FROM time to time the Christian Science periodicals have published articles dealing with the subject of art, especially with the appeal of Christian Science to members of the dramatic profession. These articles helped the writer considerably, in that they dealt with problems of the artist's own experience; for these problems seem different from those of the social or business world, although they are in reality the same problems in a different guise.
The artist, when he comes to Christian Science, is often living in a thought-world of his own, and he is apt to resent any hint of its unimportance or unreality. It is quite as real to him, often more intensely so, than the visible universe is to the rest of mankind. His aims and ideals are scarcely ever understood by those unappreciative of art, but he will do well to apply himself to a careful study of Christian Science before dismissing the subject on the strength of a few talks. The deeper his study, the more unerring will he find the statements made in Science and Health, and in Mrs. Eddy's other writings, on the subject of art. He will find, moreover, that he is not required to abandon anything that is true or beautiful or good, but on the contrary, he will be given a stable reason for the hope and intuition that are in him.
The artist is usually not accustomed to concentrated intellectual effort, and is apt to dismiss a subject if he cannot intuitively grasp its essentials at once. Christian Science is therefore especially valuable to him, in that it demands earnest study and thought before its value can be fully appreciated. This mental discipline, which others receive in their professional routine, is of the greatest use to the artist, quite independent of the mine of wealth opened up to him in the exact and practical exposition of the truth about things. Artists are often impractical people, but the first demands of art are all the same,—for practicality and economy.
