Editorial ANNIE M. KNOTT, CSD          Mrs. Eddy says, "Home is the dearest spot on earth, and it should be the center, though not the boundary of the affections" (Science and Health, p. 58). It is, however, often admitted, and always with deep regret, that the modern home falls far below the ideal in much that constitutes home in its best sense; this, too, in spite of the comfort and the luxury which are now so much in evidence. It is observed that simple obedience is greatly lacking, also thoughtfulness for others as well as respect to parents, and it is generally conceded that these are missing because so much time and thought are given to the pursuit of material things. From their earliest hours children are, unconsciously it may be, led to desire the material, to look to it for their health and happiness, until its pursuit becomes an all-absorbing passion which inevitably results in disappointment and discord.          The strange inconsistency of the so-called human mind is nowhere more apparent than in the desire for the material, since the failure of materiality to give either health or happiness is universally conceded; to say nothing of the deeper needs of man's being. Of old the wise man, who possessed all that heart could desire of material things, said of this possession that it was only "vanity and vexation of spirit;" and he also said, "If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned." The pity is that so many continue to seek the material while admitting its failure to give anything which really counts in the end. On every hand the folly, the sin of this pursuit is being acknowledged, and yet Christian Scientists are condemned for taking the only position consistent therewith, viz.; that which declares for the allness of Mind, Spirit, and spiritual realities.          Let us try to assume the existence of a home from which love, truth, justice, purity, and health are absent, but in which there are all the material things that the human sense can desire. It would be unthinkable, for no one could conceive of home without the presence and activity of those mental or spiritual qualities which bespeak the ever-presence of the divine Mind. Then let us think of a home where Love reigns supreme, where Truth, intelligence, and right govern each member, and none would question that this is home, whatever the outward manifestations.          At this point the Christian Scientist is ready to meet the caviler who might contend that without the material the home would be incomplete, and this he would do by recalling the Master's promise, that if we seek "first" the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all we need will be "added" unto us. In Christian Science we learn that the divine supply for all human need comes from the spiritual side, not the material; and this constitutes a vital difference, not a mere distinction. We therefore cannot afford to give priority in our homes to anything but the spiritual, either in our affections or in the question of time. As we learn that God is Spirit and the only source of supply, we look away from the material which ever disappoints, to the spiritual which never does so, and thus our motives and affections are spiritualized and character becomes both pure and strong.          It should be understood that with the healing in Christian Science a great awakening of the dormant faculties is expressed, an increased activity in every right direction. Work is no longer feared as a menace to health, but is seen to be its necessary accompaniment; and it must be intelligent work after the divine intelligence is understood. Thus, when we have the right conditions in the home, there will be no vexed economic questions as to the division of labor, profits, etc., nor can these problems ever be effectively dealt with until Truth is recognized and obeyed in the home. Truth and Love really make the home, and should govern it, ruling out of it the dark shadows of sin, disease, and death.          Christian Science is enlarging and purifying all our ideals, including that of home, where the presence of divine Truth becomes a perpetual pillar of cloud and of fire before which the enemies of peace and prosperity—the sin and the fear—flee away, and in their stead is perfect security, with "renewed" strength and wisdom for the work of each day. He who truly knows God has found his home, and it is a "refuge" and a "fortress" where he rests secure in the Father's promise, "I will be with him."   Editorial by Annie M. Knott, CSD The Christian Science Journal, September, 1906

 

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