ON many occasions Mrs. Eddy counsels us to follow the example of Christ Jesus in our efforts to demonstrate the truth of being. On page 5 of Science and Health she says, "We should follow our divine Exemplar, and seek the destruction of all evil works, error and disease included." In each of the first three gospels we have an account of Jesus' temptation, struggle, and victory in the wilderness, when he proved conclusively that the arrogant assertions of a supposititious material mind, separate from God, are powerless to harm the one who holds firmly by the one Mind, one God. When he had made this demonstration, on which the destinies of humanity so largely depended, he was ready to undertake the healing work which means so much to all mankind today.
Here it is well to recognize the fact that the full significance of the Master's work comes to us only as we rise out of the entanglements of the mortal beliefs and preconceptions in which we were held before Christian Science came to us. For this reason, therefore, we need to look well to our own footsteps, not to those of others, all the while knowing that "the sin [or fear] which doth so easily beset us" may not appeal so strongly to others, and again, that they may be sorely tempted in some way that we never are. This should remind us of Jesus' gentle rebuke to Peter when he was curious as to the working out of John's problem: "What is that to thee? follow thou me."
Beginners in Christian Science sometimes feel that they are meeting all the demands of Truth because they abstain from the use of material remedies, and this is certainly a step in the right direction, but they find out that much more than this is required. They learn that evil thoughts must be cast out, and that they must at all times and under all circumstances "do justly," "love mercy," and "walk humbly" before God. In the presence of this divine requirement we may well ponder Paul's words to the Romans: "Where is boasting then? It is excluded." All are assumed to be on the journey from sense to Soul, but some have apparently greater burdens in the way of ailments, fears, and besetting sins than have others, therefore the love which "suffereth long, and is kind," and which "thinketh no evil," is greatly needed.
