EVEN the casual Bible student finds a fascination in the story of the three young Hebrews who were cast into the fiery furnace, after they had refused to worship the golden image set up by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. The Bible student who has gained some understanding of Christian Science finds in this story a beautiful example of humility and keen spiritual insight, which it is profitable to emulate. As recorded in the book of Daniel, when Nebuchadnezzar released Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego from the "burning fiery furnace," the king's princes, governors, captains, and counselors saw them come forth with no trace of the experience visible in any way, "nor the smell of fire had passed on them." How thoroughly and rightly their thinking had been done! What assurance of God's presence and power they had! What freedom from fear, resentment, and pride! Such humility that they showed no trace of the experience, no smell of fire!
How many times, when we seem to have passed through some fiery experience of mortal belief, we still retain the "smell of fire"—a mental impression of the error! And does not the so-called carnal or mortal mind sometimes ensnare us into a sense of satisfaction with this "smell of fire"? Perhaps this satisfaction is disguised as self-esteem, which tempts us to believe that we of ourselves have accomplished something remarkable. Or it may appear as a lurking desire for human sympathy, which argues that really we have passed through an unparalleled experience. Or resentment or righteous indignation may tempt us to dwell in thought upon some disagreeable incident of the past.
Again, in a desire to impress others with the healing efficacy of Christian Science, one may unwittingly make too much of some circumstance, leaving his listeners with a mental concept of the physical experience rather than with a clear sense of the omnipotence of God, good. Mrs. Eddy saw the danger to one's self and to others of dwelling upon the material and describing too minutely the physical symptoms, which invariably tend to leave us with the "smell of fire." To help us avoid this mistake, our Leader has given us a By-law in the Manual of The Mother Church (p. 47) governing testimonials, in which she says, "This testimony, however, shall not include a description of symptoms or of suffering, though the generic name of the disease may be indicated." The sincere student will be greatly benefited if he will follow the instruction in this By-law, not only at Wednesday evening testimony meetings and in written testimonies, but also in his conversation with others and in his habits of thought.
