ON PREPARING FOR DISCIPLESHIP

AT the beginning of one's experience in the study of Christian Science, the truths of God and His creation are not always quickly grasped. Almost immediately, however, the student has a solid conviction that he has found the truth. Like the dawn of morning light, the truth about God and man begins to illumine his thought and dispel the darkness of a false, material sense of existence with its attendant fears, doubts, and discouragements.

The pages of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, bring to the seeker the angelic messages of Love's infinitude and of God's allness—of His ever-presence and complete supremacy over all error or evil. They reveal that man is not a sinful mortal but the perfect expression of God, Spirit, even His image and likeness, as the Scripture teaches; that evil is not of God's creating and is therefore impotent to affect the health, happiness, and life of man.

The understanding that man is endowed with all the good which God bestows gently unfolds to the seeker the vision of man's completeness and his perfection as the idea of God. This growing vision of the real man is accompanied by the student's regeneration. He becomes a new creature in Christ as old things pass away and all things become new.

When the writer felt the first healing touch of Christian Science, there came a peace which to his erstwhile troubled thought was like a great calm in the wake of a storm. Love's healing potency had brought much more than physical relief and healing, even though the latter had been quick and decisive. Freedom from pain had been accompanied by an exaltation of thought and the healing of tenseness and fear. The relief was indescribable, for there were no words to tell what had taken place. Like the man who was born blind and whom Jesus healed, he could at least exclaim (John 9:25), "One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see."

Immediately there came a desire to take this wondrous truth about God and man to others, but with a zeal which was quite lacking in understanding or wisdom. An all too hasty effort was made to proselyte or interest others. Valuable lessons were learned here of the importance of taking orderly footsteps in spiritual growth and unfoldment and of the unwisdom of rushing around with untempered zeal.

A vision of the possibilities which Christian Science reveals to the new student ofttimes brings a zeal to repeat the mighty works of the Master, Christ Jesus. The beginner in this Science, however, learns that he must begin with the simpler demonstrations of Truth and grow in character and spiritual understanding before he can solve more difficult problems. The yearning to go forth at once and do these greater works is not to be quelled; it is a right desire, a prayer that will find its unfailing answer as one trusts the unfoldment of each step of discipleship to divine Love. Patience and persistence bring their sure reward.

One quality essential to discipleship is teachableness. This may be defined as a willingness to learn and to let go of any preconceived notions that may present a stumbling block to one's advancement in spiritual understanding. Teachableness includes the desire to relinquish a sense of false pride or a belief in intellectual or personal achievement. The quality of teachableness or receptivity is most marked in one who is "poor in spirit," that is, who is to a large extent free from false, material knowledge, and whose thought is open to the ideas of divine Mind.

Teachableness, or receptivity, is a quality of discipleship that needs to be continually possessed and cultivated. Even after she was far advanced in spiritual understanding, Mrs. Eddy wrote of herself in the Preface to Science and Health (p. ix), "To-day, though rejoicing in some progress, she still finds herself a willing disciple at the heavenly gate, waiting for the Mind of Christ." She was ever listening for God's voice; that is why she ever received higher and still higher revelations of Truth. The student may well emulate her example and pray that he too may be "a willing disciple at the heavenly gate, waiting for the Mind of Christ."

In a study of the Beatitudes as recorded in the fifth chapter of Matthew's Gospel, the writer found many beautiful qualities which will lead the disciple to higher spiritual understanding and confer upon him greater ability, whereby he will be able to demonstrate this understanding in his daily life.

In the second beatitude the promise is that mourning shall be followed with comfort and peace. This is a more active thought than that of mere receptivity. It is a definite reaching out, a longing for more of the light of Truth. The third refers to meekness, of which Mrs. Eddy says (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 360): "Meekness, moderating human desire, inspires wisdom and procures divine power. Human lives are yet uncarved,—in the rough marble, encumbered with crude, rude fragments, and awaiting the hammering, chiselling, and transfiguration from His hand."

The fourth beatitude describes the hungering and thirsting after righteousness which is satisfied as the disciple partakes of the bread of heaven, the substance of Soul, and drinks of the living waters of Spirit. The fifth is the first beatitude which implies a prayer for unselfed love. The first four are for more light for oneself; the fifth expresses the desire, or prayer, to be merciful—a wondrous unfoldment of love with its sweet amenities of mercifulness, patience, spiritual affection. The sixth commends purity, which enables us to "see God." Indeed, "blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." As human consciousness becomes purified of a false sense of life and being, it is increasingly ready to bear the "good tidings of great joy" to humanity. This beatitude reveals the cleansing power of divine Science in the orderly preparation for the ministry of healing.

The seventh beatitude is this: "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." The casual thinker may be content to define a peacemaker as one who helps to stop war or conflict, whether it be between nations or between individuals. Being a peacemaker, however, is vastly greater than this. It brings peace into the heart and thought of every individual. The word "peace" implies healing and salvation through divine Science. To be a peacemaker is to do the works of healing which Christian Science treatment brings to pass. The Master's mission was that of a peacemaker. It brought calm to the troubled thought, healing to the fevered brow, health and strength to the physically maimed and disabled, regeneration to the sinful, comfort to the sorrowing, and life to him who thought he had died. To be a peacemaker is the work of the Christian Science practitioner.

Working and praying in all sincerity that he may be endowed with these Christly qualities will prepare and qualify the student for discipleship in the glorious healing ministry of the Science of Christ and confer upon him "the kingdom of heaven" even amid the seeming persecutions of sense. The beautiful poem by A. E. Hamilton quoted by our beloved Leader in "Retrospection and Introspection" says (p. 95):