Miscellaneous Writings, 1883-1896 Part 21

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 fas.h.i.+onable 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]

Already I clearly recognize that mental malpractice, if persisted in, will end in insanity, dementia, or moral idiocy. Thank G.o.d! this evil can be resisted by true Christianity. Divine Love is our hope, strength, and s.h.i.+eld. We have nothing to fear when Love is at the [25]

helm of thought, but everything to enjoy on earth and in heaven.

The systematized centres of Christian Science are life- giving fountains of truth. Our churches, _The Christian_ _Science Journal_, and the _Christian Science Quarterly_, [30]

are prolific sources of spiritual power whose intellectual, moral, and spiritual animus is felt throughout the land.

[Page 114.]

Our Publis.h.i.+ng Society, and our Sunday Lessons, are [1]

of inestimable value to all seekers after Truth. The Com- mittee on Sunday School Lessons cannot give too much time and attention to their task, and should spare no research in the preparation of the _Quarterly_ as an educa- [5]

tional branch.

The teachers of Christian Science need to watch inces- santly the trend of their own thoughts; watch that these be not secretly robbed, and themselves misguided, and so made to misteach others. Teachers must conform [10]

strictly to the rules of divine Science announced in the Bible and their textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." They must themselves practise, and teach others to practise, the Hebrew Decalogue, the Ser- mon on the Mount, and the understanding and enuncia- [15]

tion of these according to Christ.

They must always have on armor, and resist the foe within and without. They cannot arm too thoroughly against original sin, appearing in its myriad forms: pa.s.s- sion, appet.i.tes, hatred, revenge, and all the _et cetera_ of [20]

evil. Christian Scientists cannot watch too sedulously, or bar their doors too closely, or pray to G.o.d too fer- vently, for deliverance from the claims of evil. Thus doing, Scientists will silence evil suggestions, uncover their methods, and stop their hidden influence upon the [25]

lives of mortals. Rest a.s.sured that G.o.d in His wisdom will test all mankind on all questions; and then, if found faithful, He will deliver us from temptation and show us the powerlessness of evil,-even its utter nothingness.

The teacher in Christian Science who does not spe- [30]

cially instruct his pupils how to guard against evil and its silent modes, and to be able, through Christ, the liv-

[Page 115.]

ing Truth, to protect themselves therefrom, is commit- [1]

ting an offense against G.o.d and humanity. With Science and Health for their textbook, I am astounded at the apathy of some students on the subject of sin and mental malpractice, and their culpable ignorance of the work- [5]

ing of these-and even the teacher's own deficiency in this department. I can account for this state of mind in the teacher only as the result of sin; otherwise, his own guilt as a mental malpract.i.tioner, and fear of being found out. [10]

The helpless ignorance of the community on this sub- ject is pitiable, and plain to be seen. May G.o.d enable my students to take up the cross as I have done, and meet the pressing need of a proper preparation of heart to prac- tise, teach, and live Christian Science! Your means of [15]

protection and defense from sin are, constant watchful- ness and prayer that you enter not into temptation and are delivered from every claim of evil, till you intelligently know and demonstrate, in Science, that evil has neither prestige, power, nor existence, since G.o.d, good, is All- [20]

in-all.

The increasing necessity for relying on G.o.d to de- fend us against the subtler forms of evil, turns us more unreservedly to Him for help, and thus becomes a means of grace. If one lives rightly, every effort to hurt one [25]

will only help that one; for G.o.d will give the ability to overcome whatever tends to impede progress. Know this: that you cannot overcome the baneful effects of sin on yourself, if you in any way indulge in sin; for, sooner or later, you will fall the victim of your own as [30]

well as of others' sins. Using mental power in the right direction only, doing to others as you would have them