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manded by Intelligence, when, lo! the serpent, illusion, fled, and the rod was in his hand, as "a symbol of strength, a staff upon which to lean " which to lean" (SCIENCE AND HEALTH, 216, 217).

In following this Scripture text (Ex. iv.), we discover that when Moses had conquered his own fear and material belief, he became strong in the wonder-working power of Truth; then he found his people ready to hear him gladly, and the Egyptians equally ready to sacrifice to the limit of the law's demands.

This record in the history of Moses furnishes the precedent for all ages, and teaches him who would become a deliverer from the sway of material beliefs, that true deliverance must follow the sacrifice of all sense of treasure in the realm of matter. Even Abraham, when returning with the spoils of a successful warfare against the kings, gave "tithes of all " in receiving a blessing from the "King of Peace:" likewise the Priests, the Levites, "have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law" (Heb. vii.). Again there comes a time under the law when the children, coming out from the wilderness and seeking the hope of the promise, are required, each one, to pay a stipulated sum into the treasury of the Lord. This was at the time of the enrollment of their respective names as children of Israel. Concerning this, we read: "The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less." Every one, it will be observed, was to pay a stipulated sum,-" every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord, when thou numberest them. odus xxx).

(Ex

In the spiritualization of thought, the law becomes the basis upon which to build the practice of Christianity. "Think not," says Jesus, "that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Till material sense shall yield to spiritual understanding, and the claims of matter disappear entirely, the law will continue to demand sacrifices. So long as in our thought materiality remains a thing of value, be it sin,

sense or money, just so long will justice demand sacrifice; in order to re-adjust the balance of faith to the spiritual idea of Life, Truth and Love.

Our Master at one time instructs his prospective disciples, saying: "Make to yourselves friends by means of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when IT shall fail they," the friends thus made, "may receive you into the eternal tabernacles." No Scripture has, perhaps, occasioned more perplexity among commentators, than has this one. Strange advice," say the uninstructed; yet the meaning is very simple. Win friends through self-sacrifice; that when there is no longer a selfsacrifice to be made, your friends, whom you have won by this means, may receive you into the brotherly fellowship of health, harmony and holiness.

We claim to follow Jesus, to be God's messengers; then, is not the spirit of the Lord upon us as truly as upon Paul, who was an "ambassador in Christ's stead"? Hath not the Lord, the spiritual understanding of Life, verily anointed us as Christians, as CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS, to preach good tidings unto the meek? Hath He not sent us "to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's good pleasure (Rev. Ver. Marg.) and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion," in the exalted place of hope in spiritual strength, "to give unto them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified”?

What shall we do? Have we yet begun to "build the old wastes," and "raise up the former desolation"? Do we not learn from this sixty-first chapter of Isaiah, that, when we shall fulfil this prophecy, those who are "strangers" to our God shall feed our flocks, and such as are "alien" to our faith shall become our plowmen and vine-dressers, shall serve in the cultivation and propagation of right ideas? Shall we not take the name given to Christ's disciples,

"Priests of the Lord;" and shall we not be called " Ministers of our God"? Then, if we may, what saith this same Scripture? "Ye shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves."

A word of admonition: "Charge them that are rich in this present world, that they be not high-minded, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy " (1 Tim. vi. 17).

WAIT FOR THE LIGHT.

F. L. THOMPSON.

T seems to me I have been trying to get rid of mortal mind altogether, which of course is equivalent to getting rid of the mortal body, as they are one and inseparable. This cannot be done while we are on this plane of thought. Instead, Truth (Science) says to the senses: "Be ye also perfect, by putting on the glory of Spirit, so God will and can dwell among men (mortals); for all mankind shall be taught of God." In other words, we must "emerge gently from matter into Spirit," through the illumination of mortal mind by Spirit; replacing the dark phantoms of material concepts, "first, in light; second, in reflection; third, in spiritual and immortal forms of beauty and goodThis must come gently; and as we entertain the Light and perceive the reflection, we will manifest the immortal forms of beauty and goodness. Paul says: "As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." "Behold I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.”

ness.

Do not infer from this that I think mortal mind is something real, and a necessary prelude to immortality, or the real Mind, God. But rather, as we go into a dark room to light a lamp, we do so without one thought about the darkness that envelopes us; knowing full well that when we get the light the darkness will disappear, will go out in the

SCIENCE AND HEALTH.

nothingness in which it came in, proving that the seeming of darkness was only the mortal way we have to express the absence of light. So by demonstration, or lighting the spiritual lamp in the darkness of mortal thought, we find that that which in the absence of light seemed so real to our distorted fancies, is now gone. Seeing the light, we remember the darkness only as a negation, a nothing, which the Light forever dispells.

Isaiah (xxxvii. 28) says: "But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me; and in the thirty-fourth verse: "By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord." So the true status of the case is, that mortal mind is not in reality in "the city" at all, but is simply in the darkness of belief which only needs the light of reality to be entertained to have the darkness vanish. In the light is revealed the true man, the image and likeness of the Perfect Mind, in which there is no sickness, sin, nor death. In order to obtain this true likeness we must have the light (who ever heard of getting a true reflection of anything in darkness), for in the darkness of mortal belief in the reality of matter, how can a true conception of God's pure image and likeness, which is spiritual, be obtained? That is, how can we see what this reflection is?

Suppose, on going to a photographer for a picture, we go at midnight. He tells us it is impossible to get a reflection in this darkness; that we must have light; to wait until dawn, and then we can get it. We wait. At the very first gleam, we insist on having the picture taken; but he says: "The light is very dim, and in it we cannot get a reflection that will enable you to discern the outlines." We again try to possess our hearts in patience, and wait.

A little more light, and we think: "Now, surely, my patience will be rewarded;" but the artist says: "It is impossible. This work is based on scientific principle, and the very first requisite is light." There evidently is only one thing for us to do; that is, to get all in readiness so that we can use the light when it does come, and then patiently wait.

A little longer, and we insist again that now, surely, it is light enough. The artist says: "Well, although we cannot get a good picture, we will try it in reward for your patient waiting; but this will not be a picture that we can keep, because as the rays grow stronger we will obtain very different results. However, this will show you that what I am telling you is true.” He takes a negative, and shows us the result. Taking this to as strong a light as we can find, we are able to discern very dimly the outlines, but can hardly tell what it is. Therefore we must wait longer.

As the dawn advances we again become impatient, and the artist shows us another view taken in this light; assuring us as before, that this one must be thrown away, for when the light is perfect we will have no use for this. Taking this to the light, we see it is by no means perfect; still, compared with the other, it is much better. This encourages us, and brings conviction that the words of the artist are true; that when the light does become strong enough, we shall be able to gain the true reflection. As the light increases, we get other and clearer though still imperfect views.

Finally the artist tells us that the light is now right; but that, in order to have the result brought out, we must get directly into its rays. Taking the place, he assigns us, the good work goes on, and we are shown the result in a negative. Looking at this closely, we are not able to discern very clearly the resemblance to the original, and still complain to the artist. He replies: "My dear sir, why do you complain? The work is not yet finished. As I told you, the very first requisite is light; the next is understanding to properly apply the principle of which I spoke. This must be done through industry. Then we must have more light, because all of our labors thus far have only resulted in the negative; but by making use of this negative under more light understandingly applied, we will arrive at the true result, the positive reflection. This, however, cannot be done to-day, as it is a process that requires time." So we patiently wait for the development of the positive reflection.