SOMETIMES, in our walks among men, we meet one whose progress in Christian Science is so beautiful that it impresses us beyond degree. Standing face to face with convincing evidences of his spiritual illumination and achievement, and remembering that "by their fruits ye shall know them," we are quick to inquire by what means he has been able to make such a phenomenal advance, while we, perhaps, have gone only a little way. In his answer he tells us that his first and foremost step was taken when he surrendered to Christ and espoused our great cause, he points to the straight and narrow way he has striven to travel, and emphasizes the exalted demands which Truth makes upon each and every one who would gain the heights.
If we are honest and sincere in our desire to follow the footsteps of the Master, we shall be ready to put forth that individual effort which sooner or later must be made in order that the noblest ends may be realized. If we look squarely into the face of right, and are willing to obey its behests, the results will he assuring and final victory will he certain. With a firm trust in God, and with a strict determination to labor in behalf of Truth, there can be no fear of one's failure, no falling back when the call of duty is heard. Where fear is admitted, one's mental kingdom is divided against itself, and therefore it cannot stand; there can be no lasting good, no genuine success.
All of us have our individual work to do for God and the right, and we should never be afraid to undertake it, knowing that "God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, . . . and of a sound mind." There is a divine heroism in right endeavor, referring to which Phillip Brooks has said, "Would you grow rich in reverence? Go work, work, work with all your strength. So let life deepen around you and display its greatness." It is the doing of one's duty that begets progress, that discloses the worth of men and women and that proves whether they are really prepared to enjoy the good things they desire. Pope says, "Act well your part, there all the honor lies." Something for nothing is not something, but just a pretense, a counterfeit; for, as Mrs. Eddy says, "There is no excellence without labor in a direct line" (Science and Health, p. 457). Commenting some time ago upon "President Eliot and Self -education," The Christian Science Monitor had this to offer: "It has been proved in the case of many a solitary student, Lincoln being a noted example, that the need for extra individual effort is often a quickener of natural ability. Whatever we earn for ourselves is more highly prized than what is gained too easily, and the self-educated man usually takes his studies more to heart than he who is the object of sedulous pedagogics."
