  My Beloved Students:—Weeks have passed into [15] months, and months into years, since last we met; but time and space, when encompassed by divine presence, do not separate us. Our hearts have kept time together, and our hands have wrought steadfastly at the same object-lesson, while leagues have lain between us. [20] We may well unite in thanksgiving for the continued progress and unprecedented prosperity of our Cause. It is already obvious that the world's acceptance and the momentum of Christian Science, increase rapidly as years glide on. [25] As Christian Scientists, you have dared the perilous de- fense of Truth, and have succeeded. You have learned how fleeting is that which men call great; and how per- manent that which God calls good. You have proven that the greatest piety is scarcely [1] sufficient to demonstrate what you have adopted and taught; that your work, well done, would dignify angels. Faithfully, as meekly, you have toiled all night; and at break of day caught much. At times, your net has [5] been so full that it broke: human pride, creeping into its meshes, extended it beyond safe expansion; then, losing hold of divine Love, you lost your fishes, and pos- sibly blamed others more than yourself. But those whom God makes “fishers of men” will not pull for the shore; [10] like Peter, they launch into the depths, cast their nets on the right side, compensate loss, and gain a higher sense of the true idea. Nothing is lost that God gives: had He filled the net, it would not have broken. Leaving the seed of Truth to its own vitality, it propa- [15] gates: the tares cannot hinder it. Our Master said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away;” and Jesus' faith in Truth must not ex- ceed that of Christian Scientists who prove its power to be immortal. [20] The Christianity that is merely of sects, the pulpit, and fashionable society, is brief; but the Word of God abideth. Plato was a pagan; but no greater difference existed be- tween his doctrines and those of Jesus, than to-day exists between the Catholic and Protestant sects. I love the [25] orthodox church; and, in time, that church will love Christian Science. Let me specially call the attention of this Association to the following false beliefs inclining mortal mind more deviously:— The belief in anti-Christ: that somebody in the flesh [30] is the son of God, or is another Christ, or is a spiritually adopted child, or is an incarnated babe, is the evil one— in other words, the one evil—disporting itself with the [1] subtleties of sin! Even honest thinkers, not knowing whence they come, may deem these delusions verities, before they know it, or really look the illusions in the face. The ages are bur- [5] dened with material modes. Hypnotism, microbes, X-rays, and ex-common sense, occupy time and thought; and error, given new opportunities, will improve them. The most just man can neither defend the innocent nor detect the guilty, unless he knows how to be just; and this knowl- [10] edge demands our time and attention. The mental stages of crime, which seem to belong to the latter days, are strictly classified in metaphysics as some of the many features and forms of what is properly denominated, in extreme cases, moral idiocy. I visited [15] in his cell the assassin of President Garfield, and found him in the mental state called moral idiocy. He had no sense of his crime; but regarded his act as one of simple justice, and himself as the victim. My few words touched him; he sank back in his chair, limp and pale; his flip- [20] pancy had fled. The jailer thanked me, and said, “Other visitors have brought to him bouquets, but you have |
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