Miscellaneous Writings Part 21

[Page 108.]

The sensitive, sorrowing saint thinks too much of it: the [1]

sordid sinner, or the so-called Christian asleep, thinks too little of sin.

To allow sin of any sort is anomalous in Christian Scientists, claiming, as they do, that good is infinite, All. [5]

Our Master, in his definition of Satan as a liar from the beginning, attested the absolute powerlessness-yea, nothingness-of evil: since a lie, being without founda- tion in fact, is merely a falsity; spiritually, literally, it _is nothing_. [10]

Not to know that a false claim is false, is to be in danger of believing it; hence the utility of knowing evil aright, then reducing its claim to its proper denominator,- n.o.body and nothing. Sin should be conceived of only as a delusion. This true conception would remove mortals' [15]

ignorance and its consequences, and advance the second stage of human consciousness, repentance. The first state, namely, the knowledge of one's self, the proper knowledge of evil and its subtle workings wherein evil seems as real as good, is indispensable; since that which [20]

is truly conceived of, we can handle; but the misconcep- tion of what we need to know of evil,-or the concep- tion of it at all as something real,-costs much. Sin needs only to be known for what it is not; then we are its master, not servant. Remember, and act on, Jesus' [25]

definition of sin as a _lie_. This cognomen makes it less dangerous; for most of us would not be seen believing in, or adhering to, that which we know to be untrue.

What would be thought of a Christian Scientist who be- lieved in the use of drugs, while declaring that they have [30]

no intrinsic quality and that there is no matter? What should be thought of an individual believing in that

[Page 109.]

which is untrue, and at the same time declaring the unity [1]

of Truth, and its allness? Beware of those who mis- represent facts; or tacitly a.s.sent where they should dis- sent; or who take me as authority for what I disapprove, or mayhap never have thought of, and try to reverse, in- [5]

vert, or controvert, Truth; for this is a sure pretext of moral defilement.

Examine yourselves, and see what, and how much, sin claims of you; and how much of this claim you admit as valid, or comply with. The knowledge of evil that [10]

brings on repentance is the most hopeful stage of mortal mentality. Even a mild mistake must be seen as a mis- take, in order to be corrected; how much more, then, should one's sins be seen and repented of, before they can be reduced to their native nothingness! [15]

Ignorance is only blest by reason of its nothingness; for seeing the need of somethingness in its stead, blesses mortals. Ignorance was the first condition of sin in the allegory of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. Their mental state is not desirable, neither is a knowledge of [20]

sin and its consequences, repentance, _per se_; but, ad- mitting the existence of both, mortals must hasten through the second to the third stage,-the knowledge of good; for without this the valuable sequence of knowledge would be lacking,-even the power to escape from the [25]

false claims of sin. To understand good, one must discern the nothingness of evil, and consecrate one's life anew.

Beloved brethren, Christ, Truth, saith unto you, "Be not afraid!"-fear not sin, lest thereby it master you; but only _fear to sin_. Watch and pray for self-knowledge; [30]

since then, and thus, cometh repentance,-and your superiority to a delusion is won.

[Page 110.]

Repentance is better than sacrifice. The costly balm [1]

of Araby, poured on our Master's feet, had not the value of a single _tear_.

Beloved children, the world has need of you,-and more as children than as men and women: it needs your [5]

innocence, unselfishness, faithful affection, uncontami- nated lives. You need also to watch, and pray that you preserve these virtues unstained, and lose them not through contact with the world. What grander ambition is there than to maintain in yourselves what Jesus loved, and to [10]

know that your example, more than words, makes morals for mankind!

Address Before The Alumni Of The Ma.s.sachusetts Metaphysical College, 1895

_My Beloved Students_:-Weeks have pa.s.sed into [15]

months, and months into years, since last we met; but time and s.p.a.ce, when encompa.s.sed by divine presence, do not separate us. Our hearts have kept time together, and our hands have wrought steadfastly at the same object-lesson, while leagues have lain between us. [20]

We may well unite in thanksgiving for the continued progress and unprecedented prosperity of our Cause. It is already obvious that the world's acceptance and the momentum of Christian Science, increase rapidly as years glide on. [25]

As Christian Scientists, you have dared the perilous de- fense of Truth, and have succeeded. You have learned how fleeting is that which men call great; and how per- manent that which G.o.d calls good.

[Page 111.]

You have proven that the greatest piety is scarcely [1]

sufficient to demonstrate what you have adopted and taught; that your work, well done, would dignify angels.

Faithfully, as meekly, you have toiled all night; and at break of day caught much. At times, your net has [5]

been so full that it broke: human pride, creeping into its meshes, extended it beyond safe expansion; then, losing hold of divine Love, you lost your fishes, and pos- sibly blamed others more than yourself. But those whom G.o.d makes "fishers of men" will not pull for the sh.o.r.e; [10]

like Peter, they launch into the depths, cast their nets on the right side, compensate loss, and gain a higher sense of the true idea. Nothing is lost that G.o.d gives: had He filled the net, it would not have broken.

Leaving the seed of Truth to its own vitality, it propa- [15]

gates: the tares cannot hinder it. Our Master said, "Heaven and earth shall pa.s.s away, but my words shall not pa.s.s away;" and Jesus' faith in Truth must not ex- ceed that of Christian Scientists who prove its power to be immortal. [20]

The Christianity that is merely of sects, the pulpit, and fashionable society, is brief; but the Word of G.o.d abideth.

Plato was a pagan; but no greater difference existed be- tween his doctrines and those of Jesus, than to-day exists between the Catholic and Protestant sects. I love the [25]

orthodox church; and, in time, that church will love Christian Science. Let me specially call the attention of this a.s.sociation to the following false beliefs inclining mortal mind more deviously:-

The belief in anti-Christ: that somebody in the flesh [30]

is the son of G.o.d, or is another Christ, or is a spiritually adopted child, or is an incarnated babe, is the evil one-

[Page 112.]

in other words, the one evil-disporting itself with the [1]

subtleties of sin!

Even honest thinkers, not knowing whence they come, may deem these delusions verities, before they know it, or really look the illusions in the face. The ages are bur- [5]

dened with material modes. Hypnotism, microbes, X-rays, and ex-common sense, occupy time and thought; and error, given new opportunities, will improve them. The most just man can neither defend the innocent nor detect the guilty, unless he knows _how_ to be just; and this knowl- [10]

edge demands our time and attention.

The mental stages of crime, which seem to belong to the latter days, are strictly cla.s.sified in metaphysics as some of the many features and forms of what is properly denominated, in extreme cases, moral idiocy. I visited [15]

in his cell the a.s.sa.s.sin of President Garfield, and found him in the mental state called moral idiocy. He had no sense of his crime; but regarded his act as one of simple justice, and himself as the victim. My few words touched him; he sank back in his chair, limp and pale; his flip- [20]

pancy had fled. The jailer thanked me, and said, "Other visitors have brought to him bouquets, but you have brought what will do him good."

This mental disease at first shows itself in extreme sensitiveness; then, in a loss of self-knowledge and of [25]

self-condemnation,-a shocking inability to see one's own faults, but an exaggerating sense of other people's.

Unless this mental condition be overcome, it ends in a total loss of moral, intellectual, and spiritual discernment, and is characterized in this Scripture: "The fool hath [30]

said in his heart, There is no G.o.d." This state of mind is the exemplification of total depravity, and the result

[Page 113.]

of sensuous mind in matter. Mind that is G.o.d is not in [1]

matter; and G.o.d's presence gives spiritual light, wherein is no darkness.

If, as is indisputably true, "G.o.d is Spirit," and Spirit is our Father and Mother, and that which it includes is [5]

all that is real and eternal, when evil seems to predomi- nate and divine light to be obscured, free moral agency is lost; and the Revelator's vision, that "no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name," is imminent. [10]

Whoever is mentally manipulating human mind, and is not gaining a higher sense of Truth by it, is losing in the scale of moral and spiritual being, and may be car- ried to the depths of perdition by his own consent. He who refuses to be influenced by any but the divine Mind, [15]

commits his way to G.o.d, and rises superior to sugges- tions from an evil source. Christian Science shows that there is a way of escape from the latter-day ultimatum of evil, through scientific truth; so that all are without excuse. [20]