SOMETIMES in the experience of the Christian Scientist the words of the Master to his disciples, "Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while," seem to be an insistent appeal to the student, a call to depart from the material sense of things for closer communion with divine Truth and Love. A response to this call is sure to bring a clearer understanding of God and of man's unity with Him, which so refreshes and invigorates thought that one is enabled to go forth with renewed energy because of a more spiritual view. Such times are rich in experience and revelation, and the desert places of thought are made to "blossom as the rose."
Some time ago, when endeavoring to lift my head above the mists of personal sense and gain a clearer view of Truth, a more conscious sense of unity with God and man, I went to a quiet country place that I might be freer to work out this problem. The arguments of a false sense had brought me into a condition of thought where it seemed difficult to see clearly. My endeavor was to know the way of Truth so well that there would be no mistaking it, and a glance backward reveals that Love was surely guiding and directing me to it.
I came to this place toward the end of the week, and on Sunday morning went to church with the family. In that quiet little country church there were not more than fifty people present, but I knew the ever-presence of God and the blessing which the reading of His Word imparts. The Scriptural selection was the story of Abraham and Lot, as found in the thirteenth chapter of Genesis, and as I listened to the reading I endeavored to gain a spiritual and practical interpretation of the incidents under consideration. The minister dwelt upon the characteristics of the two men, showing the unselfishness, generosity, and love of Abraham, in contrast to the self-seeking which led Lot to choose the country of the plain and pitch "his tent toward Sodom," leaving to Abraham the hillside country.
