One day this week our young daughter came home from her music lesson with a metronome. (For the benefit of some who may be as ignorant as I was, let me say the metronome is a small machine for indicating the correct time and speed at which a musical composition should be played. It ticks by clock work and rings a tiny bell at regular intervals thus" marking time" for the musical student.) All that evening it amused us and gave promise of being a valuable assistant. But the next morning after our young woman had been at the piano a few moments I heard vexed exclamations. As I went to her assistance she cried "Oh, Mamma, I can't play with this thing! It won't come out right!"
Conscious of superior knowledge, I attempted to show her how it should be done, but speedily found myself in her dilemma. While I counted one, two, three, four; one, two, three, four; my monitor had marked one, two, three, four; one, two, three, four; one, two. Again, and again, I tried, and presently began the movement in proper time. I was jubilant! But a few more bars found me far ahead of the recording bell and I too, began to say, "Oh, pshaw!" The little machine had a quiet way of ticking on quite unconscious of my blunders. It was intensely silly to be provoked with it. Since it was evident that I alone was to blame, I placed the instrument in front of me where eye as well as ear could follow it, and began to correct my work. Before this I had accounted myself a fairly good timist, now I saw with chagrin how defective had been my work.
So it came to me that Principle unerring, is marking the way for Christian Scientists. However well the student has flattered himself he has been working, guiding himself meanwhile by others' accomplishment, coming to Divine Principle he sees his error. There is and can be no mistake here. God makes the rule and everything short of strict agreement with his unerring law is discordant. Until work is compared with God's way, mortals can never be sure it is well done. Brought face to face with divine law mortal mind stands abashed.
