THE MICHIGAN DAILY
SUNDAY, MARCH I
THE MICHIGAN I~AILY SUNDAY, MARCH
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
A Lecture
on
Christian
.Science
Entitled
The Origin and Power
of Thought
by
Paul Stark Seeley, C.S.B.
of Portland, Oregon
Member of the Boord of Lec-
tureship of The Mother Church,
The First Church of Christ, Sci-
entist, in Boston, Massachusetts
This lecture, given on March 8,
was sponsored by the Christian
Science Organization at the U.
of M.
suitable environment to assist
keen-minded men to discover
ideas that may be used to improve
the defense of our country or
contribute to our industrial po-
tential. The reader of this article
was left to infer that the research
staffs were making ideas. Actually
ideas or thoughts were not being
made but were being discovered.
What the government or corpora-
tions had done was to define an
objective and provide andenviron-
ment free from interferences with
the mental processes directed to
accomplish the objective. All con-
cerned depended on what orig-
inates thoughts to make available
the thoughts needed.
We are here to consider the
origin of thoughts, good and bad.
How ignorant mankind is of the
answer to the simple question,
what originates thought? It is
apparent, I think, that something
greater than the individual is in-
volved, How would you start to
put together the thought of jus-
tice? After thinking over the
assignment, you might conclude
that men are not endowed with
the know - how f o r making
thought. And as for the idea of
justice, you might recognize that
something has already made it.
All you can do is to accept and
use it.
Your conclusion, I believe,
would be right. All worthy
thoughts are made for, and avail-
able to, man in his consciousness.
Progress is what? The discovery
and acceptance of already exist-
ing intelligent thoughts and util-
izing their power . Jesus proved
that thoughts already exist which
will overcome all evil, even death.
All he had to work with were the
thoughts he found in his con-
sciousness. They were enough. But
who or what madethem?
God Provides Right Thoughts
The first message sent over the
telegraph by its inventor was,
"What hath God wrought?" Sam-
uel Morse realized his accomplish-
ment was that of an intelligence
greater than himself, which en-
abled him to perceive the
thoughts essential to his inven-
tion.
When living in Switzerland,
Einstein had been working on one
of his now famous equations. He
had come to the last step but was
unable to complete it. He was
nearly distraught with the prob-
lem and the fear of failure. One
evening he sought a radical
change of scene and plunged out
into a downpour of rain and wind,
and walked for miles. Late in the
night he returned, drenched and
chilled. He decided to take a hot
bath, still groping for the thought
he needed.
In the moments of relaxation
in the bath, there quietly dawned.
on his consciousness the thought
he was seeking. His equation was
complete, his work was done.
Later, in relating this experience
to a friend, he said, "When the
idea came, with no effort of mine,
I realized that of myself I could
do nothing." Like Morse, he in-
tuitively felt it was the Mind that
is greater than man which pro-
vides intelligence that impels
right thoughts.
The humble conclusion of these
great men that man does not cre-
ate thoughts accords with the
judgment of Christ Jesus when
he said, "I can of mine own self
do nothing" (do no thinking)
(John 5:30). Jesus acknowledged
no intelligence apart from the
Mind that is God. Amos says of
God that He "declareth unto man
what is his thought" (Amos 4:13).
Lincoln said that man is tallest
when he is on his knees. Self-
importance in any of us must give
way to a realization of Mind's,
God's, importance, as the con-
tinuing source of our intelligent
thoughts. Intelligent Mind is al-
ways articulate,. never mute. It
is continuously communicating
thoughts to constitute our real
consciousness and life. Because
man is the effect of Mind he has
no mind of his own but is the
evidence of the one intelligent
Mind than which there is no
higher status.
Is not the causing, coordinating,
blending of the tens of thousands'
of notes that constitute a sym-
phony illustrative of the unifying'
presence and power of one Mind?
May not the evolving of a Euro-
pean Common Market, minister-
ing to the needs of millions, hint
the active presence of one unify-
ing Mind?
The Nature of God
Through the Bible there are
many references to righteousness.
It means right-mindedness, no
more, no less. The promises. of
the Bible are to the righteous, to
those willing to think rightly. The
First Commandment is, "Thou
shalt have no other gods before
me" (Ex. 20:3). What does it
mean? We believe it means that
every individual shall accept no
mind except the genuine Mind
that is God and think the
thoughts of this Mind.
Of Christian Science, its Dis-
coverer, Mary Baker Eddy, writes,
"The essence of this Science is
unlimited. How could a limited
God evolve a boundless universe?
Universal Principle Is God
One way to free one's thought
of a limited sense of God, as
humanly outlined, is to think of
God as the universal Principle, or
basic intelligent source, of all that
truly is. In mathematics we use
the word principlemand think of
it as immaterial, without physical
form. The principle of mathe-
matics is universal, naturally de-
fining and governing mathemat-
ical thinking wherever this think-
ing is taking place. To become a
mathematician one must think in
accord with this principle. He
does not see it, but he can always
find it as close to him as his
thought. So in a more important
sense, God is the universal Mind,
Principle, the intelligent source
and governor of all real thinking.
Another point. In everyday life
the word "he" is used to refer to
a physical person. But when the
word "He," with a capital, is used
for God, it does not apply to
something with a human form. It
refers' to the one, infinite I AM,
universal, all intelligent Mind.
What Is God Doing?
There is nothing so indispen-
sable to man as his continuing
cause. Until we begin to under-
stand what makes us think, we
are going it blind. We know not
whence we derive or whither we
are bound. What is it you must
continuously have to accomplish
anything worthwhile? Thoughts.
Then it is that which provides in-
telligent thoughts that is indis-
pensable to man, and that is
genuine Mind, God.
I have found it helpful in
searching out the nature of God
to ask myself, just what is God
doing? Since He is universal
Mind, He must be ever imparting
all the true ideas that men ever
have. Take a mental survey of a
small part of the universe. On
our planet are some three billion
individuals. In the consciousness
of most of these are active, at
least some of the time, worthy
thoughts of friendliness, honesty,
kindness, justice, wisdom, and
good will. Why is this? Because
their real consciousness reflects
the universal Mind that is the
source and substance of all good
thoughts. To constantly make
available all the God-inspired
thoughts that three billion indi-
viduals could use is an impressive
commitment. Only universal Mind
can do this.
Thoughts for Quintillions
That is not all. Some astrono-
mers say there are at least ten
billion planets where life similar
to that on earth may well exist.
Suppose half of these-five bil-
lion-have populations near the
number on earth. There would
then be three billion times five
billion, or a total of fifteen quin-
tillions of individuals in the total
population. From where will
these fifteen quintillions derive
their worthy thoughts? From the
same infinite Mind that supplies
good thoughts to the three bil-
lion on our earth. Perhaps you
will agree that continuously mak-
ing available intelligent ideas for
fifteen quintillions of people is
something only infinite Mind can
do.
All this I am presenting to help
us let go of a limited sense of
God and to see something of the
unlabored work deific Mind must
do as the intelligent source of all
true consciousness. If this Mind
stopped providing us with intel-
ligence for an instant, we would
stop thinking and being. Mind
eternally expresses itself in in-
telligent ideas which form the
true consciousness of all that
lives.
God the Totality of Reality
Furthermore, God is not just an
important something in the uni-
verse. "God," wrote Mrs. Eddy,
"is the sum total of the universe"
(Miscellaneous Writings, p. 105).
God is the totaihty of reality. This
totality is the one infinite, causa-
tive Mind, containing in its in-
finite allness all its ideas and
identities. So, Christian Science
teaches that God is All-in-all,
meaning that God, the infinite
Mind, or cause, is ever evidenced
in its effect, its universe and man.
This is thus stated in the Chris-
tian Science textbook, Science
and Health with Key to Scrip-
tures," "All is infinite Mind and
its infinite manifestation, for God
is All-in-all" (p. 468).
This sense of God as the sum of
reality should not be confused
with the material doctrine of
pantheism which presupposes that
God is something that sleeps in
the mineral, dreams in the ani-
mal, and wakes in a mortal sense
of man. Christian Science teaches
that Spirit, God, is not in any-
thing material, but is expressed
by, though not confined in, all
that is spiritual.
Man and God United
Never believe that you are sep-
arated from God. God is as near
to you as thought for the reason
that God is Mind, the source of
intpl1iaan+ +hnmahtc_ V..nrcr+tme
that make up such a large part of'
human thinking? Do they derive
from the Mind that is God?"
They do not. As James asks,
"Doth a fountain send forth at
the same place sweet water and
bitter?" (James 3:11.) Where
then do cruel, angry, sad, unjust,
contentious thoughts and their
results come from? Men have
been hard put to explain evil. To
most, evil remains an enigma-a
grave reality, but a tragic con-
tradiction of an intelligent, basic
cause.
Like other points made clear by
Jesus' teaching, but not yet gen-
erally recognized by his follow-
ers, the source and nature of evil
has been fully disclosed by Christ
Jesus. And by successfully over-
coming all phases of evil, he
proved that he had the correct
evaluation of it and knew exactly
how to destroy it. First let me
quote his analysis of evil and
then tell you what Christian Sci-
ence gets from his words. In
John (8:44) we read that he said
to the Pharisees who were plan-
ning to crucify him, "Ye are of
your father the devil, and the
lusts of your father ye will do.
He was a murderer from the be-
ginning, and abode not in the
truth, because there is no truth in
him. When he speaketh a lie, he
speaketh of his own: for he is a
liar, and the father of it.'
Three Important Words
Note Jesus used three nouns in
evaluating evil. First, father,
source or cause. Second,-murderer.
The evil material sense of source
always murders what it evolves.
An example is found in the daily
columns of births and deaths in
the newspapers. Production and
destruction characterize the whole
material, evil sense of cause and
effect.
The third noun is liar. Here
the Master deflates the preten-
tious claim of evil that it is a
true cause and that it actually
murders something real. It is ly-
ing, Jesus said, when it says it
creates, then destroys its work.
How much we need to realize
this scientific evaluation of the
totality of evil and begin to be
freed from the fatalistic belief
that material production and de-
struction are the pattern of life
designed by supreme intelligence.
No destructive forces inhere in
intelligent Mind. What it evolves,
it evolves for an intelligent pur-
pose and perpetuates for that
purpose. Of evil forces the Scrip-
tures say, "They shall not hurt
nor destroy in all my holy moun-
tain" (Isa. 11:9).
The false evil mind claims the
qualities of universality and
power, but, because of its falsity,
it is impotent to displace genuine
Mind, its ideas and identities. No
concept of the negative material
mind abides in true Mind, for the
good reason that there is no
kinship between the mind that
is material and the Mind that is
Spirit, God. As genuine Mind is
expressed or seen in its right-
minded individualities, so the
pseudo material mind is evi-
denced in its materially minded
mortal personalities which it ani-
mates with its negative thought-
forces and selfish human will.
Do you think that Jesus evalu-
ated evil rightly or wrongly? His
works, we believe, proved his
words. Evil in its totality is fal-
sity because it is unrelated to
true Mind and can be proven
false with the true ideas supplied
by real Mind to nullify its falsi-
ties.
The Way Out
We have seen that all worthy
thoughts are from the intelligent
Mind that is God; all unworthy
thoughts from the pseudo mate-
rial mind evaluated by Jesus as
"a liar." How can we make our
thinking more expressive of true
Mind and less open to the
thoughts of the liar mind? Jesus
pointed the way to Nicodemus
and to all of us. He said, "Except
a man be born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God" (John
3:3). The kingdom of God was to
Jesus Truth's universe and what
everyone desired to find. He was
stating the only way by which
any individual can ever find it.
That way was not the dying way.
It was a living way. He called it
being born again: not a second
physical birth, but a great mental
awakening to find the true sense
of man's origin, God, man's only
Mind, and of man as God's spiri-
tual expression, forever united to
Him. Of the new birth Mrs. Eddy
writes, "The new birth is not the
work of a moment. It begins with
moments, and goes on with years;
moments of surrender to God, of
child-like trust and joyful adop-
tion of good" (Miscellaneous Writ-
ings, p. 15).
It is important for us to recog-
nize that each individual is re-
sponsible for the thoughts that he
accepts as his thinking. You and
I have the responsibility to decide
moment h moment whether we
and saves the one who grasps it
from a wrong concept of God and
man with all its disastrous results.
Once the individual finds what
God is he begins to recognize
something of what man is, God's
effect and expression. Then he has
a scientific standard by which to
judge all thoughts. Do they tell
him of the true sense of God and
His man, or do they not?
Mary Baker Eddy
The Scriptures teach that the
fleshly, material sense of life and
the higher, or spiritual, sense of
being are opposites. As under-
standing of God and man grows
it subjugates the material and
finally ,replaces it, as was done by
Christ Jesus in what is called his
ascension, when physical sense
saw him no more.
Mrs. Eddy says (Miscellaneous
Writings, p. 21), "As the ages ad-
vance in spirituality, Christian
Science will be seen to depart from
the trend of other Christian de-
nominations in no wise except by
increase of spirituality." This
Science shows the way for the
individual to utilize the God-em-
powered ideas of intelligent Mind
to improve human dispositions,
produce healthy bodies, happy
homes, and useful careers.
A native of New Hampshire,
Mrs. Eddy attended the local
schools when her health would
permit. With the help of an older
brother, a lawyer and graduate of
Dartmouth, she added much to
her education through wisely di-
rected study and reading. Her
works show a wide range of knowl-
edge. Her vocabulary is impressive
among English authors.
In childhood she came to realize
that the healings done by Jesus
should be repeated today since he
said, "He that believeth on me,
the works that I do shall he do
also" (John 14:12). Many human
trials in her early twenties severe-
ly tested her faith in God, but
through them she strove better to
understand Him. Her thought was
open to the ideas of God revealed
in the Bible. For some twenty
years her search lasted, seeking
the answers concerning God, man
and true healing. The search was
rewarded in 1866 with an im-
mediate healing of internal In-
juries from an accident which the
physician said would be fatal.
With this indisputable healing
through her clinging solely to the
true idea of God as her only cause
and Life, and to her true individu-
ality as the constant object of
God's love and intelligent care,
realized she had found the secret
of Jesus' healing power. She per-
ceived that it is the power of
Mind reflected by its spiritual
idea, man, which is the antidote
for the false thoughts and beliefs
of the material mind. Years of
research into the Mind-inspired
words of the Master and the
prophets followed, resulting in the
publication of Science and Health
in 1875. When I was a student at
Harvard the retiring President,
Charles Eliot, evaluated Christian
Science as "good Christianity."
Remedies of the Great Physician
It is the "spiritual" meaning of
the Scriptures that is so vital. If
one reads or listens simply to the
letter, he bypasses the message
For example, said Jesus, "I am the
way, the truth, and the life: no
man cometh unto the Father, but
by me" (John 14:6). The word "I"
must be understood. Many believe
this "I" refers to a very good per-
son named Jesus who lived and
died and by their so believing they
can come to God.
Mrs. Eddy teaches that the "I"
is more than a personal Saviour
to be blindly believed in; it is
the Mind-enlightened conscious-
ness which was the very essence
of Jesus' being. By his spiritual
knowing the Master found his
unity with the Father Mind, the
source of his thoughts. He wanted
all men to realize that only as
each individual accepts as his
consciousness God - expressing
thoughts does he find his unity
with this Mind, his Father, the
source of these thoughts. The
way to the Father is the thought
way. Did not Jesus exemplify
this?
Christian Science is radical, as
radical as the teachings of Jesus,
no more, no less. Its system of
healing regards God as the great
Physician whose remedies are in
the Mind-provided ideas of being.
Although deriving from a purely
spiritual basis, the opposite of all
material systems of medicine with
their roots in the mythology of
Greece, 'Christian Science has
steadily grown. Its healing by
understanding prayer is acknowl-
edged by law in all states of the
Union, and its practitioners are
given equal recognition with phy-
sicians by the Federal government
and by many states in the proving
of certain claims.
Science and Health has recently
been translated into Russian.
Earlier translations have been in
German, French, Italian, Spanish,
Swedish, Dutch, Danish. The
Herald of Christian Science, pub-
lished quarterly, has recently been
iaannA in +the Tannnna anA Trn_-
He would be encouraged to turn
his thought to his intelligent
cause, divine Mind, to recognize
that this wise intelligence is ever
mindful of him as its perfect idea,
provides constantly for him all
the constructive thoughts he needs
to guide and direct his way to-
ward his worthy objective. Fear,
worry, and uncertainty, he would
be helped to see, are not intelli-
genttthoughts, do not derive from
his true and positive Mind. They
must be denied place or power in
his consciousness for they are
neither good nor true. They are
the liar's voice.
That which gives him life and
intelligence is at hand to define
his destiny and wisely to place
him where he can contribute most
to the good of all. The Mind
that is intelligent enough to gov-
ern the universe naturally pro-
vides all he, as a witness of intel-
ligent Mind, needs to take his part
therein. He would need to trust
the Mind forces of God rather
than to fear the limiting and con-
fusing forces of evil. This Bible
statement might be a light on the
way: "The Lord will perfect that
which concerneth me" (Ps. 138:8).
To define and protect the destiny
and usefulness of man, he would
be helped to realize, is the natural
prerogative of God. It is the func-
tion of causative Mind to govern
with its positive thoughts its own
manifestation, man. Any negative
thoughts of chance would be seen
as outlawed by God's unerring
direction and control of His own.
In the degree he used his ability
to acquaint himself with these and
other constructive ideas would he
not be "born again," awakened to
realize something of the presence
of God, Spirit, Mind and man's
status as ever tributary thereto?
He would be mentally awakening
to discern something of God as
his real Father, controlling his
life and destiny.
The Pressure to Conform
At the college age and before,
young people are often confronted
with the pressure of opinions
around them that they should
conform in their habits and con-
duct to what others about them
are doing. It may seem easier to
go with the crowd, to smoke,
drink, and perhaps depart from
moral standards, rather than to
take a firm stand for high stand-.
ards. The Master never went with
the crowd. He described two ways
of thinking and living. One was
the narrow way, the other the
broad way. Of the broad way
which always leads to destruction,
to the loss of true values, he said
many go therein. The narrow way
he said leadeth to life, and few
there be that find it. But the nar-
now way, Christian Science re-
veals, broadens as we walk in it.
Christian Science helps the in-
dividual to see the right standard
that is right because it is most
nearly in accord with God's na-
ture. What mortal persons may
choose to do or not do is no cri-
terion for the individual who de-
sires to align his thoughts and life
with his intelligent cause. Intel-
ligent Mind never impels anyone
to poison his body and mind or
to yield his thought to an im-
moral sense of being. Only the
devil does that.
When in college I remember
Senator William Borah, a bril-
liant, independent thinker from
Idaho, said one day in the Senate,
"Alcohol makes wreckage of more
lives, breaks up more homes, pro-
duces more crimes, than any one
thing on earth. It is the world's
worst criminal." Man exists for a
truly intelligent, rewarding pur-
pose. It is not to dull his sense
of values with the poisons of al-
cohol and nicotine, nor to sub-
merge his sense of being in the
dregs of immorality. It is to ex-
press in thought and act the one
immutable Mind, or substance,
God.
Many thousands have been
freed through Christian Science
from these evil practices, and
many others have been protected
from their truthless appeal that
to conform to what others be-
lieve adds something to one's
satisfaction. To one confronted
with the pressure to conform,
Christian Science points out that
each individual is basically re-
sponsible to his Maker and to
nothing else. Aught that would
dull his spiritual sense of life, or
tend to hold his thought in ma-
terial indulgence separates him
from his source and opens the
mental door to the evil sugges-
tions of the lying material mind,
the enemy and never the friend
of man.
The true Mind of man-God-
gives one the ability to separate
between worthy and unworthy
thoughts, to let his judgments
conform to the former and deny
the latter, thus to be born again
to more clearly perceive the things
of God and His kingdom.
The Healing Power of True
Thoughts
Several months ago there came
to my office a woman seeking
counsel for furthering her prog-
ress in Christian Science. She
which Jesus proved saves from all
evil.
Her humble story of the hope-
lessness, to human sense, of the
situation that confronted her, of
the courage, persistence and pa-
tience with which she faced it,
turning to the divine Mind to
give her the ideas that would
dissipate fear, and increase her
understanding of God's omnipo-:
tence, was impressive. She had
put to work the ability inherent
in her consciousness to know the
truth as to God and man, His
expression. This truth realized
freed her from that godless thing
tagged by evil a cancer. Why-
Because this evil concept of the
lying evil mind had no more truth
in it than does that mind. She
proved true the Bible verse, "He
sent his word, and healed them,
and delivered them from their
destructions" (Ps. 107:20).
The positive ideas that increased
her faith and understanding and
enabled her to realize something
of man's unity with God were
clothed with God's intelligent
power. Their healing potential
did not shrink before what the
material senses said was a hope-
less situation, but mastered and
destroyed it. They proved it is
God, the Mind of man, that pro-
vides one with the ideas that are
the antidote of intelligence for
the godless, mindless, falsity of
malignancy. I thanked God that
today, as in Jesus' time, the heal-
ing power of Mind was being
proven to be at hand for each one
who has the willingness to dem-
onstrate it.
The Insubstantiality of Matter
The once common belief that
the material brain is the source
of thought, is today being ques-
tioned. Some neurologists now
declare that brain is brain, and
mind is mind, and they do not
know how they meet. It is prog-
ress for human thought to be-
gin to discard the belief that
from mindless matter intelligent
thoughts can evolve.
Christian Science teaches that
the material body is the material
mind's destructible concept of
identity, the opposite of the man
called in the Bible the likeness of
God, the witness, or son, of God.
The false mortal self, which Jesus
called the son of perdition, is
gotten rid of little by little. Jesus
showed us that one begins by
using one's measurable under-
standing of God and man to sub-
jugate matter and its claims, in-
stead of being subjugated by
them.
This is what occurred when the
master healed the man who was
born blind. Matter said, "I have
made him and made him blind.
There is no hope for him." And
all the believers in the supremacy
of matter agreed. Jesus understood
that man really lives to manifest
God and it is the will of God that
man individualize unimpairable
sight, a faculty of God, his cause.
This was the law of God to the
case; and his sight was restored.
There was no mystery. It wasthe
knowing of the spiritual truth
concerning the man's cause and
concerning his true individuality
as the effect of his cause which
nullified the material sense-testi-
mony. Evil was arguing there was
a second cause besides God which
made man mortal and afflictable.
This mental error had to, and did,
yield to the scientific fact.
Physicists say that if all the
space were squeezed out of the
physical body the residue would
be a tiny speck of matter. A friend
associated with Space Labora-
tories, Inc., tells me that they
have a machine which magnifies a
million times. When a piece of
hard matter like steel is placed in
it, the magnified picture is a vast
field of empty space, with a min-
ute speck in it here and there.
Do you find anything in matter's
specks or space that can produce
character, or even one intelligent
thought?
In Science and Health, Mrs.
Eddy says (p. 269), "The theories
I combat are these: (1) that all
is matter; (2) that matter origi-
nates in Mind, and is as real as
Mind, possessing intelligence and
life. The first theory, that matter
is everything, is quite as reason-
able as the second, that Mind and
matter coexist and co-operate.
One only of the following state-
ments can be true: (1) that every-
thing is matter; (2) that every-
thing is Mind. Which one is it?"
Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Yang, says
that the theoretical physicists be-
lieve there is something simple
underlying all. So do we. The
great simple underlying fact is
infinite, all-inclusive Mind.
World Affairs
So sensitive has all the world
become to what is happening in
all parts of it that the oneness
of the human family is increas-
ingly apparent. But what is the
basic issue dividing the nations?
Christian Science regards the
issue to be between the thinking
that is willing to let the construc-
tive ideas of positive Mind control
the motives and objectives of men,
as opposed to the thinking that
accepts the blind willfulness of
nation of the false material mind
to bring under its sway the
thoughts and lives of all men. It
would deprive the individual of
his basic right to progress under
the light within him and compel
him to accept as the governing
forces of his life the will of others,
who would mold his destiny ac-
cording to the pattern of the
fanatical will, whose allegiance is
to its own objective, human power.
The turmoil in the world with
millions emerging from bondage
to freedom Christian Science re-
gards as evidence of progress to-
ward human betterment. Despite
present and future problems it
sees an horizon of great hope. The
ultimate government of mankind,
it regards as already determined,
for this government is in the in-
telligent ideas of the Mind that
is Principle, God. The will of gen-
uine intelligence is that all men
shall enjoy, under God, equality,
freedom, peace. The human steps
toward these objectives are slow,
often confused, but they are being
taken and will succeed because
they derive from the will of the
just and loving intelligence that
is the one God of all men. The
fatherhood of God, the fathering
Mind, and the brotherhood of
man, the unified manifestation of
the one Father, slowly and as yet
imperfectly appear.
The final struggle between the
lying evil mind and the genuine
Mind was foretold by Christ Jesus
in Matthew 24. Of this struggle
Mrs. Eddy wrote, "This material
world is even now becoming the
arena for conflicting forces." She
says further on, "These disturb-
ances will continue until the end
of error, when all discord will be
swallowed up in spiritual Truth"
(Science and Health, p. 96).
Conclusion
In discussing the subject "The
Origin and Power of Thought" we
have seen how the power of a.
progressive thought changed the
lives of thousands of Chinese fish-
ermen. We have seen that Morse
and Einstein recognized it was an
intelligent power greater than
themselves which provided the
ideas essential to the success of
their work. Thoughts are some-
thing men do not have the ability
to make. True thoughts are made
by the Mind they evidence and
are reflected by man.
The transition of human con-
sciousness from a material basis
of thinking to the basis which ac-
cepts Spirit, God, as true Mind is
accomplished gradually. Better
and more useful human thoughts
appear as selfishness and self-will
give way to some recognition of
man as the expression of gen-
uine Mind. These better human
thoughts are not to be confused
with the spiritual ideas that ex-
press pure intelligence, God.
God, we have seen, is indis-
pensable to man, even the Mind
that is the source of all his intel-
ligent thoughts. This Mind is
universal and is the continuing
source of worthy thoughts for
men, on all planets where men
may be. God therefore has no
limited form, is located in no
place but, like the principle of
mathematics, is everywhere. He
is the Life-principle of all real
being.
Wrong thoughts we saw do not
derive from God, for the same
source cannot produce opposites.
We considered Jesus' analysis of
evil. It brought out that evil is
the opposite of God, true' Mind.
Evil is a negative sense of mind,
claiming the power, prestige and
universality of true Mind. Its pat-
tern is first to father, originate
its mortal, ungodlike man, then to
murder what it makes through
accident, crime, war, disease. Pro-
duction and destruction are its
pattern. Jesus exposed its power-
lessness with the term "liar"-a
lying cause, murdering its false
effect. This lying sense of cause
and effect is destructible in the
degree Jesus' words are followed,
'AYe shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free" (John
8:32). The truth is the true idea
of cause and effect--Mind and its
manifestation.
To find the intactness of Mind's
kingdom, Jesus told Nicodemus
that we all must be born again,
mentally awaken to the true sense
or origin, the living God, as our
Life and Father. Mrs. Eddy says
that the new birth begins with
moments and goes on with years,
moments of surrender to God (see
Miscellaneous Writings, p. 15).
Little by little the individual
changes his thinking from a di-
vided allegiance to two minds and
accepts as natural his constant
conscious oneness with the Mind
that is his God. He finds the all-
important idea for him is the true
idea of his source and of himself
as the spiritual expression of his
source. This true idea of the one
cause and its effect is the saving
Christ. It saves thought from a
wrong concept of God and man
and reveals man's oneness with
God as the expression of the one
intelligent Mind.
We have seen that the essence
of the teachings of Christ Jesus
and of Christian Science is right
thinking and acting, accepting
consistently as our thinking the
A
I
The lecturer spoke substantially
as follows:
For many years prior to the last
World War the fishing industry
based at Hong Kong was in a
depressed state. Ninety-five per
cent of the Chinese fishermen and'
their families were illiterate, their
fishing methods were antiquated.
There was not a motorized junk
in the large fishing fleet. Man-
power, but mostly woman-power,
worked the heavy capstans for
lifting and lowering sails, 'and
when the wind died propelled the
boats with long paddles. The
standard of living was at a bare
subsistence level.
Then something happened. A
prisoner of war, locally interned
and familiar with the situation,
had an idea. It was to motorize
the fishing fleet, increase its
range, and so its potential catch.
At the war's end this idea was
accepted by the authorities and
funds made available to the fish-
ermen on loan for motorizing
their junks.
Stubborn resistance to a new
method that demanded giving up
the customs of centuries had to
be overcome. In 1948 a fisherman
caused much shaking of heads
among his fellows by borrowing
money to equip his two junks with
engines. But the increase in his
catch proved he was right; others
followed. Today there are more
than 3500 junks with engines.
Three times as many fish are
caught; thousands of children
from the fishermen's families are
in school, and some are even
attending universities overseas.
What producedthe changesA
thought, first found by the pris-
oner of war, then accepted by
others. With itsown intelligent
power this thought overcame cen-
turies of ignorant, limited think-
ing and changed for the better
the lives and perspectives of
thousands.
That is the way with worthy
thoughts. Their innate power for
destroying bonds of ignorant lim-
itation and bringing a better life
to those who accept them is
mighty. But there has to be a
willingness to recognize their po-
tential for good before they can
do their work. Gradually men
are discovering there is no scar-