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. If St. Paul was obliged to say to those of his day, "Ye have need of patience," how much more would he have said it to the average man of today, for whom life is one grand "rush." Whether at the football game or the bargain counter, "Hurry" is the modern slogan. We demand a get-rich-quick process, whether the goal be money, education, or religion.
So, when we are fairly launched on this brave endeavor to know and live the truth in our daily lives, we are surprised, and possibly disappointed, to discover that the attainment of this greatest thing of the twentieth century is something which cannot be rushed, and that there are no modern inventions whose application will in any degree hasten this attainment. We seek in vain for the flying machine that will carry us on a swift journey into the promised land of spirituality, only to realize at last that we must walk every step of the way, "even though with bleeding footsteps" (Science and Health, p. 10); for the divine decree is, "Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you." Only that which our spiritual understanding is able to apprehend and use, can be claimed as our real possession.
We find no material elevators to lift us from the depths of mortal depravity to the divine heights of perfect manhood, but we must climb round by round the ladder of painstaking endeavor, if we would keep company at last with the angels of purity and love. There are no adding machines with which we may accelerate our efforts to obey the apostolic command, "Add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;" no easy adjustment by which the harmonies of Spirit may be produced without consecrated years of individual practice. All material methods are of no avail, and only by patiently continuing in well-doing can we obtain the heavenly prize, glory and honor and immortality.
