THE wise teacher is the successful teacher. He considers not only the student's need, but also his ability to comprehend, and he is careful not to attempt to teach more than the student is able to assimilate. There is but one way to gain the understanding of any subject, namely, to begin with its fundamentals, and then build well upon the foundation thus laid.
The student does not always realize the necessity for starting rightly, and the unwise teacher may not see the importance of doing this work well before he undertakes to impart the more advanced ideas which can be rightly comprehended only by those who have been so thoroughly instructed in the basic teachings that they have gained the right point of view. It is a question whether mortals do not spend more time and effort in unlearning than they do in learning. A great deal of this unnecessary work is due to the fact that they did not start right, or perhaps they were impatient for results and were unwilling to do the preliminary work which would insure satisfactory results in due time. In either case they learn that success comes only to those who are prepared for it.
What has been said is just as true of spiritual matters as it is of material affairs, and it is of far greater importance that one start right and build well in spiritual things, for these are eternal, and at best the material is only temporal. Especially is this true of Christian Science, and Christian Scientists should be awake to the importance of acting wisely. There is a world of wisdom in that saying of the Master, "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine." This does not mean that one is ever justified in having a feeling of superiority over others; rather does it mean that there is a time to keep silent and refrain from giving utterance to that which would arouse opposition instead of proving beneficial to those who heard it. The wise sower does not cast the seed upon stony ground, nor by the wayside, but upon the good soil prepared to receive it.
