Preparation ALBERT F. GILMORE, CSB          The writer of the book of Proverbs was so convinced of the necessity for spiritual preparedness that he wrote in his famous compendium of wisdom, "The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord." The preparation which he conceived as finding its rightful expression in the utterances of the tongue came, manifestly, from God. Since its origin was infinite Spirit, from which nothing unspiritual could by any possibility emanate, it must have been purely spiritual in its quality. This preparation would so completely spiritualize thought as rightly to govern the tongue, sometimes characterized as the "unruly" member, avowedly the source of many of the difficulties which mankind seems to encounter.          There is a valuable lesson for Christian Scientists in this pronouncement of the wise man. Spiritual preparation is the only insurance against the untoward circumstances which seem so completely to encompass human experience. But we are not left by an unkind fate to be buffeted hither and yon by every adverse wind that blows. We may set our course and follow it if, utilizing the means at hand, we properly prepare ourselves. It seems, however, that mortals too often are desirous of reaping the rewards of spirituality without taking the steps to gain it. The desire to hold on to materiality with its subtle allurements sometimes militates against the careful daily preparation which would set our mental compass, insuring an harmonious and successful day's experience.          Arguments many arise to keep us from making the preparation necessary in order to enable us happily to meet the exigencies of the day. Another hour of sleep, many duties about the home, urgent demands for assistance from members of the household, love of recreation and play, the love of the morning paper, — all these temptations raise their clamorous voices to keep us from doing that which we know we should do in order to perform properly the tasks that confront us, and scientifically to meet the conditions of life, glorifying God in all our actions. The arguments of error are many and convincing, — that is, from error's standpoint; but viewed from the standpoint of divine Principle, they weigh nothing in the balance with spiritual reality.          If error should assert that the desire mentally to prepare ourselves for the day is purely selfish, looking only to one's own well-being, to the gaining of an harmonious state for one's self regardless of others' welfare, the answer may be returned that the best service one may render mankind, individually or collectively, is to exemplify the Christ, Truth, through right thinking and right doing. What availeth it if one add his own wrong thinking to the preponderance of wrong thought in which the world at large engages? Will this help mankind up salvation hill? Manifestly not! But every true thought held and exemplified in right living has an immeasurable influence in correcting the false ways of mankind.          How wonderfully has Mrs. Eddy set forth the effects of right thinking! "The spiritual power of a scientific, right thought," she declares in "Rudimental Divine Science" (p. 9), "without a direct effort, an audible or even a mental argument, has oftentimes healed inveterate diseases." Wondrous statement! How much, then, in the view of our Leader, depends upon scientific right thinking, the thinking which is the result of prayer and consecration, by which mental preparation is made. The redoubtable apostle to the Gentiles adjured the Christians at Ephesus to "put on the whole armour of God," in the way of making ready to meet the seeming wiles of evil, adding, specifically, "having . . . your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace."          "The preparation of the gospel of peace" Paul saw as part of the necessary process of putting on the whole armor of God. For such preparation could be nothing less than the gaining of spiritual understanding, whereby the facts of God's infinite presence and goodness become manifest, revealing the unreality of evil. What inroads upon a mental state as fully assured as was Christ Jesus' of God's omnipotence and availability to destroy the claims of error, could be made by any protestation of evil to be real or to have power? None whatsoever. Then, is it not our great privilege, as well as our bounden duty, as militant Christians, "enlisted to lessen evil, disease, and death," as Mrs. Eddy writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 450), so thoroughly to prepare ourselves through gaining spiritual ascendancy as to be able speedily and effectively to meet all the claims of error which beset our paths of whatsoever name or nature?          Into this preparation there may enter no element of hate, resentment, self-will, or self-righteousness. With the humility of a little child and in full recognition that divine Love is the only power, we make our preparation, joyously receptive of the reward wholly commensurate with our efforts. God blesses infinitely all who seek Him "in spirit and in truth," but the blessing is contingent upon the seeking. Adequate preparation insures the success of the true seeker.   "Preparation" by Albert F. Gilmore, CSB Christian Science Sentinel, May 23, 1925

 

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