We are living in an expanding universe. Change is coming on so many fronts and with such rapidity that many are almost overwhelmed by it. Virtually nothing escapes the workings of change. Concepts of our economy, of society, of our world, of our universe-all are expanding with revolutionary energy.

Looking at the decade 1970-79, the noted historian Arnold Toynbee has predicted a quickening rate of change. "This seems certain," he writes, "because technology, propelled by science, is developing at a constantly accelerating pace, and technological changes have an impact on the life of society and on the life of each individual human being. I guess that the pace in the decade 1970-1979 will be faster than ever before. To digest this amount of change in ten years will be the major difficulty for us all in 1970-1979." 1

There are features of this expanding universe that are exciting and full of hope. Contrariwise, some elements of change are distressing and are rocking society to its depths.

How can we sort out these conflicting elements? What can we do to assimilate

the good and progressive ideas flowing from expanding knowledge, while saving ourselves from the destructive aspects of revolution?

These are generally regarded as questions involving technological, sociological, and economic considerations. But does not religion have a contribution to make in strengthening humanity's ability to comprehend and assimilate the forces of expansion?

Many believe that religion is passé and has nothing of substance to contribute. I heartily disagree. I am convinced that religion has an indispensable and dynamic role in mankind's future. Let's see why.

It is native to the instincts of men that they should conquer their environment. This is not so much an urge to dominate as it is an impulsion to be free from restriction. For instance, the desire for understanding is impelled by the need to be free from the confinements of ignorance.

In its highest sense, expanding knowledge is the effect of the search for fundamental cause, the unchanging law that underlies all being. In essence, it is a search for eternal Truth.

Whatever is eternally true must be im

mutable. That which is believed to be true but is found subject to change as knowledge expands can never have been more than a belief about truth. Meaningful change comes about through unfoldment in thought of a higher, clearer concept of what is immutably true. It is never ultimate Truth that changes, but only a belief about what was thought to be true.

In the final analysis, a search for eternal Truth is really a search for God, for God alone is immutable, eternal, absolute. God is Truth. Whatever is true of God is eternally true. There is no element of variability in Him.

While God, Truth, is unchanging, it is He who motivates change in human concepts. Truth causes humanity to gravitate Godward, toward an enlightened understanding of what is eternally true. Each step of progress away from the limitations of human ignorance is a step closer to divine Truth. Though the progressive step may appear to be measurably materialistic in its manifestation, it is divine Truth which imparts the energy that impels men to seek freedom from the mental shackles of ignorance.

"Eternal Truth is changing the universe," writes Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. And she continues, "As mortals drop off their mental swaddling-clothes, thought expands into expression. 'Let there be light,' is the perpetual demand of Truth and Love, changing chaos into order and discord into the music of the spheres." 2 The processes of expanding thought and a changing universe take on an entirely different dimension when examined in the light of this prophetic statement. Should we fear that which God impels? God, Truth, is the divine Principle of universal harmony. That which He imparts is good. His impartation unfolds to humanity in harmonious accord with its Principle, divine Love. Never injuring, it always blesses, and when understood is assimilated as readily as darkness yields to light.

Ignorant human belief-what Christian Science terms mortal mind-misinterprets and resists the unfoldment of Truth's activity. It seeks to place progress and change on a merely material basis, blind to the divine energy that impels change. The effort to materialize what is essentially a spiritual activity dulls the human mind. Stubborn resistance to new ideas, fear of change, desire to cling to outmoded concepts, stolid indifference to Truth, all are manifestations of this ignorant state of thought. Chaos is a vivid form of mortal mind's resistance to Truth. It is never Truth, but mortal ignorance of Truth, that is at the root of the discordant elements of the change produced by expanding knowledge.

What are we to do in facing the alarming manifestations of this conflict in human thought? Ignore them? Passively believe the evil will disappear in time, and hope for the best? Not at all.

Ignorance of divine Truth is at the root of all of humanity's discord. Ignorance is the lack of an understanding of what is true. It takes a struggle to overcome mortal ignorance. The prayerful effort to understand Truth brings its reward by dispelling the shadows of mortal ignorance. Mrs. Eddy describes our proper course of action this way: "Your true course is to destroy the foe, and leave the field to God, Life, Truth, and Love, remembering that God and His ideas alone are real and harmonious.

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When facing the foe of progress, let us recognize it is never Truth's activity, but mortal resistance to the unfoldment of Truth, that constitutes the foe. Our course of action is certainly not to shrink in face of the foe but through prayer and understanding look to the spiritual cause for the good inherent in progress and change. It means, first of all, examining our own thought to be certain there is a willingness to yield to the impulsion of Truth and be guided accordingly. Fear, anxiety, stubborn resistance to new ideas, desire to cling to old concepts, stifle the expansion of human consciousness. Our greatest receptivity