The Spiritual Sanctuary SAMUEL FREDERICK SWANTEES            In ancient days the sanctuary, or Holy of Holies, was the place where the presence of God was made manifest. It was the most holy place in the tabernacle of Moses and in the temple at Jerusalem; and near this place the Israelites assembled and worshiped God. Often pilgrimages were made from some distant part of the country or some far-off land in order to worship at this sanctuary. If this was impossible, prayers were made, as in the case of Daniel, toward the temple in Jerusalem, a custom that was alluded to by Solomon in his prayer at the dedication of the temple.          The advent of Christ Jesus gradually brought a changed concept of the sanctuary; for he said that the kingdom of heaven is within us, clearly setting forth the great spiritual fact that God is with all those who understandingly recognize His presence. It was into the Holy of Holies that the high priest entered once a year to make an atonement for his people. But at the time of Jesus' crucifixion the veil which separated the sanctuary from the rest of the temple was rent from top to bottom, and all were free to enter the holy place. The sanctuary was no more to be in a single spot or place, but in individual consciousness, so that God's presence could be demonstrated anywhere, and by everyone. As Mrs. Eddy says on page 481 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," "Like the archpriests of yore, man is free 'to enter into the holiest,' — the realm of God." The true sanctuary is therefore wholly spiritual and mental. That being true, each one of us may, through spiritual understanding, enter therein and commune with God at all times.          All true worship of God has but one purpose, namely, to bring every thought into agreement with Spirit or Truth; to make God the Rock or the true foundation of all right thinking. Paul speaks of spiritual power as "casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." Is it not plain, then, that all true thought, in harmony with God, must partake of Life, Truth, and Love? The sanctuary, therefore, has evidently the one great purpose of establishing most firmly in our thinking the truth of the allness of God, Spirit, and of man's eternal at-one-ment with God.          Let us, then, enter the Holy of Holies, the spiritual sanctuary, putting into practice what our Leader bids us do when she says (ibid., p. 15), "In the quiet sanctuary of earnest longings, we must deny sin and plead God's allness." As, metaphorically, we enter this sanctuary silently to commune with God, we may sometimes find that our thoughts are not communing with God because they have strayed into pondering the personal faults of others present around us, say in a church auditorium; and our thought of God has been clouded. If we are alert, we shall realize that this material sense of man must be denied and replaced with the truth about all that enters our own thinking, our sanctuary.          There may be, for instance, a thought of someone who, as we believe, has done something to harm us, and resentment talks loudly to us. Do we admit this error and enlarge upon it in our thinking? Not if we wish to remain in the spiritual sanctuary, where we are enabled to realize that God made all, and that He has no real unlikeness: all there really is or can be is God and His idea, always loving and beloved. Here is someone who in our estimation is perhaps very domineering, especially in church work; who seems to seek personal glory rather than the kingdom of God. Again we must refuse to accept this opinion of material sense, because we know that God alone is Mind. In "the structure of Truth and Love" (ibid., p. 583) there can be only the reflection of divine Principle. Perhaps the next one who comes before our thought seems to have some physical disorder. Then, in our spiritual thinking, we should rejoice to acknowledge only the perfect man of God's creating, without fault or blemish, forever approved by the creator.          So the procession of thoughts moves on until all that comes into our mental sanctuary is seen as perfect, even as it is in the sight of God. Indeed, in the mirror of Christian Science, we see man as God sees him — unfallen, immortal, pure, and perfect, full of love and truth, as are all of God's ideas. Thus we scientifically fulfill the Golden Rule; and as we fulfill it we establish divine harmony within our own sanctuary of true thoughts. This is Christian Science put into practice.   "The Spiritual Sanctuary" by Samuel Frederick Swantees Christian Science Sentinel, November 23, 1929

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