THOUGH many blessings have come to the writer through Christian Science, she is especially thankful that the knowledge of this religion came to her while her children were yet young,—one was two and the other three years old,—so they could receive their early training in accordance with its teachings. From that time until the present Christian Science has been the only remedy for every discord, physical or mental.
One of the first lessons of a little child is obedience, and in Christian Science it must not be blind submission to human will, but a loving desire to do what is right, as God sees the right. Samuel said, "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice." Lovingly to obey mother is better than many hugs and kisses. Christ Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." Children are easily led by a loving, reasoning power, but it is difficult to drive them by the demand for blind submission to human will. In our text-book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy, we read: "Every Christian Scientist . . . knows that human will is not Christian Science;" thus he will endeavor to "defend himself from the influence of human will" (p. 451), and of course he will not inflict on his loved ones that which he considers harmful for himself.
In Christian Science the parent is also relieved from a sense of personal responsibility for the welfare of the child, knowing as he does that God is all-power, all-presence, and that "with God all things are possible;" but after praying to be led by love and wisdom, he will try by reflecting these attributes to lead the child "in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ," as St. Paul tells us.
