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

Chi and defines it as Truth, as
Saviour, as 1.-THE divine manifesto
ton of God, which comes to the flesh
to destroy incarnate error" (Science
and Health, p. $3.50. This divine
Christ was the spiritual selfhood of
the man Jesus and was expressed by
him in his mighty works. Christian
Scientists have sometimes been &C
cused of not according to Christ
Jesus the honor and reverence of
other Christian denominations. But
this is a misapprehension of the doc
trine Of Christian Science. The
greatest honor we can accord an
other is to follow and obey him.
Jesus himself said, eff We love me,
keep my commandments" This
Christian Scientists are endeavoring
to do even to the extent of obeying
his command to heal the sick. It may
be said of all true Scientists that
they adore the Christ.
One Christmas Eve, I remember
that I was listening to carols sung by
waits and trained choirs who were as
sembled to celebrate the festival, and
crowds were gathered to listen and
join in the chorus of the beautiful
"Adeste Fideles," which is 20 come
let us adore him, Christ the Lord" As
I listened I suddenly wondered how
much meaning there was in the sing
ing. International strife was acute
at the time. The greed for gold and
for possession was much to the front,
and yet everyone was protesting
alteration of the Christ Child. The
title given to him was Prince Of
Peace, and the, salient characteristics
of the Bethlehem babe were most
certainly meekness, harmlessness,
and simplicity. Indeed, looking upon
the beautiful picture of the babe ly-
ing in the manger, one might say
that "the harmlessness of being" was
expressed.
This brings to mind some words of
the Master that have been little COM
mented upon, and surely little prac-
ticed. They are these: Except We X.
become as little children, We shall not
enter into the kingdom of heaven"
Further, whatsoever shall receive
this child in my name receiveth me:
and whosoever shall receive me re-
ceiveth him that sent me-" What
remarkable words and what a new
light they throw on the nature of
God and His Christ! It is worth
while pausing to consider the inner
meaning of these words. The thought
of innocence is always associated
with little child, and the true ma
ture of innocence is not ignorance
but rather the Inconsistencies Of
evil. 1t is defined in the dictionary
as "the condition of being free from
evil, from that which corrupts or
vitiates." On page 585 of the Chris
tan Science textbook the definition
of the river "Euphrates" is given in
part as follows: 1.-THE atmosphere Of
human belief before it accepts sin,
sickness, or death; a state of mortal
thought, the only error Of which Is
limitation" Is this perhaps refer
ence to the child thought of which
the Master speaks? What is the rea-
son of the spontaneous joyousness OF
the little child? Why does it skip as
it walks, laugh and shout with that
gaiety which has none of the pose
that adults manifest when they try
to copy it? The reason is because 1t
is not weighted down by the belief
in evil, the consciousness of discord
and sin and sickness which makes
the steps of the adult slow and
heavy. Now we begin to see why
Jesus said we must become as little
children to enter the kingdom. We
must lose the belief in evil, our
dream console of wickednesS
and suffering-no by ignoring them,
but by overcoming them. And Chris
tian Science shows us how to do this,
because it teaches us the unreality
of evil-unreal, that Is to say, from
the standpoint of reality as divine
and eternal, which involves the de-
1t bestows on those who accept it
Joy and lightheartedness undreamed
of before. 1t lifts the weight, it light
ems the burden, 1t says to the cap
tive, go free"
Let me emphasize here that this
Science being Christian and COM
passionate does not teach us to heart
lessly ignore suffering in any form,
but on the contrary to go to the suf-
fering ones and fixing our gaze on
the divine perfection to avail our
selves through prayer and faith and
understanding of the power Of God
to heal and to transform. You re-
member how Jesus did this. He was
so certain that God would hear his
prayer that he said, Father, thank
thee that thou hast heard me-" even
before he told Lazarus to come forth.
Again, the little child Is impartial
and f..ac f..1.saa 1,,.a i1IcIi1.a and saostaa.