A man recently asked a Christian Science practitioner for help. He was suffering from a condition which had troubled him for a long time, and had grown so much worse that he walked with difficulty. He seemed anxious to impress the practitioner with the fact that the ailment had continued for a long time. The practitioner said to him: "In her 1902 Message to The Mother Church, our Leader admonishes us (p. 17), 'Square accounts with each passing hour.' If we obeyed this instruction, we could not have a claim that was over an hour old, could we?" This is a point which Christian Scientists may well consider.
When first we take up the study of Christian Science, we often make startling demonstrations because of a childlike faith in this new method of healing; but as we progress we need a deeper conviction of the allness of God, good, and the consequent nothingness of error. Unless we realize these unchanging facts, we are apt to listen to the suggestions of evil as real, and therefore cannot hear the voice of Truth. This is illustrated by the experience of Elijah, who after his encounter with the prophets of Baal was led to go forth and stand before the mount of the Lord. "And, behold, ... a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice." This "still small voice" which came to Elijah as the word of the Lord was there all the time; but it was only after the wind, earthquake, and fire ceased to register in the consciousness of Elijah that he could hear the voice.
Although Elijah had a firm faith in God as a mighty power, he yet believed that evil was personal; so after his victory over the prophets of Baal he saw to it that every one of them was slain. It was this personal sense that made him conscious of the wind, earthquake, and fire before he recognized the voice of Truth, which is perpetually expressing harmony. Because Jesus had reached a higher state of consciousness than had Elijah when he prayed, "Father, glorify thy name," he heard the voice of God assuring him, "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again," even while the people who "stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered."
