"The Promise of the Holy Ghost" ANNIE M. KNOTT, CSD         Without the gleams of light which come from spiritual intuition, the history of mankind would have been dark indeed; but happily these have come from age to age, and most vividly when most needed. In divine revelation we have the related elements of promise and fulfilment, even as these appear in our individual experiences. How barren would the lives of Christians be without the promises which enrich the pages of Holy Writ, and yet there appears to be in many cases a long stretch of desert wandering between the promise and its fulfilment; this due, not to any unwillingness on the part of God to bless, but rather to the unreadiness of mortals to receive the desired blessing, whether it be health, holiness, or happiness.          Our revered Leader tells us that we should have more faith in God, "and be more alive to His promises" (Science and Health, p. 373). A remarkable passage in the second chapter of Acts says that Jesus "received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost." This corresponds with his own statement that the Holy Ghost, or "Spirit of truth," would come and make perpetual the truth which he had declared and demonstrated. For some years this was measurably realized, and as a result human thought was revolutionized wherever the rays of divine light penetrated the darkness of mortal belief. As an outward result the sick were healed, the sinful reformed, and even the dead raised. Then came over the sense of mankind the deepening dream of life in matter, of life separate from God and unlike Him, and its darkness continued, with occasional but gladdening gleams of light, until a great awakening came with the revelation of Christian Science, which declares for and demonstrates the presence and power of the Holy Ghost, known to us today as divine Science.          As at an earlier day, Mrs. Eddy's declaration of Truth was the word spoken with power, which is ever the proof of divine revelation. Even the simple fisher folk witnessed to this in Jesus' time, when they said that "his word was with power," and thousands can bear witness to the same power expressed not alone in our textbook, but throughout our Leader's entire writings, notably so in many of the articles in "Miscellaneous Writings," which reveal unmistakably the might and majesty of Spirit, rebuking the illusions of material sense which would hold the race forever in bondage to sin, disease, and death. That the world awakened enough to listen (some to accept and others to reject) was indeed marvelous when we consider the import of the message; but the word was with power, and it accomplished the thing whereto God sent it, despite the resistance of error, which would fain prolong the dream of life in material sense.          It sometimes seems as if the students of our priceless literature missed their greatest opportunities for progress by forgetting to go to the vitalizing, energizing declarations of Truth found in our Leaders writings, and sought instead the opinions of those who are only working their way out of mortal belief. A teacher or practitioner may give out a thought which is helpful and illuminating to someone, but which would not necessarily meet the need of others whose problems were different; hence the unwisdom of pressing it upon their attention when a broader and more impersonal statement, based upon Principle, is required. This should not be understood as a criticism of any kindly effort to help another, but rather of the intrusion of some partial and personal view of the truth, which would turn thought away from the inspired and inspiring utterances that cover universal need and link promise to fulfilment. It is our privilege to read the living words of Truth, and with the promise of the Holy Ghost seek the illumination that comes from on high, and thus will Truth be seen "shining through the mists of materiality, and melting away the shadows called sin, disease, and death" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 205).   "'The Promise of the Holy Ghost'" by Annie M. Knott, CSD Christian Science Sentinel, June 24, 1911

 

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