wrought by Him, to whom all things are possible. We cannot “serve two masters.”
If we are sensibly with the body, and regard Omnipotence as a person whose ear we would gain, we are not “absent from the body and present with the Lord,” in the demonstration of Spirit.
Become conscious, for a single moment, that Life and Intelligence are purely spiritual, — neither in nor of matter, — and the body will utter no complaint. If in the belief of sickness, you will find yourself suddenly well. Sorrow is turned into joy when the body is controlled by Divine Life, Truth, and Love. Hence the hope of the promise Jesus bestows: “The works that I do, ye shall do,” — “because I go to the Father ;” — the Ego is absent from the body, and present with Truth.
To be “present with the Lord” is not to have emotional ecstasy or faith, but to have actual demonstration of the Science of Life. To be “with the Lord” is to be in obedience to the law of God, to have a body governed by Spirit, not by matter.
Our Master said, “After this manner pray ye,” and then he gave that prayer which covers all human needs.
There is indeed some doubt, among Bible scholars, whether the last line is not an addition to the prayer, by a later copyist, but this does not affect its meaning.
In the phrase, “Deliver us from evil,” the original properly reads, “Deliver us from the Evil One.” This change strengthens the scientific meaning of the petition; for Christian Science teaches us that the Evil One, or Satan, is one with material sense.
