Nearer ANNIE M. KNOTT, CSD         In thinking upon the approaching close of the year, a hymn which was at one time a favorite with the writer was recalled, — the one by Miss Cary that begins with these lines: — One sweetly solemn thought Comes to me o'er and o'er, I'm nearer home today Than ever I've been before.          As the sweet but melancholy cadences of the hymn passed in review before memory, Mrs. Eddy's words from Science and Health revealed the great change which comes to the thought of all who accept Christian Science. She says: "Immortal Mind feeds the body with supernal freshness and fairness, supplying it with beautiful images of thought and destroying the woes of sense which each day brings to a nearer tomb" (p. 248).          Who is there, outside of Christian Science, who does not believe that the close of each day brings him nearer to the tomb, and that this process is the divinely provided means of reaching our heavenly home? Now the Master himself said that the kingdom of heaven is "within;" not a place to be reached by passing through the grave or involving cycles of time, and he laid such emphasis upon this that he even said: "If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death." The question therefore for each one is whether he is daily drawing nearer to Life with all that this implies in Christian Science. As we study the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, we learn that only Godlike qualities are immortal, and to measure our progress we must take account of ourselves to see whether the mental qualities inherent in the man of flesh are dying out, as they must sooner or later, and whether we are separating thought from these beliefs in knowing that as God never made aught which is evil, they never were any part of our true selfhood. In striving after spiritual realization we must never indulge the sophistry which would call sin unreal and then indulge anger, envy, selfishness, or even worry, for not one of these is of the Father. St. Paul says, "Grieve not the holy Spirit, . . . Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice." If these evil beliefs are put off, Christ, God's perfect idea, is put on, and we are truly drawing nearer each day to home, heaven, harmony.          It is really startling to be made aware that if we could suddenly find our way into the abode of the blessed, it would at that moment cease to be heaven if one carried with him a sense of hatred toward anyone; but this is an unthinkable proposition, because we are told that God, who is Light, dwells in the light to which no mortal man or mortal error can approach, and yet it should not be forgotten that we are bidden and expected to "walk in the light." Mrs. Eddy gives us in Science and Health an unvarying rule by which we may measure our progress. It is this: "If divine Love is becoming nearer, dearer, and more real to us, matter is then submitting to Spirit" (p. 239). The question is, Do we really desire to be godlike, Christlike? If so, each day's living will mark some definite gain in drawing nearer to the goal. The things of earth will seem smaller and smaller as we ascend toward the heights of Spirit, and the attraction of materiality will lessen at every step of the way, so that it will cease to influence us either through fear of it or love of it. We should never lose sight of the fact that we can never carry into the "home of the Soul" "anything that defileth, . . . or maketh a lie," and it is not enough to approach the threshold. What we need is to draw near in full assurance of faith, daily proving our worthiness to enter in and find rest.   "Nearer" by Annie M. Knott, CSD Christian Science Sentinel, December 28, 1912

 

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