SOME who read this may have just begun the study of Christian Science. A few weeks or months ago they knew of it only by name. Now they are reading its text-books, the Bible, and "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." The inevitable conflict is on. The same old doubts and questions that have assailed other thousands are hard on their heels. They do not know whether to stop or go on. They feel that this is a big subject and a true Science, and they do not mean to give it up, but they do not readily comprehend it, and this disturbs them. They want to get on, to make progress, to see the whole thing and see it all at once. They are a little annoyed, perhaps, because they are not able to grasp all that the book says. Perhaps they are inclined to find some fault with the author for saying things in just the way she has; or perchance they swing to the opposite extreme, and blame themselves for their dulness. They are in a fever to get there, to arrive at the end, to digest the whole intellectual meal, to take everything in at once. To meet all these unhappy states of mind there is need of great patience. If we will take things naturally and easily, and not try to hurry our growth, we shall arrive, all in due time.
The writer remembers having seen a very comical exhibition at a University Field Day. It was called an obstacle race. The contestants were called upon to crawl through barrels, climb over netting and under fences, and it is recalled that the man who won the race took the obstacles quietly. He was very deliberate, always knew what he was about, and never lost his head. The excitable fellows who wanted to do the thing in a rush, got themselves hopelessly tangled in the meshes of the netting, and found that a barrel is not to be squirmed through in a hurry. As a matter of fact, the man who is attracting least attention to himself may be accomplishing the most. Christian Science is not spectacular in its practice. The beginner who is all out of breath trying to make a demonstration, or who says he is "working hard" on some problem, may need to learn that God is the only worker, that He works through man, that He works easily, and that consequently man, reflecting Divine action and not originating any action of his own, is always on time, never in a hurry, and certainly never anxious about his future work. There is an incomparable sense of repose, of power, and of ease, associated with the thought that "I and my Father are one." The works that I do, I do not because I have any inherent power or ability of my own, but because the Father, the ever-active, everywhere active Principle of the universe, works in me and through me, to will and to do of His good pleasure.
It is manifestly illogical to expect that the beginner shall know as much the first day as he will know, if he progresses, in the second. It is contrary to mathematics and is not possible. Then why quarrel with ourselves, or with Christian Science, because we are following the unfolding of a natural order in the law of growth. Jesus surely knew more about God and His infinite modes at the end of his human experience, than he knew when he disputed with the professors at the age of twelve. As a matter of fact, if those who repine and become fretful because they do not understand all about Christian Science right now, were to be confronted with the advanced problems which they crave, without having taken the intermediate steps which would logically fit them for the encounter, they would be overwhelmed. The earnest desire to grow in our understanding of Truth is laudable, but such a normal inclination to work should not be confused with a selfish, greedy, and really dishonest effort to avoid taking any of the necessary footsteps to Truth. Jesus never gave evidence of being in a hurry, or excited, and yet no man ever achieved more than did he. He was always busy, always about his Father's business, tireless in preaching and healing, yet always calm, always well poised. And he is the Way, the example, the pattern.
