In this address, Our Unity with God, we read: “To be ever conscious of our unity with God, is to see the nothingness of a self-hood apart from God, the nothingness of a world of evil. This divine, or spiritual, consciousness carries with it the very power of omnipotence. The Psalmist has said, ‘In thy light shall we see light.’ It is God’s light which is our reflected consciousness. In this light, we can bear witness to the utter destruction of fear of evil, and the destruction of the belief that evil exists or has power. It is this one God, reflected by you and me, that ‘unifies men and nations,” and ‘constitutes the brotherhood of man.’
“The light by which we see is not ours, but it is God’s. We only reflect that light. This reflection is the Christ; this truth of Truth is the Christ; our office is that of reflecting God and His Christ. If we could all be of one Mind, we could and we shall evangelize the world. Just think of it!
“My dear students, you have learned through the years, through Christian Science, what is the nature and essence of God. Through your study and application of the qualities of the Christ, you have learned what God is. You learn what Mind is through the idea which expresses Mind.

“Thus, you have a clear understanding of what it is to be ever conscious of God, for you are the expression of God’s consciousness. You live and move and have being in God, in the divine consciousness. So, to be ever conscious of your unity with God is to be that very expression of God’s being which you actually are. When we think and reason from the standpoint of God, we can be conscious of nothing else but God’s consciousness, or Mind. It would be therefore impossible to listen to, or hear, the call or the suggestion of any so-called minds apart from God.”

His address, Ministering Angels, refers to Mrs. Eddy’s definition of angels in Science and Health as “God’s thoughts passing to man.” In this inspiring paper, Mr. Pickens comments on the coming of angels to the prophets and Christ Jesus, and the angel messages to the seven churches in the Apocalypse. Throughout the Scriptures, angels spoke to those chosen of God to reveal His Word to the world.

Then he explains how we, too, can hear these spiritual messages through the study of Christian Science. Again and again, Mrs. Eddy refers to the ever-presence of God’s thoughts and how to discern them. Mr. Pickens explains how angels defend, protect, deliver, guide, comfort, and heal us. He shows how to determine if thoughts are angels from God, or suggestions from animal magnetism, and how angels awaken us from the Adam-dream. Reading this paper brings the warm glow of God’s presence as we see how His thoughts truly do become our thoughts. He writes: “How wonderful to feel these angel messages, these impartations of the Christ, Truth, as they pour forth God’s healing thoughts to humanity. This is indeed divinity speaking to us in our every need. Every such coming of a divine idea, every inspiration, intuition, every sense of goodness, of purity and gratitude, every spark of selfless love, is an angel of Love and Truth. Oh, may we hear these angels as they speak softly to our receptive ears! These angels are all about us, as near as the air we breathe.”
In the address Spiritual Sense, we are given an inspiring insight into the importance of spiritual sense, how it is the opposite of material sense, and how spiritual sense is the means through which we translate our false view of all things into the spiritual view through our understanding of God. Mr. Pickens writes, “Everything that God, or Mind, is, is reflected in man’s consciousness. God is ever conscious of all His ideas. Thus, the consciousness you have now is that infinite consciousness, reflected of God. It requires spiritual sense to understand this.”
Mr. Pickens relates spiritual sense to many aspects of our human life, showing that we see them as either material or spiritual, according to whether we have material or spiritual sense within. Again he writes, “When healings do not come spontaneously, it is indicative of a need for a greater sense of Love. In every heart is a response to Love. Love awakens the slumbering one. Love is the spark that illumines the darkened sense with a divine fire. Like the tiny spark in the center of the atom, there is in every consciousness the light of Life, even though it may be so infinitesimal as to be altogether hidden to human sense. Yet in every individual’s thought is the spark of divinity, which spiritual sense kindles into a flame of living Love with power from on High.”

Mr. Pickens’ Association Address titled “Blessed are Your Eyes for They See,” is not about eyes, but about vision, about having insight and foresight concerning all things. Mr. Pickens says, “It is my purpose today to present to you a clearer view of Love’s kingdom, and to bring to your attention the obvious need for gaining a vision of divine reality; for without this vision, no picture of the universe of Love’s creating could be seen or understood. . . . Mrs. Eddy, transcending all mere human vision, saw that it all rested upon the view (or understanding) which comes by, and through, the clarified, spiritualized consciousness.

“How wonderfully blest are we today with the Science of the Christ, which enables us to have the spiritual vision whereby we, too, can see and understand the deep things of God. It is about spiritual vision which I want so to discuss with you today. . .. Oh, that we could, like the prophet Ezekiel, even though he was a captive at the time and in bondage to a heathen nation, recognize a need for spiritual sight, for he warned, ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish.’ . . . One thing that is plainly seen by the alert student, is that errors such as ingratitude, disloyalty, and apathy are not a cause, but rather an effect of a lack of vision.” Then he says, “You need only the spirit of the Christ, the humility, the selfless love, and devoted consecration to this Truth; and equipped with these divine qualities, you will reflect all of the greatness of our God in your spiritually endowed mission among men. ‘Blessed are your eyes, for they see!’ This is the vision!” The highlight of this address is the lesson on Revelation in which he gives his interpretation of the vision of St. John.

In the address, Our Divine Heritage, Mr. Pickens brings out the powerful influence our prayerful thoughts have on world consciousness, and how this work is essential if we are to help humanity. He writes: “You will recall in the past my having brought to your attention great possibilities of our universal metaphysical work for humanity. Our Leader refers in our textbook to ‘millions of unprejudiced minds — simple seekers for Truth,’ and she tells us to ‘give them a cup of cold water in Christ’s name.’ We see that even in the realm of human invention, how the radio reaches unlimited millions where there are receiving instruments. Infinitely transcendent over such material transmission as the radio, our mental work actually reaches these millions of receptive minds. I have stressed this possibility to you, but it has been mainly regarding the distressed, sick, and discouraged thought that hears your angelic message of ‘Peace be unto you,’ and you can vision in yourselves what a comfort your universal work is to these millions.

“But now I want to call your attention to this same universal work now specifically directed to millions of prejudiced minds, those who are thinking in terms of war, of fear and hate. These so-called prejudiced minds are not necessarily unreceptive minds. Indeed, these countless millions who, through fear and hate and mad ambition are arming themselves for war can surely hear the Christian Scientists’ universal declaration and realizations: ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord.’ And we, His children, are brothers abiding in the oneness of Mind, and the comradeship of divine Love. There is no hate, no fear in God’s realm. Let us send forth this message each day — yes, each and every hour.” He goes on to enumerate the essential points in this prayerful work for the world.

In Unselfed Love, Mr. Pickens emphasizes the need to have absolute faith in God, a spiritual understanding of Him, an unselfed love. He writes: “Remember that you are not living in time, but eternity. Do not count the measure of your day’s accomplishments in material things that are done, or not done. It is altogether how much you learn of God and demonstrate an understanding that constitutes the worth-whileness and substance of your day. It is how much humility, honesty, gratitude, and unselfed love you have reflected that makes up the day of God in your life and mine; for we are building the temple of God in consciousness, and that work knows no time; it is one with our eternal being.

“We in Christian Science are confronted with the same problems as are those who are outside of this Science. The belief of mortal existence, which is accepted by the non-Scientist as leading to an inevitable death, is the same belief that confronts you and me; however, we who have learned of man’s indestructible nature as the child of God, and who have glimpsed the eternality of Life, know that there is no death, and that the transition, or passing on, does not affect in any way man’s at-one-ment with God, who is Life.”