Patience in their attitude towards the slowness and disinclination of others to obey God, can hardly be said to have been a distinguishing characteristic of the heroes of the Old Testament. Moses, even after his appointment as leader of the Israelites, and his graduation from under the tyranny of Pharaoh, had yet many lessons in patience to learn; Elijah and Elisha were not consistent exponents of patience in their dealings with the people; David exhorted men to patience, but how frequently he lacked it, how much he needed divine help for its restoration! Joseph alone of great Hebrew luminaries seems to have shown patience in the face of all manner of persecution and injustice, not only in connection with his own problems, but in dealing with his enemies, thus giving evidence of that divine patience which foreshadowed the perfection to be manifested in the life of Christ Jesus.
There is recorded in Luke's Gospel a discourse by Jesus to the people on the woes which were to come upon the world. The beautiful temple at Jerusalem with all its wealth and splendor—of which they were so proud—not a stone of it, he told them, would be left one upon another; there would be rising of nation against nation; there would be fearful sights and great signs, persecutions and betrayals. Indeed, in that formidable prophecy of future calamities it would seem that nothing conceivably within the concept of revengeful evil would be omitted. The Master, however, did not close his discourse on that note. He added these words: "But there shall not an hair of your head perish. In your patience possess ye your souls."
The bulwark of spiritual sense, keeping the flame of faith, of courage, of resolution steady and clear, giving strength to endurance and poise to action, is patience. In the possession of patience, those divine qualities which alone can offset the fury of mortal mind's resisted claims to domination are co-ordinated and preserved. He who perceives and holds to the spiritual sense of patience can work on as did Jesus, un-affrighted and continually reinforced despite the ravages, destructive and vengeful, of evil. Possessing and possessed of patience, he can neither be cast down, swept away, nor trampled underfoot. No famine, no pestilence, no conspiracy, no betrayal, no long siege nor sudden unsuspected assault, can rob us of that which is ours in spiritual ownership. "Through patience we must possess the sense of Truth; and Truth is used to waiting," writes Mary Baker Eddy on page 268 of "Miscellaneous Writings."
