10. 130
If thought is startled at the strong claim of Science for the supremacy of God, or Truth, and doubts the supremacy of good, ought we not, contrariwise, to be astounded at the vigorous claims of evil and doubt them, and no longer think it natural to love sin and unnatural to forsake it, — no longer imagine evil to be ever-present and good absent? Truth should not seem so surprising and unnatural as error, and error should not seem so real as truth.
From Association Addresses by Bicknell Young, page 20 of the 1936 address:
Looking for something esoteric, or mystical, or hidden is not Christian Science. Anything hidden or mystical is error, or unreality. The temptation to become complicated in thought and explanation, if yielded to, obscures Christian Science and prolongs or perhaps prevents demonstration.
I am so grateful to Mary Baker Eddy for clearly talking about reality and unreality, and to this church for the clear instruction. When I first arrived in Plainfield, I knew that the life I had lived and the thoughts I had entertained had brought nothing good, but I really didn’t know why. Christian Science is showing me the difference between right thinking and wrong thinking, and helping me more and more to keep myself on the side of the real and right of God.
I love that there is no secret handshake, no arcane rituals, no robe-wearing, and no weirdness here. There is just the simplicity of “the fruit of the Spirit” from Galatians 5:22-23: “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance.” Nothing difficult or complex about that!
I am also grateful that, now that I have been here a while, those claims of error are “surprising and unnatural” to me.
Thank you for this lesson, and all this church offers!