ito Never will man be other than
he is now: namely the image and
likeness of Spirit. To be rid OF this
false. personal sense OF existence
calling itself an unhappy, diseased
unemployed, poverty-stricken, dy-
ing mortal, one has only to obey
more and more Mrs. Eddy's inspir-
ed counsel on page 20l OF Science
and Health, where she writes, The
wav to extract error from mortal
mind is to pour in truth through
| flood-tides of Love
Some time ago for example, l
read a charming parable about a
baby lion that became separated