Articles

IT is by no means an easy task to write about the personality of any one who has become known to the world through his or her achievements, for the latter always seem to eclipse the former; and yet it must ever be true that the achievements spring from the personality, that what one does is the result of what he is. Long ago the great Teacher said that a tree is known by its fruit,—not by its stem, its leaves, its branches, or its root; and whatever we may choose to think or say, the test of the Master is inevitably the final test for every human being.

It is not easy to realize the very close relation that exists between one's individual problems and the problems of the church; not only of one's local church, but of the Cause at large. There is, however, in truth, only one problem, that of working out one's relation to God.

During the past few months the writer has read several lengthy reviews of books on Christian Science, which purport to "explain" how its healing work is done. It seems a pity that intelligent people should waste their time in writing long accounts of something they do not understand; for, until one has healed a patient through Christian Science prayer, he cannot understand the process.

Liberty is a mental rather than a physical state. The slave set physically free is still a slave until he mentally apprehends his freedom.

We come, O woman and mother, here to build our memorial to thee. Thine earthly garments were damp with the dews of the wilderness; thy feet were torn by the thorns of thy pathway; thine eyes dimmed by the tears of thy travail; but in thine arms them didst bear, and at thy bosom thou didst nourish, the babe of thy sacrifices, the child of thy toil,—him the master of his time, the beloved of centuries to be, the servant of justice and the liberator of the oppressed! And so, for thine own sake and for thy child's, we are here to do this fitting honor.

Under the provisions of the Manual of The Mother Church, in Boston, Mass. , Christian Science churches have for years been privileged to adopt their own form of government, but our Leader's brief and significant proclamation to Christian Scientists throughout the world, contained in the issue of the Sentinel of May 22, 1909, "In Christian Science each branch church shall be distinctly democratic in its government," stipulates that the particular form shall be democratic, and makes pertinent the consideration of the question of democracy as applied to the conduct of church organization.

There is probably no student of Christian Science but has at some stage of his experience said, "Oh, I am getting along so slowly in the understanding of Science!" and combined with this thought has been an undercurrent of discouragement and self-pity, mixed with a degree of impatience, because the progress has not been more rapid. The New Testament writers comfort us, however, in their intimations that we are not the first to become impatient or discouraged because the reward for our well-doing has been delayed, or because we have needed positive and frequent admonitions regarding the cultivation of that priceless virtue, patience.

Most of us are familiar with the picture, so dear to the hearts of Christian Scientists, called "Daniel's Answer to the King. " The artist has portrayed the moment when the king, at whose command Daniel has been cast into the den of lions, comes, after a sleepless night, to see whether the captive is still alive.

Among the pearls found along life's pathway there is one of great price, and that is a healing consciousness. For centuries this pearl had been lost sight of, and when Christian Science found it, it was buried beneath an accumulation of worldly wisdom, pride, superstition, bigotry, religious intolerance, sensuality, "faith without works," unbelief, and a hundred other erroneous theories and opinions.

John records a very remarkable saying of Jesus: "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. " This declaration strikes us with tremendous significance.