The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1941-09-10
Richard ]. Davis, c. S. B.,
Heard at School Auditorium
"Christion Science: the Understanding
Of Mons Oneness With God" Is Topic

ception Of It's truth: second, its
reasonablcness appears: and then
inevitably we discover and demon
strate its prae;icality. A tree IL
known by it, fruit. and the fruit
age OF Mrs Eddy's great life Of
service 10 the race Is witnessed in
the grateful testimony Of the
thousands who have been healed
and regenerated through the study
and application Of Christian Sci
ence.
A. far as you and are con-
cerned. any so-called science re-
mains a closed book II we do not
understand IL. and no science can
be said 10 be really understood
unless 1t IL studied. applied, and
in some measure demonstrated.
The science of chemistry would
remain entirely abstract II experi-
ments were not made In the lab
oratory, and only those who 90
into the laboratory and actually
demonstrate their knowledge of
chemistry may be called practical
chemists.
This leads me to say something
TO you regarding Christian Science
which I hope may be helpful, and
IL In this; II you really expect to
grow and unfold spiritually and
to get out of this Science all the
blessings that are there for you.
you viii have To he student and
not mere reader of Science and
Health. the textbook of Christian
Science. Mrs. Eddy called II
textbook, and that means that Its
contents need to be pondered and
quietly assimiiated through reason
and spiritual embodiment. A real
Christian Scientist assimilates and
appropriates the inspired contents
Of the textbook, and then, like the
chemist, he goes out into the lab
oratory of human experience. into
his business, his home, and his
social life, and there he applies
1t. Indeed, IL can be said that
Christian Science, or the under
standing OF being, Is not primar-
lily something about which you and
i think, but that sooner or later
we have got to actually approxi-
mate that understanding. We have
got to live 1t and make II part
OF our daily experience.
Many, no doubt, have come to
this lecture with something In the |
nature OF problem. Possibly II Is
lack or poverty. Possibly IL Is sick
ness or sin. and the struggle TO be
free. III such be the case, what, my
friends. do you think Is the source
OF much OF your trouble In the
light OF christian Science, we see
that II IL the BELIEF that man Is
separated from God. No matter
what condition or situation any one
OF you may be facing, the belief
that you are separated from God Is
the root Of the difficulty. Unwit-
tingly. perhaps, we hold to the
traditional concepts of Deity, and
certainly II God Is regarded as a
personal remote entity, we have
no definite assurance of present
protection or safety. Christian Sci
ence declares that God Is Mind,
but that does not mean distant
Mind. 1t does not mean that the
ideas or thoughts of the one in
finite Mind come to man from
some remote or faraway place. |
You and cannot conceive OF inf
mite Mind other than as omnipres-
ence. omnipresent Mind necessar-
lily means all-inclusive conscious
ness. Indeed, the fact that you are
conscious. that you can think. that
you express that divine power to
reason and know. In the evidence
that Mind Is ever present We
even hear II expressed in the
phrase. He had presence of
mind"
We see, then. that in Christian
Science the infinity and omnipres-
ence of God or Mind Is not ac-
cepted as a theory. but absolute
fact, a fact that may be intelli-
gently and practically applied
In meeting the difficulties and
problems OF human life. We apply
the absolute fact Of Gods omni-
presence TO the relative or mis-
taken belief which says that He is
absent or far away,
Then II may be asked: Where
In the practical connection between
divine Mind and man? Christian
Science declares that. since divine
Mind is the one intelligent cause.
all true thought necessarily finds
its origin there and only there
that ali is infinite Mind and its
infinite ideas or manifestation,
and that man. declared in the first
chapter of Genesis to be the image
and likeness of God. must be the