I read some practical rules recently, written by a lady of eighty-five years, who had led a very happy, useful life. One of the lines read "Simplicity— Simplicity— Simplicity." I have wondered since if I knew how to utilize that word? I recalled an incident which occurred in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where I was called to do my first work in Science. I trust that I may always remember the lesson which it taught me. As soon as practicable, my patient began to take long walks with me, and one flay a woman stopped us on the road, and said: "You are that faith healer at the hotel, ain't you?" I told her that I was trying' to be a Christian Scientist. And she continued: "Well, I reckon it's the same thing, anyhow where I come from, down yonder (South Carolina), they have tents and things, and a man sits down by you, then you go to sleep, when you wake up, you are well." I assured her that she was not talking about Christian Science, that Christian Science was as different from this as daylight from darkness. She insisted, however, that it was all the same thing. Then she proceeded to tell me that she was ill all the time, that she had a houseful of children, and a husband with heart trouble of many years' standing, and that he had become so frightened. over the attacks that he drank whiskey whenever he felt one coming on; he had given up work entirely, and she ended the recital of her woes, by saying, "If he can't work, I reckon there's nothing for us to do but to starve to death, so I thought, as folks says that you cure all that's going, maybe you'd do something for us."
It was arranged that she should come to me that afternoon, and I went to my room and prayed for the child-thought, which would teach me simplicity. I had always prided myself upon being able to make myself understood in any language I chose to speak, and here was this woman coming to me for help, not having comprehended anything I said to her, except that she was to come to see me that day. I saw clearly that my window must be washed clean of pride of intellect, before I could reflect God's work. Upon asking myself how long I had known anything worth knowing, I discovered that I had known nothing whatever which was of any real value to me before coming into Science, hence, it followed that I was only a month or two old in spiritual wisdom, and this thought gave me the humility which I prayed for.
When the woman appeared, I asked her if she knew what a slate was. She said she did know, and I tried to make her see that they had been making bad pictures upon their slates (bodies),— pictures of sin, sickness, want, fear, doubt,— evil pictures of all kinds, in fact; then they had been thinking that God made those horrible things, and they were continually asking Him to come and rub out His own work. "I reckon that's just what we've been doin'," came the answer, quickly enough. I then begged her to try to think that God is Love, and to realize that He does use Christian Science to rub out all those dreadful pictures.
