THERE is an old story which tells of a knight who lived in a castle surrounded by a deep moat, the drawbridge of which was never lowered, for this knight believed he had an enemy living not far away. Inside the castle the great hall was cold and cheerless, for there were no windows, but only slits in the thick walls through which the archers might shoot. In the corner of the hall hung a picture, which had been left behind by some passing pilgrim; it was a rough reproduction of a beautiful face, a face so pure and sweet that it looked strangely out of place among those warlike surroundings.
The knight of the castle, passing in and out with his men-at-arms, often stopped and looked at the picture, attracted by the mingled dignity and tenderness of the face. He did not know that he was looking at what purported to be the portrait of one who had reflected such authority that he could still a tempest with a word, and yet was so gentle that he has since been known throughout Christendom as the greatest gentleman that ever lived —Jesus the Christ. The knight lingered more and more often before this picture, until at length he tried to find out something more about this one who looked so calm amid a world of strife. He learned that the man was called Christ Jesus, and that though he had passed from mortal sight he had left this message to men: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." As the knight continued to look at the beautiful face, he began to find no pleasure in sending arrogant messages to his enemy, and commenced to send him greetings instead; and the enemy began in his turn to feel more kindly towards the knight, until one day the great drawbridge was let down, and the so-called enemy rode across it, not as an enemy, but as a friend.
The painter of the picture had conveyed through the medium of his art a glimpse of the Christlike qualities expressed by Jesus, and these qualities, constantly pondered, little by little changed the character of the observer. On page 26 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy writes, "This Christ, or divinity of the man Jesus, was his divine nature, the godliness which animated him." Could we ourselves not look more closely at the character of Christ Jesus, and then endeavor to express those same qualities, thus letting the Christ expel from our thinking all that is unlovable and unlovely?
