America – Cradle For The Second Coming Of The Christ
CONCLUSION
By the year 1866 freedom loving people from every nation on
earth had flooded into the United States to seek a new life and a new
beginning. It was in this open-minded heroic composite of nationalities that
Mary Baker Eddy's epoch making discovery, set forth in Science and Health,
could first be founded and subsequently fulfill the scriptural prophecy:
"And the leaves of the tree [Science and Health] were for the healing of the
nations"for the healing of the universal hypnotic suggestion that man is a
mortal instead of a divine being.
Mary Baker Eddy's healing message quickly spread to the
remotest parts of the earth. It is destined to bring all men into a knowledge
of the true God ("the kingdom of God within you" as Mind, Spirit, Soul,
Principle, Life, Truth, Love), uniting all in the one common brotherhood.
At present we know not what we are, "and it doth not yet
appear what we shall be: but we know that when he [understanding] shall appear,
we shall be like him"we shall be Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth,
Love, expressing itself as the Christ, the "Son of God," which means
understanding. We shall understand ourselves as we are, having
the kingdom of God within our spiritual consciousness. From this individual
infinite consciousness flows every good thing, for "where the spirit of the
Lord is, there is liberty"liberty to be what we already divinely are and always
have been, and always will be.
Cecil B. DeMille tells of an experience that illustrates
this liberty. He relates how, while in a canoe in shallow water, he glanced
down and saw the bottom of the lake covered with water bugs (nymphs). One of
the bugs came to the surface and climbed to the top of the canoe, where it
died. Its shell became dry and brittle, and suddenly it split open and from
this dry shell emerged a beautiful dragonfly. It immediately took to the air
and within seconds flew further than it--as a water bug--had crawled during its
entire lifespan.
As the dragonfly came back and hovered over the water,
casting its shadow over its former dwelling place, the water bugs below may
have seen its shadow but gave no sign of recognition of the dragonfly's
existence. Unknown and incomprehensible to them was the boundless divine
atmosphere of the world above. They were still blinded by the universal
hypnotic spell of being just material finite water bugs, completely unconscious
of the unlimited capacity and freedom awaiting them.
When Will We Awake?
Apropos of DeMille's observation of the water bug's
experience, Mrs. Eddy asks, "When will mankind awake to know their
present ownership of all good?" Because our Mind, substance,
identity is the Principle that reflects itself in Life, Truth and Love, we,
like the principle of mathematics, have all. There is no division of estate.
What doesn't the principle of mathematics have or "own?"
As we stand on the threshold of another new century, it is
comforting to remember that in 1901 Mrs. Eddy saw this 20th century as
"God-crowned," and in her poem, The New Century, she also speaks
prophetically of the 21st century:
THOU God-crowned, patient century, Thine hour hath come!
Eternity Draws nigh and beckoning from above, One hundred years, aflame with
Love, Again shall bid old earth goodby And, lo, the light! far heaven is nigh!
New themes seraphic, Life divine, And bliss that wipes the tears of time Away,
will enter, when they may, And bask in one eternal day.
'Tis writ on earth,
on leaf and flower: Love hath one race, one realm, one power. Dear God! how
great, how good Thou art To heal humanity's sore heart; To probe the wound,
then pour the balm A life perfected, strong and calm. The dark domain of pain
and sin Surrenders--Love doth enter in, And peace is won, and lost is vice:
Right reigns, and blood was not its price.
Pleasant View, Concord, N. H., January
1901.
The time has come for the transformation as individuals and
as a nation. It is time to crawl out of the muck and shed our encrusted shells,
to become who we truly are. "Love hath one race, one realm, one
power,"this is America's true heritage. "Pain and sin
surrenders--Love doth enter in"here is our blueprint for transformation.
What will it take? Knowing the truth and living it.
"A little more grace, a motive made pure, a few truths
tenderly told, a heart softened, a character subdued, a life consecrated, would
restore the right action of the mental mechanism and make manifest the movement
of body and soul in accord with God." (Mis. 354:15)
Just Be Love
"Love doth enter in," Mrs. Eddy wrote, "and peace is won."
Let us end this America, Cradle for the Second Coming of the Christ with
a note on Love and loving.
Cultivating friendly, warm-hearted impulses will help us put
an end to the heartbreak today so evident everywhere. Almost anything can be
bought by money except the warm expression of the human heart. This we have to
be given.
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "Rings and jewels are not gifts,
but apologies for gifts. The only gift is a portion of thyself."
Many people are afraid that a simple gift of the heart, an
act of kindness that would make another happy, might be laughed at. But
happiness is one of the greatest gifts within the power of any of us to bestow,
particularly in these troubled days when the entire world is so full of fear
and hatred, and humanity's heart and mind is so anxious. Therefore, as
Longfellow wrote, "Give what you have. To someone it may be better than you
dare to think."
Giving of yourself--making others happy--is not generosity;
it is really the basis of successful living. Try once a day to do some
surprising little thing to give pleasure to another--to make another happy.
Isn't it a law of life that we enrich ourselves most when we
give ourselves freely? As we persevere in giving happiness to others with no
thought of return we find we get back more than we give. Good-will expresses
itself in tolerance and a desire to share with others without thought of any
return.
Since "the kingdom of God is within" us, all good is already
within us and can freely be given. Today's giving, even a smile to a stranger
on the street, is a blind investment in future happiness, even though we can
not tell when, where, or in what form this happiness will come.
Don't withhold the small gifts that can make for someone a
happier day. If you think of your heart rather than your wallet as the means of
giving you will find it full to meet every need, since "the kingdom of God is
within you" to be freely given. Someone has written, "If he has the spirit of
true generosity, a pauper can give like a prince." Just like a rain drop that
falls into a still pool sends out expanding rings, a kind deed or word can have
impact far beyond our view.
How much does a sincere compliment cost? A moment of
attention and caring, of really seeing the other person and putting him
first--that's all! It is such a simple gift, yet it is often the one most
hungered for and most appreciated.
Graciously receiving can also be a gift. Anyone who has
sincerely offered a gift only to have it rebuffed or looked upon with suspicion
will realize how important it is to accept a gift or compliment graciously. If
we find pleasure in giving, so do others. We can enhance their happiness by the
attentiveness and appreciation with which we receive their gifts.
Ann Morrow Lindberg describes a man who had mastered this
art. "He knew how to receive so graciously that the gift was enhanced by its
reception. It was the rarest pleasure to bring things to him.Warmed by his
welcome, how beautiful became the things one brought to him."
All human beings hunger for appreciation. Even Jesus
suffered the pain of ingratitude when only one of the ten lepers he healed gave
thanks. How often do we give others all the happiness we might, for the things
they give and do for us?
Even a smile is a gift. A smile is one thing that people of
every country understand. Good nature begets smiles, smiles beget friends and
friends are better than a fortune.
One note of hope on today's horizon is the way the spirit of
empathy is stirring many of our young people. They want to broaden their spirit
of service to their fellow man. These young people feel they have a lot to
give, and they do. We all do.
Let's determine to be hopeful, helpful at every opportunity,
sympathetic, cheerful, friendly, courteous, appreciative and smiling. Let our
days be oiled with a drop of empathy. Let us put ourselves in the place of
others, enter into the feelings and needs of others. Let us be sympathetic to
their troubles, problems, frustrations and sorrows and let us rejoice with them
in their good fortune. This is the essence of the golden rule Jesus gave us:
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
As Mrs. Eddy urged us, "Just be love."
AMERICA book sections
Foreword | I |
II | III |
IV | V |
VI | VII |
VIII | IX |
X | XI |
XII | XIII |
Conclusion | Bibliography |
