The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1941-04-18

afraid O. Ssi9 tus-.ie. OF course IL Will
have all 1t needs tomorrow and the
next day and the day after, because
its father and mother will take care
OF 1t. It does not pause to worry or be
anxious. How like the consciousness
of the man who said, Take no
thought for the morrow" "for your
heavenly Father knoweth that We
have need of all these things" Do we
despair of attaining this state of
trustfulness and innocence? We need
not do SO, for in the heart Of each one
of us Is the little child. No matter
how weary or wicked we may seem,
the child Is there, hidden perhaps by
the mists of error, but waiting to be
uncovered by the sunlight Of Truth.
As that Truth penetrates our con-
seriousness, all that is young and
glad and unsullied by the world
springs forth again, and we begin to
become as little child.
In order to find our true child
hood with which to enter the king
dom, we need the understanding of
prayer. Through prayer we learn at
first hand, so to speak, more of the
facts of being. The Christian Sci
ence textbook gives us many stages
Of approach to the divine facts. Be-
cause we are dealing with an exact
Science these stages and the nature
and function of prayer are scientif-
ically defined. The first simple def
milton given us Is Up. u, Desire is
prayer" The strong desire, the fer
vent petition, is form of prayer
never to be despised. Let no one think
such prayer is unscientific. 1t is the
appeal of the child thought to the
great Father, the great Mother, of us
all. The Master used it in his deepest
hour of trial, and again when he said,
"Holy Father, keep through thine
own name those whom thou hast
given me-" A second higher form of
prayer is given us in the textbook
Up. 14) when it is said of Jesus that
his prayers were protests of Truth"
or affirmation. This form of prayer
is much used by Christian Scientists.
They affirm the facts of being, the
present power and availability of
good. But the highest form of prayer,
the textbook tells us, is demonstra-
ton. Now demonstration is prima-
rily the result of communion, or the
consciousness of our oneness with the
divine. It Is said of Moses that he
talked with God "as a man speak
eth unto his friend" God talked also
to Abraham, to David, and even to
Solomon Jesus conversed with his
Father constantly, and Gods answer
to His beloved Son was actually heard
on one occasion by the bystanders.
To their ignorant sense, however, it
seemed to be thunder. Jesus, you re-
member, had said, Father, glorify
thy NAME" and then came a voice
from heaven saying, II have both
glorifled 1t, and will glorify it again."
Then the people that stood by heard
1t, but they said that 1t numbered!
Let us talk to God with our
thoughts. Let us, as the Psalmist did,
commune with [our] own heart
and be still" Only when we have
stilled the restless turmoil of mortal
thinking can there be communion. A
vivid word picture Of how this Is
achieved Is given us in Marks Cos
pei, "And in the morning, rising up
great while before day, he went out,
and departed into a solitary place,
and there prayed" First there was
the arising, lifting thought on high,
and this was done early, a great while
before day, while consciousness
seemed dull, and there was no spirit
ual light, which Is what day stands
for. So, rising out Of that belief Of
gloom, he departed into a solitary
place"-a place far from the clamor
Of mortal thought, away from the
insistent demands Of friends and pa
tients and disciples, place where he
would be undisturbed, solitary, alone,
for the true meaning and derivation
of the word alone" Is all-one-one
with God. Then 1t was, in such an
environment, that he prayed.
Now, 1t may be asked, How are
these truths about the nature of God,
of Christ, and of prayer applied to
the healing of the sick in Christian
Science? In other words, how is the
healing accomplished? It is by gain
ing the Mind that was in Christ
Jesus, or the divine consciousness.
As we claim that Mind it changes our
thinking, and thought takes on its
natural, original purity and intelli-
gence. The divine consciousness u
not cognizant of sin, sickness, and
death. God saw and sees His uni
verse as very good. Lifting our con-
seriousness to look out with God upon
our universe, we see it as He sees it;
and to see as God sees, to know as
God knows, is to bring healing to
our universe, for it is to avail our
selves of the divine Mind and power.
A change of concept means change
of experience. Truly that which we
conceive we bring forth. To conceive
rightly is to bring forth rightly. To
conceive spiritually brings spiritual
consequences. If someone comes to
be healed of sickness, his concept OF
himself as sick needs to be changed
to be lifted and exalted. The practi-
toner then needs to be careful not
to accept the patients false concept
but to reject the sense testimony and
accept Gods concept Of man, for
God conceives man in the nature and
character of Himself. "That which
is born of the Spirit Is spirit" said
Jesus, and there can be no disease in
infinite omnipresent Spirit. God Is
conscious of each one of His ideas all
the time, and this may be said to
constitute their preservation and
perfection. Therefore we may say
that God is conscious OF us always